"If NATO and Russia will cooperate on this question... I hope the Kyrgyz government's decision won't be final," De Hoop Scheffer said in an interview with the radio station in Munich.

"I hope Mr Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov... could help persuade the Kyrgyz president, so that Russia and NATO can cooperate in relation to Afghanistan," said De Hoop Scheffer, referring to talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.

The NATO chief was speaking after Russian and Western officials met at an international security conference in the German city described by Ivanov as "very positive."

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announced on January 17 in Moscow that he would close the US-run airbase outside the Kyrgyz capital.

The NATO chief described as "no coincidence" the fact Bakiyev had made his announcement in Moscow.

Analysts have seen the decision as orchestrated by Russia, which has been irritated by the US military presence in ex-Soviet Central Asia, regarded by many Russian officials as Moscow's sphere of influence.

Home to over 1,000 foreign military personnel, the base is a vital northern supply route for Western operations in Afghanistan at a time when the United States is looking to expand operations there and attackers have disrupted a southern route through Pakistan.

Kyrgyz officials have stressed that the closure decision is final.

While particularly sensitive about permanent military bases, Russia has offered to help the Western operation in Afghanistan by providing supply routes through its territory to Central Asia.

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