UZBEKISTAN Officials order NATO to cease using its territory for missions

The U.S. military has been ordered out, and the last plane left Monday.
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Uzbekistan has told NATO allies they can no longer use its territory or airspace to support peacekeeping missions in neighboring Afghanistan -- an apparent retaliatory move against a West critical of the former Soviet republic's human rights record, alliance officials said Wednesday.
Uzbekistan's shift away from once-warm relations with the West has been matched by closer ties with Russia, ever wary of Western influence in its former Soviet satellites. The two countries this month signed a far-reaching treaty opening the way for a Russian military deployment in the Central Asian nation.
The NATO officials said, however, that alternatives would be found and the mission would not be hurt.
"There will be no diminishment of our ability to support our operation in Afghanistan," NATO spokesman James Appathurai said.
NATO diplomats said Uzbek authorities told European allies -- including Germany and Spain -- that they must withdraw troops and stop overflights by Jan. 1, although Appathurai said alliance headquarters had not received such a message directly.
Relations sour
Uzbekistan already had ordered out the U.S. military. On Monday the Americans flew their last plane out from an air base in Uzbekistan that had been an important hub for operations in Afghanistan.
The latest order came amid worsening relations between the Central Asian republic and Western nations that have voiced disapproval of a bloody government crackdown on demonstrators in the eastern city of Andijan.
Diplomats at NATO headquarters said the decision to expel NATO appeared to be in retaliation for recent acts by the European Union. Last week, the EU banned 12 Uzbek officials from entering the 25-nation bloc for their involvement in quelling the May 13 uprising. Last month, the bloc imposed an arms embargo on Uzbekistan and suspended a cooperation pact.
Germany was likely to be most affected by the decision announced Wednesday because it uses a base at Termez, in southern Uzbekistan, to provide backup for its 2,250 troops in Afghanistan.
German helicopters from the Termez base also have been used to fly aid to victims of the Pakistan earthquake.
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