WASHINGTON, July 12 (RIA Novosti, Arkady Orlov) - A senior U.S. State Department official has declined to comment on acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev statement that a deadline for the U.S. airbase's withdrawal from Kyrgyzstan had to be determined, deferring the question to the Pentagon.
Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman, said Tuesday the United States appreciated the support provided by the Central Asian republics, including Kyrgyzstan, for U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Bakiyev said Monday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) had rightfully demanded a deadline for the airbase's withdrawal from Kyrgyz territory at its summit in the Kyrgyz capital of Astana, recently.
Bakiyev said the situation in Afghanistan had stabilized and questioned the wisdom of the base's continued presence in Central Asia.
Bakiyev said Kazakhstan and Russia had given their airspace for international antiterrorism coalition aircraft sent to Afghanistan, while other Central Asian republics allowed the coalition to deploy military bases to their territory.
"There is no war (in Afghanistan( now, and the country has held presidential and parliamentary elections," Bakiyev said.
