US Admiral William Fallon plans to visit Uzbekistan soon, he said yesterday, in what would be the first high-level attempt to mend ties since relations broke off in 2005.
The United States condemned Uzbekistan, once a US ally in its war on terror, when troops fired on a protest in the town of Andizhan in 2005. Uzbekistan in return evicted US troops from a key military airbase used as a hub for US operations in Afghanistan.
Fallon, head of the US military Central Command, said he planned to visit the Central Asian nation but did not say when.
"I would like to pay a future visit to Tashkent," he told reporters during a visit to Tajikistan, another Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan.
The US embassy in Uzbekistan confirmed that a visit was planned but did not disclose the date.
Fallon was tight-lipped on the agenda but said he had no plans to discuss the airbase issue.
"But in any event a visit there would not involve any discussions on the base from my initiative," Fallon said.
"That's not something that we have on our agenda," he said, adding he would travel to Pakistan and Afghanistan first.
Uzbekistan's ties with the West suffered a blow in 2005 when troops fired on protesters in Andizhan, killing hundreds, according to witnesses.
The Uzbek government blamed the violence on Islamic rebels and said only security forces and terrorists died at the time.
In another sign of more active diplomatic contacts, Pierre Morel, EU Special Representative for Central Asia, met Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent last week.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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