MOSCOW (dpa) – US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was in Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday for an official visit that would include talks on the US military transit center located near the capital Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan's government has said it wants US forces deployed in Afghanistan to stop using the base at Manas International Airport by the end of 2014. Panetta is to meet President Almazbek Atambyev and the country's defence minister, according to the US Department of Defense. Atambayev has said Kyrgyzstan needs to end US military flights through Manas because assisting the US war effort in Afghanistan might make the country a target for Taliban attack. The Interfax news agency reported Tuesday that Panetta would try to persuade the leadership of the Central Asian country to reconsider its stance on Manas. The US currently pays Bishkek 60 million dollars a year for the use of the facility, through which around 580,000 military passengers passed in 2011. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/N38cs Tags: Kyrgyzstan, Leon Panetta, Military, US Section: Asia, Latest News
