Villagers fearful of Iraq training mission

Taszar has been used for supporting Bosnia operations

Some 3,000 Arab nationals recruited from the Iraqi opposition are to be trained at the Taszar airbase in Hungary as part of the US build-up for a possible war in Iraq.

The country joined Nato in 1999 but the Taszar base has been used by the US as a logistical support centre for peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Hercegovina since 1995.

The Hungarian Government says the mission to train the new recruits for police and administrative work will mean no great risk for Hungary - but residents of Taszar are worried that they could become a target for terrorist attacks.

Fearful

At the village church the priest warns of the dangers of war and says that all Christians should protest against the military build-up.

For the people in this village, the war preparations are an everyday reality. The news that Arab nationals will be trained there fills most locals with fear.

The Hungarian authorities have tried to reassure the population.

Up to 1,500 American personnel will provide support for the training and trainees will not be allowed to leave the base.

Some extra measures are already in force in the area, such as increased police patrols. But the mayor of Taszar, Tibor Mercz, wants to see more done.

He wants the village drinking water protected and also much more information about the training to be available to the public.

Perplexed

He says there is no exchange of information between the locals and the Americans.

"They only tell us that they do not know anything either. It seems that the information is blocked somewhere," he said.

Many Hungarians are perplexed about what this Iraqi training mission will be about and why it will be stationed in Hungary.

Some critics say that yet again the Hungarian Government is too eagerly serving a superpower - in the past the Soviet Union, now the United States.

The people feel that they have no say in what is happening just outside their doorstep.