LETTER FROM U/S BURNS TO PRESIDENT KARIMOV

UNCLAS STATE 117491

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPDC PREL PGOV UZ
SUBJECT: LETTER FROM U/S BURNS TO PRESIDENT KARIMOV

REF: A. TASHKENT 1571 B. TASHKENT 1575

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY.


1. (U) Please deliver the following letter from Under
Secretary Burns to President Karimov at the earliest
opportunity. There will be no signed original.


2. (SBU) Begin text:

Dear Mr. President:

I was heartened by the news that Dr. Sanjar Umarov had
been released from prison as a result of the Senate
amnesty you had told me you would support. I wanted to
express my appreciation for your decision; it was a
valuable step in our relationship. We hope that Dr.
Umarov will soon be able to travel without restriction,
if he wants to, including to rejoin his family.

As we discussed when we met in July and as Assistant
Secretary Blake indicated in his recent meeting with
you, we are committed to deepening the cooperation
between our countries in areas of mutual interest, such
as promoting stability in Afghanistan, closer security
cooperation, increased trade and investment, and mutual
efforts to support the human dimension. We very much
hope we can initiate our annual bilateral consultations
in December. This latest news is a welcome step in
rebuilding the mutual trust that will enable us to make
progress on our wide-ranging agenda.

Sincerely,
William J. Burns

End text.
CLINTON