American General Highly Appreciates The Level Of American-Uzbek Relations

Tommy Franks, CINC of the US Armed Forces Central Command has thanked the Uzbek government for the support it is providing for the US, which conducts the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. While speaking at a Wednesday press conference in Tashkent, the American general called bilateral relations "very good". The operation in Afghanistan is a war against terrorism, and the US will continue to destroy the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization, and provide humanitarian aid to the Afghan people at the same time. He noted in connection with this that American soldiers stationed at the Khanabad air base in Afghanistan are assigned only humanitarian missions. However, he refused to give the exact numbers of American soldiers deployed in Khanabad. Tommy Franks said, while responding to journalists' questions, that he had no information on the death of Juma Namangani, one of leaders of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). "We have no information with this regard," the general said, adding that the US had included the IMU in the terrorist organizations list.