Thursday, February 5, 2009

Clinton calls Kyrgyzstan base-closure decision 'regrettable'



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Kyrgyzstan's decision to close a strategic U.S. military base is "regrettable," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday, but it won't affect the U.S. military effort in nearby Afghanistan.

The United States uses the base as a route for troops and supplies for Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstani President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced Tuesday that "all due procedures" were being initiated to close Manas Air Base.

"It's regrettable that this is under consideration by the government of Kyrgyzstan, and we hope to have further discussions with them," Clinton told reporters after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. "But we will proceed in a very effective manner no matter what the outcome of the Kyrgyzstan government's deliberations might be."

Bakiyev made his announcement at a news conference in Moscow, Russia, following news reports of a multimillion-dollar aid package from Russia to Kyrgyzstan.

Senior State Department officials said the State Department and Department of Defense are involved in discussions with Kyrgyzstan on keeping the lease to the base. The officials said the Kyrgyzstan government has not yet responded to an offer to renew the lease. Discussions are being conducted through the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan and relevant State Department and Pentagon bureaus, the officials said.

One of the officials pointed out the United States has close to 18 months to renegotiate the lease before it expires and hopes Kyrgyzstan will reconsider their position.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell on Tuesday called Manas "a hugely important air base."

"It provides us with launching point to provide supplies in Afghanistan. We very much appreciate [Kyrgyzstan] support in using that base and we hope to continue," he said at his daily news briefing.

Clinton said Thursday the Defense Department "is conducting an examination as to how else we would proceed that will not affect whatever decisions we make."

Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees U.S. operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, including Afghanistan, was in Kyrgyzstan last month, partly to lobby the government to allow the United States to keep using the base. He said he and Kyrgyzstani leaders did not discuss "at all" the possible closure of the base and said local officials told him there was "no foundation" for news reports about the issue.

The mountainous former Soviet republic is Central Asia's second poorest country. The United States pays about $63 million a year for use of the base and employs more than 320 Kyrgyz citizens there, Petraeus said. The base has been in operation since December 2001 under U.N. mandate .

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Tuesday that Russia would offer Kyrgyzstan a $300 million, 40-year loan at an annual interest rate of 0.75 percent, and write off $180 million in Kyrgyzstani debt.

Kyrgyzstan also is home to a Russian military base, at Kant, that officially opened in 2003.

The United States is planning to send an additional 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to halt a resurgence of the Taliban. Petraeus described Manas as having "an important role in the deployment of these forces" and in refueling aircraft.

The relationship between the United States and Kyrgyzstan was damaged when a Kyrgyzstani citizen was killed by a U.S. airman in December 2006. The airman was transferred out of Kyrgyzstan and the dead man's family was offered compensation. Petraeus said in January the investigation into the incident was being reopened.
Bakiyev said in announcing the base closure Tuesday he was not satisfied with the inquiry into the accident and that his government's "inability to provide security to its citizens" was proving a serious concern.

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