Rumsfeld receives offer from Eritrea to use its bases in fighting terrorism

Eritrea's president Asyas Afourki has proposed to the US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld who arrived yesterday in Asmara, his first leg in the African horn, putting his country's resources and potentials under the disposal of the USA in the war it leads against terrorism.

Following the talks he had held with journalists, Rumsfeld said "This country (Eritrea) deals with the problem of terrorism the way our country does." He added "we agreed that this kind of problem requires cooperation for the long run." Eritrea proposed to the USA to use Asab port on the Red Sea and other facilities.

The US deploys 1000 soldiers in the neighboring Djibouti which Rumsfeld will visit today following his visit to Ethiopia.

Afourki said that Eritrea has been dealing with terrorism along 13 years in Sudan where Osama Bin Laden had lived in the 1990s and where he founded al-Qaida network.

Rumsfeld's tour comes following the two operations in Mombassa which targeted an Israeli hotel and a plane.

Rumsfeld will conclude his tour in visiting Qatar where the American forces are conducting military exercises.