Kyrgyzstan: Afghan President Reportedly Lobbies to Keep Manas Air Base Open

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made a personal appeal to his Kyrgyz counterpart, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, to keep the Manas Airbase open.

Karzai conveyed a diplomatic note to Bakiyev in early June. Acting on the note's content, the two have scheduled a meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit to be held in Yekaterinburg on June 15-16, a source in Bakiyev's administration told the Akipress news agency on June 5.

The chief topic of the Yekaterinburg talks will be "issues of assistance in the reconstruction of Afghanistan and the military base Manas." Karzai is reportedly interested in keeping US forces based at the Kyrgyz facility outside of the capital Bishkek. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. The US-operated airbase near Bishkek is slated to close on August 18. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].