(6 Jan 2002)
1. Wide shot motorcade arriving at presidential palace
2. Mid shot U-S Senator Joseph Lieberman and Senator John McCain getting out of the car
3. Wide shot senators inside the presidential palace
4. Mid shot Uzbek President Islam Karimov welcoming U-S senators
5. Various Karimov shaking hands with Lieberman and McCain
6. Wide shot talks
7. Wide shot U-S senators and Karimov around table
8. Close up Karimov
9. Wide shot meeting
10. Close up Lieberman and McCain
11. Wide shot meeting
12. Wide shot press conference
13. Pan across senators at press conference
14. UPSOUND (English) Joseph Lieberman, U-S Senator:
"September 11th opened our eyes to the reality"
15. Various of U-S senators meeting Erkin Khalilov, head of Uzbek parliament
16. Wide shot senators arriving at ministry of defence
17. Various U-S senators around table at ministry of defence
18. Close up McCain
19. Various senators and Uzbek Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov around table
STORYLINE:
A U-S Senate delegation visiting Uzbekistan believes the U-S needs to maintain strong ties with Central Asia in order to ensure stability in the region around Afghanistan.
The senators met Sunday in Tashkent with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Defense Minister Kadyr Gulyamov and acting Foreign Minister Sadyk Safaev, as well as with members of the Uzbek parliament.
"Our interest in this region post-Sept. 11 is going to be permanent, and I believe constructive both to economic development and the spread of democracy," Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut
Democrat, said during a news conference in Tashkent.
Lieberman and Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican, were leading a delegation of nine senators on a trip that first took them to Turkey.
Both Lieberman and McCain are senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Lieberman called the meeting with Karimov "productive," saying the senators thanked him for the "early, tangible and very important support" the country lent to the U-S-led war on terrorism.
Uzbekistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, allowed more than 1,000 American troops to be stationed within its territory.
For years, Washington has been publicly critical of Karimov's government for its human rights record and lack of economic reforms.
Under Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan since the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse, Uzbekistan has ruthlessly suppressed dissent and cracked down on Islamic militants.
Without directly mentioning Uzbekistan's human rights record, Lieberman warned that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States taught a dark lesson about the importance of freedom.
Lieberman and McCain were accompanied by Sens. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, Susan M. Collins, a Maine Republican, Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican, John Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, and Jean Carnahan, a Missouri Democrat.
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