VZCZCXRO7746
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #1063/01 1751110
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241113Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1053
INFO ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
CIS COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHNT/AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TASHKENT 001063 
 
SENSITIVE 
CODEL 
SIPDIS 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN, H FOR LYNNEA SHANE AND DELORES PARKS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP PREL PGOV ASEC BEXP ENRG ETRD KNNP MARR MOPS
PHUM, PINS, PTER, SNAR, UZ 
SUBJECT: Uzbekistan: Scenesetter for CODEL Faleomavaega's June Visit 
 
Welcome to Uzbekistan 
 
---------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Embassy Tashkent warmly welcomes your trip, which marks 
the first visit by a Congressional delegation to Uzbekistan in four 
years.  Uzbekistan is the most populous country in Central Asia, 
its 28 million (overwhelmingly Muslim) people nearly as many as the 
other four former Soviet republics combined.  U.S. relations with 
Uzbekistan have improved since reaching their nadir in the spring 
of 2007.  We are working on establishing a political dialogue with 
Tashkent.  The Uzbeks are likely to respond favorably to your 
interest in discussing counterterrorism, counterproliferation, and 
arms and drug trafficking-issues that they have cited as among 
their priority areas for cooperation with the United States. 
 
 
 
Role in Afghanistan, Threat of Terrorism 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Uzbeks have expressed keen interest in-and concern 
about-stability in Afghanistan.  They have made no secret that they 
think democracy should be only a secondary priority and that the 
efforts of the international community have been less than perfect. 
That said, they are interested in helping.  Uzbekistan is playing 
an increasingly important role in our efforts to stabilize 
Afghanistan by permitting the transit by rail and road of 
non-lethal and non-military equipment across its borders in support 
of Coalition forces.  Uzbekistan recently simplified the clearance 
process for U.S. use of the German Termez air bridge by adding the 
United States to the list of International Security Assistance 
Force nations approved for its use and by waiving the earlier 
requirement to submit diplomatic notes for each case.  Over the 
past two years, Uzbekistan has hosted two significant international 
conferences on Afghan security that have included experts from the 
region and beyond.  The Uzbeks have finalized a deal with the 
Afghans for the transmission of electricity south and plan to 
increase deliveries in the future. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Uzbeks continue to push the "6+3" proposal for 
Afghanistan, first mooted by President Karimov at the 
NATO/Euro-Atlantic Partnership Committee summit in Bucharest in 
April 2008.  This proposal advises the creation of a "Contact 
Group" consisting of Afghanistan's neighbors, Russia, the United 
States, and NATO, and administered and coordinated by the United 
Nations.  We have reservations about this construct, however, given 
that it envisions no role for the elected Government of Afghanistan 
in discussions. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) The threat of terrorism in Uzbekistan remains very real. 
We continue to receive information that indicates terrorist groups 
may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan.  Supporters of terrorist 
groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Al-Qaida, the 
Islamic Jihad Union, and Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement are 
active in the region.  Uzbekistan experienced a wave of terrorist 
violence in 2004-including suicide bombings against the U.S. 
Embassy, Uzbek police, and Uzbek private and commercial 
facilities-and other incidents have occurred since then.  In May 
2005, armed militants stormed a prison in Andijon, released its 
prisoners, and then took control of the regional administration and 
other government buildings in Andijon province.  Fighting broke out 
between government forces and the militants in a crowded town 
square, and reports indicated that several hundred civilians died 
in the ensuing violence.  In late May 2009, there were attacks on a 
border post in Khonobod and a suicide bombing at a police station 
in the city of Andijon.  The Government of Uzbekistan prefers to 
avoid publicity of its support for Coalition operations in 
Afghanistan to mitigate the risk of additional terrorist attacks 
 
TASHKENT 00001063  002 OF 003 
 
 
against the country. 
 
 
 
Counternarcotics and Counterproliferation Cooperation 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The U.S. and Uzbekistan have been discussing the return of 
the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to Uzbekistan for nearly 
two years.  In mid-June, the Uzbeks granted accreditation to a DEA 
agent in a move that may foreshadow its reestablishment in the 
country as well as further counternarcotics cooperation and 
information-sharing.  The Government of Uzbekistan is genuinely 
concerned about narcotics trafficking through its territory from 
Afghanistan via Tajikistan, and information about seizures now 
appears on an almost daily basis in the state-controlled press. 
The newly-accredited DEA Country Attache will seek to rebuild 
relationships we cultivated in previous years, which will require 
additional resources for program activities that focus on this key 
mutual interest. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The U.S., through the State Department's Bureau of 
International and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), is a major donor 
to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which 
maintains its regional headquarters in Tashkent.  Currently, there 
is an active project funded solely by the U.S. to enhance security 
at the strategic Termez River Port, a barge facility on the border 
with Afghanistan.  UNODC will also launch a drug demand reduction 
project funded by the U.S. through INL.  In the past year, INL has 
also provided opportunities to attend trainings and conferences 
abroad for Uzbek law enforcement officers. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Uzbekistan also has cooperated with the United States in 
counterproliferation efforts.  Last summer, Uzbekistan acceded to 
the U.S. and Russian-led Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear 
Terrorism.  The State Department's Export Control and Related 
Border Security Program (EXBS) funds border security-related 
equipment deliveries as well as training events and conferences for 
Uzbek law enforcement officers to strengthen Uzbekistan's ability 
to detect and interdict items of proliferation concern.  The U.S. 
Department of Energy supports the maintenance of  a network of 27 
radiation portal monitors on Uzbekistan's borders that were 
installed by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) 
Weapons of Mass Destruction-Proliferation Prevention Initiative. 
DTRA currently combats proliferation in Uzbekistan through the 
Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), which has constructed 
eight out of 14 Regional Diagnostic Laboratories throughout the 
country and has trained over 1270 lab staff, epidemiologists, and 
clinicians.  BTRP's goals include consolidating all Especially 
Dangerous Pathogens (EDPs) in Uzbekistan and establishing a 
comprehensive national surveillance network to detect and respond 
to potential EDP outbreaks. 
 
