Military moving gear around in Gulf to increase operational flexibility

Thursday, March 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The U.S. military is moving communications and computer equipment from a base in Saudi Arabia to nearby Qatar _ but not with an eye toward starting a war with Iraq, defense officials said Wednesday.

The move is designed to provide long-term operational flexibility to war commanders in the region, and should not be taken as a sign of an impending attack on Iraq, several defense officials said.

Nor is it a sign that the United States is abandoning Prince Sultan Air Base, a large Air Force base in Saudi Arabia, where the equipment had been stored.

Air Force Lt. Col. Martin Compton, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said the equipment would allow various forces in the region to operate better together. He declined to specify what those forces were.

The U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia remains a contentious issue, and it's unclear whether the Saudis would allow strikes on Iraq to be launched from their soil.

But other countries in the region, such as Qatar, Bahrain and Oman _ as well as Kuwait _ are thought to be more amenable to a larger U.S. military presence.

Defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that the U.S. arrangement with Qatar allows for a somewhat wider range of military operations to be launched from its soil _ wider than the U.S. deal with the Saudis.

The movement of equipment from Prince Sultan began several weeks ago, and has prompted widespread speculation that the United States will soon begin hitting Iraq.

Ali al-Ahmed, a spokesman for the Saudi Institute, said U.S. troops and heavy equipment in Saudi Arabia are being moved in convoys and by plane to a Qatar base.

Al-Ahmed said the increase in movement at the U.S. base in Saudi Arabia is obvious to locals _ large trucks are moving bulky equipment toward cargo planes and large numbers of troops are being mobilized and moved out.

U.S. defense officials, however, said the equipment transfers did not involve large numbers of personnel.

Al-Ahmed said moving contractors in the area are negotiating with the U.S. government to move large equipment to Qatar.

``This is not what is normally occurring at the base,'' al-Ahmed said. ``The activity is constant.''

The Saudi Institute monitors U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations from offices in Washington and in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Wednesday that a major attack to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein could come soon.

``I don't know when it is going to be, that's up to the military planners,'' he said. ``But I do know that it will be sooner rather than later.''

Graham, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said his information comes from intelligence briefings, contact with the Bush administration and Graham's attendance at a recent international conference in Germany.

White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo would not talk about Graham's statement, pointing to a March 20 statement by press secretary Ari Fleischer that the Bush administration has made no decisions ``about that phase in the war on terror.''