Uzbekistan kicks out NATO members

uploaded 23 Nov 2005


Uzbekistan has told NATO members that they can no longer use its land or airspace to support their peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan.

Uzbek authorities told a number of European allies – including Germany and Spain – that they must pull out their troops and end overflights by Jan. 1, NATO officials said on Wednesday.

The Central Asian country had already ousted the U.S. military, which on Nov. 22 flew its last plane out of an air base that had been a major link for its effort in Afghanistan.

Relations have steadily deteriorated between the government of President Islam Karimov and Western countries that criticized Uzbek authorities for bloodily suppressing an uprising in the eastern city of Andijan in May.

A few days earlier, a dozen Uzbek officials were barred from entering the 25 member countries of the European Union because of their part in the uprising.

A month before, the bloc imposed an arms embargo and other sanctions on Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan had become an important ally in the U.S.-led campaigns in Afghanistan and elsewhere after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

However, NATO officials said on Wednesday that the Uzbek move would not damage the Afghanistan campaign, saying they would find other options – including the possibility of using a base to Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.

Uzbek authorities say 187 people died as troops were used against mostly unarmed civilians on May 13, but human rights groups have put the death toll at as many as 750.

In July, Karimov gave the United States six months to get out of the country after Washington strongly criticized the crackdown.

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