A top US general said Monday that Washington wanted to boost aid to Kyrgyzstan, after reports that the central Asian nation would close a US military airbase used to support operations in Afghanistan.
General David Petraeus, commander of US Central Command, told reporters that he had met with Kyrgyz officials and discussed the importance of the Manas airbase, as the United States moves to step up its military presence in Afghanistan.
"I noted our desire to increase the benefits that accrue to your country from Manas and the other activities," he said, noting that Kyrgyzstan received 150 million dollars (115 million euros) worth of US assistance per year.
"We will be sending a team of senior officers here in February to discuss in concrete ways various programmes that we can undertake," Petraeus added.
On Saturday, a senior Kyrgyz official told AFP that the country would close Manas airbase "in a matter of days" under pressure from Russia.
The official said Russia had urged Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to announce the closure of the base in exchange for financial help to the cash-strapped Central Asian nation.
Russia has sought the closure of the base, which is a symbol of US influence in post-Soviet Central Asia, a region long dominated by Moscow.
The base is home to about 1,200 foreign military personnel, mainly from the United States, and acts as a staging post for operations in Afghanistan, located to the south.
It was opened after the September 11, 2001 attacks to support US-led operations in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban.
