American maneuvers in Qatar

The commander of the US central leadership Tommy Francs said yesterday that he will personally lead a large military maneuvers in the Gulf from a base in Qatar by the beginning of next month November.

Francs said that almost 600 or more of workers at the leadership headquarters in Tampa, Florida, will stay there for a period that might reach 6 weeks in the framework of training in the area of leadership and communications.

Francs, who was talking in a press meeting at the Pentagon, had left the door open before the possibility of keeping advanced military and communications equipment and forces in Qatar for unlimited periods of times.

Francs told reporters that the US President George Bush has not taken a decision on whether an attack will be made against Iraq, and that he did not take any military decision concerning keeping the leadership position in Qatar after the maneuvers.