Kyrgyz elders want US base shut, troops gone

The Council of Elders in Kyrgyzstan has demanded that the country's authorities shut down a US base at Manas International airport outside the capital, Bishkek.

Besides the closure demand, the council is also calling for an immediate withdrawal of the US troops from their country.

"Until the entire contingent leaves [Kyrgyzstan], all flights of combat airplanes must be banned, but civilian airplanes can be authorized to deliver humanitarian and other peaceful supplies," they said.

However, Commander of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, has visited Kyrgyzstan for talks with the Kyrgyz president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev on the extension of the lease.

The Kyrgyz president says it is in Kyrgyzstan's interest to maintain security in Afghanistan; therefore, it will not stand against the US using its airport for transshipment of troops and military cargo to Afghanistan — meaning that Kyrgyzstan will not terminate the agreement.

The agreement expires on June 22 but can be automatically prolonged for another year unless one of the sides terminates it.

The Council of Elders believes that the presence of the US military facility in Kyrgyz territory "threatens the national interests of the republic" and has left a negative image.

"If the deployment of Russian military bases in our territory can be justified from a historical standpoint, and it meets our strategic interests, the military presence of the U.S. and other NATO member states in the territory of Kyrgyzstan poses a threat to our national interests," the council said in a statement read at a news conference on Wednesday.

However, opponents of the US military presence have become more active in Kyrgyzstan.

The so called "US Transit Center" at Manas International Airport became functional following an agreement signed in June 2009 by the Kyrgyz and US governments.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120813§ionid=351020406.