The US on Monday welcomed statements from the interim Kyrgyz government that it would abide by existing agreements covering a US air base in the country.
US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said the assurances, given by interim Kyrgyz leader Roza Otunbayeva to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday, would allow the two countries to discuss arrangements on the base, which is an important hub for troop transfers and other support for US operations in Afghanistan.
“It is very good news that Miss Otunbayeva said that they will continue to abide by those agreements and of course the United States is prepared to talk at any time with her and members of the provisional government about these arrangements,” Blake told a news briefing.
Blake spoke before departing for Kyrgyzstan for meetings with Otunbayeva and others. He will be the highest US diplomat to travel there since she claimed power after a crackdown on opposition protesters led to violence that killed at least 81 people.
Blake said the US was not formally recognizing the provisional government, but did not consider it to have taken power in a coup, and offered strong suggestions of support.
“My main goal will be to hear from the Kyrgyz administration about their assessment of the law and order situation, the steps that they plan to take during their six-month interim administration to organize democratic elections and a return to democracy, and how we might be able to help them to restore democracy and economic growth,” Blake said.
He said many victims in last week’s violence were killed by supporters of former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who fled the capital during the upheaval on Wednesday last week.
Blake said there were no plans to meet with Bakiyev, who has been seeking to muster support in the southern part of country, but added that the dispute over power must be handled without violating the Constitution.
Blake would not comment on speculation that Russia, which has bristled at the US military presence in Kyrgyzstan, may have had a hand in driving Bakiyev from power.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was quick to call Otunbayeva last week, essentially recognizing her government, and Russian officials harshly criticized Bakiyev.
After receiving a Russian pledge of more than US$2 billion in assistance, Bakiyev last year said Kyrgyzstan would evict US forces from the base. He later reversed course and agreed to keep the base open at a higher price.
After last week’s upheaval, members of Otunbayeva’s government had suggested the base lease would be shortened.
Blake said the US would not push hard now for further commitments on the base.
“They’ve got a lot of other things on their plate that they have to sort out ... so when they’re prepared to talk about this ... we will be glad to have those conversations,” he said.
The expiration of the agreement allowing the US to use the base was not immediately clear, but Kyrgyzstan would have to give six months notice if it wants to evict US forces.
The US Embassy said the transit of troops to and from Afghanistan, halted because of the upheaval, had resumed, but the Pentagon said on Monday that some inbound passenger flights were being sent elsewhere. Past decisions to restrict such flights have been attributed to security concerns.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS