US eyes 'opportunities' in Central Asia after death of Turkmen ruler

"There are many opportunities in this region for cooperation," US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher told reporters here after holding talks with officials in Ashgabat.

Those opportunities include closer work with nearby Afghanistan and other countries in the region as well as "cooperation with those of us who are further away," Boucher said.

He called on the new government in Turkmenistan to "take advantage of these opportunities for the benefit of the people of Turkmenistan" and reiterated calls from Washington and other world capitals for stability in the energy-rich country.

"We're certainly hoping for a peaceful and stable transition" of power in Ashgabat following the death Thursday from a heart attack of Saparmurat Niyazov, the country's iron-fisted ruler for more than two decades, who died leaving no successor and no clear system in place for choosing one.

The United States, Russia and China are among major world powers that are anxious to consolidate strong relations with the authorities in Turkmenistan, which has the fifth largest known natural gas reserves and is a key link in energy supplies to Europe.

Western energy firms are eager to expand strategic energy routes between sources of supply in Central Asia and the Caspian region and markets in western -- routes that bypass Russia, a giant sitting between these two ends of the energy flow.

Asked about different possible pipeline routes from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Russia, Boucher said: "Those will be decisions that the government will have to make."

Boucher was then asked in particular about a proposal to build a pipeline that would bypass Russia, stretching from Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and on to Western markets.

"This is a project of interest to us and of interest to people in the region... as with any project, if it has a commercial foundation and it can be done in the region, we'd like to see it done," Boucher said.

Speculation about US designs in Central Asia is running high in Moscow and other capitals closer to Central Asia, and Boucher said he met with journalists in Ashgabat "so you all have the real story as opposed to what's being written about".