Kyrgyz lawmakers propose to evict U.S. troops

BISHKEK (Reuters) - Kyrgyz lawmakers urged the government on Wednesday to evict U.S. troops from a military air base in the impoverished Central Asian state.

Kyrgyz officials have in the past spoken out against the air base, used by the United States for operations in nearby Afghanistan, and demanded Washington raise the rent.

On Wednesday, key parliamentary committees put their weight behind proposals to cancel the 2001 military agreement with the United States altogether.

"The committees decided it's unfeasible to host the air base," said Rashid Tagayev, head of the defense committee.

About 1,200 U.S. servicemen are stationed in the mountainous former Soviet nation.

Kyrgyz officials renewed their call on the government to shut down the air base after the fatal shooting of a Kyrgyz citizen by a U.S. airman at the base in December 2006.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's government, at odds with an independent-minded parliament over a number of issues, has defended the importance of hosting the base -- a key hard currency earner for the indebted country.

The U.S. military presence in Central Asia suffered a blow in 2005 when Uzbekistan expelled U.S. troops from a base following Western condemnation of the use of force to quash a revolt in the town of Andizhan.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said as far as he knew the Kyrgyz government had not raised any concerns over U.S. air bases on their territory.

"I'm sure that if there are any concerns that the Kyrgyz government has, that they'll be issues that'll be raised with U.S. military and diplomatic officials, and I'm sure we'll be able to come to a successful conclusion," he said.