The Minister of Defence, Dr Kwame Addo Kufuor, has denied claims that the US government intends to establish a military base in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale.

Dr Addo Kufuor says the US has no reason to establish a base in West Africa.

The Editor of the Insight newspaper, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, had alleged that the US is planning to establish a base in Tamale.

Addressing a forum of the Committee for Joint Action in Tamale last Friday, Mr Pratt called on the people to resist any such attempts.

But addressing journalists and some New Patriotic Party (NPP) constituency executives at a dinner in Tamale where he has been seeking support for his presidential bid, Dr Addo Kufuor said the claims are baseless.

He said if for any reason the US wants to establish a military base in West Africa it could do so by sending its warship to the West Africa coast.

Dr Addo Kufuor challenged Mr Pratt and his CJA cohorts to provide evidence.

Meanwhile, Dr Addo Kufuor has toured 24 out of the 26 constituencies in the Northern region to campaign for votes ahead of the NPP presidential primaries in December 2007.

He told the media he would not speak on his campaign issues and asked the media to find out how he is fairing from the constituency executives.

He claimed that his decision not to speak was motivated by the fact that he would be misquoted.