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American Soldier Kills Kyrgyz Citizen
An American guard killed a Kyrgyz fuel tanker driver yesterday afternoon at Manas Airport in Bishkek, where a U.S. air base is located. The tragedy occurred at the checkpoint of the air base. A source in the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry told the Kyrgyz Akipress news agency that the driver, an ethnically Russian citizen of Kyrgyzstan whose name has not been released, was acting in strict accordance with instructions. The motives of the American serviceman, who shot the victim twice in the chest with a pistol, are not known. The victim was an employee of Aircraft Petroleum Co. He was shot in then tent that serves as the checkpoint for the air base when he came to fuel an aircraft.
Members of the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Transportation and Communication are involved in the investigation of the incident. An investigative group has been set up to determine whether the incident took place on the territory of the civil airport or on the air base, which has diplomatic status. Law enforcement organs are trying to determine whether the checkpoint is territorially part of the air base at all.
The Americans are claiming that the victim was armed with a knife and behaving aggressively. The command of the air base released a statement saying that the American soldier shot the Kyrgyz citizen in response to a threat. The wounded man was given immediate medical aid on the air base.
U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Marie Yovanovitch was summoned to the country's Foreign Ministry yesterday and presented with a note demanding an explanation of the incident. Commander of the air base Joel Reese was similarly summoned to the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Transportation and Communication. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev has expressed concern at the length of time the U.S. air base has been located at Manas and recently threatened to raise the rent for it. This incident is expected to complicate the air base's further functioning.
www.commersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 07, 2006
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