arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)
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Austria blocks transit of US troopers by via Ludo De Brabander Friday February 14, 2003 at 12:12 PM |
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld yesterday in the US senate criticised Austria for holding up American troops from going from Germany via Austria to Italy by train.
The Austrian minister of Defence, Herbert Scheibner, confirmed, according to Austrian media, that the Americans had asked for transit and that permission would not be given without a UN mandate.
The movement of troopers is part of an American build up in the Gulf region in preparation for a possible war in Iraq. The US maintains 100,000 soldiers in Europe, of which 70,000 in Germany. They will have to go by ship from the Dutch city of Rotterdam or via train through three to four countries, if they cannot pass through Austria.
Austria is a neutral country
www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?aid=9379
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Het kan dus toch... by KaM Friday February 14, 2003 at 01:55 PM |
En dat voor een rechtse regering. Das trouwens ook een klap voor Berty Ahern de eerste minister van Ierland die militaire transporten laat passeren terwijl dat volgens de Ierse grondwet niet mag.