Kuwaiti Foreign Minister to visit Tashkent

Kuwaiti foreign minister Sheikh Muhammed Sabah al-Salem al-Sabah is to pay a two-day visit to Tashkent in early June.



Uzbekistan has been building closer ties with the Arab world over the past year, which observers say is an attempt to show that Muslim countries are prepared to deal with President Islam Karimov despite his Communist past and accusations that his government persecutes devout Muslims. According to one NBCentralAsia observer, this policy has gained in importance since the Andijan violence of May 2005, when critics abroad accused the authorities of killing peaceful Muslims.