US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in Romania

BUCHAREST, Oct 11 (AFP) - US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived Monday in the Black Sea city of Constanta on a four-day trip to Romania during which he will participate in an informal meeting of NATO member states, Romanian officials said.
Rumsfeld is to visit the Mihail Kogalniceanu air force base near Constanta, which US forces used as a staging area during the war against Iraq in 2003.
The base has been mentioned as a possible site for US troops to deploy when Washington re-aligns its forces in Europe.
Rumsfeld is Tuesday to travel to Bucharest to meet Romanian President Ion Iliescu, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana.
The US defense secretary on Wednesday and Thursday is to attend a NATO meeting in the resort of Poiana Brasov in central Romania.