Russia agrees to new lease for Kyrgyz base

MOSCOW, May 29 (UPI) -- Russia and the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan have negotiated a new 49-year lease for the Russian airbase in Kant.

The agreement allows for automatic 25-year extensions, the Novosti news agency reported.

The base, 25 miles from Bishkek, the country's capital, was established in 2003. About 400 Russian soldiers are stationed there with 20 aircraft.

Russia pays $4.5 million annually to lease the base. The previous lease agreement was for 15 years with five-year extensions.

Kyrgyzstan and Russia are both members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, along with the former Soviet republics of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered the closing of the U.S. base at Manas this year and banned troops from a long list of U.S. allies from deploying there. The base had been a major staging area for coalition forces in Afghanistan.