Restoration of Kyrgyz democracy will not threaten future of Manas air base.

In the April 12 U.S. State Department briefing entitled “The Current Situation in the Kyrgyz Republic,” Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert O. Blake, Jr. explains to his audience that the purpose of his impending trip to Bishkek is to meet with interim leader Roza Otunbayeva and other members of the provisional government installed after riots last week caused Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee the capital. He continues:

My main goal will be to hear from the Kyrgyz administration about their assessment of the law and order situation, the steps that they plan to take during their six-month interim administration to organize democratic elections and a return to democracy, and how we might be able to help them to restore democracy and economic growth in Kyrgyzstan.”

The first question Blake receives is thus:

[D]oes this mean that you’ve basically thrown Bakiyev under the bus?”

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