US President Barack Obama has announced a new security agreement with Australia that will strengthen military ties by updating a 60-year-old security alliance with the country.<br /><br />About 250 US marines will arrive in northern Australia in 2012, eventually being built up to a full force of 2,500 military personnel over the next several years<br /><br />The deal was announced on Wednesday during Obama's first visit to the country since his election in 2008.<br /><br />The president is on the second day of a nine-day tour of the Asia-Pacific region and will head to Indonesia on Thursday for the East Asia Summit. <br /><br />Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from Canberra.
