BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN -- A top official in Kyrgyzstan's interim government said Saturday that a U.S. air base supporting operations in Afghanistan is "not justified," the first sign of significant divisions over the facility.

Azymbek Beknazarov, the acting prosecutor general, is deputy leader of the interim government and is likely retain a position of power when a permanent government is formed.

"All the Americans care about is that the military base stays," he said. "They forgot about freedom, about democratic values."

Since an uprising that ended with the ouster of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the interim government's leader has said the Manas air base can stay open for a year after the lease expires in July.