JULIAN E. BARNES, MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON — The president of Kyrgyzstan flew to Moscow on Tuesday, nailed down promises of debt relief and billions of dollars in aid -- and promptly announced plans to close a U.S. air base crucial to the war in Afghanistan.
The abrupt declaration from President Kurmanbek Bakiyev came as the United States prepares to deploy thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan in hopes of gaining ground against a resurgent Taliban. Kyrgyzstan has been home to the only remaining U.S. base in the strategically crucial region to Afghanistan's north.
"The Kyrgyz government has taken a decision to terminate the rent of the base," Bakiyev told reporters in Moscow after meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Bakiyev said the U.S. military refused to pay a higher rent demanded by his government. The United States also failed to respond adequately to the 2006 killing of a Kyrgyz man by a U.S. serviceman at the base, he charged.
U.S. officials said they had not received official notice of the closure of Manas air base, and some wondered if Bakiyev's announcement was a negotiating tactic.
"We've dealt with this kind of issue with the Kyrgyz before, usually in an effort to get money from us," a senior Pentagon official said on condition of anonymity because of the confidential diplomatic negotiations. "We've always known that at some point they would become dissatisfied with the agreement we have and wish to renegotiate. And that's maybe where we are now."
Despite the decision, U.S. officials hope to find a way to continue using the base.
"We would be able to continue our operations in Afghanistan, but it is a base we would much prefer to operate with than without," said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. "We never put all our eggs in one basket. We have multiple supply routes both by air and ground into Afghanistan. But Manas is a vitally important facility for our operation."
The United States established the air base in impoverished, mountainous Kyrgyzstan, as well as a base in neighboring Uzbekistan, after the Sept. 11 attacks to provide support for the war in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan ejected its U.S. base in 2005, indignant over U.S. complaints concerning the local government's human rights record.
"At that time, it was one or two years that were talked about. Eight years have passed," Bakiyev said Tuesday of the initial accord. "We have repeatedly raised with the United States the matter of economic compensation . . . but we have not been understood."
