NATO officials hold talks, open scientific conference in Uzbekistan


Associated Press
June 13

Ateam of NATO officials held talks and opened a scientific conference in the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, Uzbek officials said Thursday.

NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Scientific and Environmental Affairs Jean Fournet met Wednesday with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov. NATO officials also opened a two-day scientific conference in Tashkent Thursday on regional energy, environmental and water supply issues.

Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, has intensified military cooperation with the West since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the United States.

The Uzbek government has allowed the U.S. and other countries to use its airspace and station troops on its soil as part of the ongoing anti-terrorist operation in neighboring Afghanistan.

An Uzbek peacekeeping battalion is due to take part in a military exercise organized by NATO's Partnership for Peace program next week in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.