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"We have a one year agreement. But one year may not be enough." This signals the effective end of the Shanghai Forum and any tentative efforts by Russia, China, India and the five former Soviet Central Asian nations to set up a joint defense arrangement for regional - and global - purposes. Western global military reach and unilateralism can proceed unimpeded.] Friday January 11 3:02 PM ET Kyrgyzstan Ready to Extend U.S. Base Deal BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (Reuters) - Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev said Friday his ex-Soviet Central Asian republic would be ready to extend a one-year agreement on hosting a U.S. military base for operations in Afghanistan. The United States and its allies in the global war on terrorism are planning to deploy by February up to 3,000 troops and some 40 warplanes at the Manas airport outside the Kyrgyz capital. Kyrgyzstan, a poor mountainous nation of 4.5 million, does not border Afghanistan but is close to it. ``We have a one-year agreement. But one year may not be enough. It is possible that next autumn we will extend the agreement,�� Akayev said on national television. Kyrgyzstan, the target of cross-border raids by Islamic guerrillas in 1999 and 2000, has enthusiastically embraced Washington's campaign to root out Afghanistan's radical Islamic Taliban and invited U.S. forces to launch operations from its territory. Akayev, who received the green light from Kyrgyzstan's former colonial master Moscow to host U.S. troops, said the decision was also likely to reap economic benefits by boosting cooperation with the world's wealthiest country. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
