Kyrgyz leader says U.S. can still save Manas

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Kyrgyz leader says U.S. can still save Manas
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, March 6, 2009

Kyrgyzstan’s president said in a BBC interview that "the doors are not closed" on the possibility of the U.S. military negotiating to keep open Manas Air Base.

The vital supply base for U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan is set to close in August, after the Kyrgyz government voted last month to shut it down. But on Wednesday, the British Broadcasting Corp. aired an interview with Kurmanbek Bakiyev in which he said, "We are ready for any new proposals from the U.S. government aimed at stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan."

Bakiyev also seemed to openly play Russia and the U.S. off of one another, saying, "Our partners — be it the United States or Russia — should listen to what we have to say.

"We decided to close the base because our proposals have been ignored for years and I don’t consider such relations as being equal."

The decision to close Manas came the same week Russia pledged more than $2 billion in loans and aid to the former Soviet republic. The move was seen as the latest salvo in renewed Central Asian competition between the former Cold War foes.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61144