Felix the Cat
12-15-2005, 02:36 PM
Kyrgyzstan to Increase Rent for U.S. Airbase 100-Fold (http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/12/15/kyrgyzstanbase.shtml)
Kyrgyzstan has dramatically raised the stakes in its dispute with the U.S. over payments for use of a key military base by demanding that Washington pay 100 times the current rent, the Financial Times reported.
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the Kyrgyz president, wants more than $200 million a year, a 100-fold increase in current lease payments of just over $2 million, according to a source familiar with the dispute.
The Kyrgyz government has for months been embroiled in a dispute with the Pentagon over payment for past and future use of the Manas air base, which has become an important refueling port for U.S. aircraft flying in Afghanistan since 2001.
Until now Bishkek was demanding that the Pentagon pay another $80 million, a sum the U.S. had already paid for jet fuel to companies connected to former president Askar Akayev — who was ousted this year — but which was allegedly siphoned out of the country.
The Pentagon has refused, saying corruption allegations are a Kyrgyz matter.
The Pentagon said yesterday it paid “fair market rental value” for the use of privately owned facilities and land near Manas. “The rent paid under such arrangements is a matter between the United States and the property owner,” said Bryan Whitman, deputy Pentagon spokesman.
Bakiyev reportedly wants to change the structure of the Pentagon’s financial relationship with Manas Air Services, the privately owned company (in which the government has a minority stake) that runs the airport, so the Pentagon pays money directly to the Kyrgyz government. The source familiar with the issue said the $200 million being demanded by Bakiyev would include payments for services such as air traffic control.
Manas air base has become increasingly important to the Pentagon since Uzbekistan in July ordered U.S. forces to withdraw from its Karshi-Khanabad (K2) base. That decision followed a statement by the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, a group comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, calling on the U.S. to withdraw its forces from the region.
Bakiyev later backtracked, making an agreement with Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, in October that allowed the U.S. to continue to use Manas.
Sources say the government is under pressure from China and Russia to evict the U.S. from the country.
The Pentagon declined to comment on suggestions that Krygyzstan might be upping the ante in an attempt to persuade the US to leave the country.
Kyrgyzstan has dramatically raised the stakes in its dispute with the U.S. over payments for use of a key military base by demanding that Washington pay 100 times the current rent, the Financial Times reported.
Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the Kyrgyz president, wants more than $200 million a year, a 100-fold increase in current lease payments of just over $2 million, according to a source familiar with the dispute.
The Kyrgyz government has for months been embroiled in a dispute with the Pentagon over payment for past and future use of the Manas air base, which has become an important refueling port for U.S. aircraft flying in Afghanistan since 2001.
Until now Bishkek was demanding that the Pentagon pay another $80 million, a sum the U.S. had already paid for jet fuel to companies connected to former president Askar Akayev — who was ousted this year — but which was allegedly siphoned out of the country.
The Pentagon has refused, saying corruption allegations are a Kyrgyz matter.
The Pentagon said yesterday it paid “fair market rental value” for the use of privately owned facilities and land near Manas. “The rent paid under such arrangements is a matter between the United States and the property owner,” said Bryan Whitman, deputy Pentagon spokesman.
Bakiyev reportedly wants to change the structure of the Pentagon’s financial relationship with Manas Air Services, the privately owned company (in which the government has a minority stake) that runs the airport, so the Pentagon pays money directly to the Kyrgyz government. The source familiar with the issue said the $200 million being demanded by Bakiyev would include payments for services such as air traffic control.
Manas air base has become increasingly important to the Pentagon since Uzbekistan in July ordered U.S. forces to withdraw from its Karshi-Khanabad (K2) base. That decision followed a statement by the Shanghai Co-operation Organization, a group comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, calling on the U.S. to withdraw its forces from the region.
Bakiyev later backtracked, making an agreement with Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, in October that allowed the U.S. to continue to use Manas.
Sources say the government is under pressure from China and Russia to evict the U.S. from the country.
The Pentagon declined to comment on suggestions that Krygyzstan might be upping the ante in an attempt to persuade the US to leave the country.