Kyrgyzstan had troubled Washington by ordering the closure of the airbase at Manas, a key transit point for Afghanistan operations, just as US President Barack Obama was seeking to intensify the campaign against the Taliban.

Under the deal worth more than 170 million dollars, the rent for the base -- now called a "transit centre" -- will be more than tripled, but limits are to be imposed on its use for military operations.

"The US and Kyrgyzstan agreed on the opening of a centre for the transit of goods to Afghanistan at the Manas airport," a Kyrgyz government official told AFP, confirming that an agreement had been signed on Monday.

The source added that the base would from now on only be used for the transit of non-lethal goods.

"The status of the airbase has changed. It will now transport non-military cargo to Afghanistan," the official said.

The defence committee of the Kyrgyz parliament approved the deal on Tuesday and the whole parliament was expected to vote on ratification on Thursday.

Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev told lawmakers that the United States would pay Bishkek 60 million dollars per year for the rent of the base, a significant increase from past years.

Previously the annual rent was 17.4 million dollars and Bishkek had long complained that it was not receiving a competitive rent on the use of Manas, which also serves as the Central Asian state's international airport.

Washington would also pay over 36 million dollars for improvements in infrastructure at the base and 30 million dollars for new navigational equipment, Sarbayev added.

On top of this, the United States is also to put 20 million dollars into a development fund for Kyrgyzstan and give 21 million dollars for fighting drug traffickers and 10 million for fighting terrorism, he said.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the decision to close the base in Moscow in February, on the same day that Russia unveiled a huge aid package to the impoverished Central Asian country.

However Russia has always denied playing any role in Kyrgyzstan's decision to close the base.

According to Kyrgyz officials, Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently appealed to Bakiyev to allow the US base to remain open.

"Kyrgyzstan has taken this decision because of the worrying situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan," Sarbayev said.

But many Kyrgyzstan watchers have long speculated that the government -- which repeatedly sent mixed signals on whether the closure was final -- had never intended to evict the base and was simply angling for more money.

The base is used to ferry tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for mid-air refuelling of combat aircraft.

With its change of status to a so-called "transit centre" for non-military goods, it remains to be seen whether the base will operate as before or with a scaled-down function.

"If indeed there was no agreement on having fuel tanks based in Manas for inflight refuelling for Afghanistan, this would be a serious inconvenience for US forces," said Central Asia expert Paul Quinn-Judge.

"I don't think we've seen anything near the final form of this agreement," said Quinn-Judge, a Bishkek-based analyst for the International Crisis Group.

The loss of the airbase would have dealt a major blow to coalition military efforts in Afghanistan at a time when Obama has boosted the campaign there against the Taliban.

The Manas base, operated by about 1,000 troops, including small French and Spanish contingents, was set up to support coalition forces fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

earlier related report
US, Kyrgyzstan sign deal on Afghan transit
The United States and Kyrgyzstan signed a deal on the transit of non-military cargo to Afghanistan that will effectively keep open a US air base Bishkek had ordered closed, officials said Tuesday.

Kyrgyzstan had troubled Washington by ordering the closure of the US airbase at Manas, a key transit point for operations in Afghanistan, at a time when US President Barack Obama was ordering an intensified campaign against the Taliban.

"The US and Kyrgyzstan agreed on the opening of a centre for the transit of goods to Afghanistan at the Manas airport," a source in the Kyrgyz government told AFP, confirming that an agreement had been signed on Monday.

The source added that the base -- which had previously been used for ferrying troops to Afghanistan and the refuelling of military aircraft -- would from now on only be used for the transit of non-lethal goods.

"The status of the airbase has changed. It will now transport non-military cargo to Afghanistan," the official said.

The agreement should be debated Tuesday by the Kyrgyz parliament ahead of ratification, the government source said, while parliament officials confirmed that it would examine the issue in an extraordinary session.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the decision to close the base in Moscow in February on the same day that Russia unveiled a huge aid package to the impoverished Central Asian country.

But Russia has always denied playing any role in Kyrgyzstan's decision to close the base. Bakiyev is widely expected to win a second term in elections set for July 23.

According to Kyrgyz officials, Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently appealed to Bakiyev to allow the US base to remain open.

Many Kyrgyzstan watchers have long speculated that the government -- which consistently sent mixed signals on whether the closure was final -- had never intended to evict the base and was simply angling for more money.

Bishkek had complained that it was not receiving a competitive rent on the use of Manas, which also serves as the Central Asian state's international airport.

The base is used to ferry tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for mid-air refuelling of combat craft.

However with its change of status to a so-called "transit centre" for non-military goods it remains to be seen whether the base will operate as before or with a scaled-down function.

The loss of the base would have dealt a major blow to coalition military efforts in Afghanistan at a time when Obama has pledged to boost the campaign there against the Taliban.

The Manas base, operated by about 1,000 troops, including small French and Spanish contingents, was set up to support coalition forces fighting to oust the Taliban in Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

earlier related report
Russia angry at Kyrgyzstan's 'dirty trick': report
Kyrgyzstan played a "dirty trick" in deciding to let the United States keep using an airbase that Moscow wanted closed, a source in the Russian foreign ministry was quoted as saying Wednesday.

The unnamed source, speaking to the Kommersant daily newspaper, vowed that Russia would make a "corresponding response" to the Central Asian country's decision on the Manas airbase.

On Tuesday, Kyrgyzstan announced it had signed an agreement with the United States allowing US personnel to keep using the airbase as a "transit centre" for the transport of non-lethal military goods to Afghanistan.

The agreement effectively reversed an earlier decision in which Kyrgyzstan had ordered the Manas airbase to close -- a decision that was widely believed to have been made under Russian pressure.

"The news about the preservation of the base was an extremely unpleasant surprise for us. We did not anticipate such a dirty trick," the foreign ministry source told Kommersant.

The source said that Russia would give a "corresponding response" and dismissed the base's new description as a "transit centre", saying that Manas would essentially remain a US military base.

"Renaming the base a centre is a cosmetic alteration. The real nature of the US military presence in Central Asia has not changed, which goes against the interests of Russia and our agreements with the Kyrgyz government."

The comments were much harsher than Russia's official reaction, which said Kyrgyzstan had the "sovereign right" to make such a decision.

Manas airbase is used to ferry tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for the mid-air refuelling of combat aircraft.

Its loss would have been a blow to coalition military efforts in Afghanistan at a time when US President Barack Obama is seeking to step up the campaign against the Taliban.

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced the decision to close the base in February during a visit to Moscow -- on the same day that Russia unveiled a generous aid package to his impoverished country.

In the package, Russia agreed to settle an estimated 180-million-dollar debt owed by Bishkek to Moscow, extend Kyrgyzstan a grant worth 150 million dollars, and loan it two billion dollars more, news agencies reported at the time.

Russia has consistently denied playing any role in Kyrgyzstan's decision to close the base. But the base's presence had long irritated Moscow, which sees it as an intrusion into its former Soviet domains in Central Asia.

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