Reuters
January 6
isiting U.S. senators said on Sunday Washington would press Uzbekistan's
government to show more respect for human rights and democracy, despite the Central Asian country's new role as
an ally in the ``war on terrorism.''
The nine senators, led by Democrat Joseph Lieberman and former presidential candidate Republican John McCain, arrived from Turkey late Saturday and held talks with President Islam Karimov and his defense minister Sunday.
``The United States will remain faithful and persistent in advocating increasing democratization and recognition of human rights here,'' Lieberman said.
``The reality is that where there is no freedom and economic opportunity there is the ground in which extremism can grow.''
Lieberman said that it had taken the September 11 attacks to open Washington's eyes to the reality of post-Soviet Central Asia and vowed it would keep the region on its radar screens in the future.
``Our interest in this region post September 11 is going to be permanent,'' Lieberman said. The senators praised Uzbekistan's support for U.S. military action in Afghanistan .
Uzbekistan, where Karimov tolerates little opposition to his rule and economic reforms have been put on hold, has become a key U.S. ally in Central Asia after allowing use of its Khanabad airbase in the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan.
Tashkent, harshly critical of the purist Taliban movement which it had accused of drugs and ``terrorists'' sent to destabilize ex-Soviet Central Asia, hailed the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan and the ensuing change of government there.
Karimov has repeatedly stressed that the Khanabad base can be used only for humanitarian and search and rescue operations.
But the base deal created an important precedent, and Central Asian neighbors Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also agreed to allow coalition forces to use their airfields.
IRON HAND
Karimov, a former Communist party apparatchik, has ruled his Muslim nation of 25 million with an iron hand since Soviet days. He has muzzled the opposition and international human rights groups regularly report on abuses by security forces.
Karimov has been strengthened by international recognition of his role in the ``war on terrorism,'' and the docile parliament last month voted to hold a referendum on extending his present five-year term by two years to 2007. The poll will be held later this month.
A similar nationwide poll in 1995 extended Karimov's time in office until 2000 when he was part-way through his first term.
Karimov, 63, says he is concerned by militant Islamic extremism of the Taliban type and therefore the state must control tightly all facets of political life in the country.
His critics argue however that low living standards stemming from snail-paced reforms, and political repression, drive some Uzbeks to seek consolation in radical Islam.
The U.S. delegation aimed to visit Tajikistan, Pakistan, Oman and India as part of a week-long tour ``to gather information on the war on terrorism,'' the U.S. embassy in Tashkent said.