Europe watchdog slams Uzbekistan media crackdown

* Latest case of harassing independent media was in January

* OSCE says "deeply concerned" with Uzbek violations

By Maria Golovnina

ALMATY, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Europe's main democracy and security watchdog sharply criticised Uzbekistan on Tuesday for jailing and harassing journalists, saying there has been no real improvement in its media freedom. The former Soviet state has intensified its campaign against independent media over many years, driving international media out of the country and putting pressure on local reporters.

The media freedom arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it was "deeply concerned by the continuing harassment of journalists in Uzbekistan".

In early January, a group of Uzbek reporters -- most of whom have in the past contributed to international media outlets -- were summoned to the prosecutors office and interrogated on their activities, the reporters involved said.

Although no formal accusations were made, the event sent alarm bells through a handful of independent reporters left in the country, most of them journalists with Web-based media.

"In spite of the constructive dialogue that has been developing between my Office and the Uzbek authorities, there has been no improvement in Uzbekistan's press freedom situation," OSCE media freedom representative Miklos Haraszti said in a letter to the Uzbek foreign ministry.

"As recent developments show, arrests of journalists and other forms of harassment are still taking place in violation of OSCE media freedom commitments."

A strategic Central Asian nation bordering Afghanistan, Uzbekistan drew international condemnation in 2005 when state troops opened fire on protesters in the town of Andizhan. Witnesses and reporters said hundreds of people were killed.

The government has since accused Western media of playing a role in organising the anti-government revolt in Andizhan.

Most international media are now unable to report from the mainly Muslim nation since their press accreditations were revoked in the crackdown following the 2005 Andizhan protests. Reuters covers Uzbekistan from neighbouring Kazakhstan.

Uzbekistan's foreign ministry could not be reached for comment despite numerous Reuters attempts to reach its spokesman by telephone from Kazakhstan.

Rights groups say there are thousands of political prisoners in Uzbekistan including journalists.

Uzbek photojournalist Umida Akhmedova was accused by the authorities last month of slander and faces up to three years in jail for a series of photos depicting daily life in Uzbekistan, according to rights groups and her supporters.

"We are outraged by this new wave of harassment against the few remaining independent journalists in Uzbekistan," the Committee to Protect Journalists said last month.

"This blatant intimidation campaign must end," it said. (Editing by Louise Ireland)