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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-align:center'><b><font size=5 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>US
strike group transits Suez Canal<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Associated Press – via <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Liberty</st1:place></st1:City> Forum January 30, 2007 </span></font></b><font
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><br>
A US Navy strike group led by the assault ship USS Bataan steamed through the
Suez Canal on Tuesday on its way to join the buildup of American forces in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Middle East</st1:place>. <br>
<br>
The Bataan, which entered Egyptian waters Monday, spent the night at the
Mediterranean <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">harbor</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Port Said</st1:PlaceName> and was expected to leave the Egyptian part
of the Red Sea later Tuesday, a <st1:place w:st="on">Suez Canal</st1:place>
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to
speak to the press. <br>
<br>
The seven-vessel Bataan group includes 2,200 US Marines and sailors,
helicopters and Harrier fighter jets, the Navy said in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Bahrain</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <br>
<br>
The US Fifth Fleet, which is based in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bahrain</st1:country-region>,
will be overseeing around 50 warships in the Mideast after the arrival of the <st1:place
w:st="on">Bataan</st1:place> and an American aircraft carrier group in
February, said US Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown. <br>
<br>
The Fifth Fleet normally commands a fleet of about 45 ships, about a third of
them from US-allied navies, Brown said. <br>
<br>
The Navy is in the midst of a regional buildup, with the group of the aircraft
carrier USS John C. Stennis on its way as well as 21,500 <st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region> soldiers being sent to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The
carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is already in the region. <br>
<br>
The <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> has not
had two carriers in the Mideast since the US-led invasion of <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> in 2003. <br>
<br>
The Bataan will join a second amphibious assault ship, the USS Boxer, which was
on port visit in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Dubai</st1:place></st1:City>
on Tuesday. <br>
<br>
Brown said the Pentagon recently extended the tour of duty of the Boxer's US
Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <br>
<br>
The Bataan is on a routine six-month deployment to the region to conduct
"maritime security operations" which includes boarding and searching
ships suspected of carrying terrorists or nuclear components to <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region>, the Navy
said. <br>
</span></font><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=42360 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-align:center'><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Last updated 01/02/2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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