French aircraft carrier prepares to sail for Gulf

President Francois Hollande visited the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in Toulon Wednesday ahead of its departure for the Gulf and Indian Ocean. There was no word on its mission in those waters, but the presidential visit on the carrier’s deck, a week after deadly Islamist terror attacks shocked France, suggested operations were afoot against Al Qaeda in Arabia (AQAP), its Yemen headquarters and/or Islamic State targets in Iraq. DEBKAfile: If the Charles de Gaulle does carry out such operations, it will be the first time that a Western nuclear warship has ever gone into action against Al Qaeda targets.