BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, Dec. 15 Kyrgyzstan's Parliament passed a resolution Friday instructing its government to consider closing a U.S. air base in the capital city of Bishkek.The action follows the fatal shooting last week of a Kyrgyz truck driver by a U.S. airman from the Manas air base, the Russian news agency Novosti reports.Alexander Ivanov, 42, was shot to death while undergoing a routine security check at the facility on Dec. 8. U.S. officials say he was shot in self defense and in accordance with security rules, Novosti said.Kyrgyzstan's president has asked that the airman named in the shooting, identified as Zachary Hatfield, remain at the base until the conclusion of a joint investigation by U.S. and Kyrgyz prosecutors, according to Novosti.Kyrgyzstan's Foreign Ministry has been told to look into possible changes to the base agreement with the United States, the report said.The Manas air base is the only U.S. base in post-Soviet Central Asia since Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops last year.Copyright 2006 by UPI
