Connecting the dots--black sites +

prisons...

Romania to set up U.S. air bases

Friday, December 2, 2005; Posted: 6:58 a.m. EST (11:58 GMT)



BUCHAREST, Romania (Reuters) -- Romania and the United States will sign a deal Tuesday to set up U.S. military bases in the Black Sea country, the Foreign Ministry says.

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"Signing the Access Agreement is an essential step in consolidating the strategic partnership between Romania and the United States," the ministry said in a statement Friday.

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U.S. soldiers used the Mihail Kogalniceanu airbase as a hub to send equipment and 7,000 combat troops into Iraq during the early stages of the invasion in 2003, and temporarily kept up to 3,500 American troops there.

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The bases are seen as important to Romania's drive to secure more foreign investment to close the enormous wealth gap separating it from the other members of the European Union, which it hopes to join in 2007 or 2008.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/12/02/romania.usbases.reut/index.html