Cohen tells troops that Mideast violence could spread

DOHA, QATAR - Defense Secretary William Cohen on Saturday told U.S. troops stationed in a desert compound where they are on the highest alert that Israeli-Palestinian violence could spread throughout the Gulf region.

Cohen visited this isolated outpost on his farewell tour of the Persian Gulf and Middle East. He explained the volatile situation and thanked the several dozen troops who keep more than 100 tanks and a like number of Bradley fighting vehicles ready for instant use.

''Sometimes it takes a great catastrophe like the (attack on) the USS Cole ... to remind people your lives are on the line,'' Cohen said, referring to the Oct. 12 explosion on the destroyer that killed 17 American sailors in a Yemeni port.

The isolated Camp As Saliyah is surrounded by miles of sand and rock. An armored car sits at the entrance and a soldier scans the expanse of wasteland with powerful binoculars.

''We play a vital role in the region and we'll continue to play that role,'' Cohen told the troops, whose movements are restricted under the highest level of alert, ''threatcon delta.''

He described the potential danger to the region of Israeli-Palestinian fighting: ''Every day there's new outrage, with every day of outrage comes more assaults. So at some point it will get out of control ... and it won't be confined to Israel and the West Bank. It can spread to all the countries of the Gulf.''

Robin Gegg, whose husband, Col. John Paul Gegg, is assigned to the U.S. Embassy, said Americans have to ''lay low,'' go shopping in small groups, carry cellular telephones at all times and notify someone in advance where the group is going.

But she said American children are still going to school, soccer practice and scout meetings.

''Life goes on,'' she said.

Cohen, at a news conference after meeting Qatar's leaders, gave no indication when the high alert will be eased.

''We will continue to keep our forces on the level of alert that the situation dictates,'' he said. ''We evaluate it on a day-by-day situation.''

Cohen told the troops that leaders of the Gulf states take comfort ''when they see you here and you're forward deployed and they see the U.S. military is available and on call to help.''

Cohen's meetings with Gulf leaders, held in private, have been dominated by Arab concerns about Middle East violence and economic sanctions against Iraq that harm civilians.

''The Arab population feels very strongly about the suffering of the Iraqi people,'' he told reporters. Cohen contended that Iraq now receives more revenue under a U.N.-sponsored food program than it received in oil profits before the Gulf War.

The program requires that the money go for food, while before the war, oil revenues ''went for building a war machine,'' Cohen said.

A senior Pentagon aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Gulf countries are looking for alternatives to economic sanctions against Iraq that have also harmed the civilian population. The sanctions were imposed to punish Saddam Hussein after his invasion of neighboring Kuwait, but he has remained in power since being defeated in the Gulf War by a coalition of nations led by the United States.

Before arriving at Qatar, Cohen met with officials of the United Arab Emirates, a confederal of seven states that has become a major buyer of F-16 aircraft and, until recently, was a major port for servicing U.S. aircraft carriers and for recreation visits by U.S. sailors. The visits were temporarily stopped after the Cole bombing.

A squadron of U.S. refueling tankers is based in the country. The UAE has accepted a large number of ships seized by the U.S. Navy while they were trying to smuggle oil out of Iraq in violation of the U.N. sanctions. The ships and cargo are sold at auction, with proceeds going to victims of the Gulf War.

The UAE also has sent Apache helicopters to Kosovo for peacekeeping operations and its forces work jointly with U.S. Apache crews.

The principal symbol of the relationship, however, is the UAE's agreement to purchase top-of-the-line F-16s, with some components so new they are still in the development stage, the U.S. official. Eighty planes will be delivered starting in 2004.

''This sale represents more than a hardware sale,'' the official said. ''It represents a significant step forward in a strategic relationship and our alliance here.''

The initial sale agreement was for $6.4 billion, but the figure could rise to $8 billion when airplane components are added later.