(Adds details of banned individuals, paragraph 7)

By Mark John

BRUSSELS, May 14 (Reuters) - The European Union eased sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan for the crushing of a revolt in the town of Andizhan in 2005 despite persistent concerns over its human rights record.

EU foreign ministers in Brussels agreed to remove four names from a list of 12 top Uzbek officials under visa bans, as part of a review of punitive measures that also include restrictions on military sales, diplomats said.

Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency and wants to deepen ties with potential energy partners in Central Asia, backed easing the sanctions but faced resistance from countries including Britain. Uzbekistan has significant reserves of gas.

EU External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters it was important to encourage progress in a new rights dialogue with Tashkent while making clear concerns remained.

"This gives the chance for the Uzbeks to really show that they mean what they said in the last human rights council and we think this is a way of engaging with the Uzbeks," she said.

The EU extended the visa ban on the remaining eight names on the list for a further six months. The embargo on military sales already has a further six months to run.

Defence Minister Ruslan Mirzayev remained on the list after the Netherlands objected to a proposal to remove restrictions on him. The seven other banned individuals include the chief of the National Security Service Rustam Inoyatov and several special forces officers.

Witnesses in Andizhan said hundreds of people, among them women and children, were killed when troops opened fire on unarmed protesters in May 2005. Uzbekistan says 187 people, all troops or "terrorists", were killed in a police action against Islamist extremists.

Rights activists had urged the European Union not to soften its stance on Uzbekistan, warning the bloc that this could trigger further repression and pointing to continued jailings of those who speak out about the Andizhan events.

Days before the EU ministers' meeting, an Uzbek court suspended the sentence of a rights activist after she confessed to all the charges against her.

Umida Niyazova, a journalist and translator, had been given a seven-year jail sentence for smuggling subversive literature, illegally financing local rights groups and other offences, drawing criticism by the United States of what it said was an Uzbek campaign of repression of rights activists.

EU foreign ministers noted in a joint statement that the EU "remains seriously concerned about the human rights situation in Uzbekistan".

Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom

AlertNet news is provided by