Cold War Veterans Blog

Petraeus: Kyrgyz air base will not close

By Leila Saralayeva - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 19, 2009 14:33:09 EST

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — The head of U.S. Central Command said Monday he had been assured Russia did not put pressure on Kyrgyz authorities to close a key U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

Manas air base will be key to plans to boost U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan by up to 30,000 soldiers in coming months, Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, said here at the end of a weeklong tour of ex-Soviet republics in Central Asia.

Russian media last week cited unidentified sources in the Kyrgyz presidential administration as saying Russia asked the impoverished Central Asia nation to close the base in exchange for a $2 billion package of loans and investment.

“The highest-ranking official I met with gave his assurances that the issue of Manas was not raised during his discussions in Russia about possible economic cooperation and assistance,” Petraeus said.

The United States set up two major bases in former Soviet Central Asia to support military operations in Afghanistan, to the south, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Uzbekistan expelled U.S. troops from the base on its territory in 2005 in a dispute over human rights issues, leaving Manas as the only U.S. military facility in the region.

Russia has long been suspicious of the U.S. presence in what it considers its strategic backyard and has made little secret of wanting the Kyrgyz base shut down.

The United States currently pumps a total of $150 million into Kyrgyzstan’s economy annually, including $63 million from renting Manas, Petraeus said.

Public anger at the U.S. presence in Kyrgyzstan flared after a local truck driver was fatally shot by a serviceman in December 2006 during a security check at the entrance to the base.

The U.S. military originally said the driver threatened the serviceman with a knife, but Petraeus said the investigation into the death has been reopened.

Petraeus also said the United States has secured agreements to transport equipment for troops in Afghanistan through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

Pakistan closed a major land supply route to U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan briefly Monday after suspected insurgents killed a soldier and wounded 14, adding urgency to efforts to secure alternative supply lines to the region.




Kyrgyzstan to close US airbase 'in a matter of days'

3 days ago

BISHKEK (AFP) — Kyrgystan will order the closure of a US military airbase used to support operations in Afghanistan "in a matter of days" under pressure from Russia, a senior Kyrgyz official told AFP.

"The presidential decree on the annulment of the agreement with the United States is already prepared. In a matter of days it will be published in the Kyrgyz media," the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said Russia had urged Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to announce the closure of the base in exchange for financial help to the cash-strapped Central Asian nation.

Russian officials have discussed extending Kyrgyzstan a 300-million-dollar (225-million-euro) loan as well as 1.7 billion dollars of investment in the energy sector of the ex-Soviet republic.

"In exchange for such a large loan the Kremlin asked Bakiyev to voice the decision about the pull-out of the US airbase from Kyrgyzstan before his official visit to Moscow," the official said.

Bakiyev's press service has said he will visit Moscow on February 3.

Russia has sought the closure of the base, which is a symbol of US influence in post-Soviet Central Asia, a region long dominated by Moscow.

Kyrgyz officials said in December that they were preparing to close the base, located at Manas outside the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, but the United States denied that there were any plans to do so.

The base is home to about 1,200 foreign military personnel, mainly from the United States, and acts as a staging post for operations in Afghanistan, located to the south.

It was opened after the September 11, 2001 attacks to support US-led operations in Afghanistan.

In recent months there have been a number of street demonstrations demanding the closure of the base, which is next to the country's main international airport.

There have been tensions with the local population. A US guard shot dead a Kyrgyz truck driver in 2006 in what US officials said was self-defence.