The republics of central Asia, together with Georgia, appeared Monday to be coming round to the idea of helping the United States to launch a possible campaign against suspected terrorists in Afghanistan.
Of the five former Soviet republics in the central Asian region, only Turkmenistan -- which shares a 740-kilometer border with Afghanistan -- had stated clearly that its bases were not available for the operation.
Asked if Turkmenistan was prepared to offer help in launching strikes in reprisals for the September 11 outrages in New York and Washington, a Turkmen foreign ministry official told AFP: "This cannot happen because Turkmenistan is a neutral country."
Askhabad has remained neutral in its Afghan policy despite mounting concern in other central Asian states about the Taliban militia's alleged backing of Islamist militancy.
"The fact that Turkmenistan is in touch with the Taliban movement and the Northern Alliance does not mean that Ashkhabad prefers one of them to the other. It [Turkmenistan] acts as a peacemaker," the source added.
Uzbekistan indicated Monday it might be prepared to allow its territory to be used by the United States to carry out a campaign of air strikes.
"We have not received any request from the US about providing military aid but we are ready to discuss all possible forms of cooperation in the fight against international terrorism," said Bakhodir Umarov, Uzbek foreign ministry spokesman.
Uzbekistan which shares a 170-kilometer border with Afghanistan, has accused Kabul of sheltering Islamists who attacked its southern border in August 2000.
Tashkent also blames Islamic rebels trained in Afghanistan for a series of bomb blasts in the Uzbek capital in 1999, which killed 16, injured more than 100 and narrowly missed Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
Tajikistan, where troops were placed on alert Monday, has said it is "ready to cooperate with the United States in the fight against terrorism" but will not decide on possible participation in a military campaign without referring to Moscow.
The issue was discussed in telephone talks Monday between the Russian and Tajik presidents Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rakhmonov, and no decision was announced.
On Sunday Dushanbe said reports that it would place its territory at the disposal of US forces should Washington decided to launch strikes were "absolutely unfounded."
In Kyrgyzstan, which has no common border with Afghanistan but is separated from it only by the troubled Tajik republic, the head of Kyrgyzstan's national security service, Bolot Dzhanuzakov, refused to comment, but added, without elaborating: "Terrorist bases do not only exist in Afghanistan."
Kazakhstan, the largest of the five republics which also has no border with Afghanistan, said Saturday it was prepared to cooperate with the United States.
Meanwhile Georgia, on Russia's southern flank in the Caucasus, said it was prepared to open its military bases and its airports to NATO in the event of an anti-terrorist operation, though the final decision would be made by President Eduard Shevarnadze and the country's parliament -- MOSCOW (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
