The event was attended by around fifty representatives of the Anglican, Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Jewish Community and various Muslim organizations. Academic institutions that participated in the even included the Cambridge and London Universities, King's College, as well as officials of Britain, media and diplomatic corps in London.

The team, led by Juan Miranda, Director General of the Central and West Asia Department, discussed recent developments and future plans for cooperation with Mr. Rustam Azimov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and other senior government officials.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev proposed building a canal between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea to ease Central Asian trade with world markets.

Straddling a promising energy corridor running from east to west, Turkey is keen to turn its geographical position into political capital. To the west, Ankara wants to exploit its position to gain leverage with the world's second-biggest energy consumer, the European Union, whose membership Turkey seeks. Looking east and south, Turkey strives to expand its influence in countries that supply the oil and gas Europe needs, especially Central Asia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has urged greater international cooperation on Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Iran, and expressed concern over China's military buildup.

The presidents of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Nursultan Nazarbaev and Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, have held talks that both sides hope will lay the basis for close cooperation between their resource-rich Central Asian countries.

The speaker of Kyrgyzstan's parliament, Marat Sultanov, said today he has asked Russian officials to provide aid to Kyrgyzstan to help guard his Central Asian republic's borders, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week clinched a deal that, at least on paper, ensures that his country will remain the world's largest natural-gas exporter for many years to come. Whether Russia will be able to capitalize on the short-term political dividends it may expect from this arrangement remains unclear, however.

Leading U.S. and Georgian officials are issuing fresh warnings about the dangers to Europe of relying too heavily on energy supplies controlled by Russia. The warnings follow an agreement between Russia and resource-rich Central Asian states Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to build a new pipeline to carry natural gas to Europe via Russia.

European Union foreign ministers have convened in Brussels to discuss the future of the bloc's sanctions against Uzbekistan, imposed after a government crackdown on protesters two years ago. Today's debate comes after ambassadors failed to thrash out a deal last week.

The presidents of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have agreed to build a natural gas pipeline along the Caspian sea coast. The landmark deak was agreed today during three-way talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev in the coastal Turkmen city of Turkmenbashi.

In the worst clashes between pro-government and opposition activists over suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry, at least 16 people have been killed in Karachi.