Two U.S. diplomats were expelled from Kyrgyzstan on July 12 over alleged interference in the country's internal policy. On the same day, the U.S. sent out six Kyrgyz security service officers who were taking an anti-terrorism training course, and ordered two employees of the Kyrgyz Embassy to leave the country on August 2, citing no reasons for the decision.
The U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said the U.S. nationals had been accused of maintaining inappropriate contacts with leaders of Kyrgyz nongovernmental organizations, but strongly denied the charges.
Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Alikbek Dzhekshenkulov said Thursday at a meeting with Richard Boucher, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, that the conflict was over. Boucher is in Kyrgyzstan for a two-day official visit.
Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry said the sides had agreed at the meeting that the mutual expulsion of diplomats would not affect bilateral relations, and discussed further cooperation in economy, military, cultural and humanitarian issues.
Dzhekshenkulov and Boucher considered joint security efforts, including in the fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking.
The U.S. has been renting an air base at Manas international airport in the south of the Kyrgyz capital since December 2001 as part of a U.S.-led anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan. About 1,000 U.S. servicemen and several military transport aircraft are deployed there.
Last year, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev demanded that the rent be increased 100 times from the current $2.6 million. The U.S. agreed in mid-July to pay Kyrgyzstan about $150 mln for the continued use of the base in 2007, the Kyrgyz government said.
At the meeting, the sides agreed that the U.S. air base played an important role in the ongoing international military and humanitarian missions in Afghanistan, and also discussed possible investment in Kyrgyzstan's energy sector.
Boucher also said the U.S. was willing to continue supporting the Kyrgyz government's policy to pursue democratic reforms.
Unlike other Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan is the poorest country that does not boast vast natural resources and is therefore highly dependent on foreign investment.
