Panetta in Kyrgyzstan for military talks

Pentagon Chief Leon Panetta has arrived in Bishkek for talks with the country’s Defense Minister Taalaybek Omuraliyev, the defense ministry’s press service said on Tuesday. “The meeting has been scheduled for the second part of the day. The agenda of the talks is not known. We do not know whether journalists will be invited,” a ministerial spokeswoman said. Last week, US Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan Pamela Spratlen said in an interview that the United States is looking for a “sober discussion” on the future fate of the U.S. base at Manas airport. The US began operations at the Manas base near the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in 2001 in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to support military operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. It remains a key supply facility for the ongoing military campaign there. As soon as Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev assumed his post last November, he stated that Kyrgyzstan would not prolong the lease contract with the U.S. saying that he did not want a third country carrying out a retaliatory strike against the civilian airport. “There must be no foreign military contingent at the civil airport in Manas after the summer of 2014,” Atambayev reiterated in February. Atambayev’s press secretary said his boss would not meet with Panetta. The US base serves as a major transit point for supplying troops in Afghanistan now. It also hosts a fleet of coalition aerial tankers for refueling fighter and surveillance aircraft used in Afghanistan.