Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 9 / Trend , E.Ostapenko/
The Pentagon has not received any notification about a change in the status of the U.S. Manas base in Kyrgyzstan. Operations are underway as usual, a Pentagon spokesman told Trend .
"Until we receive that [identification], we will continue normal operations in Manas," Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Mark Wright said in a telephone conversation from Washington.
On Feb. 5, Kyrgyzstan officially announced that the base will close near the Manas international airport in Bishkek. The base has been used since 2001 to support U.S. military operations in Afghanistan.
"Manas base is an important logistical hub for our efforts and for personal supplies that are going to Afghanistan and we are hopeful that we will be able to remain there," said Wright, adding that Pentagon doesn't make the final decision.
The discussions are going between the US State Department and Kyrgyz government, he said.
Although Manas is an important logistical hub for operations in Afghanistan, Pentagon does not have just one logistical supply rout, air or ground, Wright said. "When one route is constraint or shut out, you have another routes that you can put more supplies into in order to keep your logistic operations flowing smoothly in Afghanistan. We have multiple logistical supply routes through out the region, not only in Pakistan, not only in Tajikistan, but through out the region," he said.
Reuters quoted U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan Tracey Ann Jacobson as saying on Feb. 6 that Tajikistan is ready to provide an air corridor to transport non-military NATO goods to Afghanistan.
Land cargo transit through Tajikistan is being discussed. An agreement may be signed at a meeting between the Tajik president and European Commission in Brussels next week, Reuters reported.
According to Jacobson, the U.S. will consider building a second bridge crossing the trans-boundary Panj River. The first bridge worth $37 million was commissioned in August 2007.
"That is wonderful that we are maintaining good relations with all the Central Asian nations. I think that they play a part in regional stability and I hope they recognize the efforts in Afghanistan," said Wright.
Wright hopes those efforts will help stabilize entire region and maintain peace within all the Central Asian countries.
"We seek cooperation and relations with all those nations," he said.
Given the number of transportation difficulties that emerged on the Pakistani-Afghan border last month, NATO countries see Tajikistan as a possible transit point for non-military goods, as Tajikistan has the longest border with Afghanistan among CIS countries at 1,344 kilometers.
NATO welcomes any support from all the Central Asian countries for NATO operations in Afghanistan, said Wright. "We welcome the support of all the regional nations," he said.
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