UZBEKISTAN: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON ATAJAN

UNCLAS TASHKENT 001151 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINR UZ SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON ATAJAN MAMATKHANOVICH SHARAPOV ¶1. (SBU) On September 26, 2008, President Karimov appointed Colonel Atajan Mamatkhanovich Sharapov as Commander of the Special Detachment for Detection, Deactivation and Elimination of Explosive Substances and Devices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) of Uzbekistan, as well as Chief of Staff for the MVD. Sharapov, an ethnic Uzbek, was born in 1961. He graduated from the Tyumen Higher Command Military-Engineering School of Russia. From 1992 until 1996, he served in various units of the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan. He started his career in 1996 as Section Chief in the Department for Counter-terrorism, Corruption, and Racketeering of Uzbekistan's MVD. From 1997 until 2006, he served as Chief of a Police Detachment and Chief of the Detachment for Detection, Deactivation and Elimination of Explosive Substances and Devices of the MVD. ¶2. (SBU) From 2006 until September 2008, he served successively as Department Chair and Deputy Chair at the Tashkent Higher Military-Technology School of the MVD. ¶3. (SBU) According to Government of Uzbekistan contacts, Sharapov's recognized expertise with explosives was one of the reasons he was returned to the Ministry with a promotion to take the positions of Special Detachment Commander and Chief of Staff. NORLAND