SANA’A, July 26, 2006 — The Chief Commander of French Naval Forces in the Indian Ocean Hubert de Gaullier de Bordes declared that the purpose of his recent visit to Yemen and meeting top with Yemeni military officials was to enhance cooperation and relations between the two countries over maritime security, ensuring that these relations will make more progress in the future.

The talks between the two sides included discussions on fighting terrorism, marine piracy and smuggling.

Furthermore, they discussed forming a Yemeni-French-Djibouti force to secure the Indian Ocean and the Horn of Africa.

He further stressed the importance of the role played by Yemen in solving the Somali issue, by calling all Somali factions to resort to dialogue to resolve the existing problems and hosting the discussions.

In a press conference held at the house of the ambassador’s deputy, Hubert de Gaullier de Bordes said that the Somali Islamic Courts are unable to decide Somalia’s future as it has extremists among its members and they are rejected by the international community.

Source: Yemen Times, July 26, 2006

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