Тайное сотрудничество между двумя странами началось еще в 1998 году, когда после терактов в американских посольствах в Африке президент Клинтон подписал приказ, позволяющий ЦРУ использовать секретные операции для того, чтобы срывать и предотвращать теракты бин Ладена.

Уже тогда разведка США знала, что террористическая организация бин Ладена базируется в Афганистане, и предложила властям Узбекистана, граничащего в Афганистаном, сотрудничество с целью противодействия бин Ладену. Это сотрудничество еще упрочилось после взрыва эсминца "Коул".

По мнению наблюдателей, именно это сотрудничество повлияло на решение Узбекистана, который одним из первых заявил о своей поддержке США в борьбе с международным терроризмом и позже предоставил воздушное пространство и военные базы американским войскам.

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Fox news заявил о двух узбекских военных аэродромах, которые могут использовать вооруженные силы США. Объекты расположены вблизи театра военных действий и использовались СССР для военного обеспечения своих войск в Афганистане.

Между тем, Секретарь Совета безопасности Узбекистана в воскресенье заявил по российскому телевидению, что аэродромы предоставлены США лишь для военно-транспортных самолетов и что американских солдат на узбекской территории нет.

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Сокрушив всех своих соперников, Пулатов принес в копилку узбекистанцев единственную золотую медаль. Еще одну медаль, серебряную, принес для сборной Фатхулла Халилов из Бухары.

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Talks between a Kyrgyz governmental commission and representatives of the Uzbek government on the supply of gas "have not solved the problem" he said. In this connection, Kyrgyzstan is preparing for an increase in electricity consumption, he said.

Kyrgyzstan supplies Uzbekistan with electricity and water from the Toktugul reservoir in exchange for fuel, lubricants and gas.

Panayev said that if Uzbekistan stops supplying gas, Kyrgyzstan will increase use of water from the Toktugul reservoir to increase electricity generation at the Toktugul Hydroelectric Station. In this case, the reservoir will not have enough water this winter and spring to supply Uzbekistan.

The deputy prime minister noted that in the past year Uzbekistan has periodically failed to fulfil the terms of delivery of fuel, lubricants and gas to Kyrgyzstan.

Uzbekistan is expected to supply Kyrgyzstan with gas in the amount of 300m cubic metres.

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This is a land of enormous economic potential but pitiful underachievement.

But by helping the United States in its drive to kick Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden out of Afghanistan -- President Islam Karimov has offered the United States an airbase and allowed it to base troops there -- it may see a change in its fortunes.

``When the dust settles and this is over, the countries which have cooperated with the West will get their piece of candy,'' says Alexander Lesser, a U.S. lawyer based in neighboring Kazakhstan and working with Western companies in the region.

Uzbekistan could use it, whether the candy takes the form of direct government aid, encouragement to bodies like the International Monetary Fund to step up activities there, or support for private investment.

U.S. and other media have already reported the arrival of 1,000 troops, but the secretive Tashkent government has refused to confirm even that, let alone where they are deployed.

Their arrival could allow for the rescue of Uzbekistan -- if the United States shows its appreciation in concrete form.

A LAND OF PLENTY

At first glance Uzbekistan appears to have everything.

Like Kazakhstan, where the economy is booming and gross domestic product growth is set for around 10 percent this year, the country has enormous reserves of oil and gas.

Unlike Kazakhstan, it also has an 81-ton-a-year gold mining industry, the fifth-largest cotton production in the world, an aircraft plant and a car industry.

With fabled cities like Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva on the ancient silk route to Asia, it has the potential for tourism to take off.

The country has a population of 25 million, easily the largest in former Soviet Central Asia, and enough to make it an attractive market. Tashkent, the capital, is the region's largest city, and by rights Central Asia's natural business hub.

But far from booming, Uzbekistan has seen investors leave in droves over the last two years as reforms, urgently needed to kick-start the economy, are repeatedly put off.

Even the IMF, weary of such delays, effectively closed its mission in Tashkent this year.

