U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said the changes will take years to put in place and did not expect large troop movements soon. "The principal characteristics of all of them taken together are that we want greater usability of our forces, that we very likely will end upwith more forces back in the United States, that we will be looking for flexibility and relationships so that we can rotate forces in, have exercises with various countries," Rumsfeld told reporters on Sunday as he returned from Europe and Asia. U.S. officials said the changes will mean the withdrawal of about 70,000 troops from Europe and Asia, two regions where the United States has maintained a major presence since the end of the Second World War. Currently, there are more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe, with 70,000 in Germany, and another 100,000 in the Pacific and Asia. The proposed global realignment includes plans to use bases in Eastern European countries of the former Soviet bloc as transit points to quickly send forces from the United States to trouble spots such as the Middle East and northern Africa. --SPA1039 Local Time 0739 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/192589