Russia, China call for U.S. troops to go

MOSCOW, Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A security bloc led by China and Russia has called on the United States to set a deadline for the withdrawal of its troops from Central Asia.

Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization concluded their meeting in Moscow with the call for a U.S. withdrawal, the South China Morning Post reported Friday.

The newspaper described Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's participation in the meeting as "another step to cement Beijing's influence in the Central Asian region."

During his two-day stay in Moscow, Wen met Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of the group's other member states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan -- as well as India, Iran and Pakistan, who hold observer status in the group.

The group's executive secretary, Zhang Deguang, said the organization was focused on fighting terrorism and drug trafficking and was not a military alliance. He said the call for a U.S. withdrawal was "only a matter of deadlines ... not an ultimatum."

In July, the group requested a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, reflecting growing Russian and Chinese unease over the U.S. military presence in the resource-rich region, the newspaper said.