China and Russia urges US to withdraw troops from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

posted July 5, 2005, updated 12:51 p.m.

Will US be asked to leave key military bases?

Chinese-led regional security group urges US to set timetable for withdrawal of troops.

By Matthew Clark | csmonitor.com

A six-nation security bloc comprised of China, Russia, and four former Soviet states has urged the US-led coalition in Afghanistan to set a deadline for withdrawing troops from member states, reports BBC.
Meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Russia - issued a joint statement saying the active military phase of the Afghan operation was coming to an end and calling on the US-led coalition to agree to a deadline for ending the temporary use of bases and air space in member countries.

There are about 18,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, and the US has hosted bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan since the anti-Taliban operations began in 2001.



AFX News, a global news agency, points out that this is the SCO´s first meeting since the ouster of Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev in March and a military crackdown in Uzbekistan in May. AFX also reports that "the leaders also included a clause on the inadmissibility of ´monopolizing or dominating international affairs´ – apparently a reference to growing US influence in Central Asia."

Today´s declaration echoes a similar one on the ´21st century international order´ signed by Putin and Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Moscow last week.
It follows a string of complaints by leaders such as Uzbek President Islam Karimov suggesting that the West was behind uprisings in three former Soviet republics in the last two years – Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

"There should be no place for interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states," Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

Mr. Karimov said outside forces were threatening to "hijack stability and impose their model of development" on the region.

UzReport.com, Uzbekistan´s largest business Internet portal, reports that Secretary-General of the SCO Zhang Deguang said three evils – terrorism, extremism, and separatism – are the main threat to peace and security in the region.

Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Central Asian states will ask US-led forces when they plan to leave Uzbek and Kyrgyz bases, reports MosNews.

The active phase is now being completed and it´s important to know when they will go home. ... No one is telling them it should be tomorrow, in a month, in five months or in a year and a half, but it´s just straightforward that SCO members know by when the anti-terrorist coalition will leave.
"Speeches at the summit by the leaders of China and Uzbekistan included veiled criticism of Western influence in the region and they follow hawkish comments by Russian officials criticizing attempts by unspecified foreign forces to destabilize Central Asia," according to MosNews.
"Correspondents say the statement appears to reflect increasing concerns that the US is encouraging the overthrow of Central Asia´s authoritarian governments," reports BBC.
[link to engforum.pravda.ru]

Last Edited by Phennommennonn on 10/24/2011 11:46 AM