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CNN Live At Daybreak

Target: Terrorism: Uzbekistan Announcing Today It Will Allow the U.S. to use a Single Airbase

Aired October 05, 2001 - 08:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld continuing his tour through the region in and around Afghanistan.

With him is CNN's Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre in Uzbekistan, a crucial country in all of this -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, The most significant development of this trip so far as Rumsfeld wraps it up, Uzbekistan announcing today that it will allow the United States to use a single Uzbek airbase, but only for humanitarian missions, and for search-and- rescue missions. The president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, said he was not yet ready to make a decision to allow the United States to launch offensive strikes or commando raids from his country's soil, but he clearly left that option open for the future.

Meanwhile, Rumsfeld leaves today with an agreement from Uzbekistan that the United States can station transport planes and helicopters for use again of humanitarian airdrops, or search-and- rescue for a downed pilot if the United States strikes Afghanistan from some other area, such as off the aircraft carrier.

Again, Rumsfeld promised Uzbekistan that there would be a long relationship between the United States and Uzbekistan, something that the president here is seeking. He's got to be worried himself, because he has got radical Islamic rebels in his country here, who would like to overthrow him. Some of those groups in fact linked with Osama bin Laden.

So the United States beginning to forge a new alliance in the war against terrorism with Uzbekistan, the first step today, again use of single base, and Pentagon officials confirm that 1,000 troops from the 10th mountain division in Portville, New York, live infantry troops, will be coming to Uzbekistan. In fact, they should be arriving today to provide security at this airfield, where the U.S. will begin staging helicopters and transport planes -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jamie McIntyre, traveling with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Uzbekistan.

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