French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" to leave for Indian Ocean
PLA Daily 2004-03-02
MARSEILLE, March 1 (Xinhuanet) - French nuclear aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" will weight anchor on Monday evening from Toulon for the Indian Ocean for a mission of three months, announced French Navy in Toulon.
The nuclear carrier will set sail at 2100 local time (2000 GMT),with British frigate "HMS Gloucester" setting off on Monday morning and four other vessels of French aeronaval unit in Toulon putting forth on Sunday or on Monday morning.
The fleet will first head for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Oman and is expected to stay there till mid March. It will then take part in a maneuver with US Marines at the end of March, ahead of other military operations with Indian forces in April and Saudi Navy in May.
The fleet is expected to return on May 21. The entire mission, codenamed "Agapan the 04," was aimed both at strengthening cooperation with countries in the Indian Ocean and Asia-Pacific and reinforcing French operational capacity, said the French national navy.
Vice Admiral Alain Dumontet said that the mission, which mobilizes 4,500 sailors, aimed at checking French Marines' operational capacity in cooperation with other navies, "in a long distance and for a long time."
"It is our country's effort to get its card in the antiterrorist game" he said at a press conference in Toulon.
"I have 1,900 persons to take care of and I have to come back with the same number. It is not always easy, because we are going to some dangerous regions", said captain Xavier Magne, commander of "Charles de Gaulle."
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