January 28, 2002	Monday	Ziqa’ad 13, 1422

HAVANA, Jan 27: The last Russian military base in Cuba, a vast electronic listening post south of Havana, was closed down late last year, Cuban Defence Minister Raul Castro announced on government-run news media here.

In Moscow, the Russian military confirmed Sunday that its last Cuban base had been fully dismantled, but added that a small number of servicemen who worked on the station would remain there for a short time.

“All the antennas have been dismantled and nothing has been functioning there since December 29,” Castro said Saturday, as quoted by the National Information Agency.

The base, a relic of the Cold War, was set up in 1964 two years after the Cuban missile crisis to spy on the United States.

At its height, the 70 square kilometre base, located in the town of Lourdes, 60 kms south of Havana, was home to 1,500 Russian technicians.—AFP