DUSHANBE. Nov 1 (Interfax-AVN) - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is to arrive in Dushanbe on Saturday to negotiate with his Tajik counterpart Sherali Khairullayev and President Emomali Rakhmonov, a source in the Tajik Defence Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency.
The parties are planning to discuss prospects of using Tajik airfields by the United States during the ground operation in Afghanistan, the source said. So far the airfields are planned to be used by planes delivering humanitarian aid to the Afghan population and military-technical cargo to the Northern Alliance, as well as for conduction of rescue operations in the Afghan territory.
According to the source, the same issues were discussed here by General Tommy R. Franks, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command, who visited Dushanbe on Tuesday.