US gets continued use of Kyrgyz air base
US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld won assurances from top government officials today that American forces face no near-term deadline for withdrawing from an air base near the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek that they use to support combat and humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.
“The base at Manas will stay as long as the situation in Afghanistan requires,” Major General Ismail Isakov, the Kyrgyz defence minister, said during a news conference with Rumsfeld at the presidential palace.
