October 10, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 13, 1424

BERLIN, Oct 9: The US government is considering stationing defensive missiles in a number of European countries against a potential attack from Iran, Germany’s Sueddeutsche newspaper reported in an article to appear in its Friday issue, citing State Department sources.

The daily quoted a high-ranking US diplomat as saying that the Americans would like to develop a defensive missile network with Europeans but doubted whether a deal could be reached quickly by NATO.

Because of these concerns, Washington may pursue bilateral agreements with individual European countries for deployment in 2006 anti-ballistic systems in exchange for economic aid, the Sueddeutsche said.

The diplomat acknowledged that such an approach could lead to new tensions with some European countries following the rift over the US-led Iraq war, according to the report.

US defence policy specialist Benjamin Schreer of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs told the newspaper that Romania and Bulgaria could be the “first choices” for such agreements with the United States.

The US military last month unveiled an upgraded Patriot anti-missile system in South Korea designed to thwart a missile blitz from North Korea.—AFP