Doha: The United States will shift the headquarters of the Army's Central Command to a new and expanded facility in Qatar, the US ambassador said here on Tuesday.
"Qatar and the US are cooperating towards building a new headquarters for the US Central Command. Camp Al Sayliyya has been the temporary base for several years. The two countries will expand the facilities at the Al Udeid airbase," Chase Untermeyer told a press conference.
The Central Command supervises operations from Afghanistan through the Middle East to the Horn of Africa.
In reply to a question by Gulf News on whether the US military presence in Qatar would decrease in the post-Iraq scenario, the ambassador said the military presence here would not necessarily shrink.
"In fact there are plans to build more infrastructure at the Al Udeid airbase not just by the US, but also by the Government of Qatar ... Now the Qatari Air Force operates out of the civil airport and at some point, in one or two years, they will operate from Al Udeid airbase, which means construction of extra facilities," Untermeyer said.
Without going into detail on US troops in Qatar and the long-term objectives, the US envoy said: "We have a very strong military relationship with Qatar, but we are guests here, so I would not define how permanent our presence is."
He said the bases do not host combat troops, but provide logistical support to the US Air Force and used as transit points for the military.
