Following his visit to Uzbekistan, Steinmeier said the EU was ready to ease sanctions, provided the central Asian country gave clear assurances that it will improve its poor human rights record.

However, questions still remain over whether Germany will be able to use its presidency to pressure the country to better the human rights situation.

News website euobserver.com reported earlier this week that Uzbekistan has not met any of the conditions that were set out in last year's EU resolution, including establishing an "independent inquiry" into the Andijan murders.

According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International on May 13, 2005 large numbers of protesters in the city of Andijan were surrounded and over 150 killed by troops allegedly from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other security forces.

Many countries, including the US and most European Union countries distanced themselves from the Uzbekistan. The EU imposed harsh sanctions on the country. The Uzbek government in Tashkent demanded that US forces and most European NATO troops leave military bases in the country.

Germany however has maintained relations with Uzbekistan and has been allowed to stay at a military base in Termez, a town near the Afganistan border.

Germany pushing for EU sanctions lift

EU foreign ministers will be holding talks in Brussels on Nov.13 to discuss scaling back the sanctions, which include an arms embargo, a visa ban on 12 Uzbek officials and a freeze on high-level bilateral talks.

However, EU members are split on how to move forward on the sanctions issue. Britain, in particular, has rejected lifting them, which are set to expire automatically on Nov. 17. Any extension would require approval by all 25 EU members.

Steinmeier said he hoped the Uzbek government would pursue political reforms. He also met his Uzbek counterpart Vladimir Norov, who said the country would stop imposing the death penalty.

Norov also promised to allow the Red Cross to visit prisons again in the future.

Human rights situation still 'dismal'

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are considered two of the most serious violators of basic human rights in Central Asia. Systematic torture is the norm in the republic, which is governed like an autocracy by Karimov, according to the United Nations. This has prompted human rights groups to caution against ending sanctions.

"Germany clearly has a close relationship with the government of Uzbekistan, one that allows it to have access to the highest Uzbek government officials -- access that is currently denied to other Western governments," said Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Europe and Central Asia for Human Rights Watch.

"German diplomats argue that they are attempting to use dialogue to raise human rights concerns," Cartner said. "Ultimately dialogue is only useful if it results in concrete and measurable improvements in human rights."

However, Alexander Rahr, expert on European and Central Asian relations, at the German Council for Foreign Relations said it would be a "huge mistake" if Germany started demanding drastic changes regarding human rights.

"Human rights issues will come up (but) it would be a huge mistake if Germany would simply say 'You have to do this and that' and behave like a teacher in front of pupils," Rahr said.

"The regimes leading the countries have been stabilized and those countries are in a very positive economic state, so they don't need the west so much for financial reasons," he added.

Interest in Uzbekistan

In preparation for taking over EU presidency in 2007, Germany has flagged relations with Central Asia as a major item on the political agenda.

Rahr said the international community has huge economic interests in this region. Germany also has specific interests in promoting democracy in the region.

"Germany wants to start initiatives for the European Union during its presidency in order to interest other EU countries in the Caspian region," Rahr said. "But it won't be a revolutionary approach to the post-Soviet space."

EU cautiously re-opens Uzbek relations

Sukhrob Ezgulik, who works for a prominent human rights group operating in Uzbekistan, which wishes to remain anonymous, said EU countries and the US are rethinking their policies on Uzbekistan and are now attempting to talk with Tashkent.

He called Germany's strategy of maintaining a dialogue a wise one.

"Germany was breaking general position of EU," Ezgulik said. "Time has proved that German maintaining relations was strategic."

Rahr agreed Germany was "intelligent enough" not to leave Uzbekistan when the Americans were expelled from the region.

However, he said there is very little that Germany could do alone to bring about change in the country.