Hillarysworld

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Uzbekistan wants deeper US ties, expects visit by Clinton

TASHKENT: Uzbekistan wants to boost cooperation with the United States and expects a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this year, according to a government document obtained by AFP on Thursday.

The document, a five-page strategy paper on US-Uzbek relations, appears to signal Tashkent’s eagerness to mend ties damaged after Washington sharply criticised Uzbekistan’s quelling of a 2005 armed uprising.

The paper, titled “An Action Plan for Strengthening Bilateral Cooperation Between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the United States of America in 2010,” was approved by Uzbek President Islam Karimov on January 11.

Its agenda includes a visit from Clinton within the next six months and greater cooperation on stabilizing Uzbekistan’s neighbour Afghanistan, a key concern for Washington as it steps up efforts against the Taliban.

The United States has not announced plans for a Clinton visit to Uzbekistan and the US embassy in Tashkent declined to immediately comment on the visit proposed in the document.

There has been a flurry of US diplomatic activity in the Central Asian county over the past year, including two visits by General David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Human rights groups often accuse Uzbekistan, an isolated ex-Soviet republic which shares a strategic border with Afghanistan, of not tolerating political dissent at home.

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EURASIA INSIGHT

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UZBEKISTAN: TASHKENT THROWS A DIPLOMATIC CURVEBALL TO WASHINGTON

Deirdre Tynan 1/28/10

If Uzbekistan has its way, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be paying a visit to Tashkent in the not so distant future.

No specific date has yet been set for the secretary of state’s proposed trip to the Uzbek capital. The visit would take place under the auspices of an action plan authorized by Uzbek President Islam Karimov on January 11. The framework document is the product of US-Uzbek political consultations held in Washington late last year, according to a report distributed by the Gazeta.uz news website January 28. The action plan envisions Clinton’s visit as taking place before the summer.

Uzbek news reports on the approval of the Action Plan appeared to come as a surprise to US officials. The US Embassy in Tashkent was quick to downplay expectations of a Clinton visit. Uzbekistan is one of Central Asia’s most repressive states, but it is also a country that Washington does not want to upset, given Tashkent’s growing strategic importance as a conduit for supplies heading to Afghanistan.

"Naturally part of this [diplomatic] process will involve meetings and contact with Uzbek officials and our goal and hope is to gradually ramp up that level of engagement. Right now we don’t have any specifics on who will engage at what level or at what day," the US envoy to Uzbekistan, Richard Norland, said during a January 28 news conference.

"The fact that a work plan has been approved by the presidential authority gives it tremendous weight. But who will meet who and when, and on what date, has not been decided," he emphasized.

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-- Edited by Sanders on Thursday 28th of January 2010 10:26:03 PM