Reforms have meant Kazakhstan is taking off while Uzbekistan languishes, says one Western banker in Tashkent who asked to remain anonymous.

``Kazakhstan embarked, after much hesitation and soul searching, and some mistakes, on the liberalization of its economy,'' he said. ``The government still interferes in oil and gas, but the rest of the economy has been liberalized

``Here it's a different picture. The government is still the economic motor of everything. The state sector is still very important and the government still interferes, directly and indirectly, in the private sector.''

NON-CONVERTIBLE CURRENCY A PROBLEM

The main problem, says Lesser, is Uzbekistan's refusal to allow free convertibility of its currency, the som.

The official rate is 429.19 som to the U.S. dollar. The free rate, easily obtainable on the streets, is around 1,200.

A tiny number of well-connected businesses can buy dollars at the official rate, and consequently do a handsome trade importing goods for roughly a third of their true value.

But most cannot. And foreign firms find it all but impossible to convert soms into dollars at any price -- hence their withdrawal from the country.

As a result, while some of the world's largest oil and gas companies have made huge investments in Kazakhstan, virtually none are in Uzbekistan.

The same picture is true in most other sectors. An exception is the car industry, where South Korea's Daewoo has set up a joint venture, UzDaewoo -- but the parent company is bankrupt.

Tourism, which could bring in millions as Westerners look for ever more exotic destinations, has barely taken off.

A visit to the magnificent Registan, the main square of Samarkand and one of the great sights of Asia, reveals just a sprinkling of foreign tourists, mainly elderly people on expensive tours bought through a state firm.

Independent travel is virtually non-existent, and the government does little to support it. One senior Western diplomat in Tashkent recently described the tourism ministry as ''the ministry for the prevention of tourism.''

SOME SIGN OF IMPROVEMENT?

Peter Darjes, Tashkent representative of the Asia Development Bank, says there are signs of improvement.

He points out that an IMF mission is due in November to look at ways of developing a relationship again after announcing in March that it would cut its presence to a minimum.

``The international financial community has more confidence now than it did a year ago,'' he said, adding that many in the government accepted the need for reform but remained cautious.

``My view and the view of many in the government is that the economy could be better. I don't think the need for reform is in question, it's the pace of reform which is.''

This year, said the anonymous Western banker, cotton prices are low, and the whole region is scarred by drought.

This is likely to cut the harvest and so reduce a vital inflow of dollars, making it ever harder for the cash-strapped country to raise foreign credits.

Unless economic reforms take place soon, a generous, grateful U.S. candyman looks like the best hope for the immediate future.

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The press service said the cabinet met today to survey the republic's social and economic performance over nine months of this year and look at the pace of economic reforms.

Macroeconomics and Statistics Minister Rustam Azimov reported at the meeting that industrial production grew 7.6 per cent, agricultural output - 6.2 per cent, retail trade - 8.7 per cent, paid services to the population - 14.2 per cent, foreign trade turnover - 6.6 per cent, and export - 5.6 per cent.

He stressed that the reforms being carried out in the republic have made it possible to keep the economy stable at a macro level. Azimov also noted slower inflation, higher combined assets and capital at commercial banks, larger individual bank deposits, fewer bankrupt businesses, and faster privatization.

At the same time, the session stressed the need for applying investment more effectively and developing the country's export potential.

The government plans to raise GDP by 4.5 per cent, industrial production by 5.8 per cent and agricultural production by 5.5 per cent in 2001.

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This statement was made in an interview given to RIA-Novosti by the Uzbek president's press secretary Rustam Jumayev, in response to a claim made in the American Time magazine that Uzbekistan and the USA had signed an agreement allowing for the long-term presence of American soldiers and aircraft on Uzbek territory.

On Monday [15 October] the magazine informed its readers that more than 2,000 soldiers of the US 10th Mountain Rifle Division had already been deployed at the Khanabad military air base, and that it was this base that was being used as a jumping-off point by US and British special forces carrying out operations on the territory of Afghanistan.

