In a 7 July press release, the Uzbek Foreign Ministry raised questions about the continued presence of U.S. troops in Uzbekistan, official Uzbek news agency UzA reported. Noting the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization declaration asking for a timeframe for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Central Asia, the Foreign Ministry stressed that it made the air base at Karshi-Khanabad available to U.S. forces in 2001 in order to help remove a threat to Uzbekistan from Afghanistan and for that purpose only. The statement also emphasized that the United States has made \"virtually no payments\" to compensate the Uzbek side for expenses associated with operations at the base. Uzbekistan has reportedly limited flights out of the base in response to the U.S. reaction to Uzbek President Islam Karimov\'s use of force to quell unrest in Andijon on 13 May. (RFE/RL)