"Однако это воздушное пространство будет использоваться только для спасательных операций и доставки гуманитарной помощи," особо отметил Каримов и добавил, что сам он выступает против ударов по Афганистану.

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Secretary Rumsfeld and President Karimov

The troops, from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y., are the first U.S. grounds forces known to be deployed in the region.

A senior U.S. official traveling with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the troops were en route from the United States to Uzbekistan Friday. They will provide security for other U.S. forces, officials have said.

The disclosure came as the president of Uzbekistan announced he had granted permission for American forces to use an air base in his country for search-and-rescue missions.

At a news conference with Rumsfeld, President Islam Karimov said the air base could be used by U.S. transport planes, helicopters and troops. But U.S. forces will not be allowed to launch air or ground attacks from Uzbekistan.

Karimov also said U.S. special operations soldiers would not be allowed in the country. ``We are not quite ready for this,'' he said.

Karimov said a legal document spelling out the specifics of this arrangement, including what he calls guarantees for his country's security, was being completed and eventually would be made public.

``We have no secret deals,'' the president said.

Rumsfeld told reporters he had expressed President Bush's appreciation for Uzbekistan's cooperation in the campaign against terrorism.

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По словам этого представителя, переброска американских военнослужащих в Узбекистан является частью широкомасштабного плана Вашингтона по наращиванию своего военного присутствия вокруг Афганистана.

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``Troops from the 10th Mountain Division are on their way (to Uzbekistan),'' the official, accompanying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on a trip to Uzbekistan, told Reuters.

Troops from the division have been on alert pending movement to Central Asia to join a buildup of U.S. forces near Afghanistan following last month's suicide attacks on the United States which killed thousands.

Washington blames Saudi-born Muslim militant Osama bin Laden for the attacks. Bin Laden is believed to be in hiding in Afghanistan.

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Соперники юных узбекистанцев определятся 8-11 октября на жеребьевке в Куала-Лумпуре, во время сессии Азиатской футбольной конфедерации.

Для юных представителей Южно-Азиатских и Восточно-Азиатских стран местом проведения игр выбраны Бангладеш и Таиланд соответственно.

Казахстанские подростки не будет участвовать в предстоящих играх по причине попытки перехода в УЕФА. Как известно, их вопрос до сих пор обсуждается Европейским футбольным союзом.

На данный момент Индия, Непал, Maльдивы, Узбекистан, Кыргызстан, Туркменистан, Лаос и Бангладеш подали заявки для участия в этом чемпионате.

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Правительства трех стран, а также власти Пакистана столкнулись с "серьезными проблемами" с размещением на своих землях американских войск и оборудования. Об этом сообщает The Guardian со ссылкой на источники в Пентагоне.

Комментарий: Узбекистан, наиболее удобный для США в стратегическом отношении, правда, уже дал разрешение на использование своего воздушного пространства самолетами ВВС Америки. Тем не менее разрешение на использование территории страны в качестве "плацдарма" для нанесения удара наземными силами США пока не получили. Как пишет The Guardian, "American officials yesterday confirmed that the governments of Saudi Arabia, Oman and Uzbekistan had had last-minute doubts about allowing their territory to serve as a base for military operations aimed at Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida terrorist group and the Taliban in Afghanistan".

Как сообщается, министр обороны США Доналд Рамсфелд и премьер-министр Англии Тони Блэр предпринимают экстренные дипломатические шаги для урегулирования этой проблемы. Рамсфелд 3 октября летал в Саудовскю Аравию, где встречался с королем Фахдом. После встречи он заявил журналистам: "Мы не собираемся ни о чем просить Саудовскую Аравию. Мы давно с ними сотрудничаем". При этом Рамсфелд отметил, что Америка не будет настаивать на использовании аравийского воздушного пространства и территории.

4 октября глава Пентагона отправится в Оман и Египет, а 5 октября поедет в Узбекистан, где встретится с представителями Северного альянса. Чарльз Фэйрбэнкс, эксперт по Центральной Азии Университета Джона Хопкинса, сказал, что "эта уловка очень похожа на старую советскую школу дипломатии: соглашаться до последнего момента, а потом поставить новые условия".

