By Markus Krah BUKHARA, Uzbekistan, Nov 1 (Reuters) - European Union heavyweight Germany said on Wednesday the bloc could ease or drop sanctions it imposed on Uzbekistan after a government crackdown on a revolt in the Central Asian state last year. The EU imposed restrictions on military sales to Uzbekistan and a visa ban on some top Uzbek officials after the West accused the former Soviet country of using indiscriminate force to quash a revolt in the town of Andizhan in May 2005. The EU will discuss reviewing the sanctions at a meeting with Uzbek officials in Brussels on Nov.8. A week later, a meeting of EU foreign ministers may take a decision to ease or lift altogether the sanctions against the authoritarian state. "It is well known that we expect Uzbekistan to take a stand to the events (in Andizhan) and to proceed on the path to more democracy and rule of law," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists in the ancient blue-domed city of Bukhara in southeastern Uzbekistan. "If this path is taken, there is no reason to stick to the sanctions or to stick to them in the present form. We made it clear that we never see isolation or sanctions as a purpose in itself." Steinmeier, on a tour of post-Soviet Central Asia, had earlier held talks with Uzbek President Islam Karimov. "During the talks I have noticed the will to return to a reasonable cooperation with Germany and the EU," Steinmeier said. "We must wait to find out if these talks suffice to bolster the will with actual deeds." Washington and Brussels suspended high-level contacts with Uzbekistan after witnesses said hundreds of men, women and children died when troops opened fire on a crowd in Andizhan. SANCTIONS FAILED TO BITE Uzbekistan, a nation of 26 million run by Karimov since Soviet days, is criticised by foreign human rights bodies and the West for its severe clampdown on dissent, widespread use of torture in local jails and snail-paced economic reforms. But the sanctions imposed by the West, which expire in mid-November unless all 25 EU states back an extension, have done little to shake Karimov's rule. The country squeezed out a key U.S. air base, an important air bridge for Washington's war on terror in next-door Afghanistan, and instead struck a military and political pact with Russia seeking to bolster Moscow's clout in the region. Watched with unease by Western firms, Uzbekistan has signed deals with Russian oil and gas firms to explore and develop its potentially huge energy reserves, while good cotton crops and large gold output underpin Karimov's regime financially. Diplomats and human rights activists said on Tuesday that Germany, seeking secure energy supplies, was pushing for an easing of EU sanctions on Uzbekistan despite the country's failure to improve its human rights record. Steinmeier said Uzbekistan's plans to reform its criminal justice system and allow visiting International Red Cross teams to inspect local prisons were taken seriously as signs to put in place the reforms urged by the EU. "We should see what the meeting on Nov.8 brings," he said. "We addressed very frankly the things that separate (Uzbekistan and the EU)."
