President Barack Obama has sent a personal message to his Kyrgyzstan counterpart, officials said Thursday, as Washington tries to keep U.S. forces from being evicted from an important air base in the Central Asian nation, according to AP. In his letter, Obama thanked President Kurmanbek Bakiyev for Kyrgyzstan's support of U.S.-led military operations in nearby Afghanistan, the Kyrgyz president's office said in a statement. The statement also quoted Obama as saying a delegation of senior U.S. officials will soon visit the poor former Soviet republic. A U.S. Embassy spokesman in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, couldn't be immediately reached for comment. U.S. forces have had access to the Manas air base outside Bishkek since 2001. The base _ a transit point for 15,000 troops and 500 tons of cargo each month to and from Afghanistan _ became even more important to the Afghan war effort after neighboring Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops from a base there. But in February, Bakiyev stunned Washington by announcing the U.S. base would be closed, citing what he said was inadequate financial compensation and other concerns.
