The United States has reached a deal with Kyrgyzstan for the continued use of the Manas airbase to transport military supplies to Afghanistan, according to media reports Tuesday.
The one-year agreement stipulates an annual payment of 60 million US dollars from the United States to Kyrgyzstan for use of the base as a transit center, the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbaev as saying.
Sarbaev said the United States will also allocate 36.6 million dollars for the construction of additional aircraft parking and storage facilities.
He added that Washington will offer to establish a 20-million-dollar joint fund for economic development, and will allocate 21.5 million dollars to combat drug trafficking near Afghanistan.
The Kyrgyz parliament's Defense and Security Committee later Tuesday unanimously approved the establishment of the transit center.
Sarbaev said the center would "provide support for the international contingent in Afghanistan, including assistance to the Afghan government."
The US military set up an airbase at Manas near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek when it began military operations in Afghanistan in 2001.
The Kyrgyz parliament on Feb. 19 approved a bill terminating the US lease of the Manas base.
The US forces were asked to leave the base by Aug. 18.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2009)
