US eyes North Africa

2004-03-10 20:24

Casteau, Belgium - North African nations such as Morocco and Tunisia and new Nato members in eastern Europe may provide valuable training facilities for US military forces, the top US commander in Europe said on Wednesday.

Marine Corps Gen James Jones said sparsely populated areas in North Africa and eastern Europe could serve as alternatives to overcrowded and environmentally sensitive sites in Germany and other traditional allies.

"There's a lot of work we've been doing in North Africa ... to have access to skies," said Jones, who also serves as Nato's supreme commander.

"We're constantly looking for areas where urbanisation has not made it difficult," he told reporters. "We really wish to train where we don't bother people."

His comments came as the United States draws up plans for a review of its oversees troop deployment, which is widely expected to see a reduction in numbers permanently stationed in the large Cold War-era bases in Germany and other western European nations.

The United States is not considering new bases in North Africa, Jones said, but is building up a catalogue of temporary, "bare bones" facilities in Africa and Eastern Europe with runways, barracks and electricity that could be used by expeditionary forces for up to several months, if needed.

Nato is already working on plans to improve its military and political ties with nations in North Africa and the Middle East as part of a drive to refocus the alliance on new threats from terrorism and regional instability.

US Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman suggested the military alliance could co-operate with Middle Eastern nations in areas ranging from earthquake relief to border security and fighting trafficking in drugs, immigrants or weapons of mass destruction.

The alliance is expected to agree on plans for widening its decade-old "Mediterranean Dialogue" program with Israel, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Jordan at a June summit meeting in Istanbul, Turkey.

- AP