Democracy for the Middle East
December 01, 2003Preemption Clock Moves Forward
Nice. First the Saudis purchase a nuclear warhead from Pakistan. Now they're expanding their closest air base to Israel.
The Saudi Defense Ministry has launched a project to develop and expand the King Faisal Air Base in Tabuk. The base contains about 50 advanced F-15S fighter-jets, which were sent to the northwestern facility on the eve of the U.S.-led war against Iraq in March 2003.
The United States has raised the issue with the kingdom, which has refused to move the U.S.-origin aircraft. Under a 1978 agreement for the first F-15s to Riyad, Saudi Arabia pledged not to deploy the aircraft in Tabuk.
Israel has warned the United States that the F-15S presence at Tabuk could be used by Al Qaida agents within the Saudi military to attack the Jewish state, Middle East Newsline reported.
Add Tabuk to the list that starts with Bushehr.
Home . Posted by Editor at December 1, 2003 10:40 PM . DFME's new internet address is www.dfme.org