Medvedev welcomes Kyrgyz-US agreement on Manas.

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25/6 Tass 464

WINDHOEK, June 25 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has
called Bishkek's decision to sign an agreement with the USA on hosting a
centre for transit shipments to Afghanistan at the Manas airport a
"sovereign right of Kyrgyzstan".

"The president of Kyrgyzstan came to Moscow for a CIS summit, and we
discussed joint work in the anti-terrorist direction, including the issue
of cargoes transit," the Russian president said in response to an
Itar-Tass query.
"I think this (Kyrgyzstan's decision) will be only good for the common
cause," the president believes.
The U.S. airbase in Manas stops its activity on Kyrgyzstan's decision,
and the new activity will be carried out on a different basis, with
partial immunity, without excessive personnel. This is the same activity
that we carry out, he stressed.
Kyrgyzstan's parliament on Thursday voted in favour of a bill on
hosting a US centre for transit shipments at the capital's Manas airport
that would be delivering cargoes for the international anti-terrorist
coalition in Afghanistan. The government of Kyrgyzstan and the United
States signed the agreement to this affect on June 22.
Russia and other countries of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) had been informed about the intention of the Kyrgyz
leadership, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev explained on
Thursday.
According to him, the agreement does not "specify" whether "fighter
jets or tanks" can be stationed on the territory of the centre. "The main
aim of the agreement is to carry out joint fight against terrorism and
render support to the government of Afghanistan in the sphere of
security," Sarbayev added.
"We made the decision to host the centre for transit shipments taking
into account national interests and in view of the situation emerging in
Afghanistan and Pakistan," Sarbayev said. "It is no secret that there is
no alternative at the moment to the military presence of the USA in
Afghanistan, and our decision is correct from the point of view of
security," he stressed.
According to the agreement the USA will yearly pay 60 million dollars
of infrastructure and land rent though it used to pay only 17.5 million
dollars for the use of the airbase in Manas, which is now being closed.
Besides, under the agreement reached with the USA, Pentagon will have to
build at the airport a terminal for its planes and storage facilities for
cargoes.
The military of Kyrgyzstan and the USA will jointly protect Manas on
the perimeter and its checkpoints. All foreign personnel will be under the
criminal jurisdiction of the United States. Staffers will be allowed to
carry weapons, but only during the service hours. Outside the facility
they must act in accordance with local legislation.
Foreign military will have diplomatic immunity, but it will be granted
upon agreement with the Kyrgyz side.
The parliament-approved document does not allow the Kyrgyz side to
inspect the cargoes being moved to and from Afghanistan through Bishkek or
to charge any taxes for transit. The agreement does not specify what sort
of cargoes can be moved through Manas. The agreement will be valid for a
period of five years. It may be prolonged "after the terms of the
agreement concerning the sum payable have been revised."
In February this year the Kyrgyz parliament made a decision,
eventually approved by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, in favor of the
removal of the US airbase that has been in Manas since December 2001. The
US military was obliged to leave by August 18. Kyrgyz politicians'
opinions on the new centre vary. Some argue the US transit centre, in
contrast to the air base, is not a military facility. Others claim that in
fact the US base is to stay where it has been, under a different name.
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