Uzbekistan evicts United States from air base

WASHINGTON - Uzbekistan has told the United States to leave a military base that has served as a hub for missions to Afghanistan since shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks, US officials said.

The US Embassy in Tashkent was informed of the decision on the Karshi-Khanabad air base, also known as K2, used by the United States since it began searching for Osama bin Laden.

"I can confirm that our embassy in Tashkent received a diplomatic note from the Uzbek government late this week to terminate the agreement for use of the K2 air field," said State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck.

"This is a bilateral agreement between two sovereign nations and under that agreement either side has the option to terminate the agreement," she said without elaborating.

Uzbekistan will give the United States six months to move aircraft, personnel and equipment, The Washington Post newspaper reported. The Pentagon and State Department declined to comment on any timeline.

The US military is working with the State Department to evaluate the note "to see exactly what it means," Defence Department spokesman Glenn Flood said. A White House spokesman declined to comment.

The action could create logistical problems for US military operations in Afghanistan as well as relief workers in the region.

"The air field has been important to us and the US allies in operations over there," Flood said.

The United States has regarded its bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan as vital for operations in Afghanistan. However, US presence in Central Asia has caused tensions with Russia and China, which joined the five ex-Soviet Central Asian states this month to demand a deadline for leaving the bases.

US relations with authoritarian Uzbekistan also have been strained by the Uzbek government's bloody suppression in May of a rebellion in the eastern town of Andizhan, which drew US criticism.

Just last Monday, however, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld responded to a question about maintaining the base in Uzbekistan by saying: "We've had a good relationship. It's a good relationship now."

He was speaking during a visit to Kyrgyzstan, whose defence minister said the United States would not need a military presence in that country once stability had returned to Afghanistan.

- REUTERS