A Gulf tour for Abi Zeid
Gulf-USA, Politics, 7/15/2003

The commander of the US Central leadership, Army Lieutenant General John Abizaid, will hold a Gulf tour to be preceded by his first station in Turkey by the end of this week, after he had assumed the missions of his new post in succession of Gen. Tommy Francs.

Abizaid's visit to Ankara comes following the renewal of tension between Washington and Ankara after the American forces had arrested 11 Turkish soldiers in the north of Iraq for a short period of time by the beginning of July.

The Turkish daily al-Sabah said yesterday that the visit of Abizaid is considered an "initiative" aiming at alleviating the confidence crisis between the two countries.

It is however, decided that a high ranking Turkish- American committee will publish this week the results of an investigation on the Turkish troops arrested by US soldiers, according to the said Turkish paper.

The special American forces had arrested the Turkish soldiers on July 4th in al-Suleimaneyah which is controlled by the Kurds to the north of Baghdad on charge of being involved in "suspicious works," as announced by Washington. Turkey, however, had denied the accusations and the soldiers were released two days after their detention.

Previous Stories:
  US permit diplomats to return back to 4 Gulf states   (4/23/2003)
  Powell to visit after Bush's stern warning to Turkey   (4/1/2003)
  Turkey's parliament rejects US troops deployment on its soil   (3/3/2003)
  US seeks to reduce number of embassy staff in Bahrain, Qatar   (2/14/2003)

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