Thursday, Jul 28, 2005
Kyrgyzstan's terms for U.S. use of base
Vladimir Radyuhin
Links it with Afghanistan situation
MOSCOW: Kyrgyzstan has agreed to continued U.S. military presence on its territory but insisted on linking it to stabilisation in Afghanistan.
"The presence of the (U.S. air) base fully depends on the situation in Afghanistan," acting Kyrgyz Defence Minister Ismail Isakov told a joint news conference with the visiting U.S. Defence Secretary on Tuesday, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
"Once there is stabilisation, there will be no need for it. But I agree with Mr. Secretary, who rightly noted that the situation in Afghanistan is yet to be fully normalised."
Washington pays about $52 million to Kyrgyzstan a year for the use of the airbase at Manas airport near the capital Bishkek. The U.S. also operates an airbase in Uzbekistan set up in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to support the anti-Taliban military campaign in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov demanded the pullout of the base at Khanabad after Washington called for an international probe into violence in the Uzbek province of Andizhan in May. Earlier this month the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, dominated by Russia and China, demanded that the U.S. define a timeframe for its military presence in Central Asia.
Mr. Rumsfeld rushed to Kyrgyzstan after President-elect Kurmanbek Bakiyev also called on Washington to set a deadline for withdrawing its airbase at Manas airport in the capital Bishkek now that the anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan was drawing to an end.
After talks with Kyrgyz leaders on Tuesday Mr. Rumsfeld said the U.S. access to bases in Central Asia was not threatened.
The conspicuous absence of Uzbekistan from Mr. Rumsfeld's tour of Central Asia may be an indication that Washington has lost hope of retaining its base in that country. After Bishkek the U.S. Defence Secretary left for Tajikistan, which allows U.S. aircraft to use its airfields for refuelling.
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