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R E G I O N: ‘US does not need new military bases in C Asia’

* Condoleezza Rice says US pursuit of military interest in region seconded by political reform objectives
* Claims US not competing with Moscow for regional influence

BISHKEK: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday said the United States does not need new military bases to fight the war on terrorism, and told US troops stationed in former Soviet countries they are helping safeguard young democracies.

Rice was meeting with the new leadership of Kyrgyzstan, which threw off the authoritarian rule of former president Askar Akayev last spring and chose an opposition politician for president.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev is pursuing further political reform, and has pledged to pursue an independent foreign policy. He also questioned whether a US base that supports combat operations in Afghanistan is necessary.

“Kyrgyzstan itself has just been through an extraordinary revolution. An extraordinary new day is before the Kyrgyz people if they can deliver on the democratic promise,” Rice told some of the approximately 1,000 US, French and Spanish troops stationed at that base.

Manas Air Base near the capital of this Central Asian nation will stay, but another base nearby in Uzbekistan will close. That base, used heavily in the four-year-old war in Afghanistan, was a casualty of a falling-out between the US and Uzbekistan’s increasingly authoritarian leader.

En route to the region on Monday, Rice told reporters that the US can live without the Uzbek base and is not seeking additional real estate in the region.

US officials say there is no Cold War-style power struggle in Central Asia, only a conflict between old ideas and new ones about political liberty and economic development. “I will be talking about the importance of shared values,” Rice said at the air base. “America has always been at its best ... when we stood for principle, not just for power.” Rice said Washington was not competing with Moscow for influence in the vital region and described democracy as the US weapon of choice in efforts to fight terrorism.

Speaking to reporters aboard her plane prior to arriving in Kyrgyzstan, Rice acknowledged that the US was pursuing military interests in Central Asia, but said they took second place to its political objectives in a larger US strategy to counter extremism worldwide.

Earlier, on a stopover in Ireland, Rice said US efforts to cultivate relations with states in Central Asia that became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union were not aimed at thwarting Russia’s longstanding interests there.

“In no way are our relationships in Central Asia aimed at anyone,” she said. “In other words, we want these countries to have good relations with their neighbours, especially good relations with Russia.

Meanwhile, the Russian foreign ministry has said Moscow is prioritising “development of military-political interaction” in its relations with Tajikistan, amid speculation Washington is looking for ways to boost its military presence in that country. The daily Kommersant said Russian President Vladimir Putin had persuaded his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmonov, to reject any US request for basing rights in the country. afp

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