Блэр уже сегодня вечером прилетает в Москву на переговоры с президентом РФ Владимиром Путиным. Как предполагает The Guardian, Блэр собирается "прощупать" (to probe) Путина на предмет толерантности России по отношению к военным действиям, при этом заверив российского лидера, что президент Джордж Буш не рассматривает применение силы как основной инструмент разрешения кризиса.

Но все же непонятно, что собираются делать западные лидеры с last-minute doubts Узбекистана и вообще с хитрой "советской дипломатией", которую страны СНГ знают не понаслышке. Ведь, если судить по анонсу, в Узбекистане Рамсфелд собирается встречаться не с руководством страны, а с представителями Северного альянса.

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Среди вероятных соперников подопечных Маккарти фигурируют такие страны, как Иран, Саудовская Аравия, Арабские Эмираты, Катар и Узбекистан. Все они, по мнению ирландцев, находятся в зоне предполагаемой "операции возмездия". В связи с этим, Ирландия предлагает ФИФА обсудить возможность переноса поединка на нейтральное поле.

"Я предпочитаю играть плей-офф из двух встреч, - говорит Маккарти. - Но не исключено, что развитие событий вынудит нас изменить планы. В любом случае мы должны быть готовы самому неблагоприятному развитию событий. Нам не хотелось бы в разгар конфликта играть в Узбекистане - в 400 километрах от Кабула". Еще один повод для беспокойства ирландского тренера - желтые карточки. "Я считаю, что на плей-офф не должны распространяться дисквалификации, которые копились два года, - считает Маккарти.

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По его словам, в ходе этой встречи "стороны обсудят вопросы взаимодействия в нанесении ударов США по базам талибов".

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Прежде всего, по его словам, возникает вопрос, почему США до сих пор не нанесли удар по аэродрому талибов. Это лишило бы их войска поддержки с воздуха, из-за которой Северный альянс не может перейти в наступление.

Между тем Россия уже фактически начала воевать в Афганистане - массированные поставки военной техники Северному альянсу предполагают присутствие там советников, инструкторов, инженеров, без которых техника не будет работать, заявил Арбатов. Таким образом, сказал он, "наши специалисты уже там, Северный альянс ведет боевые действия, а США что-то затянули свои приготовления, и это не может не вызывать предположений, разных интерпретаций в Москве".

"Возникает вопрос: может, американцы вообще не будут проводить операцию, а договорятся с талибами, получат бен Ладена и скажут, что своей цели достигли. А мы увязнем там с Северным альянсом, более того, "Талибан" перейдет в наступление на севере, разгромит альянс, перейдет границу Таджикистана, Узбекистана - и мы окажемся в кризисной ситуации", - сказал депутат.

"Если США ограничатся арестом бен Ладена и его сподвижников, - считает он, - то под прикрытием "Талибана" через год там будет десять новых "бен ладенов", которые будут продолжать эти операции".

Арбатов считает, что "не нужно неизбирательно наносить удары, но нужно наносить удары по талибам, по их технике, аэродромам и пунктам снабжения". По его словам, "Россия вступает в эту операцию потому, что понимает: наличие талибов недалеко от границ СНГ - это одна из крупнейших угроз российской безопасности".

Арбатов считает вполне возможной ситуацию, при которой российская авиация начнет оказывать Северному альянсу помощь в виде прикрытия с воздуха, ударов по коммуникациям талибов, скоплениям их техники и артиллерии.

Сухопутные войска, говорит депутат, не будут принимать участия в войне в Афганистане. Однако, если талибы перейдут границу Таджикистана, российские войска, и в первую очередь 201-я дивизия, будут задействованы.

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They say that bolstering the regime of President Islam Karimov could prove counter-productive. During his 11-year reign, Karimov, who led the country under communist rule before independence in 1991, has eliminated virtually all political opposition and cracked down especially hard against practicing Muslims not affiliated with officially recognized Islamic organizations.

"Within Uzbekistan, there is a great deal of concern that the Afghan crisis will give Karimov carte blanche to crack down on legitimate political opposition and religious groups," a new report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said. "The long-term concern for the United States must be that if it ties its interests too closely to a fundamentally anti-democratic government, it may eventually find itself viewed as the enemy by reform-minded Uzbekistanis."

