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Uzbekistan foreign minister in Japan gets aid pledges
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|  apan and Uzbekistan agreed Thursday [25th
November] to beef up bilateral ties, with Tokyo committing up to 15.56bn
yen in loans for expanding telecommunications networks and modernizing
airports in the former Soviet republic, a Japanese official said.
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Foreign Minister Yohei Kono made the
commitments during separate meetings with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz
Komilov, who arrived in Tokyo earlier Thursday for a three-day visit.
Kono and Komilov exchanged notes on the untied yen-denominated loans and
issued a joint communique reaffirming their efforts to promote political
dialogue between the two countries.
Up to 12,692 million yen of the credit is earmarked for expanding telecom
networks while 2,871 million yen will go for a project to modernize
regional airports.
Obuchi told Kamilov that he hopes the projects "will be completed at an
early date and contribute to the economic development of Uzbekistan," the
official said.
Combining the fresh loans, Japan's yen credit to Uzbekistan will total
49,891 million yen.
Both Obuchi and Kono extended their appreciation for Uzbekistan's assistance
last month in resolving the hostage crisis involving Japanese nationals in
neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.
Four Japanese mining engineers were abducted by Islamic guerrillas 23rd
August and freed 24th October.
Kamilov handed Obuchi a letter from Uzbek President Islam Karimov inviting
him to visit Uzbekistan. Obuchi told Kamilov he plans to visit the country
the near future, the official said.
Kono and Kamilov vowed to strengthen friendship between the two countries
and strengthen cooperation in various fields, including trade, investment,
scientific, technical and humanitarian cooperation, education, culture,
tourism, sports and combating terrorism and organized crime, the communique
said. The two ministers also expressed their intention to enhance political
dialogues through regular consultations at appropriate levels on bilateral
and international issues. (Kyodo News Service)
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Why was Laylo murdered?
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|  o here to read about the murder of Uzbek pop singer Laylo Alieva. (Pravda Vostoka, November 26, 1999)."Why was Laylo murdered?"
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Uzbek president to run for another term
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|  zbek President Islam Karimov has officially
declared his intention to run for the second term.
He has been nominated as a candidate by the National Democratic Party
Fidokorlar (Selflessness).
Fidokorlar is the fifth and latest of Uzbekistan's registered parties.
It was called into being by Karimov a year ago. He forecast a successful
future and a crucial role of the party.
Karimov was nominated as a presidential candidate by two other parties, but
he agreed to run from Fidokorlar in the elections due on 9th January.
The central election commission in its Thursday[25th November] release
announced his formal registration.
He ran for his first term as a candidate of the Popular Democratic Party of
Uzbekistan in December of 1991, of which he was then the chairman.
The party nominated for the new elections Abdulkhafiz Jalalov, 52, the
leader of the party's parliamentary faction.
The central election commission also registered Jalalov for the elections on
Thursday. (Itar-TASS)
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Uzbekistan-India 3:2
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| zbekistan beat its third consecutive match in the Asian qualifying against India 3:2.
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Italian defense chief to visit CIS countries, Romania
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|  talian Defense Minister Carlo Scognamiglio will visit Uzbekistan, Georgia and Romania from Thursday, the ministry
announced Wednesday.
In Uzbekistan, Scognamiglio will sign a cooperation agreement with his counterpart Khikmatulla Tursunov and meet with Prime
Minister Utkir Sultanov.
On Sunday he travels to Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, for talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze before flying to Romania for
a meeting with his opposite number Victor Babiuc.
Former Soviet republics Uzbekistan and Georgia are now members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). (Agence France Presse)
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Fighting between Uzbek troops and Islamic rebels kills 23
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|  he death toll in fighting between Uzbek troops and Islamic rebels has reached 23 people this month, Uzbek officials said on
Wednesday.
The gunmen are accused of killing three high-ranking Uzbek security officers and three forest rangers on November 15 some
120 kilometers (some 75 miles) east of the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.
Four rebels were killed in separate shooting the next day.
On Wednesday, officials said 10 rebels and three federal soldiers were killed in fighting earlier this week, when government
troops attacked a rebel hideout in eastern Uzbekistan.
The gunmen are part of a group of Islamic rebels who invaded Kyrgyzstan in August and held four Japanese geologists and nine
Kyrgyz citizens hostage for more than two months.
All but one of the hostages were later released unharmed.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov blamed Kyrgyzstan for not destroying the rebels in August when they first appeared and sent in
1,500 Uzbek troops to "neutralize" the gunmen around Yangiabad.
