The United States has dismissed the presidential election in Uzbekistan at the weekend as neither free nor fair.

The State Department spokesman, James Rubin, said the poll which returned President Islam Karimov to office with almost ninety two per cent of the vote had given no true choice to the voters.

At a press briefing, Mr Rubin broke into laughter after pointing out that the sole candidate allowed to oppose Mr Karimov took only four per cent of the vote, and then admitted he himself had voted for the president. The BBC Central Asia correspondent says that for many Uzbeks the overwhelming issue is not democracy but maintaining stability, which has been the cornerstone of Mr Karimov's policies.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service