Uzbekistan confirms exclusion of Germany from its ban on use of territory

People's Daily Online November 25 Uzbekistan confirms exclusion of Germany from its ban on use of territory Uzbekistan confirmed Thursday that German troops could remain at its Termez military base though several other European nations have been banned from using the territory or airspace of the Central Asian state for military operations in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan has told several European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), such as Spain, Belgium and Sweden, that they could no longer use its territory as a rear base for operations in Afghanistan, but Germany is excluded from the ban, according to reports from Tashkent quoting an Uzbek official. "No notification has been sent to Germany. Its base in the south will no doubt remain," said the official who refused to disclose his name. Some 300 German troops are stationed at Termez on the Uzbek-Afghan borders, mostly maintenance crews for aircraft used in supporting the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The German embassy in Uzbekistan confirmed Thursday that the base is still used by the German troops. The Uzbek ban will take effect from Jan. 1 and it is a response to an EU decision to impose visa bans on 12 top Uzbek officials and an arms embargo on Uzbekistan, according to NATO officials. Relations between Uzbekistan and the West went soured since May as the West criticized Tashkent over the crackdown of rebel riots in Andijan. At the request of Tashkent, the United States closed on Monday its key military base built at Khanabad Airport in the south of Uzbekistan, ending its four-year presence in the Central Asian strategic state.