TASHKENT. Oct 3 (Interfax-AVN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to visit Uzbekistan in the next few days, the U.S. embassy in Tashkent told Interfax on Wednesday.
However, the exact date of the visit is not known.
The press service for the Uzbek Defense Ministry did not rule out the possibility of the U.S. defense secretary visiting Tashkent, but did not name the exact date.
The Defense Ministry said Tashkent's position on the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan was determined at a session of the National Security Council that took place last Monday. Uzbek President Islam Karimov stressed that "Uzbekistan supports the intention of the U.S. and all peace-loving nations to put an end to this evil [terrorism] and making a contribution to the liquidation of terrorist bases and camps in Afghanistan and is ready to provide its airspace for these purposes."
A spokesman for the Uzbek Defense Ministry also stressed that information "about other forms of cooperation between the republic's military structures, which was released by some mass media, is not true."