Uzbek President Islam Karimov received here yesterday the visiting U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke. During his talks Holbrooke, the Uzbek President said he was ready for more dialogue, state media reported late on Friday. "The leader of our nation ... expressed Uzbekistan's firm determination to further develop U.S.-Uzbek relations in a constructive way in light of efforts to bring lasting peace and stability to Afghanistan," the official UzA news agency said. It quoted Holbrooke as telling Karimov that he too wanted to "strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan over security". Holbrooke, in Central Asia on his first visit in his current capacity, also visited Kyrgyzstan on Friday and was due to travel to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan this weekend. "Ambassador Holbrooke met with President Karimov to discuss a range of issues of mutual interest, including the international efforts in Afghanistan," it said in a brief statement quoted by Reuters.
