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SCO wants date for US withdrawal from Central Asia

* Leaders vow renewed efforts against terror threats
* Uzbek president says radical Islamists seeking to destabilise region

ASTANA: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an alliance grouping Russia, China and central Asian countries on Tuesday called for the US-led anti-terrorist coalition in Afghanistan to set a time frame for withdrawing its forces from member states.

Both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan host US bases whose troops are involved in the Afghanistan operation.

The SCO also added Pakistan, Iran and India as observer nations. The additions bolster the grouping’s clout. Russia in particular in recent years has pushed for what it calls a “multipolar” world, seeking to balance alleged US domination of foreign policy issues.

At a summit in the Kazakh capital, the SCO said in a declaration that a withdrawal date should be stated since active fighting in Afghanistan has decreased.

“We support and will support the international coalition, which is carrying out an anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, and we have taken note of the progress made in the effort to stabilise the situation,” the declaration said.

“As the active military phase in the anti-terror operation in Afghanistan is nearing completion, the SCO would like the coalition’s members to decide on the deadline for the use of the temporary infrastructure and for their military contingents’ presence in those countries,” the declaration continues.

A Kremlin foreign policy adviser, Sergei Prikhodko, said the declaration was not intended as an ultimatum, “but they have to say how much longer they will stay.”

However, the statement reflects growing uneasiness with the US presence and increasing concerns that the United States is encouraging the overthrow of Central Asia’s authoritarian governments. Earlier Tuesday, leaders at the summit vowed to redouble their efforts to combat and prevent terrorist attacks and step up security cooperation, and accused unnamed outside forces of trying to destabilise Central Asia.

Their statements follow the vioChinese leader Hu Jintao said at the summit that “we have to make every effort to step up security cooperation or else all our talks about stability will be pointless.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said, “New regional threats are of a trans-border nature. There are people who place orders and execute them. Our task is to find them and render them harmless and also to prevent their activity.” Islam Karimov, the authoritarian president of Uzbekistan, said radical Islamists are among the forces seeking instability in Central Asia. agencies

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