No permanent US military bases in Central Asia: Rumsfeld
PLA Daily 2004-02-26
ALMA-ATA, Feb. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in Uzbekistan Tuesday that Washington has no plan to set up permanent military bases in Central Asia, according to reports reaching here.
On whether the United States intends to extend its military presence in Uzbekistan, Rumsfeld told reporters in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, that the US State Department and Defense Departmentare studying military deployments around the world.
Washington has also discussed with other countries in the anti-terrorist coalition on establishing temporary military bases, Rumsfeld said.
Rumsfeld, who arrived in Tashkent Tuesday after a trip to Iraq and Kuwait, met Uzbek President Islam Karimov on bilateral ties, security and the situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan. He thanked the Uzbek government for its cooperation on Afghanistan.
Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US, Uzbekistan has provided its Khanabad airfield, located 200 km from its border with Afghanistan, for the US-led coalition to conduct search, rescue and humanitarian operations.
About 1,500 US military personnel and over 30 helicopters of the US Army's 10th Mountain Division are still based there.
Rumsfeld, who visited Uzbekistan twice before in the past two years, is expected to travel to Kazakhstan and Afghanistan before heading home.
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