Will US be asked to leave key military bases?

Meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Russia - issued a joint statement saying the active military phase of the Afghan operation was coming to an end and calling on the US-led coalition to agree to a deadline for ending the temporary use of bases and air space in member countries.

There are about 18,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, and the US has hosted bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan since the anti-Taliban operations began in 2001.

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AFX News, a global news agency, points out that this is the SCO's first meeting since the ouster of Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev in March and a military crackdown in Uzbekistan in May. AFX also reports that "the leaders also included a clause on the inadmissibility of 'monopolizing or dominating international affairs' – apparently a reference to growing US influence in Central Asia."

Today's declaration echoes a similar one on the '21st century international order' signed by Putin and Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Moscow last week.

It follows a string of complaints by leaders such as Uzbek President Islam Karimov suggesting that the West was behind uprisings in three former Soviet republics in the last two years – Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan.

"There should be no place for interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states," Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.

Mr. Karimov said outside forces were threatening to "hijack stability and impose their model of development" on the region.

UzReport.com, Uzbekistan's largest business Internet portal, reports that Secretary-General of the SCO Zhang Deguang said three evils – terrorism, extremism, and separatism – are the main threat to peace and security in the region.

Sergei Prikhodko, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Central Asian states will ask US-led forces when they plan to leave Uzbek and Kyrgyz bases, reports MosNews.

The active phase is now being completed and it's important to know when they will go home. ... No one is telling them it should be tomorrow, in a month, in five months or in a year and a half, but it's just straightforward that SCO members know by when the anti-terrorist coalition will leave.

"Correspondents say the statement appears to reflect increasing concerns that the US is encouraging the overthrow of Central Asia's authoritarian governments," reports BBC.

Radio Free Europe writes "the summit highlights China's continuing efforts to build influence in Central Asia – and gain greater access to its energy resources – by making common cause with Russia and the Central Asian states against militant groups."

Beijing, the major force behind the SCO, has poured more resources into maintaining it than have any of the other member states. And often, Beijing has found itself trying to push the others along in its efforts to develop the SCO into a major regional alliance.

Also...
• Australia considers sending troops to Afghanistan ( Sydney Morning Herald)
• China tells congress to back off businesses ( Washington Post)
• Gunmen killed at Indian holy site ( BBC)
• Bush tries to remake image as team player ( The Los Angeles Times)

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