Concern over Uzbek anthrax stash

The island could soon be accessible by land

A United States senator has voiced serious concerns over the security of a former Soviet biological weapons testing facility in Uzbekistan.

It should be the highest priority to protect those biological agents from someone stealing them or using them for terrorist purposes

Senator Bill Nelson

Tonnes of biological weapons, including anthrax spores, have been buried at the site on Vozrozhdeniye island in the Aral Sea.

Speaking in the capital Tashkent, Senator Bill Nelson, stressed the need for a clean-up of the site to prevent lethal bacteria falling into the hands of terrorists.

He said the issue was "of high importance" in the war against terrorism.

"It should be the highest priority to protect those biological agents from someone stealing them or using them for terrorist purposes," he said.

US officials have had access to the base for several years, but correspondents say the clean-up has taken on greater urgency because the Aral Sea is drying up and the island could soon be accessible by land.

The sea was once the fourth-largest inland body of water in the world, but has shrunk rapidly since the former Soviet Union diverted its two main rivers to grow cotton in the desert.

Senator Nelson is a member of a US delegation on a three-day visit to the Central Asian country.

The delegation also praised Tashkent for its cooperation in the war on terror, while urging improvements in the country's poor human rights record.

Uzbekistan was the first former Soviet republic to allow US troops to use its military facilities for operations in Afghanistan.