Spain denies battleship took part in recent Iraq operations

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2005/December/focusoniraq_December186.xml§ion=focusoniraq&col=


MADRID - The Spanish military on Tuesday denied reports that one of its battleships took part in United States-led offensive operations in the seas off Iraq.

A navy frigate named Alvaro de Bazan “participated in war operations in Iraq” in the Persian Gulf from September 10 to December 3 as part of a combat flotilla led by the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt, conservative Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported.

The frigate was also involved in Operation Steel Curtain in the second week of November when US land forces near the Syrian border attacked insurgent groups and attempted to cut off their supply lines, the newspaper said.

But the Spanish navy’s general staff immediately rejected the claims.

[formercia]

1. A 'straphanger' frigate?

Spain's rear-echelon Navy.

[Kolesar]

2. From America in the West to Iraq in the East, a "Steel Curtain" has

...descended across the world.