RIYADH, Aug 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Saudi Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Saleh al-Muhaya on Saturday met the commander of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Lieutenant General T. Michael Moseley, the official SPA agency reported.

The talks, attended by other senior Saudi and U.S. officers, tackled "issues of mutual concern for the two nations," SPA said.

Moseley, responsible for developing contingency plans and conducting air operations in an area stretching over 25 countries, commands more than 350 aircraft and 26,000 personnel.

The U.S. military has about 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia, most of them airmen and several aircraft in order to enforce the internationally condemned, U.S.-imposed no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

The United States had coordinated last fall's air war over Afghanistan from the brand-new combined command and control operations center at Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB), in Kharj, some 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of the capital, Riyadh.

However, Saudi Arabia has refused to allow any U.S. military strikes against neighboring Iraq from its territory and warned its chief Western ally of a human catastrophe and regional instability if Baghdad is attacked.

In the aftermath of the September 11 hijackings, carried out mainly by Saudis, the U.S. media, following President George W. Bush’s public declarations of an imminent attack on Iraq, have speculated that Washington is preparing to transfer equipment and some of its troops from Saudi Arabia to Qatar to bypass Saudi objections to any strike on Baghdad.

The meeting in Riyadh comes following last Monday’s meeting between Qatar's army chief of staff, General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiya, and Lieutenant-General Paul Mikolashek, commanding general of U.S. Armed Forces Central Command (USARCENT), the official QNA news agency reported.

Talks between Attiya and Mikolashek, who also commands the U.S. Third Army, focused on "bilateral cooperation and ways of developing and boosting them," QNA said.

The U.S. general's visit to Doha follows reports in the U.S. press that Washington may use Qatar as a major base if war is unleashed against Iraq.

There has been mounting speculation that the United States is preparing to transfer equipment and some of the 6,000 U.S. troops from Saudi Arabia to Qatar to bypass Saudi objections to any strike on Baghdad.

But the Pentagon has stressed that while some equipment might be transferred to Qatar, U.S. forces will remain in Saudi Arabia, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The Al-Udeid air base, 20 miles (35 kilometers) southwest of Qatar's capital, Doha, is the biggest facility used to stock U.S. munitions and materials in the Gulf.

USARCENT, the headquarters of which have been temporarily transferred to Kuwait, is a subordinate part of Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for all military forces from East Africa to Central Asia.