Kyrgyzstan to review US base agreement: president

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Wednesday that the Kyrgyz government will review an agreement allowing the presence of a US military base in the country.

"The Kyrgyz economy is weak, and we need to look at the payment conditions," said Bakiyev after visiting a Russian air base, according to reports from the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

The president said he had told US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in their July meeting that Washington should pay a higher rent for the use of a US base near the Manas International Airport.

Bakiyev stressed that the withdrawal of the US military base will depend on the situation in Afghanistan. "The sooner the situation there is totally stable, the sooner the question of US pulling out from here is raised," he said.

In 2001, Kyrgyzstan and its neighbor Uzbekistan allowed the United States to open military bases on their territories to back its war in neighboring Afghanistan.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, issued a statement in July calling for a deadline for a US military withdrawal from its members.

Uzbekistan has already ordered US troops to leave the country in the next six months.

Source: Xinhua