MANAMA, Aug 12, 2007 (AFP) - A 'technical defect' grounded a US military plane at Bahrain airport for 45 minutes on Saturday, forcing the diversion of flights from the Gulf state which hosts the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, a civil aviation spokesman said.

The 'private' C2 aircraft with 24 people on board was grounded due to 'a technical defect in the wheels which occurred during landing' at the airport in Manama, Yussef Mahmud said, quoted by the official BNA news agency.