Ethiopia -The Water Weapon

January 24, 2011: France may be considering reducing its military presence in Djibout as part of a process of consolidating its forces in the region. At the moment France has around 3,000 military personnel in Djibouti. In 2008 France signed a basing agreement with the United Arab Emirates and the cable indicates this may be one reason for reducing French forces in the Horn of Africa. The French also regard some of the bilateral agreements they have with several African countries (including Djibouti) to be out of date. There's also the possibility of a French military withdrawal from Africa. That does not mean leaving the region. France has a huge base on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Reunion Island is an overseas department of France. France may hesitate to withdraw from Djibouti as long as Eritrea continues to threaten the nation. Though both Djibouti and Eritrea are saying that their border dispute is largely resolved, Djibouti believes the current Eritrean government cannot be trusted. In December 2010, however, a senior Djiboutian military officer said that Djibouti believes the U.S. military presence in Djibouti (Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, or  CJTF-HOA, at Camp Lemonnier) provides stability in the Horn of Africa. It could be France is in the process of deciding the U.S. force does the job well enough to not require French assistance.
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