WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States on Tuesday welcomed a deal with Kyrgyzstan on the transit of supplies to Afghanistan that will effectively keep open a US airbase that Kyrgyz authorities had ordered shut.
"We're happy about the agreement," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
The Central Asian state had thrown a wrench into US President Barack Obama's plan to intensify the campaign against the Taliban when it ordered the closure of the Manas airbase, a key transit point for Afghanistan operations.
But Kelly said: "I don't have the details of... what was spelled out financially in the agreement," when asked to confirm whether the United States was now paying three times as much as before.
Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said Washington would pay Bishkek 60 million dollars per year for renting the base, a significant increase on the previous annual rent of 17.4 million dollars.
The deal involves non-lethal supplies like building materials, food and medicine, clothing and water, officials said.
Bishkek had long complained that it was not receiving a fair rent for Manas, which also serves as the ex-Soviet republic's main international airport.
The United States would also pay Kyrgyzstan more than 36 million dollars for improvements in infrastructure at Manas and 30 million dollars for new navigational equipment, Sarbayev said.
On top of that, Washington pledged 20 million dollars for development in Kyrgyzstan; 21 million dollars for fighting drug traffickers; and 10 million for fighting terrorism, he said.
Sarbayev called the deal "temporary" and said it would be in effect for a period of one year.
The Kyrgyz parliament was expected to vote Thursday on ratifying the deal.
Manas airbase is used to ferry tens of thousands of troops in and out of Afghanistan each year and also hosts planes used for the mid-air refuelling of combat aircraft.
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