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USA pledges not to abandon Central Asia after Afghan war
Posted: Tuesday, May 14, 2002
U.S. WON'T "ABANDON" CENTRAL ASIA...
BBC Monitoring Central Asia Unit Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring December 19, 2001, Wednesday LENGTH: 1420 words FROM: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian 19 Dec 01
The USA will not abandon Central Asia after the Afghan war, Elizabeth Jones, US assistant secretary of state, has told a US Senate subcommittee hearing. She said that the USA wanted to help Central Asia carry out reforms in return for help in combating terrorism, but made it clear that assistance was conditional on economic and democratic reforms and the observance of human rights. Jones outlined US priorities in the region: combating terrorism; reform; the rule of law; Caspian Sea energy resources. She described US cooperation with Russia in Central Asia as "extremely close", and said that the USA had more common ground in the region than areas of rivalry with Russia, China, Turkey and Iran. The following is the text of the report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency. Subheads have been inserted editorially.
Almaty, 19 December
The USA does not intend to leave the Central Asian region after completing the antiterrorist operations in Afghanistan, and it has declared its long-term plans and interests. Pledge not to abandon region
"We will not leave Central Asia after resolving the conflict (in Afghanistan - Interfax-Kazakhstan). We want to support the Central Asian countries in their desire to reform their societies as they supported us in the war against terrorism. These are not only new but long-term relations," Elizabeth Jones, US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs and US president's special envoy on Caspian Sea issues said about US policy in Central Asia. She was speaking at the Subcommittee on Central Asia and the South Caucasus of the US Senate Committee on International Relations.
High stakes
"The stakes in Central Asia are undoubtedly high," Jones said. "The USA now has thousands of troops working jointly with their Central Asian counterparts in a region which was part of the Soviet Union only 10 years ago. We count on the governments of these states in ensuring the security and wellbeing of our troops and in obtaining vitally important intelligence data, which has helped us carry out such an efficient military campaign in Afghanistan," she said.
Economic benefit
Jones said it was in the interest of the USA that "the restoration of Afghanistan helps develop Central Asia as well. We want to bring in goods and materials for postwar restoration from neighbouring countries as much as possible, in order to stimulate their economies," she stressed.
Jones said that the Central Asian countries are interested in receiving assistance from the USA. "Uzbekistan has asked for support for its relations with the IMF and other international financial institutions. Kazakhstan needs more foreign investment and support to develop the local private sector. Turkmenistan may need support to develop local public organizations. Kyrgyzstan needs help to restructure its debts. Tajikistan, the poorest state in the region, which still has not recovered from the 1992 civil war and a drought, needs a wide range of humanitarian, economic and political aid," Jones said in her report, a copy of which the Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency received from the US embassy in Kazakhstan.
Democracy and human rights
The USA must step up "constant support for democratic political institutions, local NGOs and the independent media" in all five countries.
At the same time, Jones stressed that the USA would render assistance to the Central Asian states only "providing that the latter take specific steps towards reforms."
The USA believes, Jones said, that "certain countries" in the region should noticeably step up their economic reforms and democratic processes, the observance of human rights and the formation of a strong civil society.
"It is not easy to assist in carrying out reforms in Central Asia," Jones, who headed the US diplomatic mission in Kazakhstan several years ago, said. The USA is "largely" concentrating its aid on programmes "to enlighten and encourage the next generation of leaders in the region". This aid includes "the FLEKS name transliterated programme for secondary schools, a programme for university students on the law on supporting freedom and the Muskie programme for graduates. The AYREX name transliterated exchange programme is for young specialists, and the Peace Corps is carrying out a wide-range of programmes for the next generation," the report says.
She does not justify "the existing problems and acute aspects" in Central Asia, however "generations may have to change in order to radically change the basic nature of these (Central Asian - Interfax-Kazakhstan) governments." "One has to recall the history of the region in the 20th century," Jones said.
Priority areas
The USA has three four are listed "major national interests" in the region, she said: preventing terrorism, to providing the tools to carry out political and economic reforms, establishing the rule of law and ensuring the safety and transparent development of Caspian Sea energy resources.
At the same time, she said, cooperating with the countries in the region in combating terrorism, the USA must pay more attention to the observance of human rights. "Our (US - Interfax-Kazakhstan) numerous initiatives to promote human rights, democracy and economic development are as important as the assistance we render in ensuring security and combating the real reasons behind terrorism," she underlined.
Energy
The development of huge Caspian Sea fuel and energy resources and ensuring their reliable export onto the world market, she said, "largely" defines whether Central Asia will be able to gain economic independence and raise the living standards of its citizens. According to Jones, the USA's policy in this sector focuses on helping these states set up numerous reliable transport routes to export these resources onto the world market.
These hydrocarbon resources are currently being exported to the West in transit via pipelines in Russia, she recalled. The USA, she said, is trying to expand the export opportunities of the Central Asian countries and the companies which are operating there. The White House stresses that its "aim has an antimonopolistic nature, and not an anti-Russian one."
In connection with this, Jones took "pride" in saying that the construction of the most important Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline would start next summer and that by 2005 the pipeline would start exporting oil to the world market. The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan-Shakh Deniz Azerbaijan's gas deposit gas pipeline is also under way.
At the same time, Jones "is satisfied with the fact that the Caspian Pipeline Consortium oil pipeline is officially operating now. This pipeline, linking Kazakhstan with the world market via Russia, shows Kazakhstan's desire to cooperate with the former Soviet republics in developing the Caspian Sea energy resources."
Kazakhstan - the leader
According to an assessment by the USA, Kazakhstan is the country with the highest economic potential in the region. "Stable, multi-ethnic and nuclear-free Kazakhstan, will, most likely, become one of the fifth largest oil producers in the world by 2010. EBRD regards Kazakhstan as the leader amongst the former Soviet republics in terms of economic reforms. US investment in Kazakhstan has exceeded 5bn dollars and is increasing," Jones said.
Common ground
Discussing cooperation between the USA and Russia in the Central Asian region, Jones described it as "extremely close". In her view, "both states want long-term stability and prosperity" in Central Asia, in which they have "important interests".
Jones said that President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin "are leading our countries to a new level of cooperation in many spheres, including in Central Asia".
"Putin showed wonderful leadership by actively coordinating the efforts of the leaders of the Central Asian countries to stimulate their cooperation with the USA in combating terrorism. This confirms our old claim that Central Asia is not a game in which only one party could be a winner," Jones noted.
The USA supports the efforts of Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to create a new scheme for dividing the Caspian Sea "as long as these efforts do not hamper the future transportation of hydrocarbons."
"We have more common interests than areas of competition with Russia and other regional powers - China, Turkey and even with Iran," the report stressed.
US pledges support for Afghan oil pipeline if Taliban makes peace
(C) 2001 British Broadcasting Corporation * Posted for Fair Use Only
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http://www.sitara.com/central_asia_map.html
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