DUSHANBE, August 3 (RIA Novosti) - Tajikistan is predicting a substantial rise in the number of U.S. Air Force flights through its territory after the withdrawal of the U.S. air base at Khanabad in Uzbekistan, Tajik Airlines CEO Mirzo Anvarov said. "We expect a tenfold increase in the number of flights through our territory," Anvarov said. But this "will not cause overloading or disruptions to air traffic or technical control at Dushbane Airport."
Speaking on the possible exit of the U.S. military from the Khanabad base, Tajik Foreign Ministry Officer Igor Satarov said Wednesday that the presence of the U.S. anti-terrorism coalition in neighboring countries is a domestic affair for those governments and bears no direct relation to Tajikistan.
At the end of June, at a press conference here after a meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov said "Tajikistan has assumed responsibility for providing member countries of the anti-terrorism coalition with its airspace and infrastructure for use in operations in Afghanistan, and will continue to do this.
"We offer our airspace not only to the U.S., but also to other member countries of the anti-terrorism coalition. There is also a French contingent currently based at Dushanbe Airport," Nazarov said.
Last week, the Uzbek government officially demanded that the U.S. remove its military base at Karshi-Khanabad, 400 km to the south of Tashkent, within 180 days.
As part of anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan, the U.S. has built an air base at Manas international airport in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, 30 km away from the Russian air base in Kant, which is a part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization Rapid Deployment Force. The other members of the organization are Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kirgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Flights from the U.S. base at Manas to Afghanistan pass through Tajik air space.
