US-Kyrgyz accord is Bishkek's sovereign right - Moscow.

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23/6 Tass 395

MOSCOW, June 23 (Itar-Tass) - The Russian Foreign Ministry said on
Tuesday the agreement between the USA and Kyrgyzstan on cargo transit from
the Manas base is Bishkek's sovereign right.

"The signing of such an agreement is certainly a sovereign right of
the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. If we talk the transit of NATO's non-military
cargos for the needs of the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan, the
consent to implement this transit has been given by Russia and
Kyrgyzstan's neighbors," diplomats said.
"As for the U.S. airbase at the Manas airport, the Kyrgyz leadership
has repeatedly stated that the decision to shut down this military
facility, made in February, is final and will not be revised. This would
be the standpoint," they added.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kyrgyzstan parliament committees approved the
government-proposed bill to set up a center of transit shipments at the
Bishkek airport.
The U.S. and Kyrgyz governments inked the relevant agreement on
Monday, June 22. The center is expected to function on the basis of the
U.S. Manas air base. Under the decision by the Kyrgyz authorities, the
servicemen of the U.S. Manas air base will have to leave the republic by
August 18, 2009.
According to the new Kyrgyz-U.S. accords, the U.S. and Kyrgyz
servicemen will jointly guard the perimeter of the airport and the
checkpoints. The USA will increase the amount of annual lease payments
from 17.5 million dollars to 60 million dollars.
The transit center bill was presented in the Kyrgyz parliament by
Interior Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev earlier on Tuesday.
He said the USA would allocate 366 million dollars to build a parking
lot for aircraft and cargo terminals.
Earlier, the U.S. government allocated 30 million dollars to improve
the Manas air traffic control system.
Sarbayev underlined that the Kyrgyz government had decided to set up
the center "while taking in account the alarming development of the
situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
Kyrgyzstan has considered the opinions of partner states in various
international organizations on this account, the police chief said.
All the servicemen of the U.S. airbase earlier enjoyed the status of
diplomatic immunity, and the Kyrgyz authorities had no access to the
foreign military facility.
The agreement is valid for one year, with annual prolongation.
"We also agreed on transit of non-military cargoes from Manas to
Bagram, Afghanistan. The first containers have already been shipped,"
Sarbayev said.
Deputy chairman of the parliament's commission on international
affairs and ties between parliaments Kabar Karabekov, in comments on the
U.S.-Kyrgyz agreement, said "it won't be a military base. They (Americans)
will build a separate portal, storehouses, and a separate parking lost for
their aircraft."
Karabekov acknowledged however that the situation within the facility
would be controlled by representatives of the U.S. defence ministry, while
the cargoes, intended for the coalition in Afghanistan, would not be
inspected or taxed.
"Functionally, the center will differ considerably from the base which
is now being dismantled," the lawmaker said.
Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev first stated the intention to
close the Manas base when he was on a visit to Moscow on February 3.
Bakiyev said the local authorities were expecting the anti-terrorist
operation in Afghanistan to last a year or two, not its dragging out for
eight years. Explaining the reasons behind the decision to close the base,
the president named the low level of compensation by the USA for the use
of the facility and its infrastructure, and the negative reaction in the
Kyrgyz society to the presence of U.S. troops in the country.
According to official sources, the USA paid 38 million dollars to
Kyrgyzstan for the lease of the airbase and use of the Bishkek airport
infrastructure last year.
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