BBC, 6 December 2014
Britain to Establish £15m Permanent Mid East Military Base
Philip Hammond said the new base would accommodate ships including Type 45 destroyers
Britain is to establish its first permanent military base in the Middle East since it formally withdrew from the region in 1971.
The base, at the Mina Salman Port in Bahrain, will host ships including destroyers and aircraft carriers.
The new base is part of a deal to increase cooperation in tackling security threats in the Middle East, ministers said Friday.
Gulf states including Bahrain have found common ground with the UK and European powers in opposing Islamic State militants, and its crown prince on Friday urged war on "evil theocracy".
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid, pictured, said the deal "reaffirms our joint determination to maintain regional security and stability in the face of challenging circumstances" ©Mohammed al-Shaikh (AFP/File)
The UK said it was an "expansion of the Royal Navy's footprint" and would "reinforce stability" in the Gulf.
Bahrain will pay most of the £15m ($23m) needed to build the base, with the British paying ongoing costs.
UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, who signed the deal at a security conference in Manama, Bahrain, said it was "just one example of our growing partnership with Gulf partners to tackle shared strategic and regional threats".
He said the move "builds upon our 30-year track record of Gulf patrols".
BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner there was already a "rotating presence" of four British minesweepers at the Mina Salman Port, but the UK had been "piggybacking" on the US naval base there.
He said the new facility would be one of the most important Royal Navy bases in the world and would be used for a "whole host of things" including supporting UK operations in Iraq, where RAF jets have been attacking targets as part of a US-led coalition against Islamic State (IS) militants.
The base would also be used for operations against piracy and for aerial surveillance, he added.
There is tight security at the conference in Manama, Bahrain
"The deal will have its detractors. Bahrain has been heavily criticised for its human rights record in the past and despite some reforms, power remains concentrated in the hands of the ruling family," our correspondent said.
"The majority Shia population here complain of discrimination by their Sunni rulers. There will also be some who resent the prospect of western military forces being permanently based here."
He also said the threat of IS may have made Gulf monarchies "content to invite British forces to set up on their soil".
UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon added: "This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy's footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf."
Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa said:
"Bahrain looks forward to the early implementation of today's arrangement and to continuing to work with the UK and other partners to address threats to regional security."
It will cost £15 million to build ($23 million, 19 million euros).
"This new base is a permanent expansion of the Royal Navy's footprint and will enable Britain to send more and larger ships to reinforce stability in the Gulf," said defence secretary Michael Fallon.
"We will now be based again in the Gulf for the long term."
Britain withdrew from bases in the Gulf in 1971 as part of its plan to pull out from "East of Suez".
Nicholas Houghton, head of the British armed forces, told BBC radio:
"It's the strategic importance of this. Rather than just being seen as a temporary deployment to an area for a specific operational purpose, this is more symbolic of the fact that Britain does enjoy interests in the stability of this region."
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Khalid al-Khalifa said the deal "reaffirms our joint determination to maintain regional security and stability in the face of challenging circumstances".
"Bahrain looks forward to the early implementation of today's arrangement, and to continuing to work with the UK and other partners to address threats to regional security," Khalid said.
Britain ended its troop presence in southern Iraq in 2009, leaving their bases in Basra built after the 2003 invasion.
Britain retains two sovereign bases on Cyprus in the Mediterranean.
British officer Gerry Monte leans on the rail of the mine hunter MCM Herald in Kuwait City ©Raed Quteina (AFP/File)
A Joint Force Harrier jet flies over Britain's Akrotiri military base in Cyprus in 2010 ©Luis Holden (CROWN COPYRIGHT/ROYAL NAVY/AFP)