French FM to meet counterpart from Djibouti for talks Monday

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is to hold talks here Monday with his counterpart from Djibouti, Mahmud Ali Yussuf, to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues, the Foreign Ministry announced Friday. Dibouti, a former French colony and now a member of the Arab League, is still a strategic base for French naval and other forces deployed to ensure security in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean areas. France is part of an international mission to curtail piracy in these waters and has been also involved in anti-terrorist operations and efforts to recover hostages taken in Somalia by pirates, with mixed results. The United States also has military units deployed in Djibouti. "France and Djibouti has developed a quality partnership, notably in defence matters and on major regional questions," a statement said here. On regional issues, Fabius and Ali Yussuf are set to discuss the "main political and security questions in the Horn of Africa," the French statement indicated.