ASTANA. Aug 1 (Interfax) - The United States has no doubts about Kazakhstan being its partner in resisting terrorism, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman has said.
At a Monday briefing in Astana he said he fully supported the statement of the U.S. embassy on the issue. There are no doubts about the fact that Kazakhstan and the United States are partners in combating terrorism, he said.
Grossman said that the watch list of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security does not apply to countries but concrete people in those countries.
He said the United States appreciates Kazakhstan's efforts in resisting terrorism.
Earlier the U.S. Department of Homeland Security included Kazakhstan in the list of countries demonstrating a tendency to the development, establishment or protection of terrorist organizations or their representatives. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry was bewildered by the fact.
Later the U.S. embassy in Astana circulated a statement saying that the U.S. government does not regard Kazakhstan as a country encouraging terrorism.
On the contrary, it said, Kazakhstan is a strategic partner in the common fight against terrorism.