Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned his Uzbek counterpart, Foreign Minister Sadyk Safayev, on Tuesday to offer U.S. condolences and assistance in investigating the terrorist attacks that have hit the Central Asian country since Sunday

The two countries have forged close ties since the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, and the United States is expressing strong condemnation of the bombings in the Uzbek cities of Tashkent and Bukhara Sunday and Monday that killed at least 19 people and wounded many more. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says that in his phone conversation with his Uzbek colleague, Secretary Powell expressed U.S. condolences over the deaths and solidarity with the Tashkent government as it deals with the terrorist threat. "The United States and Uzbekistan have been cooperating closely together against terrorism. We have tried to assist them in many different ways over the last few years. And we recognize the threat they have faced, and want to help them in every way possible as they face that threat. Certainly we condemn violence and the terrorist acts that occurred and support them in their effort to end terrorism," he said. Mr. Boucher gave no details of the secretary's offer of help for the investigation of the terror attacks, saying the U.S. embassy there will follow up on the matter. Uzbekistan gave U.S. forces the use of its main air base in the war in Afghanistan and the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2002.