CAIRO — The United States intends to establish a military base at
the entrance to the Red Sea.
Arab diplomatic sources said the Pentagon has been quietly negotiating
with Yemen to build a military base at Bab Al-Mandeb. The base would
comprise thousands of troops, aircraft carriers and warplanes.
The sources said the discussions have been proceeding for more than a
year but were accelerated in the wake of the bombing of the USS Cole earlier
this month. The bombing was said to have been the work of suicide attacks
based in Yemen. Seventeen U.S. sailors were killed in the attack.
Two suspects have been identified, the sources said.
Earlier, Pentagon officials acknowledged that the United States and
Yemen were discussing the establishment of a listening post off the coast of
the Arabian Gulf. The listening post was meant to monitor ships that
travelled in the Red Sea and in the adjacent Indian Ocean.
Officials said they were pleased with Yemen's cooperation in the bombing
investigation and expressed the hope that this would lead to further
expansion in the defense relations between the two countries.
