Kyrgyz Parliament Approves Plan to Close U.S. Air Base

By Sarah Schafer

Special to The Washington Post

Friday, February 20, 2009

MOSCOW, Feb. 19 -- The Kyrgyzstan parliament voted Thursday to close a U.S. air base that the Pentagon had hoped to use to expand NATO operations in Afghanistan and reduce the need to ship supplies through a dangerous corridor in Pakistan. But U.S. officials said they had not given up hope on a deal to keep the base open.

[Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on Friday signed the bill to cancel the lease agreement for Manas Air Base, the Associated Press reported. The government can now issue an eviction notice, giving the United States six months to vacate the facility.]

The 78 to 1 vote to close the base came as the Obama administration was preparing to send an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan and was scrambling to find alternatives to the base or persuade Bakiyev to reconsider.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, speaking to reporters in Krakow, Poland, said that the administration was considering offering more money to Kyrgyzstan to keep the base open and that negotiations were continuing. But he and NATO officials said the base was not irreplaceable.

Air Force Manas Air Base: http://www.manas.afcent.af.mil/

Associated Press Photos and Captions
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, and his Kyrgyzian counterpart Ismail Isakov stand during a news conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyz capital on Tuesday, June 5, 2007. Gates stopped in Bishkek to consult with Kyrgyz officials about the U.S. use of an air base outside the capital, where U.S. cargo and refueling planes are stationed for operations related to the war in Afghanistan. U.S. soldiers also transit through the Manas air base on their way to Afghanistan. (AP Photo/ Azamat Imanaliev)	U.S. Air Force Col. T. Harrison Smith Jr. assumes duties of the U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan new commander during a ceremony at the Manas Air Base near the capital, Bishkek, Monday, June 4, 2007, with Kyrgyz, right, and U.S. flags in the foreground. The base, located at Kyrgyzstan's main civilian airport, hosts about 1,200 American and dozens of French and Spanish servicemen, as well as several military cargo and refueling aircraft.(AP Photo/Azamat Imanaliev)
U.S. Army combat engineer in heavy anti-explosion gear stands on guard at the change of command ceremony at Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday, June 8, 2005. The main reason Manas still exists, perhaps, is the revenue it generates for the Kyrgyz government. President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in 2006 threatened to evict U.S. forces unless Washington agree to pay ten times more for use of the base, from US$20 million (euro15 million) to US$200 million (150 million). The United States eventually agreed to pay Kyrgyzstan US$150 million in 2006, in the form of aid and rent. (AP Photo/ Kadyr Toktogulov)	Activists hold banners reading "Kyrgyzstan is not a beachhead for war" during a rally at the U.S. Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, June 2, 2007. Several dozen activists rallied on Saturday in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan to call for the closure of a U.S. military base in the former Soviet republic. The United States maintains the military base at Manas airport outside the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to support operations in Afghanistan, but Kyrgyz politicians are increasingly calling for its closure, accusing U.S. military personnel of behaving with impunity and saying the base spoils the environment. (AP Photo/Nina Gorshkova) miting protiv prebivaniya voennoi bazi "Gansi" v Kyrgyzstan. Na photo v centre: vdova Aleksandra Ivanova, ubitogo amerikanskim soldatom. A. Ivanov bil voditelem toplivo-zapravschika. Photo: Nina Gorshkova
U.S. soldiers patrol the air base during American-French joint exercises at the U.S. Manas Air Base, located near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, April 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)	U.S. and French officers talk before American-French joint exercises at the U.S. Manas Air Base, located near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, April 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
U.S. servicemen seen during American-French joint exercises at the U.S. Manas Air Base, located near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, April 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)	A U.S. serviceman stands in front of S-135 aircraft during American-French joint exercises at the U.S. Manas Air Base, located near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Saturday, April 14, 2007. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
U.S. servicemen deployed at Manas air base, celebrate Thanksgiving outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2006. U.S. servicemen deployed at an air base in the ex-Soviet state celebrated the holiday with a prayer, improvised parade and early presents from Santa Claus. Supporting refueling and cargo missions for U.S. operations in nearby Afghanistan is the main purpose of the base located near Kyrgyz capital Bishkek since 2001. (AP Photo/AKIpress, Azamat Imanaliev)	** FILE ** This undated U.S. Air Force photo shows Air Force Maj. Jill Metzger, a personnel officer at the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan. Maj. Metzger, who reappeared as mysteriously as she vanished, gave confused accounts of her three-day absence and refused to make further statements after consulting with the U.S. Embassy, a Kyrgyz police official said Monday, Sept 11, 2006. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force Photo-HO)
