ASSOCIATED PRESS
December 12

Uzbekistan will allow the United States to keep troops at a southern base there only as long as they are needed for the war on terror in Afghanistan, and would not allow a permanent deployment, the president said Thursday.

Islam Karimov said he is opposed to the further ''militarization'' of Central Asia and said Uzbekistan needs more money, not more foreign troops.

''Don't give us weapons, give us economic help,'' Karimov said. ''We should protect ourselves not with bases, not with the military, but with economic and humanitarian development.''

The U.S.-led anti-terror coalition has used an air base in the southern Uzbek town of Khanabad since shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. In exchange, Washington tripled its foreign aid to Uzbekistan to some $500 million last year. Cooperation between the countries had been hindered before by Uzbekistan's poor human rights record.

The United States is considering the best way to realign troops from Cold War-era bases in Germany and other NATO nations. Its forces could go to new bases closer to potential trouble spots like the Middle East, the Balkans or Central Asia. U.S. officials believe the realignment will enable better respond to new threats such as terrorism.

Karimov said Washington hadn't yet approached Tashkent about making the base a permanent outpost in Central Asia, and that Uzbekistan would only offer use of Khanabad as long as anti-terrorist operations continue in Afghanistan.

''We are ready to offer the United States to extend the cooperation with Khanabad in accordance with anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan,'' Karimov said at a news conference.

Central Asia is viewed as a key region of rising U.S. interests, both because of lingering potential terrorist threats and key energy projects - along with its strategic position neighboring Afghanistan, China, Iran and Russia.

U.S. and Russian diplomats met Wednesday in Moscow over the planned realignment of American forces, with U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman seeking to assure Russia that the moves shouldn't be viewed as threatening.

Russia has viewed the region as part of its sphere of influence since the 19th century. In October, Russia opened its first new military base on foreign soil since the Soviet collapse in the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, close to a U.S.-led coalition base also operating there.

Karimov said Uzbekistan believes the Khanabad base ''has already played its role'' in the anti-terrorist campaign. However, he said he would offer use of Uzbek facilities to NATO, which now commands peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.

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