AMERICANS RUBBISH TALK OF SPY BASE IN SD

MBABANE – The Americans have rubbished claims made by South African media that they could be building a spy base in the country.

It was reported yesterday that the SA Sunday Times had made speculations that the United States (US) could be building a spy base instead of an embassy in Ezulwini. The claims were made based on that the US was spending more than E1 billion on the building which they claimed covered five rugby fields.

The Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy, Ruth Newman, said the speculation made by Malcolm Reese in the publication was completely false. “The speculation made by Mr Malcolm Reese in his Sunday Times article dated July 20, 2014 is completely false,” Newman said.

She said the mission of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) was to provide safe, secure, and functional facilities that represent the US Government to the host nation and support their staff in the achievement of US foreign policy objectives. “For many years, the US Embassy in Swaziland has been housed in two different facilities, one of which is leased from the Central Bank of Swaziland.  This arrangement has made efficient, cost-effective, and secure operations more challenging,” she said.

Newman also said the points made by Independent Newspapers Editor, Peter Fabricius in response to Reese’s speculations were quite interesting.
Fabricius said it would be impossible for the US to move their controversial Africa Command (Africom) from Struggart to Ezulwini.

“For several years, Washington has been constructing rather fortress-like embassies on a roughly similar template – a concrete block in the centre of a wide and open expanse of ground encircled by concrete vehicle barriers and a security fence,” Fabricius said.
He also said the US Embassy in Pretoria gave one a pretty good idea of the template.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: