Bahamas' prime minister wants expanded U.S. military

Bahamas' PM Mr. Perry Christie

Friday, September 26, 2003

NEW YORK, New York: Bahamas' Prime Minister, Mr. Perry Christie, has invited the U.S. to consider expanding its military presence on the island to help in the fight against terrorism and efforts to intercept drug smugglers and illegal migrants.

Prime Minister Christie made the request during the recent breakfast meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Mr. Christie said the request was for a base in Great Inagua, the southern tip of the archipelago of islands southeast of Florida. "When a plane takes off from Miami, it is over the Bahamian territory within 10 minutes," he said. The country also needs a military base to prevent the influx of Haitian immigrants and illegal drug-trafficking, CNN reported the prime minister as saying. 

There was no immediate comment from the White House. 

Prime Minister Christie said he also called on President Bush to consider the fact that, "We have hundreds of millions of dollars in American investment in The Bahamas, that we have millions of Americans who come to The Bahamas and many of them have second homes and they themselves attract terrorists, that insufficient attention is being paid by the American Government to this issue, and to the limited resources of The Bahamas Government to effectively deal with the issue." 

Mr. Christie added, "I reminded the president and I tried to be as strong as I could on this that when dedicating resources for Homeland Security, that The Bahamas must be taken into consideration."

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