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