09.02.2011, 11:39 3187

US signs fuel deal over Afghanistan airbase

The U.S. signed a deal over Afghanistan fuel contract allowing Manas Refuelling Complex in Kyrgyzstan to supply 20 % of fuel to the Manas Air Base, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. February 9. Kazakhstan Today - The U.S. signed a deal over Afghanistan fuel contract allowing Manas Refuelling Complex in Kyrgyzstan to supply 20 % of fuel to the Manas Air Base, Kazakhstan Today reports.

The US on Tuesday signed a deal to pass part of a $630m (?392m) Afghanistan fuel contract to a newly formed state company in Kyrgyzstan, in a compromise designed to safeguard its airbase in the small but strategic former Soviet republic, The Telegraph reported.

The deal will help to keep Mina Corp, the existing holder of the contract, supplying the Manas Air base, despite a campaign against the company by Kyrgyz politicians, including President Roza Otunbayeva, who claim that the families of two previous leaders benefited improperly from its dealings.

The base, near the capital, Bishkek, is a crucial supply hub for the war in Afghanistan.

"A mutually agreed portion of the requirements of the United States for fuel and for related services at the Transit Center will be reserved for supply by an entity or entities designated by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic," said Larry Memmott, the US deputy chief of mission. "We want this process to be completely transparent."

After signing a separate deal with the US Department of Defense, the state-run Manas Refuelling Complex will now be free to supply fuel to the base, starting at 20 per cent of its requirements, and moving up eventually to 50 per cent.

The rest will continue to be supplied by Mina Corp, which, along with its sister company Red Star Enterprises, has held the contract to supply the base since 2002.

Mina Corp, which is registered in Gibraltar, based in Dubai, and controlled by an American businessman, has come under fire since Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the former president, was deposed last April, and was put under investigation by US Congress last April.

But the Congress investigators in December reported that they had found no evidence to back up claims that the Mr Bakiyev's family benefited financially from the company's operations.

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