AFP reported that it would be Karimov’s first visit to Europe since the worsening of relations after May 2005.However, relations between Washington and Tashkent have warmed again recently and the US army is again using Uzbekistan as a stop-off point for military operations in neighboring Afghanistan.

In January, the head of US Central Command, Admiral William Fallon, visited Tashkent and met with Karimov.

In addition to Karimov, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov will also attend next month’s NATO summit in a first for the gas-rich central Asian country.

The invitation to the NATO summit is a new sign of the former Soviet state’s emergence on to the international scene after years of seclusion under eccentric dictator Saparmurat Niyazov.

Since succeeding to the presidency in February 2007 after Niyazov’s death, Berdymukhamedov has visited the US, the European Union in Brussels and Russia.

Some 50 heads of government and state are expected to attend the summit, including U.S. President George W. Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.