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Kyrgyzstan Wants Chinese Gas Line
Chinese President Hu Jintao concluded his first visit to Kyrgyzstan yesterday, after promising multimillion-dollar investments there. Hu and a delegation of Chinese high officials arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Monday. They were met at the airport with great pomp by Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambaev and Foreign Minister Ednan Karabaev. The Chinese ministers of defense, foreign affairs and trade were among the delegation members. They attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
The Chinese president went directly from the airport to the Ala Archa state residence for private talks with the Kyrgyz prime minister and President Kurmanbek Bakiev, after which the signing of 12 agreements was announced, including on credits to build a cement plant in Kyrgyzstan and support telecommunications there and the establishment of a special credit fund for small and medium-size business in Kyrgyzstan. An agreement was also signed on the construction of a railroad to link Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China.
Atambaev announced that Kyrgyzstan has asked that the Turkmenistan-China natural gas pipeline run across Kyrgyzstan. That line is to be completed by 2009. It will run from Turkmenistan across Uzbekistan, and then through either Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan to China. The Chinese and Kyrgyz leaders included a point in their joint declaration on combating terrorism in Eastern Turkistan. China considers the Fergan Valley, which lies partially in Kyrgyzstan, a hotbed for terrorism in its unquiet Western province. In return for its attentions, the Chinese also want the American airbase in Kyrgyzstan closed.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 16, 2007
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