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Russia asks Kyrgyzstan for second airbase: source
Bishkek (AFP) July 9, 2009 Russia has asked Kyrgyzstan to allow the opening of a second Russian airbase in the country, a Kyrgyz official said Thursday, days after Bishkek agreed to keep a key US base in operation. The request was made on a secret high-level visit to Bishkek by Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, said the source in the Kyrgyz government, who asked not to be named. "During a meeting with the Kyrgyz leadership the Russians proposed opening a second military base in Osh," a major city in the south of Kyrgyzstan, the source said. Kyrgyzstan's President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on Tuesday had signed into law a new accord extending the United States' use of the Manas airbase outside the capital Bishkek, which is key to its operations in Afghanistan. Earlier this year Bishkek had ordered the base closed at the same time as it was offered a major financial aid package by Moscow. But it then changed its mind, allowing the base to carry on as a "transit centre". "The Kremlin wants to increase military cooperation after the decision to keep the American airbase," the source said. Russia already maintains the Kant airbase outside Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan is the only country in the world to house both Russian and US bases. President Dmitry Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova confirmed at the G8 summit in Italy that Sechin and Serdyukov were visiting Kyrgyzstan "on the instructions of the president". She did not give further details. The loss of the US Manas base would have been a blow to international military efforts in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban as the facility serves as a major transit point for supplies. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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US officer cites shortage of Afghan forces, civilian expertsWashington (AFP) July 8, 2009 The commander of US Marines in southern Afghanistan said Wednesday there was an urgent need for more Afghan security forces as well as civilian experts to back up a major offensive against Taliban insurgents. "I'm not going to sugarcoat it. The fact of the matter is we don't have enough Afghan forces, and I'd like more," Brigadier General Larry Nicholson told reporters in a teleconference. ... read more |
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