Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbaev said Wednesday that his country does not rule out the possibility of allowing the United States and other countries to use its air space after the closure of the Manas airbase, according to reports from Bishkek.
Sarbaev said the possibility has not been considered but cannot be ruled out, Xinhua reported.
Kyrgyzstan and the United States are in touch now, the minister said at a meeting of the ruling Ak-Zhol party.
On Wednesday, the Ak-Zhol party unanimously passed a bill on closing the U.S. air base in Manas, which provides support to military operations in Afghanistan,
The bill will next be handed over to a plenary session of parliament for a vote Thursday, Interfax reported.
A simple majority of votes is needed to pass the bill in the 90-seat parliament, where the AK-Zhol party holds an overwhelming majority of 71 seats.
The United States began using the Manas air base shortly after it launched anti-terror operations in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said earlier in February he had decided to close the air base.