US not to reopen Uzbekistan air base

Uzbekistan will not reopen a US airbase that the Central Asian republic shut down in 2005, following a diplomatic row with Washington.

Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, who was in Kazakhstan Sunday on the last leg of his tour of the former Soviet states in Central Asia, ruled out the possibility of reestablishing a US base in Uzbekistan, according to Reuters.

“No,” said Holbrooke on Sunday. “But Uzbekistan does provide us with a valuable opportunity to transit materials to Afghanistan and that is important; (as for) the military base – no.”

The US envoy, in the region to seek support for the US-led war in Afghanistan, further noted that the US maintained an important transit hub at the Manas base in Kyrgyzstan and was grateful to the country for such assistance.

Uzbekistan, which has a common border with Afghanistan, ended the American military presence on its soil following what it describes as Washington’s interference in its internal affairs for criticizing Tashkent’s crackdown on dissidents in the town of Andizhan in May 2005.

In early 2009, Kyrgyzstan, as well, shut down the Manas military air base, in a move that many believed was taken under heavy Russian influence, which had granted Kyrgyzstan a large financial aid package.

However, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signed a new decree in the summer of 2009 allowing the US to continue using the military airbase, following the receipt of what observers describe as an attractive aid commitment from Washington.

Holbrooke quick tour of the region took him to Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, as well as Kazakhstan.