U.S. troops on way to Uzbekistan

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, OCT. 5. Uzbekistan has given the green light to massive U.S. military presence on its territory, with elite American troops already on the way to the Central Asian republic.

Itar-Tass quoted a U.S. government official as saying that 1,000 U.S. troops from the 10th Mountain Division were ``in the air'' en route to Uzbekistan. The disclosure was made after the Defence Secretary, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, completed talks with the Uzbek President, Mr. Islam Karimov, in Tashkent on Friday.

Diplomatic sources said the two leaders discussed U.S. payment for using Uzbekistan's facilities and security guarantees for the country in case of a backlash from the Taliban. The Uzbek President also sought American help in forcing Tajikistan, which has tense relations with Uzbekistan, to close down the military camps of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) on its territory. The Taliban-backed IMU is committed to overthrowing the secular regime in Uzbekistan and replacing it with a fundamentalist caliphate.

A Russian daily today quoted an Uzbek official as saying that 200 U.S. troops were already in Uzbekistan setting up reconnaissance, communication and logistic facilities at the military bases in Khanabad and Termez for the impending anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan.

AP reports from Tashkent:

The U.S. Defence Secretary, Mr. Rumsfeld, visiting West Asia and Central Asia to build support for the international battle against terrorism, said on Thursday the battle may involve less use of military force than was commonly assumed.

He offered the strongest suggestion yet that while the U.S. military would play a role, its contribution may be relatively small. Some also believe military action may not come soon. The French Defence Minister said no retaliation was expected for several weeks.

On the other hand, Mr. Rumsfeld did not rule out the possibility of taking military action to ensure that the Taliban's air defence forces do not pose a threat to the delivery of American food aid to parts of Afghanistan. He said U.S. military planes would make airdrops of food, but said details were being worked out.

The U.S. has assembled more than 30,000 troops in the region around Afghanistan, including two aircraft carrier battle groups, a contingent of Marines, hundreds of land-based warplanes and preparations for army special operations soldiers to conduct hit- and-run raids inside Afghanistan.

Mr. Rumsfeld, however, seemed to indicate that the first purpose of that growing military might is to apply pressure - as the freezing of terrorist groups' money is applying a financial squeeze - rather than to launch a major attack. He stressed that it could take unexpected turns, but would eventually succeed.

Pak. offer to Zahir Shah

An AFP report from Rome said the former Afghan monarch, Mr. Mohammed Zahir Shah, today received the first direct contact from the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on plans to form a post-Taliban government in the country.

A letter from Gen. Musharraf passed to the ex-king's entourage by the Italian Foreign Ministry requested Mr. Zahir Shah to send an envoy for urgent talks in Islamabad to discuss the political future of Afghanistan, the Ministry said.

Gen. Musharraf had handed the letter to Italy's Deputy Foreign Minister, Ms. Margherita Boniver, during talks in Islamabad yesterday.

The development came on a day of behind-the-scenes diplomacy in the Italian capital, which has played host to the exiled king since he was removed in a coup in 1973 after ruling the central Asian country for 40 years.

Mr. Zahir Shah and his advisors held talks with the top U.S. diplomat, Mr. Richard Haass, the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush's special envoy to Northern Ireland.

His advisors said he was also awaiting an envoy from the Taliban's stronghold of Kandahar as part of the intensifying quest for a post-Taliban administration in his country.

An AP report from Dubai said Qatar's Al-Jazeera television today released a tape broadcast showing Osama bin Laden in the rough, dry mountains of his Afghan base.

The TV station did not say whether the footage had been taped before or after Sept. 11 attacks, or how it obtained it. Osama bin Laden has a history of using the closely watched Arab satellite channel as a conduit to the outside world, doling out interviews and footage over the years.

Al-Jazeera said the footage was believed to record a celebration of the union of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network and Al- Zawahri's Egyptian Jehad. It also marked the graduation of a group of newly trained fighters into the Al-Qaeda.

(AP photo shows a television image released by Qatar's Al-Jazeera television company on Friday, the most recent visual of the Saudi fugitive, Osama bin Laden, at an undisclosed location, with his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, (left). It is believed to be a recording of celebration of the union of Osama's Al-Qaeda and Al Zawahri's Egyptian Jehad.)

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