If the SCO gains influence it will be interesting to see how it affects the U.S. base of more than 1,000 troops.
President Putin wants to get American military bases out of Central Asia. Specifically, he has in mind the Hanabad base in Uzbekistan and the Bishkek-Manas base in Kyrgyzstan.
-Am
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 · Last updated 8:29 a.m. PT
By AZIZ NURITOV ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- The U.S. State Department's decision to cut aid to Uzbekistan, its strategic Central Asian ally in the war on terror, may push it to seek closer ties with Russia and China, analysts said Wednesday.
The State Department on Tuesday decided not to certify Uzbekistan for military and economic aid of up to US$18 million this year because of a "lack of progress on democratic reform and restrictions put on U.S. assistance partners on the ground."
U.S. law requires a human rights certification from the secretary of state before appropriated foreign aid money can be dispersed.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Uzbekistan provided Washington with an air base to support the anti-terrorist campaign in neighboring Afghanistan. The base currently hosts more than 1,000 U.S. troops.
The United States said it would use its new, close partnership with Uzbekistan to promote democratic development in the nation, whose government is seen as one of the most repressive in the region.
The closer ties with Washington have drawn increased international attention to widespread human rights abuses in Uzbekistan.
Apparently wary of such criticism, Uzbekistan has recently sought security guarantees within the China- and Russia-dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
The organization, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, is seen as China's and Russia's bid to counter growing U.S. influence in Central Asia.
Uzbek Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilkhom Zakirov said Wednesday U.S. human rights standards "may be too high for Uzbekistan, which has just started to move toward democracy."
He said, however, that Foreign Minister Sadyk Safayev and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Jones had agreed Wednesday in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, that despite the State Department decision, the two countries saw no obstacles to continuing and developing cooperation in various fields.
Uzbek political analyst Alisher Taksanov predicted the United States' latest move would push Uzbekistan closer to Russia and China.
"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a club of human rights abusers, where Uzbekistan is very welcome," he said.
Earlier this year, Uzbek authorities accused U.S. aid groups of interfering in the country's internal affairs by helping banned opposition organizations, and they tightened restrictions on foreign aid groups.
Meanwhile, rights activists have accused the Uzbek government of a fresh crackdown on dissent after recent attacks and suicide bombings in Tashkent and in the central Bukhara region that killed 47 people. The attacks were blamed on Islamic militants.
Arkady Dubnov, a regional expert and columnist at the Moscow-based newspaper Vremya Novostei, said the recent warming in Uzbekistan's relations with Russia could have been triggered by President Islam Karimov's irritation over Western criticism of his government's human rights record.
"Russia is trying to take advantage of its former satellites' huge frustration over Western pressure" over lack of democracy and human rights, he said.
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