Kyrgyzstan: two US diplomats not welcome
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-07-12 14:37
BISHKEK - Kyrgyzstan, home to a U.S. military base, said two American
diplomats were no longer welcome on Wednesday, accusing them of interference in
the Central Asian state's domestic affairs.
"The decision was taken
based on facts presented by Kyrgyzstan's special services about their repeated
involvement in the country's domestic affairs..." the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry
said in a statement.
The U.S. embassy in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek
declined to say whether or when the two might be expelled. An embassy statement
on Tuesday said the United States was "disturbed by reports" of their expulsion.
Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic bordering China, has been in talks
with Washington over raising the rent of the military airbase that the United
States uses to support operations in nearby Afghanistan.
A fresh round
of talks on the base was expected to start as soon as this week.
"Kyrgyzstan confirms its willingness to develop Kyrgyz-U.S. relations
according to the principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in each
other's domestic affairs," the ministry said, without elaborating.
The
U.S. embassy said in the Tuesday statement that the diplomats were accused of
"inappropriate contact" with non-governmental organisations, adding that
Kyrgyzstan's move was an attempt to silence "the voice of civil society".
President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was elected in a landslide following a coup
last year, raising hopes for greater democracy in the impoverished country of
five million.
In April Bakiyev, accused by some opponents of not doing
enough to maintain law and order, blamed unspecified foreign forces of trying to
stoke unrest in his country.
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