U.S. Forces are setting up a base near the Iraqi borders, said U.S. officials

WASHINGTON (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The U.S. military is building a base inside Saudi Arabia within miles from the Iraqi border to serve as a launching pad for special operations into such places in Iraq as oil fields and weapons facilities, according to the American all-news network CNN.

The network quoted U.S. government officials as saying Friday, March 7, that the base might also be used in search-and-rescue missions if U.S. air crews were downed in Iraq.

Saudi Arabia is already home to 5,000 U.S. troops, mostly at the highly secure Prince Sultan Air Base in al-Kharj, 80 kilometers south of Riyadh, from where they have been enforcing the so-called no-fly zone over southern Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf war.

According to CNN, the U.S. military is planning to use several Saudi bases for military operations that are not being publicly acknowledged because of Saudi sensitivities about the U.S. presence.

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz stressed Thursday, March 6, that any U.S.-led war on Iraq should be mandated by the U.N. Security Council."

"Crown Prince Abdullah said a war will only lead to destruction and bring a tragic situation to the Middle East," said a Saudi official.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud el-Faisal already denied that Riyadh would allow U.S. forces to launch or direct attacks on Iraq from its soil.

"We have stated clearly that we will not take part in this war, and that is our position," Prince Saud told Al-Arabiya satellite TV from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he was attending an Arab summit on Saturday, March 1.

The denial followed a February 26 Washington Post report that the United States and Saudi Arabia had reached new agreements which would allow expanded U.S. air operations from Saudi territory in the event of war.

The paper said there was also a tacit agreement that would allow the United States to conduct bombing missions from Saudi Arabia after an initial wave of U.S. air strikes as long as no public announcement was made.

The United States earlier said that it was holding "productive" talks on using Saudi territory in the event of war.

Saudi Kingdom signed a statement by the Summit that all Arab countries would not take part in any military aggression against Iraq.

Saudi Airport closed

Galaxy aircraft arrived at Arar recently carrying heavy equipment "apparently to be used in an eventual war against Iraq," charged Saudi opposition

In another related development, a Saudi airport close to the border with Iraq has been shut down on Friday allegedly for "maintenance work."

"Arar airport has been closed since Thursday for maintenance work. Flights are being diverted to Sakaka airport," some 150 kilometers south of Arar in the kingdom's northern al-Jawf region, an official from Saudi Arabian Airlines in Arar told AFP, requesting anonymity.

But a London-based Saudi dissident group claimed that Arar airport, some 15 kilometers from the frontier with Iraq, had been closed to civilian flights because U.S. troops were landing there to take part in an anticipated U.S.-led war on Baghdad.

The opposition Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia (MIRA) charged that the airport was closed "because of the arrival (there) of U.S. troops who will take part in an eventual war on Iraq."

MIRA said Wednesday, March 5, that large numbers of U.S. troops had recently arrived in Saudi Arabia, mainly to augment the contingent already based at Prince Sultan Air Base.

It said in a statement that between 2,000 and 5,000 U.S. soldiers were now at Tabuk, where "several Galaxy (transport) aircraft laden with heavy equipment have also arrived."

The same argument was endorsed by the Saudi Information Agency, a Washington-based organization, which said Wednesday that several hundred U.S. soldiers were now at Arar airport.

It asserted that several Galaxy aircraft had arrived at Arar recently carrying heavy equipment, "apparently to be used in an eventual war against Iraq."

The U.S. forces deployed in the Gulf region and the Mediterranean for the possible military action against Iraq are more than 240,000, including 130,000 in Kuwait, according to a U.S. defense official.

The U.S. force in Kuwait, the main staging area for a ground offensive into Iraq, grew to 130,000 from 111,000 about a week ago, the official said.

Another 48,000 sailors and marines were aboard warships in both the Gulf and the Mediterranean.

Force levels were relatively stable elsewhere with 8,000 in Qatar, 8,000 in Saudi Arabia, 5,000 in Bahrain, 3,000 in Oman, and 20,000 that have been deployed in the European theater in support of an Iraq contingency, the official said.