Posted on 04/07/2008 1:14:19 PM PDT by kingattax
PARIS — Elite French troops were headed to East Africa to bolster efforts to free captives of a yacht held by pirates off Somalia, a French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said today.
A team of the GIGN, a commando force that conducts anti-terrorist and hostage rescue operations, was being sent to Djibouti to "reinforce" negotiation teams in place, spokeswoman Pascale Andreani said in an online briefing.
Pirates seized the yacht, called Le Ponant, in the Gulf of Aden on Friday. It was carrying 30 crew members, including 22 French citizens, but no passengers.
French officials made contact with the pirates overnight.
"We had confirmation that the crew was safe and sound and well-treated," Andreani said.
"Our priority is the safety of the hostages," she said.
French military spokesman Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck said the situation aboard the yacht remained "calm" today.
A French frigate was diverted from its NATO duties and has been tracking the yacht, military officials said over the weekend. An airplane dispatched from a French base in Djibouti has flown over the yacht.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned it could take "an enormous amount of time" to settle the pirate standoff, which he called "a very serious affair."
President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to meet with the families of the French crew members Tuesday.
The governor of the Somali region of Bari, where the yacht is being held, was quoted in today's Le Figaro as urging an attack on the pirates by French and U.S. warships. Musa Ghelle Yusuf urged an attack "for the peace of Somali waters."
Typical French, won’t go to Iraq but will go and (attempt) to rescue a yacht.
what exactly are “elite” French Troops anyway?
French Foreign Legion, of course!!
They do have a few. Not all of them are surrender monkeys.
We call them the Boy Scouts!
.."don't you try to be funny with me, monsieur"
The GIGN. You're welcome to piss them off if you'd like, but I wouldn't rec it. They're some of the most experienced, best trained anti-terrorist special forces in the world.
minor nitpick, the GIGN are police, not military.
They didn't go to Iraq, but they have gone to Afghanistan. In fact, they just dramatically increased their deployment to Afghanistan.
Elite French troops were headed to East Africa to bolster efforts to free captives of a yacht held by pirates off Somalia.
Currently marching backwards they are expected to arrive in an undetermined time frame.
The National Gendarmes Intervention Group, commonly abbreviated GIGN (French: Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale), is the French Gendarmerie's elite counter-terrorism and hostage rescue unit. It is composed of 120 men, including 11 officers.
Its missions include the arrest of gunmen, in particular those taking hostages, counter-terrorism, including airplane hijacking, or prevention of mutiny in prisons.
Telling your enemies that you are sending troops is a mistake.
That's nice. I take it you're rooting against America's French allies and are instead rooting for the Islamist terrorists. FYI, the GIGN have been responsible for innumerable successful anti-terrorist operations.
In 1994, for instance, they successfully stormed a hijacked Air France flight after determining that terrorists on board intended to fly the plane into the Eiffel Tower. They liberated the passengers and killed every terrorist on board, without a single collateral death. There is no better trained or more experienced hostage rescue unit in the world.
Why? They're sending troops to the region, not giving away operational details.
The goal is to avoid using the GIGN, using the threat of an attack to convince the terrorists to let their hostages go without bloodshed.
The GIGN doesn't have a great record of taking low value targets prisoner. If I were the terrorists I'd think I'd bitten off a bit more than I can chew.
At this point, if I were the gunmen, I’d make plans for my imminent demise. GIGN doesn’t take prisoners a whole lot when engaged in CT. Few do, but the SAS and GIGN are particularly rough customers.
Since Sarkozy Ive ended my boycott and stopped making anti French jokes. I wish their “elite troops” good hunting and the safe return of French citizens.
Yep. If they're greenlighted, the bad guys will die.
What interests me more is why GIGN and not Commando Hulbert? I thought Commando Hulbert trained more often for maratime CT? Or has GIGN been training for that?
france has 1,500 troops currently in the afghan theater and president sarkozy recently offered to send 700 more.
i guess a 50% increase is very dramatic
Commando Hubert specializes in underwater insertion and demolition. GIGN is specifically trained for hostage rescue situations. The naval commandos do have their own specialized hostage rescue unit, but it is much smaller than the GIGN.
Cut them a break. The French just elected a better president. Sarkozy has a lot of work ahead of him.
They are fighting in Afghanistan, they have ships along side out ships supporting operations in Southwest Asia.
I guess a surprise visit is now out of the question. Since this group is small and light, the French should just explain things after the fact, not telegraph it ahead of time.
How does that song go...”Bad Moon Rising?”
BTW, these are the same chaps that trained the folks in Chad to defeat the far more modern and better equipped Libyans some years back. A rough lot, to be certain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Foreign_Legion_Demi-Brigade
Does your dog bite?
that’s not my dog
At that time, we didn't have a Marine Security Guard Detachment at the Embassy. As in N'Djamena, the French were committed to provide security to our Embassies in those two capitals. I have often wondered how our forces in Djibouti are getting along with their French hosts.
“what exactly are “elite” French Troops anyway?”
Hostage rescue and bim squad.
U.S. Navy SEALS
They are know to carry and use: Grey Poupon.
I know most of our Specfor and Marines are of Scotts/Irish descent. I was wondering if France also had a disproportionate number of their forces come from a certain demographic. Thanks.
For those that mock the French, I would look to Charles the Hammer who saved Western Civilization at Tours and his grandson Charlemagne who unified the West and starterd the ascent out of the dark ages.
Unfortunately, Napoleon led most of the rough and ready French bloodlines to their deaths.
I'd just as soon the French had shut up, shot, and shoveled. (Well since it's a Maritime gig, they could dispense with the shoveling, just shove the bodies overboard, weighted down with their ship's anchor chain.)
Ok, but your family isn't on that yacht. The French want their hostages back, alive, asap. The easiest way to do that is to persuade the terrorists to let them go. If that doesn't work, they'll go in guns blazing.
Looked them up and read about them a little bit. Wow...who knew?
Ruthless savages!
GIGN have done some good work...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVRYgrwhhM8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWNxC9_uZIs&feature=related
Sheesh, GIGN and 13 DBLE? The pirates likelihood of seeing the weekend alive just plummeted like a stone.
“what exactly are “elite” French Troops anyway?”
The ones that freed an A320 in Marseille in 1993, killing all terrorists and no hostage seriously hurt.
I don’t like to say it, but the French “GIGN” is considered by many as the best SWAT in the world.
“Typical French, won’t go to Iraq but will go and (attempt) to rescue a yacht”
Typical us, indeed, to go after those who take our citizens hostage...*rolls eyes and walks away, shaking his head*
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