ABU DHABI, April 27: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met leaders of the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, launching a tour to thank Gulf allies for help in the Iraq invasion and discuss possible new American military arrangements in the region.
Mr Rumsfeld landed in Abu Dhabi six hours late after a mechanical problem delayed his aircraft, causing him to miss a planned Sunday visit to Afghanistan. Officials said he hoped to go to Kabul later in the week.
The defence secretary held talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan, UAE Defence Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum and Lt Gen Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, chief of the Emirates’ armed forces.
US commander General Tommy Franks also flew in from Qatar to take part in the talks.
US aircraft that used a base in the UAE for operations against Iraq included the RC-135 electronic reconnaissance plane, refuelling tankers, and high altitude spy planes — the U-2 and the unmanned Global Hawk. The US Navy also uses UAE bases in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.
Washington is studying possible changes in its costly military presence in the Middle East, the removal of Saddam Hussein being seen as potentially allowing a reduction in the US bootprint in the politically sensitive region.
US defence officials declined to predict whether the UAE, which has ordered 80 advanced US F-16 fighter jets in a deal worth billions of dollars, might benefit from any shift in US military forces in the region.
Due to security considerations, Pentagon officials gave no advance indication of whether the secretary would visit Iraq itself, where more than 130,000 US troops are now deployed, and would not name other stops on the trip.
But Mr Rumsfeld told reporters travelling with him that he was anxious not only to meet American troops at regional bases but also to thank Gulf allies and discuss the future US military planning.
He said he planned “to discuss with our allies around Iraq the arrangements that we have with them and our partnership and cooperation as we look forward at some point to the end of major combat activity in Iraq”.
The secretary said he would stress with regional leaders “both with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan the evolution that’s taking place from major combat operations to stability operations.”
FUTURE IN S. ARABIA: Military analysts say they expect the United States to sharply reduce its military presence in Saudi Arabia, and perhaps move some air power from there to Qatar, Oman or the UAE. Washington also has a major military presence in Kuwait.
Dozens of US jets have been flying out of remote Prince Sultan Air Base, in Saudi Arabia, for years to police a “no-fly” zone over southern Iraq. But that operation is no longer needed.
