UK in talks with France over support for CAR ops.
Iran Press TV
Fri Dec 6, 2013 1:29PM GMT
London says it is in talks with Paris over offering "limited logistical support" to France for its military operations in the Central African Republic (CAR).
"Following the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) agreement to strengthen the role of international forces in the CAR, the UK is in discussions with France about providing limited logistical support," Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on Thursday.
The MoD, however, stated that sending UK combat troops to the operation in the former French colony "is not on the table."
A government source recently indicated that London would send a C-17 jet transport aircraft to the CAR, the Sky News reported.
French defence sources also confirmed that the British government had offered to help ferry in military supplies and French troops.
France's Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on Friday that French soldiers had begun to patrol in the CAR's capital, Bangui.
The deployment came after the UNSC allowed French and African troops in the CAR to "protect civilians."
On December 5, the UNSC unanimously voted for a French-drafted resolution that gives a UN mandate to about 4,800 African and French troops to be deployed to the CAR.
The UK had previously backed France in its war against Mali.
London contributed two heavy-lift C-17 transport planes and a Sentinel surveillance aircraft to the military offensive in the West African nation.
Furthermore, thirty one soldiers from the Royal Marines, 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish defence forces were dispatched to the war-ravaged country to purportedly train the Malian army.
SSM/HJL
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