CONSTANTA, Romania, Oct 11 (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld inspected a Black Sea air base Monday used by US troops for the invasion of Iraq, eyeing it as a possible hub in a new network of bases stretching from Europe to Asia.
No decision has been made whether to take up Romania's offer to make more permanent use of the base, but a team of senior Pentagon and State Department officials are expected to hold more detailed discussions in a follow-up visit, a senior US defense official said.
Rumsfeld only smiled and laughed when a reporter asked whether he had closed the deal.
Before leaving, Rumsfeld signed a leather guest book: "Thank you so much for your able support of US forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom."
It was Rumsfeld's first personal look at basing options overseas since US President George W. Bush announced plans for a major base realignment that will bring home 70,000 US troops in Germany and a network of smaller facilities in eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Senior Pentagon and State Department officials recently visited bases in Italy and central Asia.
Romanian Defense Minister Ioan Mircea Pascu said the visit showed how close relations were with the United States and also was "good for future prospects."
Did he hope the Americans would take up his offer, he was asked. "Of course, I hope so, you know, but it's not in our hands."
Pascu made a sales pitch worthy of US real estate magnate Donald Trump, taking Rumsfeld on a frenetic two-hour tour through dining halls and barracks and down a runway lined by decommissioned Russian-built MiG-29 fighters.
He showed off a new gymnasium with a basketball court built with American troops in mind, and displayed slides of nearby Black Sea resort hotels available to the military.
The Romanians took Rumsfeld from the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base to an adjoining base for a mechanized infantry brigade, which they said also was available for the use.
The ride back to the secretary's plane was down a street recently renamed George Washington Boulevard.
The senior defense official said the base was a "viable option" with many advantages: access with few restrictions on US forces, good training areas nearby, a good climate and decent living conditions along the Black Sea.
In terms of adding to US ability to project military power into the Middle East and Central Asia, the official said: "Look at the map and compare it to our current bases in Europe."
Pascu made a sophisticated argument for the base's relevance to security concerns in Central Asia, reflecting insights gleaned from Romania's experience as a former Soviet bloc ally, another defense official said.
The first senior defense official said a good cue that Washington is serious about the base is if it sends a team before the end of the year for a more detailed look.
"I think it will happen," he said of the follow-up visit. "They will come to the Romaians and look at the options that are available."
"If we were to come here, we're looking at doing things jointly here and at a training range in Bulgaria that's not far away," he said.
"The general idea is to have a lot of little places so Bulgaria and Romania is likely to be a package deal," he said.