Abizaid takes over as head of US Central Command

WASHINGTON (AFP) Jul 07, 2003
John Abizaid, a Lebanese-American general and Middle East expert fluent in Arabic, replaced Tommy Franks Monday as head of the US Central Command, which directs forces in a vast region that includes Iraq and Afghanistan.

At a ceremony at the command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld took the command flag from Franks and passed it to Abizaid, in a symbolic transfer of leadership.

Abizaid also was promoted from lieutenant general to general.

"I know of no one more qualified to follow in Tom Franks's very large footsteps," Rumsfeld said. "John Abizaid brings an extraordinary combination of talent and experience to this critical post."

Abizaid, 52, will oversee troops in a region that encompasses 25 countries in the Middle East and southwest Asia, an area that spans some 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) east to west and 3,600 miles (5,750 kilometers) north to south.

It includes the world's largest oil reserves in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and major trade routes through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

The United States has about 250,000 troops in the region, including 145,000 in Iraq, another 9,000 in Afghanistan and about 1,500 in the Horn of Africa.

"We know success (in the region) will require not only military muscle but the focus of economic, political, intelligence and diplomatic efforts of the United States and of our friends and allies," Abizaid said.

"We also know the ultimate success will rest in the hands of courageous Afghanis and Iraqis, which will lead their people to a better future."

Abizaid, a 1973 graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point, is an expert in Arabic affairs with a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University.

He commanded a company of the elite Rangers in combat in Grenada in 1983 and more recently commanded US peacekeepers in Kosovo. He also studied at the University of Jordan in Amman and was an operations officer with a UN observer group in Lebanon.

Abizaid assumes command at a time of dramatic changes in the region as a result of the ongoing campaign against al-Qaeda militants and the US-led occupation of Iraq. He will also oversee a withdrawal of US forces from Saudi Arabia.

"Central Command is in good hands. America is in good hands," said Franks, 57, who plans to retire.

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