Tajiks, Uzbeks Deny Deal for Air Bases

By Peter Baker
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 21, 2001; Page A29

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, Sept. 20 -- Two strategically located Central Asian nations denied today that they had agreed to let the United States fly bombing missions against Afghanistan from their territory, underscoring the delicate diplomacy involved in trying to enlist former Soviet republics in a possible U.S. retaliatory operation.

Defense Department officials disclosed Wednesday that the Pentagon had begun deploying warplanes not just to traditional U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean but also to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in preparation for a possible strike against terrorist targets in Afghanistan. Never before has the United States launched military action from former Soviet territory.

But Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, sensitive to appearances in a region still dominated politically by Russia and inhabited by many Muslims leery of aiding attacks on other Islamic believers, disputed the reports, saying no agreements had been reached with Washington.

"What planes?" asked Igor Sattarov, chief spokesman for the Tajik Foreign Ministry. "I have no information on any negotiations that have been held between our countries."

Asked if requests had been presented instead by Russian officials acting as middlemen, Sattarov said, "There is no broker." Uzbekistan issued a similar statement.

There were few signs today of an impending U.S. military presence here in this rugged, impoverished land, already occupied by thousands of Russian troops guarding the border with Afghanistan.

"We don't have any orders," said Rustam Shayev, top deputy in the Emergencies Ministry, which is located in the nation's military headquarters. The ministry is bracing for refugees produced by any U.S. attack on Afghanistan, which harbors fugitive Osama bin Laden. "As far as I know, we have no arrangements with Americans for the bases. We would have known if that were the case."

In Washington, a U.S. Air Force official said Wednesday the deployment to Uzbekistan could be open, while operations in Tajikistan would be kept hidden at a remote base to enable the government to deny the presence of U.S. aircraft.

The United States has located secret bases overseas before without acknowledging them publicly as a means of avoiding domestic or foreign political backlash for friendly leaders. During the Persian Gulf War, for instance, the United States established an elaborate air base in an Arab country not far from Iraq without disclosing it at the time.

U.S. warplanes operating out of Central Asia would be especially sensitive because their presence would place the U.S. military in territory once controlled by the Soviet Union and in a region that Russia regards as its sphere of influence.

Russia has dispatched senior envoys to consult with the presidents of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in recent days, while U.S. diplomats remained out of sight.

Warplanes operating out of Tajikistan or Uzbekistan could provide key support for Afghan guerrilla fighters who have been battling the Taliban regime and control northern parts of the country. Salegh Registani, the military representative here for the Northern Alliance resistance group, said Washington finally made contact with his group late Wednesday to discuss means of cooperation, although he said he did not know details.

Registani said terrorists affiliated with bin Laden have already abandoned camps in Afghanistan and fled to the mountains or to neighboring Pakistan, making strikes on their base camps less effective.