Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Uzbekistan closed an airbase used by the U.S. military to support operations in Afghanistan after relations deteriorated over the Uzbek government's use of force to control an uprising in May.

A C-17 transport aircraft carrying 90 U.S. military personnel left Uzbekistan shortly after a flag-lowering ceremony yesterday at the Karshi-Khanabad airbase in the south of the country, Lieutenant Commander Joe Carpenter, a U.S. Defense Department spokesman, said late yesterday in Washington.

President Islam Karimov's government in July ordered U.S. forces to leave the base after the U.S. led international calls for an investigation into the uprising in the eastern city of Andijan. The Uzbek government said 187 people were killed when the uprising was put down. Human rights groups said several hundred people, most of them civilians, may have died.

Uzbekistan, a landlocked nation of 26 million people, was the first central Asian country to allow the U.S. to use a military base in the anti-terrorism war that began in 2001. The U.S. has bases in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan supporting military operations in Afghanistan.

The U.S. deployed about 1,000 military personnel at Karshi- Khanabad, many helping with humanitarian operations to support the government of President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. The base also served as a refueling point for transport aircraft.

Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, slightly larger than the U.S. state of California, is the world's second-biggest exporter of cotton and an oil and gold producer. It shares 137 kilometers (85 miles) of its southern border with Afghanistan.

Revolt Leaders

The U.S. government last week condemned as unfair the convictions and jail sentences of 15 alleged leaders of the revolt in Andijan and renewed calls for an independent inquiry.

The European Union, at the same time, banned arms sales and travel to EU countries by 12 Uzbek officials, including Interior Minister Zakirjan Almatov and Defense Minister Kadir Gulamov, citing ``excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force'' when the revolt was put down.

Uzbekistan's Supreme Court on Nov. 19 said the U.S. and EU statements and actions were unfounded and biased, Russia's Interfax news agency reported from the capital, Tashkent.

``Statements by the U.S. and EU give grounds for Uzbekistan to feel concern about them as ardent opponents of terrorism,'' the Supreme Court said in its statement, according to Interfax.

The Uzbek government blamed Islamic extremists for the violence in Andijan. The fighting began after armed men protesting a trial of Islamic extremists broke into a jail and freed prisoners.

Clamping Down

A clampdown followed as police and soldiers in Andijan and nearby towns fired on protesters, most of them civilians opposed to Karimov's government. Karimov has led the country since 1991.

Karimov last week signed a defense treaty with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The accord grants each country the right to use military sites located on their territories ``should it prove necessary,'' Interfax reported at the time, citing a clause in the treaty it obtained.

The U.S. has increasingly faulted the human rights practices of the Karimov government.

The U.S. withheld $10.5 million in aid, including $6.87 million in military aid, in the fiscal year 2004 because the State Department couldn't certify that Uzbekistan was moving toward multiparty democracy.

As much as $22 million, including $11.7 million in military aid, is in danger of being withheld this year for the same reason, department spokeswoman Joanne Moore said in June. The country received $87.4 million in aid from the U.S. in 2003, according to U.S. government data.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Proctor in Washington at kproctor@bloomberg.net; Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 21, 2005 19:54 EST