UZBEKISTAN (voa) – Uzbekistan has agreed to re-open a crucial bridge to Afghanistan to speed the flow of relief supplies to the war-torn country.
The so-called Friendship Bridge across the Amu River is the only direct link between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. It had been closed for five years, since the Taleban took control of northeast Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, and Uzbek President Islam Karimov
Uzbek President Islam Karimov made the announcement after talks in Tashkent with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Mr. Powell says the re-opening will considerably ease the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
International aid workers also welcomed the news, saying millions of people in northern Afghanistan are facing winter cold, hunger and disease. In neighboring Tajikistan, officials say a key river crossing into Afghanistan is re-opening to humanitarian aid convoys Sunday. Scuffles erupted Saturday in Kabul, the Afghan capital, as the U.N. World Food Program began distributing food to more than three-quarters of the city’s population. In the United States, President Bush said 10,000 relief packets for Afghan children being shipped Sunday from American children demonstrate that although the United States is attacking the Taleban, it is not at war with the Afghan people.
Secretary Powell is in Kazakhstan today for talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on security and economic issues.
Later in the day Mr. Powell heads to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
