French defence PM visits Djibouti over presence of its troops

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian ended his two day visit to Djibouti on Monday, after holding talks with the Djiboutian leaders about the presence of French troops in the country, an official has said.

France abandoned the initial plan of reducing the number of French soldiers deployed to Djibouti, from 1,900 to 900 by 2017, after an intervention by French President Francois Hollande.

However, French media has reported that Paris will still reduce the number of soldiers at its Djibouti military base to 1,300 soldiers in 2018.

The announcement calmed the Djiboutian authorities who had expressed concern over the economic impact of reducing the number of French soldiers by more than half.

A former French colony that gained independence in 1977, Djibouti is situated at the junction of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean and hosts several military bases that include U.S., French, European and Japanese bases, involved in the fight against maritime piracy and terrorism.

Djibouti was the last stop of Le Drian's African tour that also saw him visit the Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Egypt.