04.04.2003 Iraq. Members of the U.S. 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) empty Iraqi ammunition from a warehouse in a military compound in the town of Nassariya in central Iraq. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan
Photo: Reuters
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Kyrgyz Security Services Swallowed the Bait
// Either Russia or China spoiled the reputation of the USA
Yesterday the Kyrgyz government tried to hush up a scandal that broke out over an arms arsenal found the day before with some of the U.S. embassy staff and American military in a house in Bishkek. The arsenal, which is actually sufficient for an armed group to carry out a coup, turned out to have been brought in Kyrgyzstan legally, except for minor infringements. Experts assume that either Russia or China’s security services let the Americans down – they compete for the influence in Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asia states.
Yesterday the spokesperson of the Kyrgyz government explained that the U.S. military arrived with the weapons in Kyrgyzstan by the invitation of the State Committee of National Security (SCNS). The mission of the military was lecturing on strengthening Kyrgyzstan’s anti-terrorist capacities. “As a result of consultations with Kyrgyzstan’s security services and the American embassy it was found out that some certain requirements, which are envisaged by the law of the Kyrgyz Republic, were not met when organizing the studies,” the spokesperson reported, adding that here some formalities and filling in corresponding forms on arms transportation on the territory of the country are meant.
Besides, Bishkek assured that, “to continue the active collaboration of Kyrgyzstan and the USA in the sphere of combating international terrorism, measures will be taken to eliminate the defects found; after it the joint trainings of the Kyrgyz SCNS and the American party will be resumed.”
It need be reminded that at the beginning of the week Kyrgyzstan’s Interior Ministry got information from those living in a house on the outskirts of Bishkek that there were too many weapons in the house rented by the U.S. citizens. On August 4, during a search in the house where two U.S. embassy staff members and ten American officers lived, 53 guns and 15.000 cartridges were found. Despite the U.S. embassy’s statement that they had all necessary documents, Kyrgyzstan’s security services preferred to say they knew nothing about the matter. Deputy Interior Minister Temirkan Subanov informed about a successful operation during his press-conference, and Kyrgyzstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office was quick to open a criminal case against the Americans.
The news has fuelled much speculation. A number of political analysts suspect the U.S. embassy of plotting another “color revolution” to topple President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Others presume that the Americans could give the weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups operating on the territory of Uzbekistan and China’s Xinjiang autonomous region.
However, yesterday the Kyrgyz government denied the rumors and explained the origin of the weapons. For all that, security experts believe that the scandal was planned and prepared outside Kyrgyzstan. Apparently, the operation of the Interior Ministry was not prompted by the watchful neighbors of the Americans. Rather, it was a bait of one of the powers competing for the influence in Central Asia with the USA. The geopolitical interests of Russia, China and the USA often collide and contradict each other in the region. The struggle appears even more evident now.
Bek Orozaliev, Bishkek
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 07, 2008
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