News Agency HARAKAT - 17 December 2009

• 02:32Swiss say they will accept 1 Guantanamo detainee

  Switzerland will take in one detainee from the U.S. detention facility for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in the hope of helping President Barack Obama to close down the prison, the government said Wednesday. The detainee is a citizen of Uzbekistan and has been held for seven years at the U.S. military prison, the government said. He was detained in Afghanistan in 2002 for alleged links to terrorism, said Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. The authorities refused to rele...

• 02:29Gazprom, Uztransgaz sign addendum to contract for gas transit via Uzbekistan

  Russian natural gas major Gazprom and Uztransgaz, the sub-holding of NHC Uzbekneftegaz, have signed an addendum to the contract for natural gas transit via Uzbekistan in 2010, as well as the major terms and conditions for Uzbek gas supplies in 2010 between Gazprom and NHC Uzbekneftegaz. The agreement on strategic co-operation in the gas industry was entered into by NHC Uzbekneftegaz and Gazprom in December 2002. In particular, the agreement stipulates long-term purchase of Uzbek gas for the p...

• 13:26Uzbek, Tajik Officials Discuss Gas Price For 2010

  The head of Tajikistan's TajikTransGaz says gas negotiations with Uzbekistan are progressing but that there is still no agreement on a gas price for 2010, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports. Saidmamad Sharofiddinov told RFE/RL today that the two countries plan to complete gas talks in the next two weeks. But he added that Uzbekistan is insisting to keep the 2009 gas price -- some $240 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas. Sharofiddinov said world gas prices have fallen and therefore Tashkent shoul...

• 22:15Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan reaffirm policy for full cooperation

  President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov, who arrived in Turkmenistan on an official visit, held talks in Ashgabat on December 13. The visit of the Uzbek leader is timed to the opening of the Turkmenistan - China gas pipeline the route of which passes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. According to the State News Agency of Turkmenistan (TDH), the two leaders expressed the profound satisfaction with the progressive developmen...

• 22:12Uzbekistan Accused of Pre-Election Crackdown

  The Uzbek government is cracking down on rights activists before Dec. 27 parliamentary elections, Human Rights Watch said, criticizing the West for staying silent. Uzbekistan this year mended ties with the West that had been all but severed in 2005 after its harsh suppression of a riot in the town of Andijan where hundreds died, according to witnesses. The country is now an important link in a supply route for U.S. troops in nearby Afghanistan. Western governments and the Organization for Sec...

• 18:52Uzbekistan U19 football team holds Iran

  Iran was held to a 1-1 draw against Uzbekistan in the AFC U19 Championship 2010 qualifiers on Saturday. In the match played at the Takhti Stadium in Tehran, Rashidov put the Uzbek football team in the lead in the 11th minute. Iran’s Iman Shirazi equalized the match in the 70th minute. The top two teams from each of eight groups, plus the best third placed team from East and West Asia, qualify for next year’s finals. // Tehran Times

• 18:51Malaysians To Observe Uzbekistan Parliamentary Elections

  Malaysians To Observe Uzbekistan Parliamentary Elections A four-member Malaysian observer team led by Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar h as been selected to observe Uzbekistan's parliamentary elections on Dec 27. The four Malaysians will be part of an International Observers Group that will be deployed throughout the republic to monitor the conduct and the outcome of the election to ascertain whether it is free or fair. The other three members of the tea...

• 18:50President Hu arrives in Turkmenistan for visit

  Ashgabat/Turkmenistan: China President Hu Jintao arrived in Turkmenistan today after wrapped up his tightly schedule one day visit to Kazakhstan. He will hold bilateral talks with Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Uzbekistan president Islam Karimov, who is also visiting the country now. Hu will also join the heads of three Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, in attending the official opening ceremony of the China-Central Asian gas pipeline ...

• 18:47Uzbekistan: Stop Attacks, Harassment of Activists

  Source: Human Rights Watch - The Uzbek Government should stop obstructing the work of human rights activists and allow them to operate in the country freely and without fear for their safety, Human Rights Watch said today. In recent days, Uzbek authorities in Karshi and Margilan have detained human rights advocates to prevent them from meeting with a Human Rights Watch researcher. In Karshi, the Human Rights Watch researcher was also attacked by an unknown assailant, then detained and forced...

• 22:02Hu, Nazarbayev meet to further ties

  Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao met his Kazakh counterpart, Nursultan Nazarbayev, here Saturday to discuss further development of the two countries' close ties. The two leaders will also exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern, Chinese diplomats said. President Hu arrived here earlier in the day for a working visit. The China-Central Asia pipeline starts on the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan bef...