U.S. Air Force Col. Joel Reese assumes command of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing during at the Manas air base during a ceremony at Kyrgyzstan's main civilian airport near Bishkek Thursday, June 8, 2006, with a Kyrgyz flag at right. The U.S. Air Force on Thursday took over command of the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan amid signs that a payment dispute that had threatened its future in this ex-Soviet republic is close to being solved. (AP Photo/Azamat Imanaliev)	In this picture released by the USAF, Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Major Jean Michel Davy, commander of the French detachment at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005. Rice arrived Tuesday and spoke to troops briefly before traveling to Bishkek to meet with Kyrgyz officials. (AP Photo/USAF, Robin Hicks)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, right, walks with Kyrgyzstan Minister of Defense Maj. Gen. Ismail Isakov, left, as he arrives for a meeting Tuesday July 26, 2005 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Rumsfeld won assurances from top government officials Tuesday that U.S. forces face no near-term deadline for withdrawing from an air base near the Kyrgyz capital that they use to support combat and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan. "The base at Manas will stay as long as the situation in Afghanistan requires," Maj. Gen. Ismail Isakov said. (AP Photo/Joe Raedle/Pool)	** FILE ** Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev seen in Manas airport outside Bishkek wearing traditional Kyrgyz hat in this Monday, March 7, 2005 file photo. Acting Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is widely expected to win Sunday's vote, which will likely be more free and fair than the manipulated parliamentary elections that set off the spring uprising that forced President Askar Akayev to flee the country and resign.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
An unidentified U.S. soldier guards an entrance to the U.S. Ganci air base in Manas international airport 30 km (19 miles) from the capital Bishkek Tuesday, March 29, 2005. When revolution hit the capital of the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, U.S. soldiers at a nearby air base hunkered down and got on with their jobs, focusing on another troubled Central Asian country, Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)	An unidentified U.S. female soldier smiles as she and Kyrgyz security, guard an entrance to the U.S. Ganci air base in Manas international airport 30 km (19 miles) from the capital Bishkek Tuesday, March 29, 2005. When revolution hit the capital of the Central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan, U.S. soldiers at a nearby air base hunkered down and got on with their jobs, focusing on another troubled Central Asian country, Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
** FILE ** An unidentified U.S. Air Force security forces soldier receives a food from a Kyrgyz stuff member at the Ganci U.S. air base in Manas international airport 30 km (19 miles) from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in this Tuesday, March 1, 2005 file photo. Ganci air base opened in 2001 on what was a bare field next to Bishkek's only international airport, Manas, to work as a logistical hub supporting U.S.-led anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)	** FILE ** U.S. Air Force KC 135 tanker planes, left, are seen parked next to Kyrgyz Tu-134 passenger planes at the airfield of Ganci U.S. air base in Manas international airport 30 km (19 miles) from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in this Tuesday, March 1, 2005 file photo. Ganci air base opened in 2001 on what was a bare field next to Bishkek's only international airport, Manas, to work as a logistical hub supporting U.S.-led anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan.(AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
Dina Elmuratova wearing her traditional Kyrgyz costume serves to U.S. troops during a traditional Thanksgiving meal at the Manas air base, staffed by US led coalition forces in Kyrgyzstan, Thursday Nov. 25, 2004. The Manas air base was established in 2001 after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States to support operations in nearby Afghanistan. Hundreds of U.S. troops are based there, along with Spanish soldiers. (AP Photo/ Vyacheslav Oseledko)	Lt. Col. Michael Parkyn poses in front of his F/A-18 Hornet on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2002 at Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan. U.S. warplanes from this Central Asian base cruise the night skies over Afghanistan for long hours, waiting for call from U.S.-led troops on the ground for support. "It's been quite an endurance contest," says Parkyn. It's a stark contrast from the 1991 Gulf War, when Parkyn dropped thousands of pounds of bombs on Iraqi forces. (AP Photo/Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force, HO)
French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, right, is accompanied by her Kyrgyz counterpart Esen Topoyev as she visits the French air force contingent at the Manas airport outside Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Tuesday, June 4, 2002. Alliot-Marie also met with Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev during her visit and praised his nation's support for the U.S.-led anti-terrorism operation, according to Akayev's press service. (AP Photo/Yuri Kuzminykh)	A U.S. soldier stands guard at a control point of Manas military base near Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Friday, April 12, 2002. The base, constructed on what was a bare field on the airport's territory, has become a busy logistical hub supporting the U.S.-led anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Yuri Kuzminykh)
U.S. fighter planes are at the Manas airport near Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, Friday, April 19, 2002. U.S. fighter planes based in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan will be ready to fly their first mission to Afghanistan on Saturday. (AP Photo/Yuri Kuzminykh)	U.S. rapid deployment forces' military personnel, no names available, work in their office at the 86th Rapid Deployment Unit new base in the Kyrgyzstan's main civilian airport Manas, just outside the capital Bishkek, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002. The 200 Americans now working at Manas, which is named after a Kyrgyz tribal leader at the center of a 1,000-year-old oral epic, are building enough housing for 3,000 troops. (AP Photo/Str)

