News Agency HARAKAT - 12 December 2009

• 17:18President of Uzbekistan to Pay Official Visit to Turkmenistan

  President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov will pay an official visit to Turkmenistan on 13-14 December on the invitation of this country's President Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov. During the visit, issues of expansion of Uzbek-Turkmen cooperation, as well as important regional and international problems, representing mutual interest, will be discussed, according to UzA. Signing of a number of bilateral documents, aimed at deepening cooperation between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in various spheres...

• 15:00Medvedev orders Ambassador Tyurdenev to start his mission in Uzbekistan

  President Dmitry Medvedev ordered new Russian Ambassador to Uzbekistan Vladimir Tyurdenev to immediately start the fulfillment of his duties. “Uzbekistan is our close partner in Central Asia. This is a dynamically developing state. The success of Russia’s policy in Central Asia depends on the development of good relations with the Uzbek administration and bilateral economic cooperation. You should start the fulfillment of your duties immediately,” the president said. Tyurdenev said his dep...

• 14:54Investigation, Impunity Continue

  More than two years after the murder of Alisher Saipov, the case seems far from being resolved. In response to an appeal, the Kyrgyz Supreme Court ruled on December 9 that the case be sent back to an Osh city court for further investigation – the same court that presided over the initial, inconclusive investigation. Saipov’s father had filed the appeal hoping that his son's murder would be examined by a different court. He has insisted that he has evidence showing that his son was killed by agen...

• 14:52Chinese president en route to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan

  Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Saturday for a three-day official visit to Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, state media reported. Hu is scheduled to attend the inauguration of a Central Asian gas pipeline, and hold formal talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The 1,833-kilometre gas project, which began construction in 2007, is the country's first transnational pipeline. It ...

• 17:03HRW calls on Uzbeks to stop harassing activists

  A prominent international rights watchdog Friday pressed the government of authoritarian Uzbekistan to stop hindering the work of local human rights activists. Human Rights Watch's criticism of the former Soviet nation's rights record comes amid growing efforts by the United States and European countries to boost relations with the diplomatically isolated Central Asian nation. "Uzbekistan's international partners have been praising the government for human rights improvements, but this pra...

• 14:39Central Asian visit to enhance security

  President Hu Jintao's upcoming visit to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, who are both vital to China's economic and anti-terrorism efforts, will boost bilateral ties with the neighboring Central Asian countries, a senior Chinese diplomat said yesterday. During the visits from Dec 12-14, Hu will hold talks with his Kazak counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, said Deputy Foreign Minister Wang Guangya. "China will enhance cooperation with the Central A...

• 19:54 FBD: EBRD invests in leading Uzbek juice producer Marwin Brands

  The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending 1.4 million Euro to Marwin Brands, a juice and nectar producer in Uzbekistan, to help the company diversify production and improve its regional distribution network. Marwin Brands is one of the leading juice producers in Uzbekistan. The company sells over 10 types of juice and nectar in Tetra Pak packages, and is planning to further expand its products range by adding new flavours, currently unavailable on the local marke...

• 19:53President of Uzbekistan Signs Instruction on 2010 State Program

  President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed an instruction on 9 December on the organizational measures to develop and implement the State Program "Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation". The document envisages implementation of a wide range of measures to create the opportunities and conditions in the country for raising healthy and harmoniously developed generation in connection with the proclamation of the year 2010 the Year of Harmoniously Developed Generation, UzA reports. The pr...

• 15:05US military deaths in Afghanistan region at 855

  -- As of Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2009, at least 855 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST. Of those, the military reports 661 were killed by hostile action. Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 71 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freed...

• 15:03 China President Hu To Inaugurate Turkmenistan Gas Pipeline

  BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- President Hu Jintao will inaugurate the opening of the natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan when he visits the country on Dec. 13 and 14, a senior foreign ministry official said at a press briefing Thursday. Construction on the pipeline, which runs through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China's Xinjiang province, began in July last year. The heads of state for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan will also attend the ceremony, said Duan Jielong, director general of the department of ...