NEW STATE ADVISOR ON RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS BAKHROM

C O N F I D E N T I A L TASHKENT 002324

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, DRL/IRF, INR/REA, INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KIRF UZ
SUBJECT: NEW STATE ADVISOR ON RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS BAKHROM
ABDUKHALIMOV

REF: A. TASHKENT 2280

B. TASHKENT 2317

Classified By: AMB. JON R. PURNELL, FOR REASONS 1.4 (B, D).


1. (C) Summary: Bakhrom Abdukhalimov has been appointed
State Advisor to the President for Religious Affairs and
Interethnic Relations. Abdukhalimov is an expert in Arabic
and Islamic Studies. He has spent much of his career at the
Al Beruni Oriental Studies Research Institute under the
Academy of Sciences. In January 2005 he visited Seattle for
ten days with a delegation of Uzbek university officials.
His service as an interpreter for Soviet diplomatic and
military missions in Yemen and Libya during the 1980s may
indicate that he is a former GRU (Main Intelligence
Department) officer. End summary.


2. (C) On December 4, Bakhrom Abdukhalimov was appointed
State Advisor to the President for Religious Affairs and
Interethnic Relations (ref A). He replaces Shoazim
Minovarov, who became Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for
the Middle East and Africa (ref B). Abdukhalimov is a
specialist in Arabic and Oriental Studies. In 1981 he
graduated with a degree in Arabic Philology from Tashkent
State University's Faculty of Oriental Studies. He earned a
doctorate in history in 2002.


3. (C) Abdukhalimov has long-standing ties to the Al Beruni
Oriental Studies Research Institute under the Academy of
Sciences, serving as its director (2004-2006),research
fellow and science officer (1990-2002) and junior research
fellow (1985 to 1987). The Al Beruni Institute, along with
other Islamic institutes in Tashkent, has received financial
support from the Department of State. It has also had a
cooperation agreement with the University of Washington. In
January 2005, Abdukhalimov participated in a ten-day visit to
Seattle as part of a delegation of rectors of Uzbek
Universities. From 2002 to 2004 he was Vice Rector of
Westminster International University in Tashkent, a British
affiliated institution offering degrees in business,
economics, and law.


4. (C) His diplomatic assignments in the Middle East during
the Soviet period indicate that he could have been a GRU
(Main Intelligence Department) officer. From 1987 to 1990 he
was an interpreter for the Soviet military mission in Yemen,
and from 1981 to 1983 was an interpreter at the Soviet
mission in Libya. From 1983 to 1985 he served in the
Ministry of Agriculture's Department for International
Scientific and Technology Relations. Abdukhalimov, an ethnic
Uzbek, was born in Tashkent on February 27, 1959.


5. (C) Comment: Abdukhalimov's cooperation with the
University of Washington while at the Al Beruni Institute
could be a positive factor in shaping his attitude towards
the U.S. We do not yet know, however, if he will maintain
the excellent relations Post enjoyed with his predecessor,
Minovarov (ref B). Abdukhalimov's service abroad suggests he
may have had some connection with intelligence services. If
so, his appointment would be consistent with a
well-established trend of NSS officers landing high-level
positions within the GOU.
PURNELL