The new U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan presented his credentials to the president Wednesday, and the government of this former Soviet republic said it had \"regular contacts\" with Washington concerning human rights. John Robert Purnell presented his credentials to President Islam Karimov, who has ruled this Central Asia nation since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Uzbekistan became the United States\' main regional partner in the war on terror after the Sept. 11 attacks. Hundreds of U.S. soldiers are deployed at a southern Uzbekistan air base near the Afghan border. Earlier relations were complicated by Uzbekistan\'s internationally criticized record on human rights. \"We have no problems,\" Uzbek Foreign Ministry spokesman Ilkhom Zakirov said Wednesday. \"We have regular contacts with our American counterparts where we openly discuss all sorts of issues such as human rights or reforms.\" (AP)