MICHEL SAILHAN, Cairo | Tuesday
THE United States, France and other countries are moving ahead with preparations for the world’s biggest war games with some 70 000 troops in Egypt in October, Western diplomats said on Monday.
The diplomats said they were virtually certain the war games, dubbed Operation Bright Star, would go head despite the wave of terror attacks in the United States and a much anticipated US military response.
Some 1 000 US troops have arrived this month in northern Egypt to take part in the military exercises, which have been staged every two years since the 1980s, and France is also moving ahead with its plans, they added.
Around 40 000 Egyptian and 20 000 US troops will make up the bulk of the force from 12 countries this year, they said.
The three-phase exercises will last from October 8 to November 1 and will include training, tactical operations simulating confrontations with enemy forces, and a final phase to test command readiness.
Manoeuvres will take place in the area of El Alamein, where British and allied forces won a pivotal battle against Axis forces in World War II.
Most of the exercises will be on land, some of them involving airborne troops.
France, the second largest foreign contributor with 1,500 troops, will take part with Germany, Britain, Spain and Greece as well as four Arab countries: Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The participation of 1 000 Italian troops has yet to be confirmed.
A representative for the US embassy in Cairo said Monday that the US participation was still going ahead in the absence of any announcement to the contrary.
The US forces, including US special forces and mechanized troops, are under orders from General Tommy Franks, who heads the Central Command zone.
The zone covers the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the countries of the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as the neighbouring countries of the former Soviet Union, but excludes Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
The United States has named Saudi-born multi-millionaire Osama bin Laden, whose bases are in Afghanistan, as the key suspect in the suicide airline hijackings that claimed thousands of lives in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Washington has enlisted Pakistan’s support in the war against terrorism.
With its contingent of 40 000 men, Egypt is sending around one tenth of its military capability to the exercises, which aim to show the participants’ commitment to the stability of the volatile region.
Egypt is one of the main allies of the United States, receiving $1,3-billion in US military aid every year, making it the second largest recipient after Israel. – AFP