An international press freedom watchdog has called on Uzbekistan, a key US ally in Central Asia, to stop harassing independent reporters and to release
three journalists jailed for carrying out their work.
Uzbek President Mr Islam Karimov is enjoying good relations with Washington in return for allowing 1,500 US troops to use the southern Khanabad air base for operations in the US-led military campaign in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Mr Karimov, who has ruled his impoverished nation of 25 million with a dictatorial hand since Soviet times, is under fire from human rights and democracy bodies for ignoring freedoms and tough treatment of his opponents.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) demanded the immediate release of two Uzbek journalists from the banned opposition newspaper Erk (Freedom)and a reporter of the national weekly Yangi Asr (New Age), all jailed for their work.
The CPJ said in its report that officials often employed politicised courts, harassment by police and security forces and other ploys to stifle free thinking in the press.