ABU DHABI: French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Lt. Gen. Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE deputy prime minister and minister of interior, formally inaugurated the maritime peace camp at Abu Dhabi seaport yesterday.
The base will host 500 military on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz. It will consist of a logistic navy base, an air base with three fighter aircraft and a training camp.
The opening of the base is widely seen as a sign of France's tougher stance on Iran since Sarkozy took office in 2007, fueled by concerns over Tehran's nuclear program.
"Through this military base — the first in the Middle East — France is ready to shoulder its responsibilities to ensure stability in this strategic region," Sarkozy said in an interview with the state news agency WAM.
The French Military Establishment in the United Arab Emirates (IMFEAU) will be Paris's first military base in the world's top oil-exporting region and the first outside France and Africa.
The base, that forms part of a January 2008 deal agreed during a visit by Sarkozy and part of a wider defense accord between France and the UAE since 1995, gives France a strategic position on the vital Gulf shipping corridor, which carries about 40 percent of the world's petroleum supplies. The commander of the base, Col. Herve Cherel, stated: "The general mission of this base is to support our forces deployed in the Indian Ocean, also to fight pirates, but will furthermore serve to develop bilateral military cooperation". France has a handful of military bases mainly in Africa including its largest in Djibouti, which occupies a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden.
Sarkozy flew to Abu Dhabi on Monday with four ministers and a delegation of senior business-people also declared that France plans to submit proposals to world leaders at the G-8 summit in July to try to end oil price volatility.
Meanwhile, officials said talks are continuing over the possible sale of 60 new Rafale jets to the UAE in a deal worth up to eight billion euros ($11bn).
The multirole Rafale — which has yet to find a foreign buyer — could replace the Emirates' fleet of French Mirage 2000 combat planes. (With input from agencies)
