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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (226537)	3/27/2005 10:02:14 AM
From: Road Walker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576016

Am I going to have to learn how to pronounce the names of these countries? Central Asia: the new board for the great game Sun Mar 27, 2:41 AM ET Top Stories - AFP PARIS (AFP) - Global powers are scrambling to do business in Central Asia due to its vast oil reserves and other natural resources, despite the remoteness and tensions in the region that includes the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. AFP Photo Situated between Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Russia, the combination of rampant poverty and a latent Taliban influence in the region make it a veritable tinderbox, with the authoritarian regimes a prime target for rising radical Islamic extremists. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) is one of the region's better known militant groups due to its armed attacks and hostage taking activities, and like the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir is trying to create a Central Asian supranational Islamic state. The leaders of the Hizb ut-Tahrir, which advocates creating such a state by peaceful means and has never claimed responsibility for any attacks in the region, come mainly from the fertile Fergana valley that runs through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, a region marked by overpopulation, unemployment and fundamentalism. There are several thousand members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the valley and thousands more in Russia itself. As it is so rich in natural resources the world's powers are keen to establish strategic links with Central Asia. Kazakhstan will become one of the world's largest producers of oil in the years to come. Which would explain why Russia is so keen to maintain its influence there. The United States has also had a military presence in Central Asia since shortly after the September 11 attacks. Tajikistan worked closely with Washington to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan, leading to some major loans in return. Islam Karimov, who leads Uzbekistan with an iron fist, has become a faithful ally to Washington in their war on terror since allowing the United States to use an air base near the Afghan border in 2001. The European Union (news - web sites) and the United States have both proposed strategic and economic deals (including NATO (news - web sites)'s partnership for peace) to the region. The Inogate programme set up by the European Commission (news - web sites) in 1995 was aimed at opening up potential fuel transport from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Europe. The Traceca programme was set up in 1993 to establish a transport corridor from Europe through the Caucasus to Central Asia while the 'BTC' Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is supported by Washington to link Azerbaijan to Turkey bypassing Russian influence. Washington also favours the creation of a regional organisation, GUAM, that would be independent of Russia and include Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova. The Kremlin responded by backing another group called the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. On a military level Russia agreed to a deal to establish a base in Tajikistan in 2004, where 5,000 of its forces are now based, including the 201st Russian division which has protected the Afghan-Tajikistan border since 1991. In October 2003 Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) inaugurated a military base in Kant, Kyrgyzstan where 500 troops are based. Some 30 kilometres (20 miles) away near the capital Bishkek is the US airbase at Manas.