No plans to reopen Uzbek-Afghan air base: US envoy

The United States is not looking to re-open a key military base in Uzbekistan that was shut in 2005 in a diplomatic row, a US envoy said on Sunday as he ended a rapid tour of former Soviet Central Asia.                                           

Uzbekistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, evicted US troops from the Karshi-Khanabad base after Washington condemned it over a violent crackdown on a protest in the town of Andizhan in May 2005.                                           

Relations have since improved, and some diplomats have suggested Washington may try to re-open the base.                                           

Speaking after a visit to Uzbekistan, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke ruled out the possibility when asked about it in neighbouring Kazakhstan.                                           

"No," he said. "But Uzbekistan does provide us with a valuable opportunity to transit materials to Afghanistan and that is important. As for the military base no."                                           

Keen to restore its sour relations with the West, Uzbekistan -- Central Asia's most populous and ethnically divided nation -- has agreed to host the new NATO supply route for Afghanistan.