Three dozen French planes flew sorties over Libya Fri

PARIS, March 26 (Itar-Tass) -- Three dozen French Air Force planes
participated in the operation over the territory of Libya on Friday, the
Chief Staff of the French armed forces said.
In particular, two Mirage-2000 planes of the French Air Force escorted
two Mirage-2000s of the Qatari Air Force. For the Qatari pilots it was the
first sortie over Libyan territory in the operation of the international
coalition.
After leaving a base in Crete the aircraft completed their task of
preventing operations by Gaddafi's planes in the no-fly zone.
Currently, Qatar has four aircraft based in Crete - two Mirages and
two military transport planes C-17. The aircraft were relocated to the
island on March 24.
At the same base there are three Mirage-2000s of the French Air Force,
moved there to perform joint patrol tasks.
In the near future Crete will host planes from Saudi Arabia, as the
French Chief Staff said. Saudi Arabia is to provide 12 combat aircraft for
the operation - six F-16s and six Mirages.