US to alter policy on Uzbekistan: Rice

Xinhuanet October 13 US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States will alter its policy on Uzbekistan, and it will continue to implement its current policy on other Central Asian countries, according to reports from Astana, capital of Kazakhstan. The US still expects the Uzbek government will turn around its current stance, and make strategic choices that are favorable to the reform, said Rice in a speech at a university in Astana. However, the US will not merely wait for that day to come and will continue to enhance the cooperation with other Central Asian states, no matter what stand Uzbekistan will adopt, Rice added. The US does not want to keep the permanent military presence inKyrgyzstan or other Central Asian countries, but is asking for backup to fight the war on terrorism, Rice added. Uzbekistan offered to provide the US with Karshi-Khanabad, known as K-2, for establishing military base shortly after the anti-terrorism war broke out in Afghanistan in 2001. Hence, the US-Uzbekistan relation was quite close for that period of time. The relation began to deteriorate after Uzbek security forces staged a crackdown against an uprising in Andijan in May 2005. In July, the Uzbek government ordered US troops to leave K-2 base within 180 days. Before setting off to the region for the tour, Rice pointedly emphasized that she would avoid visiting Uzbekistan. Rice arrived in Kazakhstan Wednesday evening for a one-day visit. She had previously visited Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, and Tajikistan will be her next stop.