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Committee forms to control withdrawal of US troops at Manas airbase

Kyrgyz Defense Minister: committee over the airbase was already formed, the Americans will hand over the facilities, so this process is already in n progress

© EPA/IGOR KOVALENKO

MOSCOW, November 21. /ITAR-TASS/. The committee was formed at the airbase Manas near the city of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, that will control the withdrawal of the U.S. airbase and transfer of the facilities, Kyrgyz Defense Minister Major General Taalaibek Omuraliyev informed Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu here on Thursday.

“We are at a historic moment of time. I refer to the withdrawal of the coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014 and the Manas airport will have been withdrawn by 2014. Recently the Kyrgyz foreign minister filed a note (to the United States) over the airbase Manas, the committee over the airbase was already formed, they (the Americans) will hand over the facilities, so this process is in progress,” the Kyrgyz defense minister told the Russian counterpart at a bilateral meeting in Moscow on the sidelines of the 65th meeting of the Council of CIS Defense Ministers.

At the end of the meeting Shoigu and Omuraliyev have signed the plan of bilateral cooperation between the Defense Ministries of Russia and Kyrgyzstan for 2014.

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