The Straits Times August 9, 2002
Base in Qatar upgraded for an attack on Iraq
Evidence comes from satellite images of the base, which the US is likely to use in an expected operation against Saddam
 Al Udeid Airbase, Qatar Picture of the Week |
NEW YORK - In yet another sign that the United States is readying itself for a military strike against Iraq, dramatic satellite images of Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar show that it has been substantially upgraded over the past six months and expanded to put it on a war footing.
The base is expected to be used by the US for military operations against Iraq, The New York Post reported.
Most of the upgrading was done between January and June, the images taken by commercial satellite company Digital Globe show, according to the newspaper.
Some of the changes include: a 4,000-m runway to handle heavy bombers, new ammunition dumps, a large storage building for tanks and a giant tent city erected to accommodate as many as 3,800 troops.
The Post said images show that hardened aircraft shelters were also being built, with potential to hide hundreds of warplanes and the construction of what appears to be a sophisticated command and control centre.
Sharing his views on the images, defence think-tank Globalsecurity.org's Tim Brown said the base 'looks like it is being designed to replace the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia so we don't have to rely on the Saudis for this operation'.
The Pentagon declined comments on the base, but defence sources told the paper that Al-Udeid is one of a handful of bases in the Persian Gulf region where extensive work is being done in advance of military operations against Iraq.
One official said he was 'not happy' about images floating on the Internet, but realised nothing can be done about it.
Sources told The Post that massive expansion and equipment pre-positioning is also taking place at a secret base in southern Kuwait as well as a Nato base in Incirlik, Turkey.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said yesterday that it will not give the US access to bases in the kingdom for an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
It did add, however, that it does not plan to expel American forces from an air base used for flights to monitor Iraq.
Disclosing this, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal said the 70-year-old US-Saudi alliance was just as solid now as before the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
In Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said talk of a US strike against Mr Saddam was hypothetical and that President George W. Bush had not asked the Saudis for use of their territory.
US allies in Europe and the Gulf have watched with growing unease as a flurry of US newspaper reports have carried leaks of invasion options that suggest that the administration has all but decided to use military force pre-emptively against Iraq.
But President Bush promised to consult US friends and allies as he explores all options on how to remove Mr Saddam.
'I promise you that I will be patient and deliberate, that we will continue to consult Congress and of course we will consult our friends and allies,' he said in Jackson, Mississippi. --AP, AFP
© Copyright 2002 The Straits Times
