 France and Yemen have signed a military and security cooperation agreement providing for joint exercises, exchange of intelligence and the supply of French military equipment to Sanaa, French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said here Sunday. The pact, inked with Yemeni counterpart General Abdullah Ali Eleiwah, stipulates equipping six gunboats France had earlier supplied to the Yemeni coastguard, Alliot-Marie told reporters. The minister, who also held talks with Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh during her visit, said that under the accord, joint exercises would take place between the two countries' naval forces and special forces. The agreement also provides for setting up radars and other military equipment on the island of Meon in the Bab el-Mandeb strait in the Red Sea that would enable Yemeni forces and French forces based in nearby Djibouti to cooperate in fighting drug and arms smuggling and terrorism. |