(Sacramento Bee) Robert Mott - Secular Muslim Uzbekistan has become a key U.S. ally in the war against terrorism, allowing U.S. forces to use a military base not far from the Afghan border as a staging base, and giving the U.S. a foothold in Russia's backyard in a region with ample reserves of oil and natural gas. In return, Washington is providing generous aid - $160 million last year. While the regime has jailed thousands of Muslim extremists, it also has maintained and restored mosques and other artifacts of the country's past, and provides support for, and control of, the country's religious establishment.
2002-08-19 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive