Soros Closes Uzbek Charity

The billionaire philanthropist George Soros said yesterday his charity in Uzbekistan had been forced to close after almost 40 years because of a clampdown by authorities alarmed at the recent revolution in another former Soviet republic, Georgia.

The Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation, along with other non-governmental organisations, was asked to re-register with the state under rules granting the government an effective veto over their activities.

"Uzbekistan is stifling civil society and has a horrendous human rights record," Mr Soros, the largest private donor in the central Asian state, said. He has invested $22m since 1966 in a series of projects encouraging "civil society". Last year he spent $3.7m on health, education and economic projects across the country.

Because of its support for the war on terror Uzbekistan is considered a firm ally by the US, despite a series of alleged human rights abuses in which religious prisoners have reportedly been boiled to death. The US retains a military base there, aiding operations in Afghanistan.

However popular discontent at the dictatorial government is rife, and the president, Islam Karimov, is said to have panicked when protests in Tbilisi led to the ousting of another post-Soviet authoritarian, the then Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze, in November.

Mr Shevardnadze blamed Mr Soros's organisations for aiding the revolution, although Mr Soros has denied any political agenda. Yet the sweeping successes in Georgia led to a further crackdown on dissent across Uzbekistan.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, reportedly told Georgian officials that other leaders of former Soviet republics were "shitting themselves" after the scenes of regime change in Georgia. Uzbekistan announced the re-registration process weeks after the revolution.