FRANCE - GULF - UAE

France signs deal over military base in Abu Dhabi

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

France and Abu Dhabi have signed an agreement granting France the right to construct a permanent military base in the Arab emirate across the Gulf from Iran, a presidential source says.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

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ABU DHABI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - France and the United Arab
Emirates signed deals on Tuesday granting French troops their
first permanent base in the Gulf, across the water from Iran,
and agreeing to cooperate on a peaceful nuclear programme.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on a Gulf tour aimed at
securing billions of dollars worth of contracts for French
firms, has already offered Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil
exporter, help in developing civilian nuclear energy.

On Monday, French power giant EDF <EDF.PA> signed a
memorandum with Qatar "to engage discussions on cooperation in
the areas of nuclear power production and renewable energy
generation", according to a document made available to Reuters.

Sarkozy, who has already signed civilian nuclear deals with
Arab oil producers Algeria and Libya, has made no secret of his
view that Muslim and Arab states have a right to atomic power.

Tuesday's agreements set a framework for future cooperation
on nuclear energy and allow France to establish a military base
with an official capacity of 400-500 people in the UAE, which
lies across a short stretch of Gulf waters from Iran, a document
distributed by Sarkozy's office said.

The base comes as part of a 1995 defence agreement between
the two countries and will eventually include air as well as
infantry and naval forces. A French military official said the
base would be fully functional in 2009.

"As part of this accord's extension, our UAE friends asked
us to open a base ... which shows our friendship and strategic
partnership with the UAE and is a signal to all that France
participates in the stability of this region," Sarkozy said.

France's Total <TOTF.PA> also confirmed on Monday it would
develop two third-generation nuclear reactors in the UAE with
Suez <LYOE.PA> as its main partner and state-owned nuclear
reactor maker Areva <CEPFi.PA>.

"This is the first time an inter-governmental nuclear accord
of this importance has been signed in the Gulf and it is a very
big development," Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon said in Qatar.

No value was given for the UAE nuclear contracts but
Lauvergeon said it would be "much higher" than the 4 billion
euro figure that had been mentioned by Paris last week.

REGIONAL ARMS RACE?

The Gulf Cooperation Council -- a loose economic and
political alliance of six Gulf Arab states -- has said it was
studying a joint nuclear energy programme and has already been
in touch with the U.N. atomic energy watchdog.

The GCC's plans raised concern of a regional arms race, with
analysts saying the bloc wanted to match Iran's atomic
programme. The United States suspects Iran is secretly aiming to
develop nuclear arms, a charge Tehran denies.

The UAE lies near the sensitive Strait of Hormuz waterway, a
major oil shipping route where U.S. ships had a close brush with
Iran earlier this month.

Washington, whose Fifth Fleet is based in the Gulf Arab
island of Bahrain, says Iranian boats aggressively approached
three U.S. naval ships and that the incident almost led to an
exchange of fire. Tehran has dismissed the incident as routine.

The UAE is talking to the International Atomic Energy Agency
individually as well as with the GCC, a UAE official said.

"We are talking to France, several other countries and the
(IAEA)," the official, who declined to be identified, said on
Monday. "We are talking about how best to develop a safe, clean,
peaceful and transparent nuclear programme."

The U.S.-allied UAE, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, needs
nuclear energy to meet rapidly rising demand for power and
desalinated water, the official said. Electricity demand in the
Gulf Arab state has rocketed, straining the country's power
grid, as record oil revenues fuel economic expansion.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Where does Nicolas Sarkozy really stand?

By Kenneth T. Tellis

What does Nicolas Sarkozy think that he can do touring the Gulf? Is he going to represent France or Israel? But, one thing is certain, that he is now working to align France with the U.S. and Israel. If that be the case can he really be trusted by Gulf states?

All the above questions are moot, under the present circumstances, are they not? Perhaps Sarkozy can give some answers on where he stands vis-a-vis the U.S. or neutral countries. If it is the U.S. then France will not be looked upon as a friendly country by Arab states and that affect trade.