From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Wed Aug 30 2000 - 10:33:24 EDT
UZBEK PRESIDENT CALLS ON CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES TO COORDINATE ANTI-
TERRORIST FIGHTING
TASHKENT. Aug 30 (Interfax) - Uzbek President Islam Karimov has
called on Central Asian countries to coordinate their activities in
fighting international terrorists.
Speaking at a parliament session in Tashkent on Wednesday, he
called on Tajiks not to allow "our common enemy" to take shelter "on
sacred Tajik soil."
Fugitives from Uzbekistan have undergone training in Afghanistan
and eastern Tajikistan and have become professional militants and
terrorists, Karimov said. He praised the Tajik Cabinet for its effort to
instill peace and stability in its country.
"Peace has just begun to take hold in Tajikistan, but certain
countries want it to swerve from the road it has taken. Those who
fomented trouble in Tajikistan and now pose as neutrals are supporting
terrorists who want to subvert Uzbekistan. These cowardly groups will
stop at nothing. It is not accidental that they are targeting
Uzbekistan, the region's largest country. The choice that Uzbekistan
makes will influence the entire region," Karimov said.
Karimov praised Kyrgyz army units fighting militants who are trying
to infiltrate into Uzbekistan from Tajikistan across Kyrgyzstan.
Uzbekistan supports whatever Kyrgyzstan and its president, Askar Akayev,
are doing, he said.
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