 
CHANNELS SPACEWAR WIRE MILITARY SPACE UAV NEWS MILITARY COMMS CYBERWARS MISSILE NEWS RAYGUNS TERRORWARS SPACEDAILY TERRADAILY MARSDAILY SPACE TRAVEL SPACEMART SPACE DATABASE  SERVICES |  
Top US military officer General Richard Myers left here Tuesday for a tour of Mongolia, China and Australia after a stopover during which he warned of dangers facing Japanese troops to be sent to Iraq. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff flew out of Yokota Air Base in Tokyo's western suburbs, US military media coordinator Masao Abe said. "I cannot confirm where the plane is headed," he said. The US Embassy and US forces public relations offices here have refused to give details of Myers' itinerary. In Washington, a US defence official said Monday that Myers was to visit China, Mongolia and Australia after Japan during a nine-day Asia-Pacific swing. But he did not give details out of security concerns. Myers told a group of reporters in Tokyo on Monday that he would not rule out the possibility that Japanese troops would be the target of attacks during their deployment in Iraq to help humanitarian and reconstruction work there. "Operations in Iraq are not without risk and it doesn't matter really where you are in the country. There are going to be challenges," Myers said, according to the Kyodo news agency. He also said, compared with central Iraq, the security situation in northern and southern parts are "more stable" and have "less conflict." The southern Iraqi city of Samawah, where Japanese troops are expected to be deployed, is perceived as being relatively safer than elsewhere in Iraq, where attacks and bombings against US personnel and Iraqis continue. But given the methods of attacks by supporters of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and foreign Islamic extremists against the United Nations and coalition forces, he said, "You can never say that you are free from risk." Myers is making the highest level US military visit to China since a US surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter collided in mid-air nearly three years ago, the official said. North Korea and Taiwan were expected to come up in talks between Myers and military counterparts in Beijing, officials said. Myers' visit to China is the next step in a gradual opening of military relations between the two powers, whose relations hit a low point on April 1, 2001 after a Chinese fighter crashed into a US Navy EP-3 surveillance plane over the South China Sea. The pilot of the Chinese aircraft was killed and the crippled EP-3 was forced to make an emergency landing at a airbase on China's Hainan island, where the plane's crew was held for 11 days. China's Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan met in late October with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in an effort to normalize relations between their two militaries. All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Quick Links
|
|
| The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |