The US wants to extend lease of the Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan to continue cargo deliveries to Afghanistan after 2014, US Assistant Secretary of State for Southern and Central Asia Robert Blake said at the Congress, ITAR-TASS reports.
He reminded that the current lease deal expores in mid-2014. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev said that the US transit center with over a thousand troops in Manas should become a civil facility.
The US and Kabul plan to sign a deal on security in autumn 2013. It would determine the importance of Manas.
Dan Berton (republican, State Indiana), head of the subcommittee for Europe and Eurasia, noted that the issue was discussed in Kyrgyzstan and a neighbor state during a recent visit of US congressmen. Berton visited Dushanbe in mid-July and said that Tajikistan may be an alternative to Manas. Tajik Foreign Minister Khamrokh Zarifi said that no such subjects were discussed.
Blake noted that the issue should be resolved with account of opinions of Russia and other members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich said that the transit center in Bishkek should contribute to stability in Afghanistan.
