George Bush said in a statement on Tuesday that he had asked Robert Gates, his defence secretary, to get the new "Africom" unit up and running by the end of September 2008.

The United States would work closely with African allies to choose a location for the new command in Africa, he said.

"This new command will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in Africa," Bush said.

"Africa Command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy and economic growth in Africa."

Bush's decision comes as Washington grows increasingly concerned about growing "Islamist militancy" in parts of Africa.

The US is also concerned at Chinese attempts to gain greater control over the continent's natural resources.

Long-term plans

Gates said that the creation of Africom would allow the US to focus it's resources more closely on Africa.

"This command will enable us to have a more effective and integrated approach than the current arrangement of dividing Africa between Central Command and European Command - an outdated arrangement left over from the Cold War," Gates told the US Senate's armed services committee.

At present, the US military's deployments to Africa are handled by Central Command, which handles the Middle East and Horn of Africa, European Command which covers northern Africa and Pacific Command which has responsibility for Madagascar and some smaller islands.

The commands are unified, meaning they control assets from different armed services.

Involvement in Africa

The US is already extensively involved in Africa, working closely with several Arab nations in north Africa as well as with other countries further south.

The US army began working in West and Central Africa in 2002, teaching local armies basic techniques to help them locate and destroy groups of suspected Islamist fighters in the region.

Robert Gates, US defence secretary, said that Africom replaces a cold-war era system [AFP]
US forces also carried out at least two air strikes in Somalia last month, targeting al Qaeda fighters.

Al Qaeda carried out near simultaneous car bombings at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 1998, killing more than 250 people.

The US, the world's biggest energy consumer, also hopes the Gulf of Guinea region in West Africa will provide up to a quarter of its oil imports within a decade.

Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said that Pentagon officials would flesh out plans for the new command at a briefing on Wednesday.