DOHA, September 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Amid increasing fear of a U.S. upcoming aggression against Iraq, U.S. diplomatic sources said Monday, September 23, that some of the 600 headquarters staff in the U.S Central Command that will head to Qatar at the end of November for "war games" could stay on longer in the Gulf emirate.

"A core of officers and soldiers taking part in the exercises could stay, along with their equipment, in Qatar," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity about the U.S. military leadership responsible for U.S. forces in the Middle East and South and Central Asia, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"Prepared three months ago," the biannual "Internal Look 03" military exercise is aimed at "evaluating the capability of the Central Command to operate in a country coming under its sphere of action," the diplomat said.

The exercises would also allow the Command to "give the order of a deployment if needs be," in case an "armed conflict" breaks out during the war games, he said.

He added the exercises would also count 400 foreign officers from NATO countries, AFP said.

The war games come as Doha has signaled it would consider an eventual request from the United States to use its territory as a launchpad for a strike on Iraq, amid speculation that the U.S. national security leadership was considering moving the entire Tampa, Florida-based Central Command to Qatar.

Unless sanctioned under a U.N. resolution, Saudi Arabia, which served as a base for U.S.-led coalition forces in the 1991 Gulf War, has indicated it will not allow military strikes against Iraq from its territory even though it hosts more than 5,000 U.S. troops.

Kuwait, which was occupied by Iraq for seven months until its liberation in the Gulf War and also continues to host U.S. troops, has so far said it too does not want to serve as a launchpad for a fresh U.S. offensive.

The United States has over the past year upgraded the sprawling Al-Udeid air base in Qatar as an alternative to the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where most U.S. forces stationed in the kingdom are based.

The Al-Udeid desert base 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of Doha boasts a 14,000-foot runway and enough ramp space and shelter to house an air expeditionary force of 30 to 40 fighter jets.

Currently, it is used by U.S. tanker refueling planes and air transports, AFP said.

For the exercises, the command will move and test a new deployable headquarters consisting of several modular buildings designed for command and control and communications activities.

Although Central Command has held command post exercises every two years since 1990, this is the first involving a move of personnel and equipment to the Gulf.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani - in an interview with pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat - said that he informed the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of the current expansions in Al-Udeid air base in Qatar, including moving the U.S. central command in the region to Qatar.

None of the Gulf area countries object to it, he added.

The GCC groups the six Gulf oil monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.