UAE ready to take on greater security burden in Mideast

London - Gargash said he was concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran.

The UAE is ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East to counter its foes as it believes it can no longer rely on Western allies like the United States and Britain, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Thursday.
"In this current international system, it is no longer 'write a cheque and someone is going to come and secure the stability in the region'. You have to do some of the burden-sharing," Gargash said in a speech in London.
Gargash said he was concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran. "As we move forward, we do really hope that the current American effort to bring about a change in Iranian approach is successful. We are worried a little bit about what is seen as a divergence of view between Europe and the United States over Iran," he said. Gargash also said the UAE was engaging in a mediation process with Somalia, whose coastline sits close to key shipping routes and across the water from Yemen, following a row over the seizure of several million dollars from a UAE civilian aircraft at Mogadishu airport.
"There are attempts currently to mediate between us and Somalia," he said. "We'd like to continue to do our work, but we have made it very clear that we have been wronged with regards to how we were treated with the shipment of nine-point-something million dollars...we are asking for an apology for that."