Fort Hood Shooting: 13 Killed and 30 Injured at US Army Base
THE TELEGRAPH: A US army officer called Major Malik Nidal Hasan has been named as the man responsible for killing 13 people and injuring 30 more in a mass shooting at a Texas military base.


Major Hasan, a military psychiatrist who had allegedly called for Muslims to attack Americans over the Iraq war, is critically ill and under guard in hospital.

The authorities initially believed he had been killed in the ensuing gun battle with police but it later emerged he was still alive despite being shot four times in the incident at Fort Hood base, the largest American military installation in the world.

The serviceman was about to be posted to either Iraq or Afghanistan and argued regularly against the wars, it has been claimed.
Hasan, armed with two handguns, walked into a training centre and opened fire on fellow soldiers who were having last-minute medical check-ups before being deployed to Afghanistan. Thirteen were killed and 30 injured.

However, there were suggestions that some of the dead might have been shot by the authorities in their attempt to stop the gunman.

Hasan is now under guard in hospital where he is unconscious and on a ventilator. >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles and Andy Bloxham | Friday, November 06, 2009


Profile: Major Nidal Malik Hasan Was Trained to Treat Post-traumatic Stress
TIMES ONLINE: The man who turned guns on his fellow soldiers is an army psychiatrist trained to help his comrades come to terms with precisely the same scenes of terror that he himself brought to Fort Hood yesterday.

Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, is a mental health professional assigned to a base that is home to the US Army's "warrior reset programme", set up to help soldiers returning from war zones cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He attracted the attention of police six months ago for internet postings analysing the motives of suicide bombers but was not formally investigated. Major Hasan had also complained to relatives of harassment by fellow-officers mocking him for "being Middle Eastern", according to a cousin who came forward last night.

Born and educated in Virginia, Major Hasan is a US citizen whose parents came from a small Palestinian town near Jerusalem. >>> Giles Whittell | Friday, November 06, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Fort Hood shooting: gunman shouted 'Allahu Akbar' before opening fire: Soldiers who witnessed the shooting rampage that killed 13 people at Fort Hood military base in Texas have reported that gunman Major Nidal Malik Hasan shouted "Allahu Akbar" - God is great - before opening fire. >>> | Friday, November 06, 2009

French President Sarkozy Opens UAE Base
BBC: President Nicolas Sarkozy has formally opened a French military base in the United Arab Emirates, France's first permanent base in the Gulf.

The flags of France and the UAE were raised at a ceremony at the so-called "Peace Camp" in the Abu Dhabi emirate.

France is a leading military supplier to the Gulf state, and signed a nuclear co-operation agreement last year.

Its new base will host up to 500 French troops and include a navy base, air base, and training camp.

Mr Sarkozy flew to Abu Dhabi on Monday with four ministers and a delegation of businessmen.

In a recent interview with Diplomatie magazine, he said that the military presence underscored France's desire "to participate fully in the stability of this region that is essential for the world's equilibrium".

Analysts say the move positions France - along with the US and UK, which already have bases in the Gulf - in the forefront for lucrative defence contracts and nuclear energy deals. >>> | Tuesday, May 26, 2009

LE FIGARO: Abu Dhabi, base avancée 
de la France en face de l'Iran

Des Rafale de l'armée de l'air française stationnés sur la base aérienne d'al-Dhafra, lundi à Abu Dhabi. Dans l'Émirat, Paris s'est aussi doté d'une base navale et d'une base terrestre spécialisée dans le combat urbain. Photo grâce au Figaro

L'inauguration, mardi par Nicolas Sarkozy, d'une installation militaire dans le Golfe illustre un changement de position stratégique.

Face à l'Iran, sur les rives du détroit d'Ormuz, au bord de l'immense océan Indien, la base navale de la nouvelle implantation militaire française aux Émirats arabes unis est sortie de terre en à peine un an. Sous une chaleur écrasante, 40 degrés à l'ombre, des ouvriers s'attellent aux travaux de finition. Les bâtiments, blanc cassé, sentent encore la peinture. Dans le port, majestueuse malgré ses 7 000 tonnes, la frégate antiaérienne Forbin, dernière-née de la marine nationale, se confond avec le gris des eaux. L'Aconit, une frégate furtive spécialisée dans la lutte contre les pirates, a aussi accosté. Seul le Dupuy de Lôme, un bâtiment de la DRM, la Direction des renseignements militaires, officiellement destiné à «l'expérimentation et à la mesure», a été soustrait à l'œil des journalistes. Il ne sera mis à quai que pour la visite inaugurale de Nicolas Sarkozy, ce matin.

C'est la première fois depuis cinquante ans, depuis les indépendances africaines exactement, que la France ouvre une base militaire permanente hors de son territoire national. C'est aussi la première fois que les Français s'implantent ainsi de manière permanente dans une région d'influence anglo-saxonne. Pour s'imposer dans cette ancienne colonie britannique, les militaires français ont mis le paquet. Une base aérienne destinée à accueillir les Mirage et les Rafale de l'armée de l'air française à al-Dhafra ; une base navale appuyée par 300 mètres de quai, dans le port de Mina Zayed, «pour soutenir les forces déployées dans l'océan Indien et compléter, en lui donnant plus d'autonomie, le dispositif de la marine nationale dans la région», selon les mots du colonel Hervé Cherel, qui commande l'implantation française aux Émirats ; enfin une base terrestre, installée dans le camp émirati de Zayed, en plein désert, spécialisée dans l'entraînement au combat urbain. À terme, environ 500 militaires français stationneront là en permanence. Une présence assez modeste, mais un symbole et des possibilités immenses. >>> Par Isabelle Lasserre | Lundi 25 Mai 2009