Djibouti’s thin-skinned democracy
By Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent.
Djibouti is clearly a little nervous about democracy, as within 48 hours of arriving to report on the forthcoming elections, I was among a three-man BBC team detained and expelled without explanation.
The Red Sea nation is an important security hub, hosting military bases from the US and France.
It was my first visit and I was most looking forward to seeing how the country operated with so many military personnel representing different interests.
As well as focusing on the election and its attraction to the world’s military powers, we wanted to see how its economy was developing.
The heavy military presence is a win-win situation, Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told me a few hours after our arrival.
Djibouti, which borders Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea, gains revenue and expertise from some of the best military forces the world had to offer as well as also enjoying good security, he said.
Read more about Djibouti