A dirty deal: Uzbek dictator 'has UK over a barrel'

[the_leander]

Britain is bargaining with one of the world's most brutal dictators because we need to use his country as a transit route to bring thousands of tons of military equipment home from Afghanistan.

Senior officials admitted yesterday that Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov had the UK "over a barrel", after his country emerged as the favoured route home when British forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan by 2014.

Britain, along with the United States, has stepped up diplomatic contacts with the Karimov regime in recent months, and the Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, visited the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, for talks on supply lines in February. The Independent on Sunday understands that "exchange visits" by senior defence officials from both countries will take place in the coming months.

Linky.

For those who have forgotten, it was the Karimov regime that boiled people alive to gain intelligence for us on our war on terror.

For those wanting to get a taste of what these people are like, I would suggest reading Craig Murray's "Murder In Samarkand" in which he recounts his time as the British Ambassador to Uzbekistan on the run up to the Iraq war.