The parliament of Kyrgyzstan have given the US six months to vacate their highly strategic airbase, which served as a back-door into Afghanistan . The bill, passed by 78 out of 81 deputies, is a move that proves to be very problematic for the new Obama adminstration:
“MOSCOW – The Parliament of Kyrgyzstan voted on Thursday to terminate the American military’s eight-year lease on an air base outside the capital, Bishkek, complicating President Obama’s plans to deploy as many as 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan over the next two years.
The bill was approved by 78 of the 81 deputies present, with two voting against it and one abstaining. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev will now send official notification to Washington, giving American forces six months to vacate the base.
The facility is a key logistical hub for American forces in Afghanistan, particularly at a time when Taliban attacks have jeopardized another prime overland supply route from Pakistan. The Manas base in Kyrgyzstan provides transit facilities for some 15,000 personnel and 500 tons of cargo each month. It also hosts large tanker aircraft refueling fighter planes on combat missions over Afghanistan. American officials had scrambled to reverse the decision to close the base, which was announced by Mr. Bakiyev in Moscow on Feb. 4.”
