Kyrgyz police seize arms from house rented by U.S. nationals

Kyrgyz police seize arms from house rented by U.S. nationals BISHKEK, NSI - August 5, 2008 - Kyrgyz police have seized a large stock of firearms and ammunition in a house being rented by U.S. nationals in Bishkek, the Interior Ministry press service said on Tuesday. The operation, carried out in a newly-built district of the Kyrgyz capital on Monday afternoon, uncovered a range of weapons and other equipment, including six heavy machine guns, 26 assault rifles, two rifle-attached grenade launchers, four sniper rifles, and night vision devices in a house owned by a 66-year-old Kyrgyz resident. The press service said several U.S. embassy employees holding diplomatic immunity and 10 U.S. servicemen ostensibly entrusted to train staff from a Kyrgyz special task unit were in the house during the search. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said the weapons had been kept in the house with the permission of the Kyrgyz authorities, as the servicemen were in the country for anti-terrorist training exercises. The embassy called the seizure an "unpleasant incident." The press service of a U.S. military base at Bishkek's Manas airport, deployed to support anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan, refused to comment on the incident, referring journalists to the U.S. Embassy.