BRIGHT STAR IN THE GULF

THE AMERICAN IDEA of a Rapid Deployment Force (RDF), a military response to an external threat to the Middle East, is regarded with considerable disfavour by a majority of the Arab states, A majority, but not all the countries of the region reject the RDF concept. Egypt, the Sudan and Oman have a contrary view and find the RDF a presumably comforting and reassuring factor in their security and defence arrangements.