Visit our website: HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------------------------- British Carrier to Meet Ships in Gulf The Associated Press Monday, Sept. 24, 2001; 5:02 a.m. EDT ISMAILIYA, Egypt �� A British aircraft carrier passed through the Suez Canal on Monday to join a group of some 20 British ships gathering in the Persian Gulf ahead of two-week war games with Oman set for mid-October. Britain says the games were organized well before the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, but it has offered to participate in a military force being assembled by Washington for a campaign against terrorists. Exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who the American administration believes is behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks, is believed to be in Afghanistan. The vessels that passed through the canal on Monday were the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, the Trafalgar submarine, the destroyer Nottingham and supply ship Fort Victoria. A total of 25 British ships are expected to be deployed in the Gulf region, along with ground troops and warplanes. It is the biggest deployment of Royal Navy ships since the 1982 Falklands War. Some 14,000 Omani soldiers and 24,000 British soldiers are expected to participate in the war games, as well as hundreds of warplanes and warships, in a region 260 miles south of the capital, Muscat. Troops from both nations will practice quick deployment of air, land and sea forces, Omani officials have said. A British frigate passed through the Suez Canal on Friday on its way to the Gulf, the first passage by a Western warship since the attacks in New York and Washington. In the wake of the attacks, the United States ordered the deployment of up to 130 warplanes and 2,000 Marines to the Gulf. A naval battle group led by the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt left the United States on Wednesday, bound for the Mediterranean. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------- This Discussion List is the follow-up for the old stopnato @listbot.com that has been shut down ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9spWA Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [email protected] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
