Krygyz leader says money behind Manas closing - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Krygyz leader says money behind Manas closing

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — Kyrgyzstan’s president says the decision to close a key U.S. base was taken for purely economic reasons.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said Wednesday that repeated appeals to the United States to pay more for rental of the base went unheeded.

Bakiyev shocked Washington last week when he announced the closure of the Manas air base, which is a crucial staging post for coalition operations in Afghanistan.

Announcement of the closure came shortly after Russia offered to give the impoverished Central Asian nation more than $2.1 billion in loans and aid. Moscow has long resented U.S. military presence in the former Soviet nation.

The U.S. began using the Manas base in December 2001.