Washington's alliance with Karimov even risks strengthening armed opposition groups, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a Taliban-supported insurgency, which Bush himself, in his recent speech to Congress, linked directly to Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.

The IMU and nearly a dozen other "Islamic extremist groups" have attracted "increasing popular support" over the past year, according to a July report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which has access to classified information.

Karimov's harsh repression has "radicalized the opposition", according to Reuel Hanks, editor of the Journal of Central Asian Studies. He said that conditions have forced growing numbers, even of the middle class, to "turn to increasingly desperate and violent actions" against the government.

"There is hardly a family in Uzbekistan's middle class, such as it exists, in which a member has not been detained, questioned, arbitrarily imprisoned or beaten by internal security forces," according to Robert Cutler, a Central Asia specialist at Carleton University in Montreal.

Uzbekistan was the first former Soviet Central Asian republic to offer Washington overflight rights and access to military facilities, according to US officials. The US Army's 10th Mountain Division sent more than 1,000 troops on Tuesday night on combat deployment to Uzbekistan and neighboring Tajikistan, Pentagon officials said.

Uzbekistan is considered important for any US military or covert action in Afghanistan, with which it shares a 150-kilometer border. Its airbase at Termez is only a few kilometers from the frontier. The former capital of Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance, Mazar Sharif, which still has a large Uzbek and Tajik population, lies just on the other side.

The most populous of the five former Soviet Central Asian republics, Uzbekistan under Karimov has also built the region's strongest army. Karimov has made little secret of his ambition to make the country the region's dominant power, a quest that has not endeared him to his immediate neighbors. Over the past decade, he has consciously tried to restore the memory of Tamerlane the Great, who in the 14th Century conquered a vast area stretching from modern-day Moscow all the way to Delhi. In the last few years, Karimov has sent his army into both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Despite the alleged IMU threat, Karimov has firmly resisted Russian efforts to bring Uzbekistan into any Moscow-led security organization, preferring instead to seek military aid at critical moments with China. In order to maintain his independence, he has also sought close ties to NATO and the United States, with which his army has carried out joint manoeuvres.

In 1998, he even suggested that Washington station troops in Uzbekistan, according to the former commander of the US Central Command, retired general Anthony Zinni, who last week was brought on as a special adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Like Tamerlane, say activists and analysts, Karimov has shown no tolerance for dissent. Under his control, Uzbekistan's parliament has outlawed all independent parties, virtually all of whose leaders have been forced into exile. International observers have denounced successive elections, which he has won by more than 90 percent of the electorate, as neither free nor fair.

In a report released last week, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that as many as 7,000 Muslims are currently serving prison sentences of up to 20 years, most for "anti-state activity" or "attempted subversion of the constitutional order". Torture is common, according to the report, which cites routine use of beatings, electroshock, and rape. "In a throwback to the darkest days of the Soviet Union," according to HRW, local authorities regularly organize public "hate rallies" to intimidate and isolate prisoners' family members, particularly women.

A US diplomat told Congress two months ago that Karimov's harsh rule "is actually radicalizing Uzbekistan's disaffected and disenfranchized youth and driving them into the arms of the IMU and its radical allies".

Under the administration of former President Bill Clinton, Washington repeatedly expressed concern about the repression, even while it cultivated closer security ties with Uzbekistan. Over the past decade, Tashkent has received some US$263 million in economic and security assistance, including increasing amounts of anti-terrorist aid to counter both the IMU and alleged drug trafficking.

Now that Bush has declared "war" on terrorism, analysts say that Washington's embrace will become much tighter. In addition to increased economic aid, according to Congressional aides, the administration will likely ask for more military assistance and press the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide more loans. Earlier this year, the IMF withdrew its resident representative in Tashkent out of frustration over Karimov's refusal to implement reforms.

Some analysts believe that Karimov has exaggerated the threat he faces from the IMU, whose forces are believed to number only in the hundreds, precisely to obtain more support from the West. A more radical and violent opposition, according to Hanks, "serves to strengthen the self-portrait so carefully cultivated by Karimov since independence - that of a post-modern Ataturk, committed to battling the atavistic forces of reactionary mullahs, while striving to firmly tether Uzbekistan to the West".

