Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld confirms that U.S. forces are leaving Saudi Arabia
Published:
30 April 2003 y., Wednesday
In a joint news conference with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, Mr. Rumsfeld said the United States is grateful for the cooperation Saudi Arabia has provided.
The key command center for U.S. air operations in the Gulf region was transferred from Saudi Arabia to Qatar on Monday.
As many as 10,000 U.S. troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia during the war with Iraq. The kingdom was also a staging area for U.S. attacks against Iraq during the Gulf war in 1991 and for enforcing the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq.
However, Saudi Arabia refused to allow about 100 U.S. aircraft in the kingdom to be used for direct attacks against Iraq during the latest conflict, mostly because of public opposition to the war among Saudi citizens.
The spokesman for the 22-member Arab League, Hisham Yousef, told VOA the Arab world applauds the decision to remove U.S. forces from Saudi Arabia. Mr. Yousef said the issue of foreign troops on Arab soil is sensitive. U.S. officials have said future American military relations with Saudi Arabia would be in the form of training and military exercises.
Šaltinis:
voanews.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
President D. Grybauskaitė recalled Ambassador Izolda Bričkovskienė from Dublin and appointed Vidmantas Purlys as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Lithuania to Ireland based on presidential decrees signed on July 21.
more »
President D. Grybauskaitė signed a decree on July 21 establishing a working group to submit proposals for amending the Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information.
more »
Lithuania’s Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs V. Ušackas and Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Verhagen discussed key points on the transatlantic agenda and issues of the European security.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė met with EU ambassadors residing in Lithuania.
more »
Continuing her working visit to the Republic of Latvia, President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė met with Latvia's Speaker of Parliament Gundars Daudze and Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis in Riga.
more »
Yesterday evening, President Dalia Grybauskaitė left Stockholm and arrived in Latvia on a working visit. In Riga, she met with President of Latvia Valdis Zatlers.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė has arrived for her first working visit to the Kingdom of Sweden.
more »
U.S. President writes that the United States is proud to count Lithuania among its closest friends and most reliable allies.
more »
Today, July 1, President Valdas Adamkus is leaving for a working visit to the Polish cities of Lublin and Toruń.
more »
Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius met with Secretary General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.
more »