General David Petraeus, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, flew into Uzbekistan Tuesday for top-level talks with the government in Tashkent, US and Uzbek officials said.
Petraeus, who has recommended a major troop surge in neighbouring Afghanistan, is due to hold talks with Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov, a spokeswoman from the US embasssy in Taskhent told AFP.
"General Petraeus is here to listen to Uzbekistans perspective on key regional security issues and the best approaches to addressing these challenges, particularity Afghanistan," she said.
Petraeus arrives just weeks after neighbouring Kyrgyzstan announced the closure of a US base serving as a vital route for supplies to Afghanistan, forcing Washington to seek alternatives ahead of a planned military buildup in the war-torn country.
Recent attacks on a supply route from Pakistan have also heightened the need for new routes.
Washington has been seeking agreement with ex-Soviet states in Central Asia to host supply routes, and Uzbekistan is considered a prime candidate due to its extensive railway links with Afghanistan.
"Talks will certainly include security and stability in Afghanistan," the embassy spokeswoman said in response to a question about the use of Uzbekistan's railway network as a possible transit route.
Tashkent closed a US air base that helped serve troops stationed in Afghanistan in 2005, following EU and US criticism over the bloody repression of unrest in the city of Andijan.
Relations between Washington and Tashkent have warmed again recently and the US army is again using Uzbekistan as a stop-off point for military operations in Afghanistan.
German forces have been using the airport at Termez, on the border with Afghanistan, since 2002 and has about 300 troops stationed there, mostly maintenance crews.
The Manas base in Kyrgyzstan, operated by about 1,000 troops including small French and Spanish contingents, was set up to support coalition forces fighting to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The closure of the base would strain US supply lines at a time when US President Barack Obama is preparing to nearly double the 36,000-strong force in the country, and has caused a scramble for alternative routes.
The closure was announced earlier this month, after the Kremlin announced 330 million dollars in aid and debt relief as well as a loan worth two billion dollars for the impoverished Central Asian state.
Kyrgyzstan has denied that the decision to close the base was connected to the loans from Moscow.
Petreus flew in overnight from Qatar, the US embassy said, and will be leaving Taskhent to return to the United States later Tuesday after discussions are concluded.
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