President: Kyrgyzstan to close U.S. base in its airport

Source: Xinhua | 02-04-2009 08:01

MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said here on Tuesday that his country will shut the United States military base in its capital airport, local media reported.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan, however, will continue cooperation with the United States on the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan after the closure of the U.S. airbase in the Central Asian state, RIA Novosti cited Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as saying.

"We could join our efforts to promote stability in the region, our countries will help the operations underway in the region. We are ready for coordinated action," Medvedev said, adding that the decision to close the Manas base was up to Kyrgyzstan.

The two countries also inked a deal to write off a Kyrgyz debt to Russia and an agreement on 150 million U.S. dollars of financial aid for Kyrgyzstan, RIA and Interfax reported.

The base, located on the outskirts of Bishkek and home to over 1,000 military personnel, was established in 2001 after the start of the U.S.-led military operation in Afghanistan.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei