- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Kyrgyz president to monitor inquiry into killing at U.S. airbase

Subscribe
Kyrgyzstan's president will personally oversee an official inquiry into the killing of a Kyrgyz national by a U.S. airman in the capital Bishkek, the Central Asian republic's state secretary said Thursday.
BISHKEK, December 7 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's president will personally oversee an official inquiry into the killing of a Kyrgyz national by a U.S. airman in the capital Bishkek, the Central Asian republic's state secretary said Thursday.

Alexander Ivanov, 42, a truck driver with the fuel services company Aircraft Petroleum Management and the father of two, was shot dead Wednesday while undergoing a security check at the Manas airbase, hosted by Bishkek's international airport.

The U.S. 376th Air Expeditionary Wing, stationed at the base, said their serviceman had opened fire "in response to a threat."

Adakhan Madumarov said that earlier in the day, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev discussed the incident with Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and the airbase's commander.

Bakiyev asked the U.S. side to cooperate in the investigation led by Kyrgyz prosecutors and to make sure the serviceman accused of the killing stays in the country through the end of the probe.

"I'm asking that there be no obstacles to the investigation," he said.

He also instructed the Foreign Ministry to review an U.S.-Kyrgyz intergovernmental agreement granting diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution to American service personnel deployed in the post-Soviet country.

"It would be feasible if [U.S.] service personnel stationed in Kyrgyzstan were prosecuted for their wrongdoings, in line with Kyrgyz legislation," Bakiyev was quoted as saying by his press office.

Since its deployment in 2001 to support U.S.-led military operations in the neighboring Afghanistan, the Manas airbase has been the scene of several incidents blamed on U.S. personnel.

In September, a Kyrgyz presidential airliner taking off with 70 passengers and crew crashed into a U.S. tanker, which had reportedly landed on a wrong runway.

The jetliner, with one of its wings badly damaged in the collision, had to make an emergency landing, and only the pilot's skill prevented a disaster.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала