By Demetri Sevastopulo and Hubert Wetzel in Washington
Published: November 14 2005 19:55 | Last updated: November 14 2005 22:33
Kyrgyzstan has accused the US of reneging on a promise to review past payments made by the Pentagon for use of its Manas air base and is threatening to limit access to the facility, which is crucial to US operations in Afghanistan.
Last month President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan reached an agreement with Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, to allow the US to continue using the base, which has been an important hub for aircraft flying in and out of Afghanistan since 2001.
The deal included an agreement to review previous payments to the former regime of Askar Akayev. The current government says this money was siphoned out of the country via fuel companies connected to Mr Akayev, who was ousted in March in the “Tulip revolution”.
“Over the past four years the US has paid little in the way of rent [for the base],” Zamira Sydykova, the Kyrgyz ambassador to the US, said.
The Pentagon is refusing to meet demands to pay about $80m (€68m, £46m) to compensate Kyrgyzstan for the lost revenue.
Ms Sydykova said the Pentagon recently refused to negotiate with the Kyrgyz government in the presence of its legal advisers.
Kyrgyzstan was reported to be considering lobbying US lawmakers to open an investigation into the matter, including the role of Pentagon employees in giving contracts to the former regime.
“Although the Pentagon asserts this is about it being asked to pay twice for fuel, in fact it is about paying a fair rental for the past use of the base,” said Ms Sydykova.
“We believe it is an act of courage for us to allow the US to use this base in its efforts against al-Qaeda, and we ask only to be treated fairly.”
Manas has grown in importance to the US since Uzbekistan in July restricted US access to its Karshi-Khanabad (K2) airbase, and then ordered the US to withdraw completely within six months.
Bryan Whitman, deputy Pentagon spokesman, said: “We believe that all DoD [Department of Defense] contracts for goods and services in Kyrgyzstan were negotiated in accordance with US laws and DoD contracting regulations.
“Any possible misappropriation of funds is an internal Kyrgyz matter. The bilateral agreement between the US and Kyrgyzstan governing use of Manas is one by which the US reimburses for services rendered, not a rental or access-fee agreement. This is consistent with similar agreements elsewhere where the US operates from commercial facilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment