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Kyrgyzstan submits U.S. airbase closure bill to parliament

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The Kyrgyz government submitted to parliament on Monday a bill terminating deals with all 11 countries which use a U.S. airbase at Manas airport, a government spokesman said.
BISHKEK, February 16 (RIA Novosti) - The Kyrgyz government submitted to parliament on Monday a bill terminating deals with all 11 countries which use a U.S. airbase at Manas airport, a government spokesman said.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced plans to close down the base, used to support NATO operations in nearby Afghanistan since 2001, after talks on February 3 in Moscow, where he secured substantial financial aid from Russia.

"The government submitted the bill for ratification to parliament on Monday," the spokesman said.

The Manas airbase was opened in December 2001 to support a U.S. anti-terrorist operation, and currently hosts some 1,200 U.S. military personnel and nine military transport and refueling planes.

The agreement will also be terminated with the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Spain, France, Australia, South Korea, Italy, Turkey and Norway.

The United States will have 180 days to withdraw its aircraft and personnel from the base once the agreement is formally terminated, for which all three parliamentary committees and parties should give their approval.

The parliament's international affairs committee said "they had not managed to study the documents," and the draft law would not be approved until the documentation had been examined.

Bakiyev said he had repeatedly suggested that the U.S. side review the base agreement and raise the rental fee paid for the airbase, but the proposal was ignored by the United States.

The Kyrgyz president added that the base closure was also linked to the conduct of U.S. military personnel, which included the killing of a Kyrgyz national by a U.S. soldier in December 2006.

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