Partner in Occupation (German Cooperation with the United Arab Emirates)

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Newsletter 2009/01/16 - Partner in Occupation (German Cooperation with the United Arab Emirates)
Date:
Tue 01/20/2009

Newsletter 2009/01/16 - Partner in Occupation
ABU DHABI/KABUL/BERLIN (Own report) - Berlin seeks to get Arab forces more involved in the occupation of Afghanistan. Just a few days ago, representatives from Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) laid the cornerstone for a new police headquarters in Kabul. The foreign ministers of both countries also agreed to work together on the upgrading of the Mazar-e-Sharif Airport, which is currently being also used by the German military (Bundeswehr). The German Foreign Minister announced his wish to cooperate more closely in the future with the Emirates at the Hindu Kush. Support from Abu Dhabi is not only reducing the cost of the occupation, it is also providing an Arab-Muslim countenance to the Western activities. This, according to the ministry, could be helpful in weakening the resistance to the occupation. Germany had already called upon Abu Dhabi's services as an intermediary for the training of Iraqi soldiers and the rearming of Iraq. Recourse to the Emirates for the occupation of Afghanistan, exposes the objectives of the "strategic partnership" that Germany concluded with this Persian Gulf state in 2004.
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http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56215