US Military Seeks to Expand Access to Africa

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, July 06, 2003

US Military Seeks to Expand Access to Africa

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The United States military is seeking to expand its presence in the Arab countries of northern Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa through new basing agreements and training exercises intended to combat a growing terrorist threat in the region, The New York Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

Even as US military planners are preparing options for American troops to join an international peacekeeping force to oversee a cease-fire in Liberia, a west African country, the Pentagon wants to enhance military ties with allies like Morocco and Tunisia in northern Africa, a report in the newspaper said.

It is also seeking to gain long-term access to bases in countries like Mali and Algeria, which US forces could use for periodic training or to strike terrorists.

The Pentagon aims to build on aircraft refueling agreements in places like Senegal and Uganda, two countries that President George W. Bush is to visit on his five-nation swing through Africa that begins on Tuesday.

However, there are no plans to build permanent American bases in Africa, the report quoted Pentagon officials as saying.

Instead, the US European Command, which oversees military operations in most of Africa, wants troops now in Europe to rotate more frequently into bare bones camps or airfields in Africa whileUS Marines may spend more time sailing off the west African coast,the report added.

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