Spain negotiates permanent US Marines Africa force

Spain said Friday it was starting negotiations with Washington to host a permanent U.S. Marines intervention force for deployment on missions to Africa. The Spanish government said it was ready to permanently extend an agreement under which the force has been based at Moron de la Frontera, near Seville in southern Spain. Spain’s foreign and defence ministers will negotiate the amendment to the two countries’ 1988 defence accord, as requested by the United States last month, “with a view to hosting the deployment for an indefinite time”, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said after a cabinet meeting. The 800-man U.S. force was first stationed at Moron in April 2013 in the wake of a deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya the previous year. Its duties in Africa include protecting embassies, rescuing military personnel and evacuating civilians or intervening in conflicts and humanitarian crises.

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