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Clinton Arrives For First Tajikistan Visit

21.10.2011 19:57

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Tajik capital on her first official visit to that country, the poorest of Central Asia's former Soviet republics but a partner in the supply chain to neighboring Afghanistan, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.

Reports suggest Clinton's talks in Dushanbe will focus on drug trafficking and Islamic militancy in the region.

Her visit to Tajikistan and the scheduled trip on October 22 to Uzbekistan extend a tour that has so far taken in Kabul and Islamabad.

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan agreed in 2009 to allow the overland transit of nonlethal supplies intended for NATO operations in Afghanistan.

Clinton was expected to meet with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and civil-society leaders in Dushanbe before moving on to see Uzbek President Islam Karimov and Foreign Minister Elyor Ganiev in Tashkent.

A government official in Uzbekistan was quoted by news agencies as saying regional cooperation would be discussed in Clinton's meeting with Uzbek officials: "Besides expanding Uzbek-U.S. cooperation, other regional issues of mutual interest as well as Uzbekistan's involvement in rebuilding Afghanistan's economy will top the agenda."

In the Uzbek capital, Clinton is also expected to tour a plant partly owned by General Motors.

with additional agency reporting

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/clinton_arrives_tajikistan_visit/24367462.html

Copyright (c) 2011. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.