12 US fighter aircraft stop over on mid-Atlantic island

LISBON (AFP) Apr 07, 2003
Twelve US F-16 fighter aircraft made a stopover at the weekend on Portugal's Azores islands in the mid-Atlantic, probably en route to the Gulf, Lusa news agency reported Monday.

Portuguese military officials told the agency they did not know where the aircraft came from and where they were headed.

The fighter jets which arrived Sunday were parked at the end of a runway at Lajes airbase far from the public eye.

Air traffic at Lajes, 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) from the Portuguese mainland, intensified over the weekend, with a large number of KC135 aircraft which can refuel military planes landing at the base.

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso has ruled out sending troops to fight in the US-led war against Iraq which began on March 20 but said Lisbon would participate in UN-led efforts to rebuild Iraq once the conflict is over.

In January Durao Barroso announced his centre-right government had authorised US military aircraft to use the airbase in the event of war.

SPACE.WIRE