Uzbekistan will allow the United States to keep military forces here as long as needed for operations in Afghanistan, and would consider a permanent U.S. outpost if Washington wanted one, the Uzbek foreign minister said in an interview Saturday. Speaking before Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld visits Tuesday, Sadyk Safayev also told The Associated Press that Uzbekistan is improving its much-criticized human rights record. He said two people convicted in recent high-profile cases likely would receive amnesty soon. Rumsfeld\'s visit will be his third here in two years, meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov before heading to neighboring Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry said Saturday. Hundreds of U.S. troops remain stationed in Uzbekistan, and the two countries signed a strategic partnership agreement in 2002. While troops continue operations in Afghanistan, \"we have an obligation as a member of the anti-terrorist coalition to allow U.S. military forces to use the military infrastructure in Uzbekistan,\" Safayev said. Rumsfeld\'s visit will also focus on nonproliferation, including American help in cleaning up a Soviet biological weapons lab once used to produce anthrax. So far, Washington has pledged $6 million for cleanup projects, but Safayev called for more cooperation. Such nonproliferation work and other cooperation has been hindered by Uzbekistan\'s poor human rights record. Uzbekistan has not improved that record enough to meet requirements for funding under a U.S. nuclear disarmament program. That forced President Bush to grant a waiver in the interests of national security in December. The strategic partnership agreement also requires progress on human rights for the Uzbek government to receive aid. The next evaluation, due in April, is expected to be a close call. (AP)