"We don't know where Time obtained this kind of information," said the president's press secretary. He reiterated the fact that Uzbekistan's fundamental position with regard to the fight against international terrorism had been set out in a statement by Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

Jumayev noted that in the joint struggle against the "plague of the 21st century", Uzbekistan had made its airspace available to the US air force, and had allowed US transport planes and helicopters to land at one of Uzbekistan's military air bases.

"No permission has been granted for air strikes to be launched from Uzbek territory, nor for ground operations to be conducted against Afghanistan from this country," reiterated Rustam Jumayev. As he said, "this is our position regarding participation in the fight against international terrorism".

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Авторалли пройдет в два круга. Гонки стартуют 27 октября на центральном бульваре Ташкента - Сайилгох, и финишируют 28 октября в предместьях гор Чимгана. Всего на трассе протяженностью 332,62 км - восемь скоростных участков.

На соревнования допускаются автомобили с объемом двигателя от 1400 до 2000 куб. сантиметров.

В судейскую коллегию войдут по одному комиссару от Узбекистана, России и Казахстана.

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"Beeeengo!" someone yelled, and there was yet another winner at Golden Bingo, one of three gambling halls in Tashkent, capital of predominantly Muslim Uzbekistan.

"Many Muslims come here, hoping to win," said bingo hall worker Konstantin, 21. "They tell Allah, `Help me, help me,' and then they play.''

In Central Asia, Uzbekistan is where East meets West. Lovers hold hands and smooch along Broadway St., lined with open-air restaurants. Teenagers flock to all-night Internet cafes to chat online. Unescorted singles kick up their high heels at the Juliano disco.

And the young Uzbeks do so, they say, without surrendering Islam, their religion for centuries.

Leaders of Uzbekistan are intent on keeping their past while sampling what the West has to offer. Their approach makes it clear that not all Muslim nations are the same. Not all reject Western ways. Not all are like neighbouring Afghanistan, where music, television, kites and even paper bags are taboo under the Taliban regime.

"Thanks to Allah, I was born in Uzbekistan," said Dilyafruz Namatova, 24. "If I were living in Afghanistan, I would have to wear a full veil. The Taliban want women to live as if they were in the fifth century.''

Not that Namatova is casual about her faith. She is a devout Muslim who prays five times a day.

But in 1999, her mother warned her not to wear her veil outside the mosque after Islamic extremists set off car bombs in Tashkent, killing at least 16 people. Namatova's mother didn't want her to fall under suspicion.

The reasoning wasn't far-fetched.

Uzbek authorities take an extremely dim view of Islamic extremists. Just this weekend, local media reported that nine members of the banned religious group Khizb-ut-Takhrir, or Freedom Party in Arabic, had been sentenced to from nine to 12 years in prison. They were accused of having ties to Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind of terror to the West.

But Uzbek officials make no apologies for crackdowns. Islamic extremism is a threat to the country's sovereignty, they say. And after the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, they quickly joined the U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban who harbour bin Laden.

On the streets of Tashkent, Uzbeks say they support their government and appear convinced the country can clamp down on extremists and embrace the West — without losing Islam.

"It's impossible to live without God in your heart," explained a young man named Bakhrom. His interpretation of Islam is very much contemporary.

"I don't pray five times a day because I don't have the time,'' he said. "I'm stuck in the middle. At night, I go to the disco and, on Fridays, I go to the mosque.''

In decades past, the Soviets repressed Islam. They outlawed the Qur'an and banned followers from making pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Soviet destroyed scores of mosques and turned others into museums, factories and government buildings. The number of mosques plunged from about 25,000 in 1917 to 1,700 by the early 1940s. Believers say the number continued to plummet after that. Then the Soviet Union imploded. Islam was reborn, but it began to flourish alongside Western ways.

"We have many cultures. West and East are both here," said Lilia Husnutdinova, 21, who spent a recent night dancing at a glitzy Tashkent disco. "We watch European TV and have European culture in our life. In Afghanistan, they only have their own culture. Women can't do anything. Here women have no rules on how to live. We're modern Muslims.''

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