DUSHANBE, January 17, 2009, Asia-Plus — The United States intends to use Tajikistan’s territory for transit carriage of commercial cargo to Afghanistan. An agreement on this subject was reached in Dushanbe today at a meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) chief General David Petraeus, who oversees US military operations in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with President Rahmon, General Petraeus noted that the matter was transportation of building materials for rehabilitation of Afghanistan’s infrastructure.
According to him, his visit to Tajikistan came after a trip to Kazakhstan, where the agreement on transit carriage of cargo had been ratified. He added such documents had been concluded with many countries of the region, including Russia.
General Petraeus said that from Tajikistan he would go Kyrgyzstan, where the US military airbase was deployed. “We intend to promote further existence of our airbase at Manas and no changes are foreseen,” the USCENTCOM chief said, adding that those efforts of the United States are in the interest of the countries of the region. “We have common goal that is to provide stability in Afghanistan.”
General Petraeus noted that in the course of the talks they had also discussed issues related to combating drug trafficking, preventing terrorism, and developing projects aimed to strengthening border control and providing humanitarian aid. Special emphasis was made on the fight against extremism in order that extremist forces would not be able use Afghan territory as foothold for new attacks, he said.
Besides, they also discussed the present situation in Iraq and problems existing there, according to the general.
“We intend to arrive in Tajikistan in spring for loner visit,” General Petraeus said.
General David Howell Petraeus, USA (born November 7, 1952) is the 10th and current Commander, U.S. Central Command. He previously served as Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I) from January 26, 2007 to September 2008. As Commander of MNF-I, Petraeus oversaw all coalition forces in Iraq. Petraeus assumed his current assignment on October 31, 2008.
