Kyrgyzstan battleground of international interests

The violent conflict in Kyrgyzstan between opposition groups and authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiyev continues. According to the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung this is about more than a change of government in the post-Soviet region: "Russia sees the country as part of its sphere of influence, while the United States has a large airbase there which is an important link in the supply chain for American troops in Afghanistan. China, for its part, shares a border with Kyrgyzstan just under 900 kilometres long - so a number of geopolitical interests intersect there. In the past the American presence there was such a thorn in Moscow's side that it forced Bakiyev to throw the Americans out. … How the new leadership will conduct itself on this matter has not yet been decided. It certainly knows that America is not aiming for permanent military presence. Given the new spirit of cooperation Russia should refrain from causing new trouble."

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