I have been sent a copy of a letter from Kenneth Lay (pictured) – the ex-boss of the bankrupt Enron Corporation awaiting trial on corruption charges – to George W Bush when he was governor of Texas.

It introduces Sadyq Safaev, Uzbekistan’s ambassador to the USA and “senior foreign adviser” to the barbarous dictator Islam Karimov, to Bush in 1997.

The letter says: “Enron has established an office in Tashkent and we are negotiating a $2billion joint venture with Neftegas of Uzbekistan and Gazprom of Russia to develop Uzbekistan’s natural gas and transport it to markets in Europe, Kazakhstan and Turkey.

“This can bring significant economic opportunities to Texas as well as Uzbekistan. The political benefits to the US and Uzbekistan are important to the entire region.”

Lay is “delighted” Bush is meeting Safaev and predicts their talks will be “productive”.

So there you have it. George Dubya Bush is directly linked to tainted big business and the vile regime in Tashkent, which last month slaughtered at least 500 of its own citizens in cold blood.

Once in the White House, Bush lost no time in putting an air base in Uzbekistan, ostensibly to wage the so-called war against terror but in fact to prop up Karimov and extend the USA’s military range.