CA-NEWS (UZ) - Uzbekistan has banned the public breaking of the daily Ramadan fast, an Uzbek cleric said on Friday, after local Islamic religious authorities condemned "lavish" celebrations by rich believers, reported Gulf Times.

A spokesman for the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan told AFP that Iftar - the traditional meal breaking the daily fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan - had become a way for rich people to show off.

"Over the past years we have noticed that Iftars have become too lavish and pompous like wedding ceremonies mostly held by the wealthy and for the wealthy," Abdulaziz Mansur, the board's deputy chairman, told AFP.

"We have banned Iftars at restaurants and wedding halls this year at the start of the Ramadan as an experiment and so far we have been receiving positive reactions," he said.

Uzbekistan, a majority-Muslim country bordering Afghanistan, has been accused by international human rights groups of keeping an overly firm grip on religious practices, a concern that this move is unlikely dispel.

The Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, a supervisory body instituted in Central Asia during the Soviet-era, is officially an independent body, but its decisions are seen as a rubber stamp for state religious policy.

The secular leadership in Tashkent has however defended its tough polices, citing a threat from Islamist extremist groups based in neighbouring countries such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Abdulaziz denied allegations that Uzbek government officials were seeking to block religious gatherings during Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar.

"I myself visit Iftars everyday. Usually hosts say they are happy to have imams and mullahs as guests at their homes rather than in restaurants," he said.