RIYADH, 14 August — A high-ranking delegation led by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will visit Saudi Arabia on Aug. 25 to hold talks with senior Saudi officials on how to contain escalating tension in the Middle East which threatens to lead into a wider conflict.
The visit by Fischer will be part of a seven-nation regional tour beginning in Syria on Aug. 20 and taking him to Israel, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Jordan, Dr. Joachim Heidorn, charge d’affaires at the German Embassy, said here yesterday.
Fischer will be the first high-ranking European Union official to visit the region since the eruption of the Intifada.
Germany, as a member state of the EU, Dr. Heidorn said, will continue to encourage both Israel and Palestine to resolve their disputes through dialogue and will act to push the peace process in concert with its European and other allies.
Saudi Arabia has renewed its call for immediate protection to be given to the Palestinians and for an end to the Israel’s aggression.
Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, visited Germany in June this year and discussed the Middle East peace process with German leaders.
Referring to the imminent visit of the German foreign minister, Dr. Heidorn added that Germany has been watching with concern the escalation of violence in Palestine. He said that the German minister will hold wide-ranging talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli leaders on how peace can be restored to the Middle East.
During his visit to this region last June, Fischer became involved in talks between Palestinians and Israelis aimed at restoring calm after a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, which killed 21 people and injured over 100. The minister won praise for his activity then from both the Palestinian and Israeli camps. But during this forthcoming visit, the German minister will be confronting an even tenser and more desperate situation.
On the trade and investment front, the Kingdom and Germany have forged closer relations and Riyadh has emerged as Germany’s most important trading partner in the Arab world. The two countries also share a common view that in an ever-closer world defined by globalization, it is important that regional powers work closely together to their mutual benefit and also to the benefit of world peace.
A close ally, Germany is Saudi Arabia’s fourth largest trading partner, with two-way trade in the region of SR11 billion annually.
