Intelligence

US asked to leave Uzbek air base

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | US asked to leave Uzbek air base

Uzbekistan has reportedly given the US six months to move out of a key base used for operations in Afghanistan.

The notice to leave Karshi-Khanabad air base, known as K2, was given to the US embassy in the Uzbek capital on Friday.

A Pentagon spokesman said the US was "evaluating the note to see exactly what it means".

Uzbekistan has been an ally of the US in Central Asia, but correspondents say relations were strained over the bloody suppression of a protest in May.

Flights into the K2 base had been reduced at the request of the Uzbek authorities, after the US criticised the government over events in Andijan.

Earlier this month, the US signalled that it may withhold $22m of aid to Uzbekistan, unless it allows a full inquiry.

Andijan dispute

There are still disputed versions of exactly what happened on 13 May, when troops fired on a crowd of people.

The government says the violence was the result of an attempt by Islamic militants to seize power, and puts the number of dead at 173.

But leading human rights groups say many hundreds of civilians were killed, with Human Rights Watch describing the incident as a "massacre".

Washington has already withheld $8m of aid to Uzbekistan in protest at President Islam Karimov's record on human rights.

The Pentagon negotiated the use of airfields in Central Asia four years ago, to support the war in Afghanistan.

July 30, 2005 at 01:45 PM in US | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home