BLACK Sea tourism this summer might decrease dramatically because of the military troops deployed at Sarafovo civil air base.

The camp that the US Air Force's 409th Air Expeditionary Group has established at the cargo section of Bourgas Airport near Sarafovo to handle tanker planes for in-flight refuelling of US aircraft in the event of an operation against Iraq may have to be moved to Ravnets Air Base. Sarafovo airport's CEO Dimitar Kaloianov denied media reports that civil aircraft are no longer landing at the airport.

The former military airfield in Ravnets, which is located some 20 km from the Black Sea port of Bourgas, will be offered for use by US armed forces as of April 1 to avoid a negative impact on the summer tourist season. Defence Minister Nikolai Svinarov released this information. "If the presence in the Bourgas region has to be continued, Ravnets is a very fine base, we have offered it for this purpose," he said.

He specified that, in this case, a new procedure will have to be initiated, and the National Assembly will have to pass a new resolution. "As is known, Sarafovo was expressly named in the effective resolution that Parliament passed," Svinarov said.

Bulgaria suggested that the US view the Ravnets Air Base, and their military representatives and US Ambassador James Pardew agreed. "The last thing we want is that a possible continuation of the US presence in Sarafovo stand in the way of the tourist season," Svinarov noted. The US Defence Attache in Sofia, Colonel Carla Bass, also went to the air base in Ravnets.

"Hopefully, the US contingent currently positioned in Sarafovo will be soon gone, because the Iraq crisis will be over," Pardew said, answering tour operators who are concerned that events might discourage tourists from visiting the summer resorts.

On Friday the two national flags of Bulgaria and the US were flown at Sarafovo airport. Eighteen tents are accommodating 358 troops. "We are proud to fulfill our mission and to take part in the war against world terrorism," said Colonel Jason Smith who is responsible for public relations.

For three days the US base at Sarafovo has been on stand by and the guards around the base have been doubled. Security measures in the region of the airport have been tightened, the Bulgarian media reported. According to Standart newspaper, by Monday the workers had cleared all the vegetation surrounding the fence next to the main Bourgas-Slanchev Briag road.