 
 
Human Rights and Democratization 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Uzbekistan is still far from genuine democratic 
development or respect for human rights.  Nevertheless, Uzbekistan 
made progress in some key areas last year, including releasing 
several political prisoners, allowing limited access by the Red 
Cross, registering two U.S.-based human rights NGOs, ratifying the 
UN Trafficking-in-Persons Convention, and adopting two key 
International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions.  The government 
has continued to arrest and imprison suspected religious 
extremists.  The GOU continues to restrict the media, NGOs, 
educational exchanges, and other elements that promote the flow of 
 
TASHKENT 00001063  003 OF 003 
 
 
ideas and support for those defending human rights.  The 
independent bar association was replaced with a 
government-controlled body that appears to be administering a 
subjective licensing exam that essentially vets attorneys for 
loyalty to the government.  After a six-month breakthrough trial 
period with the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in 
2008, Uzbekistan has yet to come to a long-term agreement with ICRC 
that would provide the organization with unlimited access to 
prisons for monitoring purposes.  We are also trying to negotiate 
an agreement with Uzbekistan on religious freedom pursuant to its 
inclusion on the State Department's list of Countries of Particular 
Concern. 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) Government of Uzbekistan officials, including 
Parliamentary Speaker Tashkmukhamedova, have signaled their 
interest in inter-parliamentary exchanges with the United States 
and would probably welcome a proposal for such a political 
dialogue.  Such a proposal also would be timely, given upcoming 
parliamentary elections in Uzbekistan this December.  It would be 
helpful to remind Uzbek interlocutors that human rights issues get 
a lot of attention in Congress.  In this vein, you could cite the 
case of imprisoned journalist Salidjahon Abdurakhmanov, who was 
sentenced to 10 years on what we believe were politically-motivated 
charges after he assisted a New York Times reporter during a visit 
to Uzbekistan.  It would also be helpful if you could appeal for 
the release of Abdulaziz Dadahanov, a U.S. exchange program alumnus 
with a vocal network of friends in America seeking his immediate 
release after he was sentenced to 8-12 years in prison for 
membership in Nur, a moderate Islamic group based in Turkey and 
active in the region. 
 
 
 
Trade and Energy 
 
--------------------- 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Uzbekistan has fared better than some other countries in 
weathering the economic crisis, a fact Uzbek officials will point 
out with relish.  Although the U.S. is geographically removed from 
Central Asia, trade with Uzbekistan has been steady or growing in 
recent years and more than doubled in 2008 as compared with 2007. 
U.S. exports to Uzbekistan in 2008 amounted to $300.7 million, with 
Boeing aircraft sales, aircraft parts, and pharmaceuticals 
accounting for nearly $215 million.  U.S. imports amounted to 
$292.2 million, with uranium accounting for $285.1 million and 
other raw material imports providing another $5 million.  The first 
four months of 2009 show a downturn in U.S. imports from 
Uzbekistan, but the numbers for U.S. exports compare favorably with 
the numbers from 2007 despite the economic crisis.  (For 
comparison, in 2007, Russian imports from Uzbekistan were over $1 
billion, and Russian exports were over $1.1 billion). 
 
 
 
¶11. (SBU) The energy sector has been the main generator of 
Uzbekistan's export earnings in 2009.  The export of energy in the 
first quarter grew to $1.3 billion from $662 million in 2008 thanks 
to an export price that has nearly doubled since last year.  The 
sustainability of these prices is uncertain, however.  Russia, the 
main importer of natural gas from the region, is facing significant 
problems.  Reports say that due to decreased European demand, 
Gazprom is trying to renegotiate prices and volumes with both 
Turkmen and Uzbek suppliers.  Nevertheless, the share of 
hydrocarbons in Uzbekistan's exports increased from 16.8 percent to 
a whopping 52.5 percent in the first quarter of 2009.  (Note: 
Uzbekistan is a net oil importer.  End note.) 
NORLAND