U.S. to send naval surveillance planes to Qatar
     WASHINGTON - 10 March 1998 02:45 GST, Dubai time - The United
 States will temporarily deploy P-3C "Orion" naval surveillance
 planes to the Gulf emirate of Qatar later this year, a U.S. mili-
 tary official said Monday.
     Marine Corps Major Mary Baldwin, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
 Central Command based in Tampa, Florida, told Reuters that the
 big planes, designed to detect and track submarines, would be
 temporarily deployed to Qatar for operations in the region.
     A Qatari government spokesman said in the capital of Doha
 earlier in the day that the P-3C basing would be allowed.
     Baldwin would not say how many of the four-engine, turbo-prop
 aircraft would be sent to Qatar or when the deployment would begin.
     It will be another in a series of temporary deployments of U.S.
 military planes to Qatar and other moderate Gulf states to empha-
 size Washington's support against what it sees as potential threats
 from Iraq and Iran.
     The Orion can circle large areas of ocean for long periods and
 is chiefly designed for submarine detection. Iran has purchased
 several diesel-powered submarines from Russia, but defense officials
 declined to say whether the upcoming deployment was linked to the
 operations of the boats.
     "His highness the emir (Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani) has
 approved a temporary deployment of P-3 aircraft in Qatar," foreign
 ministry spokesman Fawaz al-Attiyah said earlier in Doha.
     He told reporters the deployment was "in the context of a de-
 fense cooperation agreement between the two countries" and that the
 emir's approval was being announced following a telephone conver-
 sation with President Clinton.
     Last year, the United States temporarily deployed F-15E and F-16
 fighter jets to the tiny Gulf state as part of a defense agreement
 signed between the two countries after the 1991 Gulf war that
 expelled Iraq's army from Kuwait.
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                     Lockheed, Northrop to Wait
   Bethesda, Md.,  March 9 - Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman
 said today they have been informed by the Department of Justice that
 the agency is "fundamentally opposed" to their proposed merger.
   The companies have agreed not to close the $11.6 billio deal un-
 til March 24. Shareholders of both companies have approved the deal,
 which the companies said in February would close before the end of
 the first quarter.
   "If the companies' attempts to resolve the Department of Justice
 concerns are not successful, it is anticipated the government will
 move to block the transaction," said Vance Coffman, Lockheed Martin
 vice chairman and chief executive and Kent Kresa, Northrop Grumman's
 chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
   Both executives said in the statement they will "vigorously op-
 pose" any attempt to block the transaction, and they continue to
 believe significant savings of $1 billion per year are available
 from the merger.
   Both companies declined early this morning to provide more de-
 tails about the Justice Department's opposition.
   Deal Dates Back to July
   The companies first announced the deal in July 1997. Lockheed's
 stock hit a record high in the end of February as investors expected
 regulators to approve the deal.
   Under the deal, Northrop would become a subsidiary of Lockheed.
 Combining the two companies would create a defense powerhouse with
 230,000 employees, annual sales of about $37 billion and the fire-
 power to take on Boeing Co., which recently completed its $14
 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas Corp.
   Lockheed Martin produces the F-16 fighter, the C-130 cargo
 plane and F-117 stealth fighter, while Northrop makes the B-2
 stealth bomber.
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