bishkek in the news

The New York Times
June 24, 2009
Kyrgyzstan Allows Limited U.S. Access
By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ

MOSCOW— Kyrgyzstan, which four months ago said it would close an American air base central to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, appeared Tuesday to partially reverse its decision.

The government, after heavy lobbying by American officials, reached a tentative arrangement that would allow the American military to have a limited presence at the Manas air base.

Kyrgyz officials said the United States could use the base in Central Asia as a transit center to supply NATO forces in Afghanistan. Official details of the agreement were not immediately available, but it appeared that the United States had sharply increased the rent that it paid to avoid complete closure.

In February, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev gave the United States six months to vacate the airbase, which has been used since 2001 as a refueling stop and transit hub for about 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo a month headed for Afghanistan.

Manas has also become a focal point in the struggle between the United States and Russia for influence in the countries of the former Soviet Union, an area that Moscow considers a privileged zone of influence. Russia pledged a $2 billion loan to Kyrgyzstan on the same day as Mr. Bakiyev’s announcement that the United States would have to quit the base.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was Kyrgyzstan’s “sovereign right” to strike the agreement.

“If the issue is transit of non-military NATO cargo for use in the counterterrorist operation in Afghanistan, then Russia and Kyrgyzstan’s neighbors have also given their permission for this,” the statement on the ministry’s Web site said. “As for the American airbase at the Manas airport, the Kyrgyz leadership has announced that their February decision is final and will not be overturned.”

As the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement seemed to imply, the deal appears to scale down American operations at Manas, changing the airport from a full-fledged base to a “transit center for supporting operations of anti-terrorist forces,” in Afghanistan, said Almas I. Turdumamatov, a spokesman for Kyrgyzstan’s president.

News reports have cited Kyrgyz officials as saying that only nonmilitary supplies would be permitted to move through the facility. It was unclear how many American troops would be allowed to remain at Manas.

Officials at the American Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, did not respond to requests for comment.

The agreement says that “United States personnel and contractors can transport any kinds of personal belongings, equipment, supplies and will be exempt from any inspections,” said Bakyt Beshimov, a Kyrgyz Parliament member.

The United States, which under the Obama administration has stepped up its efforts in Afghanistan, had pursued a strenuous campaign to persuade the government to reconsider ahead of the August 18 eviction date. Earlier this month, President Barack Obama sent a letter to Mr. Bakiyev seeking greater cooperation in the fight against terrorism, Kyrgyz officials said.

There has been speculation that the Kyrgyz government had never intended to evict the Americans, but was only seeking higher payments for use of the installation.

In announcing the eviction in February, Mr. Bakiyev cited Washington’s failure to adequately compensate the government. Relations also soured in 2006 when an American serviceman killed a Kyrgyz driver on the base.

The United States has been paying about $17.4 million annually in rent along with $150 million a year in aid.

Under the new deal, The United States will pay $60 million a year to support the transport center, Kadyrbek Sarbayev, Kyrgyzstan’s foreign minister, said, according to the online news service www.24.kg. Washington will also pay $36.6 million for an airplane parking area and contribute tens of millions of dollars toward economic development and the fight against drug trafficking, Mr. Sarbayev said. The Russian news agency Interfax quoted Mr. Sarbayev as saying that the agreement would be limited to one year.

A Kyrgyz parliament member, Begaly M. Nargozuyev, said Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament had begun hearings to ratify the agreement and could reach a decision by Friday.