The U.S. may lose a key military base in Central Asia as the Obama Administration prepares to “surge” in Afghanistan. According to a report by the AP, the government of Kyrgyzstan introduced legislation to close the U.S. military bas at Manas:
Kyrgyzstan’s government submitted a draft bill to parliament Wednesday that would close a U.S. base that is key to the American military campaign in Afghanistan.
Russia opposes the base at its doorstep. The U.S. Embassy said that it did not receive formal notification of this closure. The U.S. is seeking to maintain the base despite the Kyrgz government’s bid to close the base.
The report also cited opposition to the base as one of the reasons for the closure:
The Kyrgyz government also cited growing popular discontent with the U.S. military presence among its motivations for the closure. It also criticized U.S. obstruction of the investigation into the fatal shooting in December 2006 of a Kyrgyz truck driver by a U.S. serviceman during a security check at the entrance to the air base.
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