ALMATY, Feb 5: The West is neglecting the worsening human rights situation in Central Asia, where veteran leaders exploit the threat of terrorism to stifle dissent, a European human rights watchdog said on Saturday.

Uzbekistan and Kyrghyzstan allowed the United States and its allies to use their airbases in the war on terror in next-door Afghanistan. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan granted the US-led coalition overflight rights and other privileges.

But while pursuing its strategic interests in the resource-rich region, still viewed by some Moscow politicians as "Russia's soft underbelly", the West is shutting its eyes to the appalling human rights situation, critics say.

"It's possible to say these countries are going backwards in terms of human rights," Aaron Rhodes, executive director of the International Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, said during a visit to Kazakhstan.

"Anything they (local governments) consider as politically threatening they label 'terrorist', and unfortunately a number of Western governments do accept this logic.

Mr Rhodes said repression in Uzbekistan, where the authorities justify their tough methods by saying they want to prevent the rise of militant Islam, presented a particular problem.

Last year Uzbekistan was shattered by a series of suicide bombings and shootouts with police that killed more than 50 people. Human rights bodies say it was pious Muslims driven to despair, rather than militants, who committed the crimes.

"The number of people who are imprisoned for their beliefs (in Uzbekistan) is extremely high, the number of torture cases and murders by officials, is extremely high," Mr Rhodes said.

Kyrghyzstan, once seen as an island of democracy in the authoritarian region, and neighbour Kazakhstan have also stepped up pressure on dissent following "velvet revolutions" in Georgia and Ukraine that brought pro-Western liberals to power.

Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev warned last week a "velvet revolution" might turn into civil war. In Kazakhstan, the authorities have banned a major opposition party, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK), for "undermining state security".

"I don't think there is any legal ground for closing DCK, or at least the reasons for that are phoney," Mr Rhodes said.

All the regional leaders have extended their presidencies through a number of controversial referenda and elections.

"This is a kind of new quasi-dynastic approach towards government in this region," Mr Rhodes said. "And this is a model probably being emulated by President (Alexander) Lukashenko of Belarus. Maybe you could say that Central Asia is kind of a vanguard region, in the negative sense, of course."-Reuters