http://www.the-airport-guide.com/airport.php?airports_id=8964

Tran aircrews ctc Afld Mgmt on PTD concerning fees and flt planning after ldg. Plan min gnd time due to ltd prk. Spots 14, 15, 16 and Flamingo ramp spots 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 rqr push back. Ctc Ganci OPS 20 min out with ETA, msn status, cargo, paxand special rqr. Host nation wx obsv is used by ATC and determines the offl operational status of afld. Host nation wx obsv and fcst avbl under UAFM ident. USAF wx obsv and fcst for planning purposes avbl under KQHT ident. Inbd coalition acft ck in with rdr AFCAP Liaison asap after initial ctc with host nation on freq309.55/132.6 for ATIS info and rdr mnt. Dep coalition acft ck in with twr AFCAPLiaison on freq 307.825/120.15 prior to movement and for req svc.

PPR, 24 hr PN. Ctc coalition afld Mgmt (not host nation) at DSN 318-476-0930 or com 011-996-312-903-523. Due to extremely ltd prk space and svc capability, ctc afld Mgmt with mission updates to ensure that acft can be accommodated. RON is not authorized. Do not plan on extending gnd time byd msn rqr. Only one wide bodyallowed on stn at a time. US mil acft can expect to use AVCARD for payment of fees and svc. When turning acft on rwy, min FOD haz by turning jet/prop blast away from adj twy's. Large acft such as KC-135's should taxi to the end of the rwy before initiating turns. Haz Cargo-Manas has one haz cargo prk lctn twy H. Haz class/division 1.1, 1.2.1, 1.2.2 haz cargo being onload/offload cannot exceed 30,000 lbs net explosive wt. 1.3 max is 100,000 lbs. 1.4 no max, physical cap of acft. Acft turns not auth wi 984' of fire dept tent lctd on Twy A btn Twy D and Twy F.

24 hr PN. Ltd avbl maint. Blocking and towing avbl. No drag chute repack.