Rumsfeld in Tajikistan to review military cooperation

DUSHANBE, July 10 (Reuters) US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Tajikistan today to discuss the war in neighbouring Afghanistan and additional military cooperation after losing access to a base in Uzbekistan.

Tajikistan has become strategically critical to the United States and its operations in neighbouring Afghanistan. The loss of base access in Uzbekistan and ongoing talks over continued access to an air base in Kyrgyzstan have enhanced the importance of Tajik cooperation.

''Our goal for our country is to have as many countries cooperating in the global war on terror and providing as many types of cooperation as they feel comfortable providing,'' Rumsfeld told reporters while travelling to Dushanbe.

''In any situation where you have only one way to do something, you can become a captive and that's not a good thing for our country,'' he said.

The United States has what defence officials call a gas-and-go arrangement with Tajikistan, allowing official U S aircraft to refuel in Tajikistan. The country has also given the United States over-flight rights.

''They've been very cooperative with the global war on terror and helpful since almost the beginning,'' Rumsfeld said.

Rumsfeld will discuss the possibility for additional basing opportunities or a more robust presence in Tajikistan, according to a senior defence official.

But Tajikistan's border security and the narcotics trade, which U S officials say is funding a re-emergence of the Taliban insurgency, remain challenges.

Rumsfeld's trip to Tajikistan, his first in a year, comes as the Taliban's insurgency has grown and become more sophisticated, due at least in part to profits from the drugs trade running from Afghanistan north through Tajikistan to Russia and Europe, U.S.

defence and drug officials say.

Rumsfeld said the United States was aiding Tajikistan in its border security and counter-narcotics efforts, but he did not comment on what more the United States wanted the Tajik government to do to curb the drug trade from Afghanistan.

''There's clearly a desire on their part and a recognition on their part that it's important that that be done,'' he said.

Rumsfeld plans to meet with Imomali Rakhmonov, who has ruled the impoverished mountainous country since 1992, as well as the country's foreign minister and defence and security ministers.

The U S defence secretary also plans to discuss Tajikistan's regional relationships, and the ''effectiveness'' of regional partnerships, a senior defence official said.

Former imperial master Russia continues to play a role in Tajikistan, keeping as many as 5,000 troops there, the official said yesterday night.

While the drug trade heads north into Russia, so do legitimate trade and communications. The United States, among other countries, is funding infrastructure improvements aimed at creating a roads system through Central Asia to the Arabian Sea, eliminating the need for goods to go through Russia.

REUTERS KD KN1945