U.S. optimistic Manas base will stay open

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Air Force personnel work with maintainers to load a Black Hawk helicopter into a C-17 Globemaster III at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan.


U.S. optimistic Manas base will stay open
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Thursday, February 5, 2009

As the Kyrgyz parliament on Wednesday considered a bill to close Manas Air Base, American officials remained optimistic they could reach a deal to keep open the crucial supply hub for the war in Afghanistan.

The turmoil surrounding the U.S. base in Central Asia is the latest challenge for operations in Afghanistan, where President Barack Obama has pledged to send up to 30,000 more troops this year. Supply routes from Pakistan have come under repeated attack, including an incident Tuesday in which militants heavily damaged a key bridge near the Khyber Pass.

On Tuesday, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan made his most forceful comments yet in the ongoing back-and-forth over the base. After meeting in Moscow with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Bakiyev said the base would be closed because it had served its purpose.

His announcement came shortly after Russia pledged $2 billion in aid and loans for Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic. Bakiyev has threatened to close the base before, but each time negotiations have prolonged the lease.

By Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek put out a statement saying it had received no notification that the Kyrgyz would close the base. The statement said contract talks for the base were ongoing.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60482