France failed to sign a statement of support for the US and UK air strikes on Yemen's Houthis after it said it would not take part in bombing raids to protect Red Sea shipping.

Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Korea and Bahrain signed a joint statement backing the US-UK strikes and warning of further action.
The Dutch also provided logistical help during the strikes but other major European powers including France, Spain and Italy did not offer military or political support.
Paris was joined by Italy and Spain in not only refusing to take part in the strikes, but eschewing the chance to sign a statement in support of them.
Emmanuel Macron’s government has ruled out joint action with its Western allies, unlike in Libya in 2011 and against Islamic State in Syria in 2015, when its military took part.
Rear Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, the country’s naval commander in the area, said on Thursday that Paris’s current mandate did not include striking Houthis directly.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a French official said Paris feared that by joining the US-led strikes, it would have lost any leverage it had in talks to defuse tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.
France has focused much of its diplomacy in recent weeks on avoiding an escalation in Lebanon.