Official: Qatar very important partner for France

Commander of the French Air Force General Philippe Montocchio described Qatar as a very important country in France’s political and military strategy.

Speaking to Qatar’s Al-Sharq newspaper, the general remarked on France’s position on the Gulf crisis saying: “We have an excellent relationship with all the Gulf countries and we hope to maintain their strength. We are doing our best to end the boycott by trying to defuse tensions. At the same time, we tell Qatar that the crisis will not affect our partnership. It will not change our policy, our cooperation or our excellent relations.”

When asked why France did not deploy troops to Qatar like Turkey, the general said that France does not need to send field forces. “It has a joint defence agreement with the State of Qatar, under which we have to protect Doha from any danger and can be activated when necessary,” he said, adding that there are French soldiers deployed at the Al Udeid Air Base in the framework of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. “France and Qatar will soon hold naval manoeuvres in the Sea around ​​Qatar,” he added.

The French general said the Franco-Qatari military cooperation has been in place for decades in the air, land and sea sectors which is an old tradition in the framework of arming and modernising the Qatari defence system with the highest quality French weapons.

Read: France calls for swift lifting of sanctions on Qatari nationals

Qatari Foreign Minister, Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, recently responded to a reporter’s question on the possibility of the countries boycotting Qatar to take military action against Doha, saying that “although Qatar hopes that this will not happen, it is well prepared and can rely on its defence partners, including France, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, which have a base in Qatar”.

The Arab Gulf has been hit by a major crisis since 5 June after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut off ties with Qatar and imposed punitive measures on the grounds that it supports terrorism.

Doha denied the accusations, saying it is facing a campaign of “fabrications” and “lies” that are aimed at imposing “tutelage” on its national decision.