By Steven Eke BBC regional analyst

Uzbekistan's record on human rights has been sidelined

But concerns about human rights and the lack of democracy have been sidelined, as the US-led "war on terror" has transformed the country into one of Washington's closest allies.

The reports coming from Uzbekistan of violent attacks on police, shoot-outs and a harsh security clampdown will pose difficult questions for Western governments.

Uzbekistan last saw comparable bombings in 1999. The country's president, Islam Karimov, blamed those on Islamic radicals and Uzbek courts imprisoned thousands of alleged sympathisers.

'Systematic' torture

Political opposition is not tolerated in Uzbekistan. The media is not free. The UN says torture is "systematic".

Nevertheless, after the attacks of 11 September 2001, Uzbekistan was placed firmly on the map as a US ally.

The Uzbek government made its airspace and military facilities available to US forces, facilitating the operation to remove the Taleban in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan has since become an important strategic outpost for the United States.

Extremism

President Bush has noticeably left Uzbekistan out of speeches condemning repressive regimes.

There is talk of reducing financial assistance to Uzbekistan but, so far, little real action.

Western analysts believe that, whatever the relationship between events in Uzbekistan and the wider threat of Islamist organisations, economic discontent and repression mean that Uzbekistan has become a breeding ground for political extremism.