AFP, On board the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle :
The aircraft carrier at the heart of France’s campaign of air strikes on Islamic State jihadists will move from the eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf “in a few days”, President Francois Hollande told its crew during a visit Friday.
“In a few days, you will go into a new zone, taking over command responsibilities from our allies in the coalition,” Hollande said, after arriving by helicopter. The Charles de Gaulle will take over duties from a US carrier in the Gulf, coordinating strikes on IS targets in Iraq and, increasingly, in Syria.
“You will continue in another way the struggle that we have undertaken against terrorism,” Hollande told the crew.
France began bombing jihadist targets in Syria in late September, with planes using bases in the region.
But the carrier was only deployed last month after Hollande declared that France would respond “mercilessly” to IS in the wake of the November 13 jihadist attacks on Paris in which 130 people were killed.
Meanwhile, there is an increasing risk of Libya becoming a haven for combatants from Islamic State, even as western nations target the extremist jihadist group in Iraq and Syria, the French defence minister warned in comments published Sunday.
“We see foreign jihadists arriving in the region of Syrte (northern Libya) who, if our operations in Syria and Iraq succeed in reducing the territorial reach of Daesh (Islamic State, IS) could tomorrow be more numerous,” defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Jeune Afrique weekly.
Le Drian ruled out military intervention in Libya but warned the West had to try to foster Libyan unity in the face of such a threat.
“It is a major risk and that’s why there absolutely must be understanding between the Libyans,” said Le Drian. Analysts believe Libya would present a less hospitable environment for IS than Syria and Iraq.
But Tripoli is hampered in presenting a united front as rival governments vie for power — a militia alliance including Islamists that overran Tripoli in August 2014, and the internationally recognised administration that fled to eastern Libya.
The aircraft carrier at the heart of France’s campaign of air strikes on Islamic State jihadists will move from the eastern Mediterranean to the Gulf “in a few days”, President Francois Hollande told its crew during a visit Friday.
“In a few days, you will go into a new zone, taking over command responsibilities from our allies in the coalition,” Hollande said, after arriving by helicopter. The Charles de Gaulle will take over duties from a US carrier in the Gulf, coordinating strikes on IS targets in Iraq and, increasingly, in Syria.
“You will continue in another way the struggle that we have undertaken against terrorism,” Hollande told the crew.
France began bombing jihadist targets in Syria in late September, with planes using bases in the region.
But the carrier was only deployed last month after Hollande declared that France would respond “mercilessly” to IS in the wake of the November 13 jihadist attacks on Paris in which 130 people were killed.
Meanwhile, there is an increasing risk of Libya becoming a haven for combatants from Islamic State, even as western nations target the extremist jihadist group in Iraq and Syria, the French defence minister warned in comments published Sunday.
“We see foreign jihadists arriving in the region of Syrte (northern Libya) who, if our operations in Syria and Iraq succeed in reducing the territorial reach of Daesh (Islamic State, IS) could tomorrow be more numerous,” defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Jeune Afrique weekly.
Le Drian ruled out military intervention in Libya but warned the West had to try to foster Libyan unity in the face of such a threat.
“It is a major risk and that’s why there absolutely must be understanding between the Libyans,” said Le Drian. Analysts believe Libya would present a less hospitable environment for IS than Syria and Iraq.
But Tripoli is hampered in presenting a united front as rival governments vie for power — a militia alliance including Islamists that overran Tripoli in August 2014, and the internationally recognised administration that fled to eastern Libya.
