The Manta airbase on Ecuador's Pacific coast is currently a key logistics hub for Washington's fight again South American drug traffickers.

But Ecuador leftist president, Rafael Correa, has indicated his country will not renew the base's 10-year lease when it expires later this year.

Ecuador's joint commander-in-chief, Fabien Varela, told local television station Ecuavisa the armed forces plan to use Manta as a platform for air force reconnaissance and unmanned aircraft operating near the Colombian frontier.

"In this case the armed forces that are deployed on the long and wide northern frontier (with Colombia) would be better synergized, coordinated, producing better operational results."

Quito and Bogota broke off diplomatic relations a year ago over a Colombian military attack on a Colombian FARC rebel camp inside Ecuador that killed 25 people. Since then, Ecuador has been beefing up its border region.

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Moscow (AFP) May 1, 2009
Russia on Thursday took formal control of the borders of Georgia's separatist zones and slammed NATO exercises due in the country, as a spy row created new frictions between Moscow and the alliance.