David Cameron praises C17 plane just moments before it breaks down

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David Cameron praises C17 plane just moments before it breaks down

David Cameron today praised “our most advanced and capable transport plane" just moments before it got stuck on the runway on its way to assist the French in Mali.

A Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster Photo: Getty Images








By Hayley Dixon

11:03AM GMT 14 Jan 2013



The plane, loaded with military equipment and foreign troops, had been due to help halt an al-Qaeda advance when it was delayed due to a technical fault.


Two C17 transport planes have been deployed to support French efforts in the west African country while British drones and spy planes are said to be on standby to help tackle what the Prime Minister described as a “dangerous Islamist regime”.


But British efforts fell at the first hurdle as the first plane was grounded just moments after David Cameron discussed the action in an interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.


He announced that Britain would share intelligence with France but maintained that the troops would not be fighting in the region.


"Not army boots, as it were," the Prime Minister said. "But I spoke to Francois Hollande over the weekend and offered the use of two C17 transport planes – our most advanced and capable transport planes – because France is a strong ally and friend of Britain, but what is being done in Mali is very much in our interests.


"There is a very dangerous Islamist regime allied to al-Qaeda in control of the north of that country. It was threatening the south of that country and we should support the action that the French have taken.

"So we were first out of the blocks, as it were, to say to the French 'we'll help you, we'll work with you and we'll share what intelligence we have with you and try to help you with what you are doing'."

Insurgents affiliated with al Qaeda have been pushing south from their northern base against the Mali government.

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The C-17 set off from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire yesterday and was being loaded with military equipment at a French base last night.

It was due to take off for Africa this morning but has been delayed due to a "minor technical fault", a Ministry of Defence spokesman said, and is expected to fly later today.

The second plane was due to set off from RAF Brize Norton this morning for France, ahead of continuing on to Mali.

Downing Street has stressed that no UK troops will engage in combat operations there, but the transport planes will provide logistical assistance as the situation in the country poses a threat to international security.

It is also believed that a small team of British military instructors will be sent to Mali's capital, Bamako, later this month to help train the 5,000 strong army.

Germany have also promised to send troops in to help with the training effort.

Hundreds of French troops were deployed on Saturday after state forces lost control of the strategically important town of Konna to Islamists. The rebels seized a swathe of northern Mali last spring.

The French carried out multiple air strikes in northern Mali on Sunday, halting the advance towards the capital Bamako of fighters linked to al-Qaeda.

Islamists based in northern Mali have vowed to avenge the assault on French soil.

US officials are also considering whether to send surveillance systems, drones and eavesdropping equipment.

Mr Cameron has expressed "deep concern" about the rebel advances and welcomed the French intervention.

Other African countries including Nigeria and Burkina Faso have also promised a small number of troops.

European and U.S. policy makers are concerned northern Mali may become an Islamist militant base to strike international targets and destabilise regional countries from Algeria to Nigeria.

The rebels seized the north of Africa’s third-biggest gold producer after government soldiers overthrew the government in March.

The army said it wasn’t adequately equipped or trained to take on the Islamists, who benefited from arms flowing into Mali from the 2011 war in Libya which western officials have warned could include surface-to-air missiles.

The rebels have proved better equipped than first thought, it has been reported.

The three main rebel groups — al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Ansar Dine, and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa — each control one of the main population centres in northern Mali — Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...eaks-down.html