December 5, 2001	Wednesday	Ramazan 19, 1422

BISHKEK, Dec 4: Kyrghyzstan said on Tuesday it was ready to accommodate warplanes from the US-led anti-terrorism coalition at one of its airbases, but a senior official said the Western presence would be limited and short-term.

“We have in principle confirmed our readiness to support the anti-terrorist coalition and we are now studying their proposals. This is our official answer,” presidential adviser Askar Aitmatov told Reuters. “We are ready in principle.”

Aitmatov went out of his way to dispel fears in Russia that Moscow’s political and military influence in the vast region it once ruled would be eroded by the Western deployment.—Reuters