France will invest about 20 million euros to increase security for
diplomats and embassies in the Middle East and Africa after its mission in
Libya was targeted by a car bomb in April, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Spokesman Philippe Lalliot confirmed an email sent by Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius to staff on Tuesday saying the measure had to be taken
following the rising number of serious international crises and threats
emanating from them, reports Reuters.
"This plan takes into consideration the change in
threats," Lalliot told a daily news briefing.
"As the minister indicated, a general programme to improve
security of our missions has now been established, which will concern primarily
Africa and the Middle East."
France sent troops into Mali in January after Bamako asked for
help in driving back Islamist rebels who controlled parts of the north and were
moving south.
The military operation in the former French colony cranked up
tensions in North Africa, with Islamist radicals threatening to strike back at
French and Western interests.
Although nobody claimed last month's bombing at France's embassy
in Tripoli, it was the first attack to directly target France since the Mali
intervention.
Lalliot said the funds would be used to buy security equipment,
vehicles as well as increasing the budget for guards and reinforcement
missions.
It will be financed in part by the sale of overseas real estate
assets owned by France, he said.
France spends more than 500 million euros a year on managing
almost 2 million square metres of property and land outside the country. The
Foreign Ministry has increasingly been selling property in an effort to beef up
its budget as the government looks to slash ministerial spending to meet
deficit targets.
It raised more than 120 million euros through sales in 2011,
including its consular building in Hong Kong for about 50 million euros.
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