Uzbekistan shuts down border with Kazakhstan

[Treyfish]

Uzbekistan shuts down border with Kazakhstan
Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:09:38 GMT

Font size : ​

<TABLE cellPadding=0 cellspasing="0"><TBODY><TR><TD>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


Kazakh Foreign Ministry verifies that Uzbekistan has unilaterally closed its border with Kazakhstan, as swine flu continues to spread in both countries.

"We confirm that the border is closed," Erzhan Ashikbayev, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman, told journalists on Monday, noting that "It's not our initiative. We don't have information on the motives for this decision."

He added that the border is currently open to citizens of each nation returning home. Uzbekistan's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment.

Local residents believe the move is related to the spread of the A(H1N1) flu virus. However, no official has yet commented on the issue.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and parts of Afghanistan were reporting higher numbers of flu cases.

Uzbekistan has tense relations with its neighbors regularly closing borders and turning off gas supplies to Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
:tiphat:http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=111992&sectionid=351020406

 

[Roehl_JC]

Re: Uzbekistan shuts down border with Kazakhstan

ASTANA: Uzbekistan has closed its border with central Asian neighbour Kazakhstan to all but citizens of each nation returning home, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said on Monday, as swine flu spreads in both countries.

Kazakh media and residents of the Uzbek capital Tashkent have connected the move to fears about an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus, but this has not been confirmed by the authorities there.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on last Friday that Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and parts of Afghanistan were reporting higher numbers of flu cases.

?The initiative did not come from the Kazakh side,? Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev told a briefing. ?There is no official information on the reasons behind this decisions.?

Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.

Tashkent regularly closes its borders with its other neighbours Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan for security reasons before national holidays such as the Constitution Day, marked on December 8. Parliamentary elections are also due in Uzbekistan next month. reuters


http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\11\24\story_24-11-2009_pg20_6