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Rummy confident of stopping al-Qaeda in North Africa
 Winding up three days of talks with North African leaders, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday he is confident that al Qaeda and other terrorist groups will fail to find a haven in this Muslim region.At a news conference after meeting with King Mohammed VI at his royal retreat in the Atlas Mountains, Rumsfeld was asked what risk he saw of Islamic extremist groups putting down roots in Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia. "Each of those three countries are managing their internal affairs in a way that makes that an extremely low possibility," he said. "There are so many places in the world where there are large ungoverned spaces, where the governments have not taken the kinds of steps that we've seen in these countries," he added. He said Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia had created "an environment that's inhospitable to terrorism." After the meeting with the king, Rumsfeld was flying back to Washington. Morocco was the last stop for Rumsfeld on a five-day trip that began in Sicily for a NATO defense ministers meeting and included his first visit to North Africa as President Bush's defense secretary. Rumsfeld came to North Africa to try to strengthen U.S. military ties to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. All three are viewed by the Bush administration as important allies in the global fight against terrorism -- not least because they have spoken out publicly against Islamic extremism and terrorism. Morocco is the oldest U.S. ally in North Africa. The relationship began with a treaty of friendship in the late 18th century. After a successful North Africa campaign in World War II, U.S. forces continued to make use of Moroccan airfields and other military facilities. The U.S. military even stored nuclear weapons on Moroccan soil. In 1952, President Truman ordered the storage of non-nuclear components for nuclear bombs at three U.S. Strategic Air Command bases in Morocco -- which was then a French colony -- where B-36 and B-47 bombers were located. Full nuclear bombs were stored in Morocco from 1954 and for much of that decade. With Moroccan independence in 1956, pressure mounted for U.S. forces to leave, and by 1963 all U.S. forces had withdrawn. This was Rumsfeld's first visit to Morocco as defense secretary. Upon his arrival Sunday afternoon, Rumsfeld visited the Moroccan royal stables near the village of Bouznika; he watched about a dozen of King Mohammed VI's prized Arabian horses strut their stuff. Rumsfeld, who keeps horses on his property in Taos, New Mexico, also toured a trophy room where the king displays several extraordinary saddles given to him by people around the world. One saddle, Rumsfeld was told, once belonged to a sultan who ruled Libya before Col. Moammar Gadhafi. After the display, Rumsfeld was presented with a saddle and other gifts. He then returned to Rabat and had dinner at a government villa with Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-02-14 |
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