Uzbekistan pres not to take part in CIS jubilee summit

DUSHANBE, August 23 (Itar-Tass) -- President Islam Karimov of
Uzbekistan will not take part in a jubilee summit of CIS heads of state
due to be held in Dushanbe on September 2-3, spokesman for the Tajik
Foreign Ministry Davlat Nazriyev told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.
"Prime Minister of the republic Shavkat Mirsiyev will represent
Uzbekistan at the jubilee summit," Nazriyev said without comments on the
cause of Karimov's refusal to participate in the summit. The ministry's
spokesman also confirmed that earlier, the Uzbek leader didn't participate
in the summit of CIS heads of state - - CSTO participants held in the
Kazakh capital. Experts pay attention to the fact that "in the last years,
the president of Uzbekistan very rarely participates in major CIS
interstate and regional events."
President Ilkham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will not participate in the
Dushanbe summit as well. Prime Minister Artur Rasi-zade of this country
will head Azerbaijan's delegation.