Central Asia dilemma spurs US talk on reviving Uzbek ties

Central Asia dilemma spurs US talk on reviving Uzbek ties
By Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: May 18 2006 20:20 | Last updated: May 18 2006 20:20

Recent moves by the great powers in central Asia are beginning to resemble the ancient Chinese board game of Go, where the object is to gain territory by encirclement.


Meanwhile, the Bush adm­in­istration’s drive to shore up its weakening position in the region has led to a fierce internal debate on the merits of trying to rebuild broken links with Uzbekistan, the linchpin of central Asia.

The discussion has intensified this month with the first anniversary of mass killings that occurred in the eastern Uzbek town of Andijan. Those events, still hotly disputed by the Uzbek authorities, led to a breakdown in relations between Tashkent and Washington and the expulsion of US forces from Khanabad, their most important base in central Asia outside Afghanistan.

Now vice-president Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, are said by officials and analysts to favour an attempt to reach out to President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan, for purely strategic reasons.
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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/a71bd6d8-e6a2-11da-a36e-0000779e2340,_i_rssPage=60b10cd4-c8f2-11d7-81c6-0820abe49a01.html

So now they want him back as a "friend".