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You have been sent this message from [EMAIL PROTECTED] as a courtesy of the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5492-2002Jun30.html Uzbek-U.S. Declaration Kept Secret TASHKENT, Uzbekistan -- When President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan came to Washington in March, he signed an unusual diplomatic document that almost no one noticed. The Declaration on the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Framework between the United States and Uzbekistan spelled out not only a new U.S. promise to "regard with grave concern any external threat to the security and territorial integrity of the Republic of Uzbekistan" but also a menu of political and economic reforms the Uzbeks promised to take. They included "ensuring respect for human rights and freedoms . . . enhancing the role of democratic and political institutions in the life of society; establishing a genuine multiparty system . . . ensuring the independence of the media . . . [and] improving the judicial and legal system." These suggestions came primarily from the Uzbek side. But just who wrote them is disputed; Foreign Ministry officials said they drafted the language, but Karimov said it came from his staff. A senior U.S. official said it looked as though reformers in the Foreign Ministry were trying to exploit Karimov's visit to Washington to push their agenda forward. Many entrenched interests that profit from the status quo are resisting modernizing and liberalizing reforms, according to numerous sources. On its face, the document seems to commit the Uzbeks to a radical course of action -- something Karimov has carefully avoided for more than a dozen years as Uzbekistan's leader, both when it was a Soviet republic and an independent nation. But the document was never released to the public, either in Washington or in Uzbekistan. Very few people know of its existence, and fewer still have read it. Robert G. Kaiser --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
