A US military base in Kyrgyzstan serving as a supply route for US forces in Afghanistan is important but can be replaced, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.
"I would say that Manas is important, but not irreplaceable. We are looking at alternatives," Gates told a press conference about the base which the Kyrgyz government has said it has decided to close.
"We have not foreclosed the possibility that Manas would remain open," he added, saying negotiations with the former Soviet country were continuing.
Given the role played by the base, which is likely to increase amid plans to reinforce the US troop presence in Afghanistan, the US administration is looking at "whether there is something we ought to do differently in terms of compensation," Gates said.
"By the same token, we're not prepared to stay there at any price," he added.
A Kyrgyz parliament spokesman said the country's lawmakers will not vote before March on the government-approved plan to close the base.
"The Kyrgyz parliament will examine the question about the closure of the airbase no earlier than March," said parliament spokesman Emil Niyazov.
The Kyrgyz government last week announced it had decided to close the base, set up in 2001 to provide logistical support to the international coalition deployed against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda insurgents in Afghanistan.
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