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U.S. setting up military base in Saudi Arabia


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is establishing a base inside Saudi Arabia within miles of the Iraqi border, CNN has learned.

U.S. government officials say the base would serve as a launching point for special operations into such places in Iraq as oil fields and weapons facilities.

Search-and-rescue missions may also be mounted from the base if U.S. air crews were downed in Iraq.

The U.S. military is planning to use several Saudi bases for military operations that are not being publicly acknowledged because of Saudi sensitivities about the U.S. presence.

Saudi Arabia played a major role in the 1991 Gulf War and is now home to a large U.S. air facility, the highly secure Prince Sultan Air Base.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said his country would be willing to allow its territory and facilities to be used for offensive military strikes against Iraq -- but only if such action was backed by the U.N. Security Council.


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