"A group to clean the territory of armed bandits continued to work today (Wednesday) in the mountains," Deputy Interior Minister
Bokhogyr Matlyobov said. (Agence France Presse)
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Defence ministers of GUUAM countries to meet in Tbilisi
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|  meeting of defence ministers of a group of GUUAM states (Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan,
Moldova) are to meet in Tbilisi in January, 2000, Lieutenant-General Johni Pirtskhalajshvili, chief of the general
staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, told journalists on Tuesday.
The meeting of the defence ministers will be preceded by consultations of deputy chiefs of staff of GUUAM
members scheduled in Tbilisi for December, 1999.
GUUAM is a consultative organization which incorporates Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and
Moldova. The process of the establishment of this organization continued from 1998 until April, 1999 when the
organization was joined by Uzbekistan.
In October, 1999 the Georgian president declared that GUUAM is not a military bloc and that this organization
has no military goals and poses no threat to other states. The Georgian president pointed out that GUUAM
concentrates its activities on cooperation on the field of economy, transport, electric power engineering and
problems of settlement of conflicts. (Itar-TASS)
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OSCE not to send full observer mission for Uzbek poll
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| he OSCE will send only a limited number of monitors to
Uzbekistan for the 5 December parliamentary elections,
Interfax reported on 22 November, citing the OSCE office in
Tashkent. The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR) said that Uzbekistan's electoral law falls far
short of OSCE requirements and that conditions do not exist
either for the emergence of a genuine opposition or for a
free election campaign. (RFERL)
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Uzbek helicopters conduct bombing raid to destroy Islamic militants
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| zbek military helicopters bombed a mountain gorge in the east of the country in an attack on Islamic
militants accused of killing six people in a series of shoot-outs last week, security officials said on Tuesday.
The air raids were conducted Monday in the mountains near Yangiabad, some 120 kilometers (some 75 miles)
east of the Uzbek capital Tashkent.
"Today an investigative group was sent to the place to evaluate the results of the bombing," Tashkent
regional prosecutor Buritash Saidullayev told AFP.
The investigators will determine "how many strikes there were and how many rebels we successfully
neutralised," he added.
In the fighting, which broke out at a tourist resort near Yangiabad more than a week ago, three high-ranking
Uzbek security officers, three forest rangers and four of the militants were killed in three separate skirmishes.
Investigators are looking for more than 10 rebels thought to still be hiding in the mountains, police said.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov sent in 1,500 troops to hunt down the gunmen, who are believed to part of the
same group that took four Japanese geologists hostage from August to October in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Karimov, an authoritarian leader who advocates the use of force to stop the spread of Muslim extremism in the
region, blamed Kyrgyzstan for not eliminating the gunmen.
Most of the gunmen, who are led by Uzbek warlord Djuma Namangani, were reported to have retreated south
into Tajikistan and Afghanistan following the Kyrgyz hostage crisis.
Kyrgyz national security committee secretary Bolot Dzhanuzakov said this week the rebels' goal is to
destabilise Central Asia so that their drug trafficking routes remain open. (Agence France Presse)
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New Boeing is expected to arrive
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| he second Boeing 757, that the Uzbekistan Airways was supposed to lease in the first quarter of 2000, will arrive in Uzbekistan November. This will allow to reduce the plane's cost by 0.29 million dollars. The first Boeing-757 arrived in Uzbekistan this September. The cost of both 184-seat planes is 104.98 million dollars.
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New ambassadors present their credentials
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| hree ambassadors-designate presented their credentials to President Islam Karimov on November 23. They are from Ernoe Keskeny of Hungary, David Donaghue of Ireland and Dmitriy Ryrikov of Russia. Ambassador
Keskeny, who also represents Hungary in Russia, held talks with
Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Komilov and Minister of Foreign Economic
Relations Elyor Ghaniyev on developing bilateral relations.
Keskeny met Chief Mufti Abdurashid Bakromov, chairman of the Muslim Board of
Central Asia. Hungarian President Arpad Goencz visited Tashkent in 1997. The Uzbek head of
state was scheduled to return the visit this year but, on Tashkent's
request, his trip was postponed.
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Uzbekistan-Sri-Lanka 6:0
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| zbekistan National Soccer team won its second consecutive Asian qualifying match with the same result - 6:0. Forward Maksim Shatskikh of Dynamo Kiev didn't play in the match against Sri-Lanka as he had left for Ukraine to play against Real Madrid in the Champions League. But he will return to the Emirates for Uzbekistan's third match against India. The host team, the UAE beat Bangladesh 3:0 and scored six points after two matches as well.
