US State Department Official to Continue Air Base Talks

US State Department Official to Continue Air Base Talks

IWPR

Institute for War & Peace Reporting
Thursday, 7 June, 2007
Assistant US Secretary of State Richard Boucher will visit Bishkek on June 8 to continue talks on security and bilateral cooperation that were started on June 5 by Secretary of Defence Robert Gates.



The US military is stationed at Manas airport outside Bishkek. Tensions over the base have escalated since a US serviceman shot a Kyrgyz citizen dead last December.



Kyrgyzstan has said it will not allow the base to be used in the eventuality of a military operation against Iran, and some parliamentarians want the Americans to leave altogether.



On June 2, political activists protested in front of the US embassy calling for the base to be closed and the serviceman accused in the shooting to be punished.



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