The British Broadcasting Corporation's World Service said on Wednesday it had closed its office in Uzbekistan and withdrawn staff because the authorities were intimidating its reporters.
Uzbekistan has cracked down on foreign media since government troops bloodily suppressed an uprising in the town of Andizhan in May, accusing them of inaccurately reporting the violence.
"BBC staff in Uzbekistan have been subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation which has made it very difficult for them to report events in the country," BBC World Service Regional Head Behrouz Afagh said in an emailed statement. Seven staff members have been withdrawn.
The English-language correspondent, Monica Whitlock, was forced to leave due to government pressure in June, the BBC said. Of the six local staff who subsequently left, two have been granted refugee status by the United Nations.
The BBC bureau in the capital Tashkent, would remain closed for six months pending a decision on its long-term future, the BBC said.
The corporation's Uzbek-language service was one of very few independent news services available to Uzbeks during the Andizhan uprising.
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