Philanthropist George Soros accused the Uzbek government Sunday of forcing his pro-democracy foundation to shut down, blasting human rights abuses in the Central Asian nation and urging the United States to reconsider ties with its closest regional ally. The Uzbek branch of the Open Society Institute, which aims to build free and open societies around the world, closed this week after the government refused to renew its registration, claiming the organization was trying to discredit its policies. Soros said the foundation planned to appeal. He lashed out at the government, which has long been criticized for its poor human rights record, including allegations of torture, lack of civil liberties and crackdowns on Muslims who worship outside state-run mosques. \'\'Uzbekistan is stifling civil society and has a horrendous human rights record,\'\' Soros said in a statement, claiming that OSI staff in the country had suffered threats and intimidation. \'\'Uzbekistan has jailed thousands of its own citizens on political grounds, tortured them and refused registration to most of its domestic human rights groups and all of its opposition political parties,\'\' he said. Soros said the only other country where OSI had been forced to close was Belarus, whose authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has increasingly isolated the former Soviet republic. Earlier this month, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development issued a rare public rebuke of Uzbekistan and said it would limit investment due to the country\'s lack of progress on democratic and economic reforms. Soros praised the bank\'s decision, and called also on the United States \'\'to re-examine its relationship with the Uzbek government.\'\' The requirement to register was imposed on civil groups by the government late last year following the ouster of President Eduard Shevardnadze in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Shevardnadze accused Soros of funding the uprising that forced him to resign. In Uzbekistan, the OSI appeared to be the only foundation whose registration was not renewed. Soros said the Justice Ministry wrote in a letter dated Wednesday that OSI materials supplied to universities \'\'distort the essence and the content of socio-economic, public and political reforms\'\' in Uzbekistan and \'\'discredit\'\' government policies. (AP)