Kyrgyz Parliament To Vote On Thursday On US Base

`There will be a parliament session tomorrow and this question will be settled,` Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said.

Kyrgyzstan's parliament will vote on Thursday on a presidential proposal to close a U.S. air base used as a staging post for U.S. forces fighting in Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said earlier this month he had decided to close the Manas air base because Washington had refused to pay more rent for it. The parliament in the former Soviet republic is dominated by Bakiyev's party.

Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbayev said on Wednesday the Central Asian country had not received any new proposals from the United States.

"There will be a parliament session tomorrow and this question will be settled," he told the assembly.

Bakiyev, who needs parliamentary approval to shut the air base, announced his decision in Moscow after accepting more than $2 billion in Russian aid and credit.

If parliament backs Bakiyev's decision, U.S. forces will have six months to leave and find another staging post in a region where it vies for influence with Russia.

On Tuesday, General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, visited Kyrgyzstan's neighbour Uzbekistan to try and secure alternative supply routes for U.S. forces.