Powell in "Candid" Human Rights Talks With Uzbek Leader
TASHKENT, Dec. 8 (News Agencies) - U.S. Secretary of State Colin said on Saturday he had held a frank discussion with Islam Karimov, the authoritarian president of Uzbekistan, about human rights violations in the Central Asian republic.
Speaking in the Uzbek capital Tashkent directly after talks with Karimov, Powell told reporters, "We had a candid discussion on the democratization process and the importance of political democracy. We have areas where we disagree as to how fast progress could be made and it is an issue we will continue to discuss."
"President Karimov wants to bring through a new generation that understands democracy," added Powell. "It is the pace of democratization that is on his mind."
During a meeting with Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov, the U.S. secretary of state said Washington wanted the Uzbek authorities to allow civic groups to register and show respect for religious adherence.
Uzbekistan has been accused of using the threat of Islamic militancy within its borders to justify a clampdown that has seen thousands of Muslims arrested and jailed.
Human rights groups allege that the Uzbek authorities are holding some 7,000 political prisoners and routinely suppress political and religious freedoms, while market reforms have been put on hold.
Powell also urged the autocratic former Soviet republic to allow the Red Cross to visit people in detention and permit political parties to organize, a senior state department official told journalists traveling with Powell in Astana, where he arrived from Uzbekistan, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
At the same time the state department official announced 100 million dollars worth of financial assistance to support economic reforms and development in Uzbekistan.
Powell, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan as part of a tour of Europe and Central Asia focusing on Afghanistan, had been under pressure at home to raise the issue of human and civil rights when he visited the country.
Rights groups had expressed concern that the U.S. would ease up pressure on Uzbekistan over human and political rights because the country has provided bases for U.S. troops involved in operations in Afghanistan.
The Uzbek parliament this week voted to hold a referendum in January next year in which one of the questions will be whether to make Karimov president of the country for life.
Challenged by reporters about his reputation as a dictator, Karimov said anyone familiar with Uzbekistan would know it was not deserved.
"I can only quote to you the proverb: it is better to see once with your own eyes than to hear about something a hundred times," the Uzbek leader added.
Earlier on Saturday Powell visited the Tashkent Public Information Center where he lectured teenage students on the importance of democratic process and watched as they conducted a mock election.
