Uzbek Foreign Ministry: Security in Central Asia depends on stability in Afghanistan

Associated Press October 5 Security in Central Asia depends directly on peace and stability in Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Tuesday after talks with a senior U.S. diplomat. Tashkent and Washington cooperate actively to help Afghanistan's political and economic revival, the ministry said in a statement following the meeting between U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political and Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield and Uzbek Foreign Minister Sadyk Safayev. On Saturday, Afghanistan will hold its first presidential election since a U.S.-led invasion following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America. Uzbekistan became a key ally in the U.S. war on terror, and hosts hundreds of American troops on a base in the southern part of the country, supporting operations in neighboring Afghanistan. On Aug. 16, 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush announced a restructuring of U.S. military forces overseas. Top Pentagon officials said then that the United States would make greater use of training and logistics bases on the soil of new allies such as Uzbekistan, Poland and Romania, while closing some U.S. installations in Europe to consolidate forces at larger bases there. Bloomfield's visit to Uzbekistan is part of U.S. defense consultations with friends and allies, the U.S. Embassy in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, said. Bloomfield also met with President Islam Karimov and Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov.