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Rice to visit PakistanU.S. reaches airbase agreement with Kyrgyzstan
SPECIAL REPORTYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSKABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Kabul Wednesday, making Afghanistan the latest stop on her tour of Asia that has been expanded to include a stop in earthquake-damaged Pakistan. Once in Pakistan, Rice is scheduled to meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. On Tuesday, Rice won fresh assurances from Kyrgyzstan's new president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, that the United States can continue to use its air base in Manas on the outskirts of the capital, Bishkek. Since the fall of 2001, about 1,000 U.S. troops -- mostly members of the Air Force -- have used Manas for troop rotation, refueling operations and to fly resupply missions into Afghanistan. A senior State Department official later explained the agreement, which was laid out in a written statement, came after "very tough negotiations." The Kyrgyz Republic would like more money from the United States to lease the air base. Nevertheless, in this statement -- read to reporters by this senior official -- the Kyrgyz government said it "supports the presence of coalition forces until the mission of fighting terrorism has been completed, a mission supported by the U.S." The statement also said that the Kyrgyz Republic "supports the continued presence of the United States at the air base at Manas." In return, Rice agreed to send a technical team to review the disposition of the estimated $40 million to $50 million dollars the United States paid to the previous Kyrgyz government of Askar Akayev to lease the base over the past year. There is speculation that one of Akayev's sons may have siphoned off the fuel payments for Manas. Nevertheless, in July, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appeared to get a similar agreement from his counterpart, then-Kyrgyz Defense Minister Ismail Isakov. In mid-July the Shanghai Cooperation Organization -- an alliance of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan -- demanded that the United States set a firm date to withdraw its military from Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. A senior State Department official said Rice and Bakiyev spent about 80 percent of their time together discussing domestic issues, including a variety of problems plaguing this former Soviet Republic, such as economic malaise, sky-high unemployment and corruption. By the time Rice completes her tour of Central Asia, she will also make stops in Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, in addition to Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Upon her arrival at Manas Air Base Tuesday, Rice was greeted by several hundred coalition troops. During her trip this week, Rice will not visit Kyrgyzstan's neighbor, Uzbekistan, which recently severed its agreement allowing the United States to use its air base at Karshi-Khanabad, also known as K-2. U.S. officials dispute the notion that in broadening U.S.-Kyrgyz relations, Rice was hoping to "stick it" to the Uzbeks, who have been increasingly isolated since a May crackdown on demonstrators in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Earlier Tuesday at the Kyrgyz Opera House, Rice met to discuss constitutional reform with members of Kyrgyzstan's constitutional board, representatives of civil society, business people and media associations. 
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