The ICG, in its report, invokes the Shah of Iran, whose harsh rule at home eventually provoked the 1979 Islamic Revolution - with disastrous consequences for Washington.

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

U.S. plans to reduce reliance on Pakistan for any military operation -- to avoid destabilizing the country -- have turned attention toward Uzbekistan and neighboring Tajikistan, both of which border on northern Afghanistan.

The central Asian region in which they are situated was a bridgehead for the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan in 1979-89.

Both republics have tailor-made infrastructures to support large-scale military operations in Afghanistan, including land routes, airfields and depots.

But both appear reluctant to disclose the measure of their possible involvement in the U.S. operation, despite receiving a nod of approval from Moscow, their leading regional ally.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given U.S. aircraft unprecedented rights to use Russian airspace, and said he would not stand in the way of Central Asian governments doing the same or even offering airbases.

So far, the Tajik and Uzbek governments have agreed to grant air corridors for U.S. planes, but have denied media reports about leasing air bases and that U.S. troops are already on their soil.

Significantly, Wednesday's news on Uzbek tightly-controlled state television barely mentioned Rumsfeld. A brief item said he was visiting ``Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Oman and Central Asia'' but made no specific reference to Uzbekistan.

Newspapers were equally reticent. ``Pravda Vostoka'' (Eastern Pravda) led Thursday's issue with pictures of smiling cotton harvesters predicting a bumper crop. Rumsfeld did not rate a mention.

The main U.S. argument for minimizing the use of Pakistani bases was to avoid destabilizing the country where Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, seen by Washington as the main suspect in last month's airliner attacks on U.S. cities, enjoys widespread support among some sections of society.

EYE ON ISLAMIC MOVEMENT

In one sense, Uzbek President Islam Karimov has a huge advantage over Pakistani leader General Pervez Musharraf.

An authoritarian leader in power even before independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Karimov has less to fear from public opinion in his tightly-controlled country.

But he has his own Islamic insurgency to worry about.

After a series of bomb blasts in 1999 in the capital Tashkent, blamed on the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Karimov cracked down on radical Muslim groups forcing some of them to flee to Tajikistan. Despite two major rebel incursions in 1999 and 2000, Karimov appears to control the situation for the moment.

But it is unclear how much support the IMU, which Karimov says is funded by the Taliban, has in Uzbekistan and how Islamic radicalism may develop if the country takes an active part in the U.S. operation.

Tajik President Imomali Rakhmonov's grip on power is less sure as his country reels from a 1992-1997 civil war between the Russian-backed government and Islamic opposition.

Islamic groups seem exhausted for the moment by the civil war, which killed tens of thousands of people and finally impoverished the country, and are reluctant to allow fresh disturbances.

A nearly 20,000-strong Russian military presence is the main stabilizing force in the country.

But Russia's role is likely to be diminished if U.S. military presence takes a longer turn. The loosely-governed country, where powerful clans with armed groups play a big role, could revert to anarchy unless it finds a new security patron.

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Preparatory measures in Surkhandaria and Kashkadaria, include heightening the level of battle readiness and preparing military bases and airports for possible use by American planes and military servicemen.

Surkhandaria, which has a 192 km border with Afghanistan, is already on a state of full military alert. According to Uzbek troops on the frontier, all units of the armed forces and border guards have been recalled to barracks.

"We have to strengthen the readiness of our armed forces," President Islam Karimov told a public meeting in the capital last week. "We have to make sure that our border troops are always vigilant, and we have to be ready for any situation that may occur."

Only days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the authorities fortified the border with Afghanistan in Surkhandaria, installing a new barbed wire fence along the entire Uzbek-Afghan frontier from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan.

The new fence is twice as high as the old one, the wire mesh is thicker and tighter and - most importantly - will be electrified to stop any illegal migrants crossing the border, frontier guards say.

"We will not permit people from Afghanistan to illegally cross our border - even if they are refugees, we will not let them in," one of the guards installing the barbed wire said.

Residents of Surkhandaria say the number of military personnel has increased since mid-September, and that security measures have been strengthened at the airport in Termez. The situation otherwise remains calm.

"As you can see, everything is quiet and under control," the commander of the armed forces in Surkhandaria, Nodir Usmonbekov, said.

