Uzbekistan has pulled out of a grouping of five former Soviet republics, a government official said Friday. Uzbekistan has officially informed the other GUUAM members - Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova - about its withdrawal, the official said on condition of anonymity. He did not give any reasons but media reports quoted the notification, signed by President Islam Karimov, as saying the group had deviated from its earlier goal of economic cooperation, focusing too much on security and political issues. Three pro-Western countries in GUUAM - Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova - have been using the group to counter Russian influence and pursue their goal of integration with the West. The announcement comes two weeks after a GUUAM leaders' summit in Moldova, which Karimov skipped. The other GUUAM leaders pledged at the summit to seek closer ties with the European Union and the United States, and to boost economic and security ties with one another.