Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (AHN) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his government will install a 500-troop military base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). France and the UAE also signed a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that would start up the construction of a nuclear reactor amounting to $6 billion.

These agreements reflect Paris' new policy towards Iran's nuclear plans and its closer ties with Washington. The military base makes France the third Western nation after the United States and the United Kingdom to have a base in the Middle East.

France already has long-standing military cooperation deals with countries in the Gulf, including the Emirates and Qatar. It has sold Mirage jet fighters and AMX-30 tanks to Abu Dhabi and has had a defense agreement since 1995.

"France responds to its friends," Sarkozy told journalists in a press conference after the signing of the military accord. "France and the Emirates signed a reciprocal defense accord in 1995. Our friends from the Emirates asked that this accord be prolonged."

The deal is "a sign to all that France is participating in the stability of this region of the world," he added.

The civilian nuclear accord was the third France has signed recently with Arab nations, after Libya and Algeria. Sarkozy also offered Saudi Arabia nuclear assistance.

The military and nuclear agreements with France reveal growing interest in nuclear power by countries in the Gulf, and highlights their concerns over Iran's nuclear program, which the West claims is aimed at making nuclear weapons, despite Tehran's repeated denials.

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