Officially called a "transit center," the base, which is at the Manas airport close to the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, has been a crucial supply hub for the war in Afghanistan since 2001 and is the only one of its kind in Central Asia.
Mr. Atambayev, a former prime minister who won the presidency in an election on Sunday, had indicated earlier that he would seek to close the base. On Tuesday, after his victory was all but confirmed, he told journalists that he feared the that base would become a security risk for his country.
"We know that the United States is often engaged in military conflicts," he said in Bishkek, according to news reports. "There was Iraq and Afghanistan, and now there are tensions with Iran. I would not want any of these countries to launch a retaliatory strike on the military base one day."
In 2009, Washington persuaded Kyrgyzstan's president at the time, Kurmanbek S. Bakiyev, to keep the base open by agreeing to pay over $40 million a year extra in rent and provide an expensive renovation of the Manas airport.
Despite the calls to close the base, Kyrgyz officials, in particular Roza Otunbayeva, the departing president, have expressed fears over a possible security vacuum when and if the United States leaves the region. In such a case, Ms. Otunbayeva has said Kyrgyzstan should look to Russia for security.
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