- NAIROBI (Reuters) - Three
thousand U.S. troops were due to begin a joint military exercise with Kenya
in the east African country's coastal region this weekend, a U.S. embassy
spokesman said on Saturday.
-
- The exercise, known as "Edged Mallet," had
been planned since before the Sept. 11 attacks rekindled Washington's
interest
in the region as a whole and Kenya's neighbor Somalia in particular.
-
- "They've been wanting to do something like this
along the beach for a number of years, and they started planning it late
last spring," said a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in the Kenyan
capital Nairobi.
-
- The United States fears the lack of central authority
in Somalia could make it an ideal haven for extremists and has launched
a series of intelligence operations in the region to assess whether to
target Somalia in its war on terror.
-
- The embassy spokesman said that "Edged Mallet"
predated Washington's increased interest in Somalia and was part of an
ongoing series of U.S.-Kenya military activities designed to help the two
countries work together more efficiently.
-
- Three U.S. ships, including an amphibious assault craft,
will be involved in the exercise, which is due to last several
weeks.
-
- Kenyan ground forces will join about 1,000 Marines coming
ashore for maneuvers in coastal military exercise grounds.
-
- Parts of the event will involve wargames-style training
with small arms, while others will include humanitarian training such as
building bridges or providing medical services, the spokesman said.
-
- The start of "Edged Mallet" follows news last
week that Germany wants to station navy planes in Mombasa, Kenya's chief
port, to monitor shipping in the Indian Ocean as part of its contribution
to the U.S.-led war on terror.
|
