Associated Press
November 17
he United States is contemplating a significant aid package for Uzbekistan, a neighbor of Afghanistan that has allowed U.S. troops to use its bases.
Assistance would include humanitarian aid, security, water management, health care, and social services, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov met late Friday.
Uzbekistan has been ``a key coalition partner since the early days of the war against terrorism,'' Reeker said.
He said the officials talked about fighting terrorism and Afghanistan's future.
The United States has some 1,000 troops in Uzbekistan. Although Uzbekistan has balked at allowing the United States to carry out strikes from its bases, it has agreed that soldiers for search-and-rescue and humanitarian missions can be based on its territory.