| Antigua and Barbuda's prime minister and American officials signed an agreement Monday extending the lease of the U.S. Air Force base in the Caribbean country until 2008. The Antigua Air Station helps track spacecraft that take off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., said base commander Maj. Brian Gaude. The new agreement, which takes effect in January, continues an arrangement between the U.S. military and the Antiguan government that began in the early 1960s. The U.S. government will continue to pay annual rent of $1.25 million to Antigua's government under the deal. Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and Mary Kramer, U.S. ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean, signed the agreement. Antigua and Barbuda is a former British colony of 70,000 residents. |