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Uzbek customs arrest drug dealers
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| zbek customs arrested two Tajik nationals and two
Russians for trying to smuggle 418 kg of drugs, including heroin, opium and
hashish, out of Uzbekistan, the Uzbek customs agency said today.
The drugs were hidden in the trailer of a truck that was in transit from
Tajikistan to Russia and was searched by customs on the Uzbek-Tajik border.
The detainees were two drivers who were Tajik nationals and two Russians who
had been guarding the cargo, the agency's press service told Interfax.
Drugs have been increasingly smuggled into Uzbekistan from Tajikistan by
couriers, most of whom are Tajik women, elderly people and children, the
press service said.
Uzbek customs have confiscated 2.6 tonnes of drugs this year.
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Turkey's Afghan coordinator holds talks in Uzbekistan
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| mbassador Aydemir Erman, Turkey's Afghan coordinator, today
arrived in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, in order to hold various
contacts and to conduct talks.
Erman first met with Ethem Haydarov, the Uzbek deputy foreign minister.
He later met with the representatives of various groups in Afghanistan at
the Afghan Embassy in Tashkent.
In a statement to AA [Anatolia] on his visit, Erman said that Turkey is
taking a close interest in Afghanistan, adding that it wants peace to reign
in this country as soon as possible. He continued: "At the contacts we are
holding, we are conveying Turkey's views. At the same time, we are
listening the views and approaches of Afghanistan's neighbours on the
issue."
Pointing out the significance of Uzbekistan in the solution of the Afghan
problem, Erman stressed that the "six plus two" group meeting organized in
Tashkent in July was one of the most serious activities conducted on the
issue so far.
Erman will meet with the UN Tashkent representative tomorrow and will then
talk to various Afghan citizens living in Tashkent. (Anatolia news agency, November 22)
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Uzbek pop singer Laylo's murderers are Al-Vakil soloists
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| court in the Uzbek capital has sentenced two citizens of Uzbekistan to
death for murdering a singer. The famous pop singer and rising star, Laylo Aliyeva, "loved to buy expensive clothes and especially jewellry and never thought that her expensive gold and diamond
jewellry might be the cause of her death," says an article in "Adolat" newspaper. Two young men, named as Arsen Arutyunyan, born in 1979, and Danis Sirojev, born in 1975, who were singers in a popular group, killed Aliyeva then removed her jewels worth around 20,000 dollars and ran off. "One can not believe that she was mercilessly murdered by soloists of the Al-vakil pop-group where she was a singer," the report says. As a result of measures taken by the police, the killers were detained in Moscow. Others who knew about the crime but did not tell the law enforcement agencies were punished "accordingly", it added. Laylo was murdered in May 1998.
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Uzbekistan-Bangladesh 6:0
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| zbekistan national soccer team beat Bangladesh 6:0 in the first qualifying of the Asian Championship.
Uzbekistan scored three goals in each half. Maksim Shatskikh (Dynamo Kiev) netted twice in the 52nd and 75th minutes and the other goals came from Mirdjalal Kasimov (Alanya) (38th), Otabek Pirmatov (38th), Fevzi
Davletov (46th) and Abdukahhor Marifaliev (86th).
The only winner of the group will join 11 others in the Asian Cup finals to be held in Lebanon next year.
The United Arab Emirates overcame a 1-0 deficit to thump India 3-1. On Tuesday, Sri Lanka will face Uzbekistan and the Emirates will take on Bangladesh.
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Uzbek servicemen conduct operation to seize terrorists
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| zbek servicemen are continuing an operation near the city of Yangiabad to find and
arrest the terrorists who made an attack near the city.
Last Monday, the group of about 20 people opened fire from submachine guns and shot six people, including three policemen,
near Yangiabad, 40 kilometres from the Uzbek capital.
For five days, Uzbek units have been thoroughly combing the territory in search of the terrorists. Three days ago, five of the
bandits were killed in an exchange of gunfire. Three of them are already identified. One of them was on a wanted list for
participating in the attack on a customs post last spring.
Along with the search operation, the military take all necessary measures to ensure normal life in the region. More than 1,500
people control mountainous roads and pathways, while special units examine gorges and caves.
The group of bandits could have penetrated into Uzbekistan from one of the neigbouring states.
Uzbek Interior Ministry officials say all the rest bandits from the group will be found. If they do not surrender, they will be killed
on the spot.
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