ALMA ATA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev said on Wednesday he may close a U.S. military base in his country if Washington does not agree to a new contract by June 1.

    Bakiyev said in a televised speech that Kyrgyzstan reserved the right to consider terminating a Dec. 4, 2001 accord on the use of the base, if talks on new financial terms of the contract failed to end successfully by June 1, 2006.

    Bakiyev has long called on the United States to pay more rent for the Manas air base set up at the start of the war in Afghanistan in 2001 to support combat operations in the Central Asian country.

    "I repeated that to top U.S. officials many times in the past months," Bakiyev said.

    In February, the president said the United States should pay 100 times more, or 207 million U.S. dollars, for the use of the military base.

    He said the new figure was in line with international practice and said the Americans could stay until neighbouring Afghanistan was entirely stable.

    The Manas base has become increasingly important for Washington since neighboring Uzbekistan ordered the United States to vacate abase there last year.

    Some 1,500 troops from the United States and other NATO member states as well as fighter planes are stationed at the Manas airport. Enditem