PALMA BACK IN FAVOUR WITH ALLIED NAVIES

OVER 1'200 United States and British service men and women are spending the weekend in Majorca, the vast majority of which are on their way home from participating in the war against Saddam Hussein. The allied presence in Palma was boosted yesterday when the USS Donald Cook sailed into Palma joining HMS Ark Royal and HMS York, both of which arrived on Tuesday and leave tomorrow, Monday, morning. While the grand total of 25 people protested over the Royal Navy ships' visit to Palma on Thursday evening, Palma appears to be back in favour with the allies as one of the favourite ports of call. It has been a few years now since Majorca has hosted so many service men and woman at any one time and their presence will have certainly given local businesses, especially in the tourist resorts, hotels, bars and restaurants a lucrative and busy start to the summer season. USS Donald Cook is an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer and one of the United States' most advanced and powerful ships, a “stealth ship.” The destroyer is part of the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman's battle group which was last year involved in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and more recently the attack on Iraq. USS Donald Cook carries standard surface-to-air missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles, two fully automated, radar-controlled Phalanx close-in weapons systems, electronic warfare systems and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Because of its weapons systems and capabilities, the Cook operates with aircraft carriers and battle groups on high-threat environments while also providing essential escort capabilities to navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces.

The destroyer is named in honour of Col. Donald G. Cook, U.S. Marine Corps (1934-1976) who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honour for gallantry while a prisoner of war in Vietnam. With three allied war ships moored up in Palma, security in the harbour is extra tight with the Guardia Civil, which is expecting a considerable number of US and Royal Navy ships over the next few weeks as they return from the Iraq conflict, accompanying extra ground patrols with round-the-clock sea patrols.