From Democracy Now!
Kyrgyz Parliament Votes to Close US Air Base
In Kyrgyzstan, lawmakers have voted to close a key US air base used for the occupation of Afghanistan. Earlier today, the Kyrgyz parliament voted 78-to-1 in favor of shuttering the Manas Air Base. The base is a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month. But it’s become widely unpopular amidst opposition to US foreign policy and controversy over US refusal to pay a higher fee. The US has also refused to revoke the immunity of a US soldier who fatally shot a Kyrgyz truck driver in late 2006. The move comes one day after President Obama ordered an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. The head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, praised the decision.
General David McKiernan: “I am very delighted with the President’s decision yesterday to send additional US forces to reinforce our efforts in Afghanistan. I will use most of those forces in the southern part of Afghanistan, an area where we do not have sufficient security presence.”
Activists hold banners reading "Kyrgyzstan is not a beachhead for war" during a rally at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, June 2, 2007. Several dozen activists rallied on Saturday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan to call for the closure of a U.S. military base in the former Soviet republic. The United States maintains the military base at Manas airport outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to support operations in Afghanistan, but Kyrgyz politicians are increasingly calling for its closure, accusing U.S. military personnel of behaving with impunity and saying the base spoils the environment.
(AP Photo/Nina Gorshkova) miting protiv prebivaniya voennoi bazi "Gansi" v Kyrgyzstan. Na photo v centre: vdova Aleksandra Ivanova, ubitogo amerikanskim soldatom. A. Ivanov bil voditelem toplivo-zapravschika. Photo: Nina Gorshkova
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