The United States has determined that Uzbekistan\'s human rights record does not meet standards for participation in a US threat reduction program for former Soviet states but will not suspend the Central Asian nation, the State Department said. President George W. Bush waived the penalty for national security reasons, finding that the continued participation of Uzbekistan -- a key US ally in the war on terrorism -- was \"critical,\" said Lou Fintor, a department spokesman. He said Secretary of State Colin Powell had reported to Bush late last year that Uzbekistan had not made enough progress on human rights to participate in Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs. \"However, the president determined that Cooperative Threat Reduction programs in Uzbekistan are sufficiently critical that he decided to exercise his waiver authority,\" Fintor said. CTR programs seek to reduce the threat posed by Soviet-era weapons of mass destruction and their components by destroying them, cleaning up weapons labs and storage sites as well as employing former Soviet scientists. Under the legislation that created the programs, a country\'s participation is dependent on meeting certain human rights criteria every year unless a presidential waiver is granted. Despite Uzbekistan\'s cooperation with the US-led war on terrorism, the United States and others have been highly critical of President Islam Karimov\'s government, accusing it of myriad rights abuses. But some rights watchdogs have expressed deep concerns that the United States is easing up on pressure for reforms in order to keep Karimov\'s government on its side in the anti-terror war. US officials, including Jones, have repeatedly denied those charges. (AFP)