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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russia 'set to supply US airbase' |
| 2010-09-29 |
| The Manas Transit Centre in the Central Asian republic has long been a thorn in the side of Moscow, which resents US military presence in a former Soviet country. Kyrgyzstan is alone in the world in hosting both a US and a Russian airbase. The US relies on Manas heavily for its campaign in Afghanistan. Muktar Djumaliyev, deputy head of the Kyrgyz presidential administration, said a joint state-run venture would "create a new area of multilateral co-operation". He claimed that the US government supported the new venture, adding that the Kyrgyz government would receive $60 million in payments. But the Kyrgyz plan does not appear to be finalised, and the Department of Defence is still pushing ahead with plans to award the contract to a new supplier next month. Red Star Enterprises and Mina Corp, two related Gibraltar-registered companies, have won a succession of US Department of Defence contracts to supply Manas, but are now under investigation by a US congressional committee, which is looking into allegations that the families of two previous presidents of Kyrgyzstan benefited from links to the companies' subcontractors. John Lough, a spokesman for the companies said: "We can't speculate on hypothetical deals between two governments. Mina and Red Star have been exemplary partners with the Department of Defence and we believe this reflects the view of the US Government." The US congressional subcommittee began its investigation in April, and in August held a series of interviews in London with senior company figures, after issuing subpoenas. Investigators spoke to Lt. Col Charles Squires, a former US military attaché to Bishkek, who is cited on both Mina Corp and Red Star contract documents as Director of Operations, Erkin Bekbolotov, a Kyrgyz national involved in the companies, and Douglas Edelman, an American businessman. Mr Lough said the company denied the Kyrgyz government's allegations that Maxim Bakiyev, the son of the former President, who is now seeking asylum in London, had been involved in the companies. "No member of the Bakiyev family, including Maxim Bakiyev, has ever owned, controlled, or had any involvement at all in Mina Corp or Red Star Enterprises," he said. Kyrgyzstan is set to hold a parliamentary election on October 10, that will herald one the region's first democratically elected governments. |
| Posted by:tipper |