-Caveat Lector- "Libya's Moammar Gaddafi, denounced in the West as a sponsor of terrorism, delivered a lengthy diatribe against the United States. ``I am against Operation Bright Star,' he said, 'because it poses a threat to the independence of Egypt and other Arab countries.'" Egyptian Officers Aboard Flight 990 By JOHN SOLOMON .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 30 Egyptian military officers who were in the United States for training, including at least one brigadier general, were killed in the crash of the EgyptAir jetliner, Clinton administration officials said Monday. The officials said the officers were returning home after routine training in the United States that is part of the extensive military exchanges the United States arranges each year with Egypt, a key Middle East ally. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said some of the officers were visiting defense contractors, and others were involved in a variety of training programs, including some pilots associated with a U.S. helicopter program. Bacon said he did not have exact ranks for the officers. But two administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were a handful of ``senior-level'' officers among the group, including at least one general. U.S. diplomats and National Transportation Safety Board officials were working with the Egyptian government to sort out discrepancies about the ranks of some of the higher-level officers, the officials said. ``We're working to correct discrepancies that might exist between the ranks listed on the manifest and their actual ranks,'' an official said. ``But we have confirmed at least one brigadier general.'' Bacon said U.S. officials believed the contingent numbered about 33 and were mostly pilots. Egypt is the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid, behind Israel, and it has extensive interaction with the U.S. military. In Cairo, EgyptAir deputy chairman Mohammed Shaheen said, ``We do not ask the passengers their jobs. ... Our knowledge never includes their work.'' _____________________________________________ French defence minister visits Egypt, Bright Star CAIRO, Oct 30 (Reuters) - French Defence Minister Alain Richard arrived in Cairo early on Saturday on an official two-day visit coinciding with the Bright Star giant multi-national military manoeuvres, airport sources said. Richard is due to hold talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. Richard told reporters at the airport that he would discuss bilateral defence cooperation and defence strategy issues with his Egyptian counterpart. He said the defence policies of the two countries were the same. He will attend part of the Bright Star exercises and visit the participating French military. Troops from 11 countries are taking part in this year's manoeuvres at sea and in the desert east of Alexandria on Egypt's northern coast from October 10 to November 1. ________________________________________ Libya's Gaddafi says Arabs must fight imperialists By Mahmoud Kassem CAIRO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Friday decried ``imperialist powers'' in the Middle East and said Arabs must fight their military presence with force. ``The Arab world has been colonised, and it needs to be liberated once more with the rifle...like before the First World War,'' Gaddafi said in an interview on the London-based MBC satellite station monitored by Reuters in Cairo on Friday. ``Military imperialism is back now...it's a real imperialism with tanks and guns and soldiers which needs to be fought.'' Gaddafi, 57, in power since 1969 but marginalised in the Arab world and denounced in the West as a sponsor of terrorism, delivered a lengthy diatribe against the United States and other Western military powers involved in the region. ``I am against Operation Bright Star (and other military operations) because they pose a threat to the independence of Egypt, Libya and the Arab countries,'' he said, adding that the United States was increasingly encroaching on the Arab world with 20,000 soldiers based there. About 73,000 troops from 11 countries took part last week in the Operation Bright Star manoeuvres, the largest gathering of coalition troops since the 1991 Gulf War, waged to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi forces. U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen had said of the countries taking part: ``These are nations committed to cooperation and consultation, not confrontation.'' ``We (Arabs) take orders from America like a soldier...The Arab world is great, we have oil and gas, and a big market and strategic capabilities,'' Gaddafi said. ``How does America make the Arab world kneel down when it should be the other way round?'' ``But the Arabs are not ready to (make Americans kneel down to them),'' he added. Since failing to rally fellow Arab leaders to calls for a united Arab nation, Gaddafi has taken up the banner of African unity. He said his other dream of a United States of Africa would restore dignity to countries despoiled by colonialism, and he urged other Arab countries, which he said were part of Africa, to share his vision. ``I have faith in Africa, we have to create a United States of Africa. A United States of Africa is stronger than the United States of America,'' he said. 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