War games start in Egypt

2005-09-04 20:57

Cairo - Joint war games that will involve 30 000 troops from 12 countries - including a large US contingent - have started in Egypt, a senior military official said.

"The exercises will take place in five phases and end on October 15," General Ahmed Mukhtar said.

The participating countries are Egypt, the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Thirty-six other countries will join as observers.

The war games are normally held every two years but were called off in 2003 because of the US military's commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- SAPA