U.S. general visits Uzbekistan seeking supply routes

ALMATY (Reuters) - A top U.S. general visited the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan on Tuesday to try to secure alternative supply routes for forces fighting in Afghanistan.

Neighboring Kyrgyzstan added urgency to the visit by General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, by saying its parliament would vote on Thursday on closing a U.S. air base near the capital Bishkek.

The Manas air base is used to supply U.S. forces fighting an insurgency in Afghanistan. After Thursday's vote, U.S. forces will have six months to leave and find another staging post in a region where it vies for influence with Russia.

Petraeus met Uzbek President Islam Karimov in the capital, Tashkent.

"He is here in Tashkent to listen to Uzbekistan's perspective ... on the situation in Afghanistan," an embassy spokeswoman said.

She declined to say whether a supply agreement might be signed during the visit.

Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic, hosted a U.S. air base until it threw out the American troops in 2005 in a row over a government crackdown on protesters in the town of Andizhan.

Ties have since improved and a Western diplomat said this month Washington was close to signing a deal with Uzbekistan to allow U.S. non-military rail cargo to go through the country.

Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency quoted an Uzbek government source as saying Petraeus would raise the issue of alternative supply routes during his visit. Non-military cargo includes building materials, food, medicines and water.

U.S. PLANS TO SEND IN MORE TROOPS

Kyrgyzstan's decision to close Manas, the last remaining U.S. air base in Central Asia, complicates U.S. plans to send more troops to Afghanistan where it sent troops after the attacks on the United States on Sept 11, 2001.

Kyrgyz parliamentary officials said on Tuesday the assembly would vote on the base's closure on Thursday after completing procedural steps.

"If parliament approves it, it will be then signed by the president and the United States will be given half a year to close the base," said Zainidin Kurmanov, a parliamentary deputy.

Russia operates its own air base in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic and traditional ally, and regards Central Asia as part of its sphere of influence.

Karimov announced the decision to close the U.S. base after securing $2.2 billion in Russian aid and credits.

Uzbekistan, however, is seeking closer ties with the West and wants to avoid relying too much on Russia. Last year it allowed U.S. personnel heading to Afghanistan to use a German base on its territory.

The U.S. embassy spokeswoman in Tashkent said Washington had no plans to discuss the reopening of the former U.S. air base in Uzbekistan.

"We will not raise this specifically," she said. "We are focusing on other forms of cooperation."

(Writing by Maria Golovnina' additional reporting by Olga Dzyubenko; editing by Timothy Heritage)