"We've agreed to enter into discussions with the Kyrgyz at their invitation on the possibility of the agreement (on the air base) remaining in force," the official, who asked not to be named, said in Moscow.

Kyrgyzstan on February 20 officially set in motion the process for closing the airbase at Manas, outside the Kyrgyz capital, by handing the United States a 180-day notice to leave the base.

The base is a vital support post for US and Western operations, as it is used for ferrying tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for mid-air refuelling of combat craft.

"The story is not over yet," said the US official. "But the United States has other options too. It is not going to seriously affect our ability to supply our forces in Afghanistan."

Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said on Thursday after talks in Moscow that Kyrgyzstan was not reconsidering its decision to close the US airbase.

In Bishkek, officials also insisted Friday that their position had not changed on the base's closure.

"The question about the airbase is closed. This topic is not being looked at," Almas Turdumamatov, the press secretary of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, told AFP.

"The base is going to leave the country and the agreement with the United States has already been officially cancelled."

earlier related report
Russia opens international meeting on Afghanistan
Russia on Friday opened an international meeting on fighting drug trafficking and unrest in Afghanistan, vowing it was prepared to cooperate with NATO to assist its operations in the country.

The conference is being led by the Shanghai Group -- a regional grouping that was aimed as an eastern counter balance to NATO and groups China, Russia and Central Asian states.

But the meeting is also being attended by Shanghai Group observers, NATO officials, Afghanistan and representatives of the G8 group of leading industrialised countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in his opening address that Russia was prepared to expand its cooperation with the Western military alliance. It has already allowed the transit of non-lethal goods through its territory.

"We are ready to examine other kinds of constructive cooperation," he said, according to the ITAR-TASS news agency.

Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, warned the security situation in Afghanistan was continuing to deteriorate.

"It is particularly troubling that terrorists are practically controlling a number of areas in Afghanistan and have formed parallel power centres," he said.

For its part, the United States has sent Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick Moon to the conference but there appeared little chance he could meet Iranian delegates there.

"Such a meeting is not on the agenda," Iran's ambassador to Russia Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Lavrov said the main aim of the conference was to draw up a declaration with a concrete action plan for helping Afghanistan. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also attending.

The meeting comes ahead of another international conference on Afghanistan in The Hague on March 31, due to be attended by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top diplomats.

Iran said on Thursday it would also attend the Hague conference, in a signal it is ready to help the new US administration restore stability to its eastern neighbour.

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