Paris finds a role for aircraft carrier

War on Terrorism: Military

The troubled French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is to sail to the Indian Ocean next month as part of a European naval task force to prevent terrorist leaders from Afghanistan escaping by sea or air.

This will be the first operational voyage for the giant carrier, which has had a series of embarrassing misfortunes and breakdowns since its completion two years ago.

When in position in three weeks, the Charles de Gaulle will be the largest non-US contribution to the military coalition against Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Its deployment would mark a new phase in the war, Lionel Jospin, the French Prime Minister, told the national assembly yesterday. It will form the centrepiece of a naval task force whose main duty will be to prevent terrorist leaders from escaping. Other European countries had been invited to join the task force and had responded positively, Mr Jospin said.

The deployment of theCharles de Gaulle is also a useful answer to domestic critics of both Mr Jospin and the President, Jacques Chirac. French newspapers have carried articles in recent days complaining that the French military is not properly equipped to help the US-led coalition.

Since Afghanistan is land-locked, the new task force will presumably have the job of making sure that Mr bin Laden or his lieutenants do not escape through Pakistan and then across the Indian Ocean to Yemen or Somalia. Why a ship as large as an aircraft carrier was needed was not clear but Mr Jospin hinted that aircraft from the Charles de Gaulle might also be used for missions over Afghanistan.

The ship was conceived as a symbol of French global power and technological ability but has suffered from design and mechanical faults. Among other things, the flight deck had to be lengthened and a propeller smashed on its first long voyage.