Rumsfeld said he and Marine Corps General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have pressed the military for six months for a proposal on setting up a command focused solely on Africa.

Pace said Rumsfeld is due to receive a formal recommendation within a couple weeks.

"Pete and I are for it," Rumsfeld said during a question-and-answer session with Pentagon employees.

The US military assigns responsibility for specific parts of the world to regional commands such as Central Command, which handles the Middle East, Central Asia and Horn of Africa and currently oversees operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Responsibility for Africa is fractured among three of these: European Command, Central Command and Pacific Command.

Pentagon officials have expressed an awareness of the growing strategic importance of Africa and potential threats to American security emerging from the continent's many war-ravaged regions and huge expanses of ungoverned territory.

Pace specifically voiced concern about the al Qaeda network's designs on Africa, among other regions.

"That challenge is there.

We need to arrange ourselves in a way to address that challenge," Pace added.

Al Qaeda is believed to have a presence in East and North Africa, and Islamic fundamentalism appears to be increasing in some parts of the continent.

Pace said options available include a full-blown regional command for Africa or something short of that like United States Forces Korea, responsible for the Korean Peninsula under Pacific Command.

Nampa-Reuters

Africa News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Big Brother Africa 3: Who's your winner?
•  Big Brother Africa 3: Hazel's got Africa cooking!