Kyrgyz protest against US air base

BISHKEK: Some 100 activists from two Kyrgyz political groups rallied in capital Bishkek, calling for withdrawal of the US air base from Kyrgyzstan.

Protesters from the nationalist Zhoomart group and the Sergiy Radonezhsky Fund cheered as Zhoomart's leader Nurlan Motuyev publicly burned a US flag and an effigy of US President George W. Bush.

"Americans are the first to begin wars everywhere, they kill peaceful Muslims, spill fuel on our soil and make farmers suffer from poor crops. Away with the air base!" Motuyev called.

Local protests against US military presence are often staged both in Bishkek and next to the air base.

The air base, which shares premises with the country's main airport at Manas, outside the capital, is crucial to Washington's operations in Afghanistan.

About 1,000 US troops are stationed at Manas.



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