TASHKENT, April 16 (RIA Novosti) - The head of an American non-governmental organization (NGO) in Uzbekistan has been refused an extension of his accreditation in the Central Asian country, a source in the Justice Ministry said Monday.
The source said the rejection of the extension for Andrea Berg, the head of the Uzbek office of the NGO Human Rights Watch, did not mean that the country is closing the organization itself.
In 2006, Uzbekistan expelled a number of foreign NGOs, accusing them of supporting opposition forces and attempting to discredit the country following bloody riots in the southeastern city of Andijan in May 2005.
In February Uzbekistan's Justice Ministry said it might take measures against a number of foreign NGOs for failing to submit reports on their activities.
Under Uzbek legislation, foreign NGOs must submit annual reports on their work, including declarations on their sources of financing and spending, by February 1.
