Therefore, what the article in the Guardian Weekly of Friday 23, 2009 stated is not true, Mr Mpombo said
He said Government's position on the issue had remained the same.
Mr Mpombo said the late President Mwanawasa had opposed the US government's plan to set up such a base and assured the nation that Government would not accept that.
Kalomo MP Request Muntanga (UPND) questioned Government on whether it would ensure that the international media corrects the misleading reports now that Government says there are no US bases in Zambia.
Mr Mpombo said Zambia was distancing itself from such reports by issuing the ministerial statement.
He said there had not been any official request from the US government for Zambia to host any of its bases, except that it had wanted to establish its African command in Zambia.
Our position is firm and unequivocal… we have not hosted any military base on our soil, Mr Mpombo said.
He said the statement in the Guardian Weekly amounted to a tasteless concoction.
I remember meeting the commander of the African command and that was not stated, Mr Mpombo said.
He was responding to a question from Luena MP Charles Milupi (Independent) who wanted to know whether the US government had at some point officially asked Zambia to host its military base.
Mr Mpombo also dismissed media reports that the US wanted to establish one of its military bases at an island on Lake Kariba. – Zambia Daily Mail
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