France will send the helicopter carrier Jeanne d'Arc and the frigate George Leygues to Asia on Monday to provide medical aid to the countries hit by the tsunamis, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Sunday in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche. | Time for a Rantburg future. |
"The urgency is to avoid a health disaster," the minister said, announcing that the two warships as well as an Airbus 310 carrying 12 tonnes of water purifying material and medication would be sent on Monday. The ships would have medical teams (16 doctors on the Jeanne d'Arc), an operating theatre and five helicopters. In the same paper Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin announced the setting up Sunday of a field hospital in Sumatra staffed by 70 paramedics, and a mission to identify victims by specialized teams from the police and gendarmerie in Thailand and Sri Lanka. On European co-ordination, the minister said the French were "the first in Colombo" and "we are the most numerous, that is why the European Union gave us this essential task." | Say 'hi' to the Marines when you arrive. |
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