ALMA ATA, Nov. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- A US air force base in southwestern Uzbekistan was formally shut down on Monday, said a spokesman from Uzbekistan's Defense Ministry.

    According to reports reaching here from Tashkent, the US military personnel held on Monday afternoon a ceremony for the closedown of the base, built at the local Khanabad Airport, 200 kmfrom the Uzbekistan-Afghan border.

    The last US military plane flew out of the base shortly after the US national flag was lowered and taken off the mask, the spokesman said.

    The US embassy in Uzbekistan confirmed on the same day the base had been closed, the Interfax news agency reported.

    Uzbekistan allowed the United States to use the Khanabad Airport as a military base after the US military attacks on Afghanistan's Taliban regime began in October 2001. The airport had since become an important transportation and oil supply hub for the US military operations in Afghanistan.

    Uzbekistan's Foreign Ministry delivered a notice to the US embassy in late July, asking the US forces to leave the base in 180 days. Enditem