The headquarters of the armed forces in Termez and the head of the border guards are not giving interviews to journalists and will not answer questions about the level of military cooperation with the US.

However, in the middle of last week, IWPR saw American specialists accompanied by officials from Surkhandaria inspecting the bridge across the Amudaria river at Termez, which links Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Border guard officers suggested these were American counter-intelligence officers.

Last week, US specialists also visited the military airport 50 km from Termez in Kakaidy, which was built in the Soviet era and used during the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Servicemen at Kakaidy are sceptical about whether this airport could be of much use to the Americans. The commander of the unit guarding the airport, Dilshod Mahkamov, said no money had been invested in the infrastructure since Uzbekistan became independent 10 years ago.

"The airport is in a dismal condition and would need huge investment to be rehabilitated," he said. "Currently, it is not capable of receiving large cargo planes. Two runways have been out of order for ages. You could not land planes there."

Mahkamov added that the Americans would probably not be secure using a base located 50 km from the border as "shells could reach the airport. Afghanistan is very close".

He thought the Americans might be more interested in the military airport at Khanabad, 30 km from Karshi in the Kashkadaria region, in the south-west. This is the largest active military airport in Uzbekistan.

Pilots at Khanabad believe their airport could well become the hub of American air operations and that active preparations for receiving US aircraft are already underway.

The Russian media reported on September 30 that a Hercules US military transport plane had already landed in Khanabad. The Uzbek ministry of defence declined to confirm this for IWPR.

Yet on October 1, the Uzbek security council met and President Karimov confirmed the willingness of the country to allow America to use its airspace.

One pilot said the airport in Khanabad expected to receive about 15 American planes soon and that last week US specialists were examining the runway and the state of the hangars.

People living near the airport said life there had become much busier over the last two weeks. High-ranking military servicemen were seen visiting the airport, vehicles possibly transporting aeroplane fuel regularly arrive and military aircraft fly more often.

The pilots at Khanabad are not happy about the idea of their airport playing a key role in the bombing of Afghanistan. "We fear the Taleban will make good their threats to take action against Uzbekistan if we support the US, and that their first target will be Khanabad," one pilot said.

The pilots said the airport management had warned them that if the US uses chemical weapons, poisonous clouds could reach Termez within 15 minutes, and Karshi in an hour and a half. However, the management had said nothing about any self-defence measures the pilots and their families should use in case of a chemical attack on Afghanistan.

To the pilots, the prospect of Uzbekistan being dragged into a war against Afghanistan is particularly dispiriting given their already low level of financial security.

"Many pilots want to resign from the military, since they reckon the state does not value their work," one pilot said. "Last month my salary was 28,000 soms (24 US dollars) and we are constantly risking our lives and living in abnormal conditions, away from our families."

The airforce is a high risk occupation. There were two deadly accidents in the skies over Khanabad in February and June last year, claiming the lives of a deputy colonel, a captain and two first class pilots.

To the pilots, the threat of war in Afghanistan is just one more problem to be added to all their existing difficulties. This is a war that will be conducted from Uzbek territory by the American military using US military equipment. But as one of the military servicemen said, "We are military people and we will do whatever we are ordered to."

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This was announced in an interview with RIA Novosti by the Islamic State of Afghanistan consul to Uzbekistan, Ali Ahmad.

During this meeting "the sides will discuss interaction concerning US strikes against the bases of the Taleban", he said.

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The group was planning to hijack an aircraft in Urgench airport and fly abroad. "Tumanov had prepared all plans beforehand. Members of the group, Ergash Sharipov and Sardor Yoqubov arrived at Urgench airport to study it. They thoroughly studied the runway, entrances and exits for passengers and how luggage was delivered to aircraft. According to the plan, a number of members of the group were to buy tickets and board the aircraft and the rest were to organize an armed attack from outside the aircraft, take passengers hostage and fly abroad.

"It should be noted once more that thanks to people's vigilance and urgent actions on the part of the staff of law-enforcement agencies, a great tragedy, a terrorist act, was prevented," the report stressed.

It also added that a number of members of the criminal group "had undergone military training in Tajikistan and Chechnya".

The report specified no dates for the planned hijacking or the trial.

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