US Kicked Out of Kyrgyzstan Air Base

MOSCOW - Kyrgyzstan's president said Tuesday that his country is ending U.S. use of an air base that has been key to military operations in Afghanistan, Russian news agencies reported.

The decision to end the U.S. use of Manas, just outside the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, could have potentially far-reaching consequences for U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan.

Interfax and RIA-Novosti quoted Kurmanbek Bakiyev, on a visit to Moscow, as making the statement just minutes after Russia announced it was providing the poor Central Asian nation with billions of dollars in aid. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, said during a trip to Central Asia last month that Manas air base would be key to plans to boost U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan by up to 30,000 soldiers in the coming months.

The Kyrgyz government "has made the decision on ending the term for the American base on the territory of Kyrgyzstan and in the near future, this decision will be announced," Bakiyev was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying.

Kyrgyz government officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said a press briefing was scheduled for Wednesday morning. Officials with U.S. Central Command also said they were unable to comment.

The United States set up the Manas base in Kyrgyzstan and a base in neighboring Uzbekistan after the September 2001 terror attacks, to back operations in Afghanistan. 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 agreed Tuesday to provide Kyrgyzstan with $2 billion in loans plus another $150 million in financial aid.

Russia also uses a military airbase at Kant, Kyrgyzstan.

The United States currently pumps a total of $150 million into Kyrgyzstan's economy annually, including $63 million in rent for Manas, Petraeus said last month.