British military planes land at base in Cyprus

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British military planes land at base in Cyprus

(Xinhua) 11:11, August 30, 2013

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NICOSIA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- British military planes started landing at an air force base on the south shores of Cyprus on Thursday, ahead of possible action against Syria in response to alleged attacks with poisonous gas by government forces.

Journalists keeping watch on the British base at Akrotiri, less than 100 kilometers from Syria, said they saw two planes landing at the base in the afternoon.

A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense had said in London earlier in the day that a total of six Typhoon military planes would be sent at the base in a move he described as a "precautionary measure to ensure the protection of UK interests and the defense of the Sovereign Base Areas at a time of heightened tension in the wider region."

Other larger planes, including transport aircraft, Advance Warning and Control System airplanes, AWACS, and tankers for mid-air refueling landed at the base over the past few days.

He said the aircraft were not deploying to take part in any military action against Syria and they would operate in an air-to-air role.

The wording of the statement indicated that the planes were sent to provide protection to United States navy ships and to a British submarine which may be used for precision attacks with Tomahawk Cruise missiles against selected Syrian targets.

The facility at Akrotiri, near the southern city of Limassol, is one of two "sovereign bases" retained by Britain when it granted independence to Cyprus in 1960, after a 4-year long anti-colonial guerilla war.

（Editor：YanMeng、Liang Jun）