Washington Post - 03.13.2002

 

 

Uzbekistan Thanked For Role In War
U.S., Tashkent Sign Cooperation Pact

By Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writer

President Islam A. Karimov of Uzbekistan, once regarded by the United States as a pariah because of his country's human rights record, yesterday met in the Oval Office with President Bush and received thanks for Uzbekistan's help in the war on terrorism.

In a sign of the dramatic shift in international relations in the six months following the Sept. 11 attacks, Karimov, who allowed U.S. troops to use an air base in his country for the war in neighboring Afghanistan, also lunched with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. Uzbek and American officials signed a five-point "Strategic Partntership" agreement.

It calls for the United States to "regard with grave concern any external threat" to Uzbekistan while committing the former Soviet state to "intensify the democratic transformation of its society politically and economically." In general terms, the two countries agreed to cooperate on economic, legal, humanitarian and nuclear proliferation matters. Powell signed an agreement to buy land for a new U.S. embassy in Tashkent, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank granted Uzbekistan a $55 million credit guarantee. The United States also is tripling foreign aid to Uzbekistan, to $160 million.

In a 45-minute session with Karimov, Bush "expressed appreciation" for Uzbekistan's assistance during the Afghanistan campaign while also pressing Karimov on human rights and economic liberalization, spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Karimov, who is scheduled to meet Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today and visit the World Trade Center ruins in New York, has been a target for human rights groups, who charge him with torture of Islamic dissidents, arbitrary arrests and sentences, and prisoner deaths. Reports from the State Department and independent groups such as Amnesty International have cited torture by Karimov's regime.

But the actions against Islamic militants, some with links to al Qaeda, have been viewed differently in recent months. Also, Karimov has initiated political reforms and has begun to grant international access to prisons and courts.

Publicly and privately, Bush and his aides sought to balance their gratitude for Karimov's military cooperation with his repressive policies. "Karimov has been a solid coalition partner," Powell testified in a congressional hearing yesterday. "At the same time, there are problems with respect to human rights in Uzbekistan and we will not shrink from discussing them."

Though the Bush administration has said it does not want a permanent American military presence in Uzbekistan, the 1,000 troops stationed there have aggravated Russian fears about a growing U.S. influence in Central Asia.

Earlier yesterday, Bush had an hour-long meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, part of a series of meetings in preparation for Bush's May visit to Russia. Ivanov said the two discussed terrorism and nuclear arms reductions but did not talk about a Pentagon study of U.S. nuclear strategy that has angered Russia. Ivanov said he is discussing the issue with Rumsfeld. The two plan to hold a news conference today.

In his testimony yesterday, Powell told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee that no particular country is being routinely targeted with nuclear weapons and the United States is not lowering the standard for using them.