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North African nations cool to presence of U.S. military

By CRAIG WHITLOCK Washington Post
Published June 24, 2007

RABAT, Morocco - A U.S. delegation seeking a home for a new military command in Africa got a chilly reception during a tour of the northern half of the continent, running into opposition even in countries that enjoy friendly relations with the Pentagon.

Algeria and Libya separately ruled out hosting the Defense Department's planned Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, and said they were firmly against any of their neighbors doing so either. U.S. diplomats said they were disappointed, given that the Bush administration has bolstered ties with both countries on security matters in recent years.

Morocco, which has been mentioned as a possible site for the new command and is one of the strongest U.S. allies in the region, didn't roll out the welcome mat, either. After the U.S. delegation visited Rabat, the capital, on June 11, the Moroccan Foreign Ministry strongly denied a claim by an opposition political party that the kingdom had already offered to host AFRICOM, calling it "baseless information."

Ryan Henry, the leader of the U.S. delegation and principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, said the main mission for the command would be to stabilize weak or poor countries by training local security forces and doling out humanitarian aid.

Defense officials acknowledge that one reason they are paying more attention to Africa is that it provides an increasingly large share of the United States' supply of imported oil and natural gas.

[Last modified June 24, 2007, 01:34:25]