U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan will discuss the situation in neighboring Afghanistan and a proposed treaty to establish a nuclear weapons-free zone in Central Asia as he continued his tour of the region Friday with a visit to Uzbekistan. The Iraq crisis wasn't expected to be an issue in talks between Annan and Uzbek President Islam Karimov in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, said Sherzod Kudratkhjaev, a spokesman in the president's office. "Iraq is too far from here, and Uzbekistan is mostly focused on bilateral relations," Kudratkhjaev said Friday. Annan's first stop in Central Asia was Thursday in Kazakhstan, where he expressed hope that U.N. weapons inspectors would return to Iraq despite a recent U.S. Congress resolution authorizing the use of force against Baghdad without U.N. consent. The trip is Annan's first through the former Soviet republics of Central Asia, a region that has gained international attention for its strategic importance in anti-terror operations in neighboring Afghanistan. The countries of Central Asia are discussing a treaty to establish a nuclear weapons-free zone in the region, although they were unable to reach final agreement in time for a signing ceremony during Annan's visit. In Uzbekistan, Annan was also expected to discuss environmental problems relating to the Aral Sea, a body of water shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan that has been dramatically shrinking in size due to Soviet-era irrigation practices that drained the rivers that fed it. The receding shores have created an environmental nightmare, where exposed dry lake beds result in dust storms that cause pollution across the region. After Tashkent, Annan takes a private trip over the weekend to the Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan before finishing his trip next week in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. (AP)