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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 October 1999 Issue No. 451
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Biggest ever Bright Star
By Amira Ibrahim
Military forces from Egypt, the United States and nine other countries are staging the biggest war-game ever in the Middle East, code-named Bright Star 99.
In an initial phase of the exercise on Sunday, Egyptian and United Arab Emirates (UAE) paratroopers were dropped in the Western Desert near the Mediterranean city of Alexandria. The main phase of the exercise, including an amphibious landing and missile and field combat training, begins tomorrow.
The exercise, which will continue until 2 November, is being staged in the Western Desert along the Mediterranean coastline. For the participants, Bright Star provides a good opportunity to get acquainted with each other's equipment, tactics and training. For the first time, Bright Star will include a computer-guided command exercise intended to quickly transfer satellite images and other strategic information to commanders in the battlefield.
Bright Star exercises began in 1981, involving only the United States and Egypt. This year, Germany, Greece, Jordan and the Netherlands are participating for the first time, joining Italy, Britain, France, the UAE and Kuwait.
Paratroopers are dropped from the air as part of the Bright Star exercise
The number of participating forces exceeds 50,000. The US will deploy 18,000 personnel from the navy, air force, marines and army as well as special operations units, according to a US spokesman. He explained that the majority of the troops had begun arriving near Alexandria.
US Defence Secretary William Cohen is due to arrive later this month to visit the US troops and meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
Meanwhile, British Junior Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle arrived on Monday for a four-day visit during which he is expected to meet with British troops participating in the exercise. Around 6,000 British personnel are taking part.
"It's going to require more and more cooperation between southern nations and their armed forces to maintain a peaceful equilibrium in very, very different parts of the globe," Kilfoyle stated. Speaking to reporters in Cairo, Kilfoyle said he was basing his outlook on what happened in Kosovo and East Timor. "The only way we can test how we work together is by exercises like this," he said.
Kilfoyle, who is visiting Egypt for the first time, met with Tantawi to discuss means of promoting military cooperation as well as subjects of mutual interest.
