Sarkozy is paying a visit to Abu Dhabi to formally inaugurate the base announced in January last year.
Dubbed “Peace Camp”, the base will host up to 500 troops stationed in three sites on the banks of the Strait of Hormuz, just across from Iran: a navy and logistical base, an air base with three fighter planes and a training camp.
The strategic Strait of Hormuz, which separates the UAE’s neighbours Iran and Oman, is a vital conduit through which 40 % of the world’s crude oil is transported.
France will be joining Britain and the US as the few Western powers to have a permanent presence in the Gulf and “Peace Camp” is the first French base opened since the end of the colonial era.
Sarkozy reasserted in a recent interview to Diplomatie magazine that the new military presence underscored France’s desire “to participate fully in the stability of this (Gulf) region that is essential for the world’s equilibrium”
