RIYADH, 23 October — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and his German counterpart Joschka Fischer will hold talks here today, mainly on the Middle East crisis and the situation in Afghanistan.
“Fischer, who arrived here last night at the head of a ten-member German delegation, is expected to assume an active role to resolve the Mideast crisis,” said a German diplomat, adding that the visit is part of a week-long regional tour that will also take him to Iran, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The German minister, who has the explicit support of the US, will exchange opinions with the Saudi officials on ways to revive the Middle East peace process.
Germany, the diplomat said, will act hard to push the peace process in concert with its European and other allies.
Germany, the diplomat further said, has been watching with concern the escalation of violence, which has regrettably resulted in the loss of many innocent lives. In a separate interview, German Ambassador Dr. Harald Kindermann said that “the threat to peace caused by terrorism and the ongoing Middle East conflict has become apparent especially these days.”
Fischer visited Pakistan and Tajikistan last week, where his discussions focused on a stable future for Afghanistan and on humanitarian aid to that war-torn country.
On the bilateral front, the Kingdom and Germany have forged closer relations. Riyadh has emerged to be the most important trading partner of Germany in the Arab world. Germany is the fourth largest trading partner of Saudi Arabia with two-way trade exceeding SR11 billion annually.
The two countries have set up about 90 joint projects at a cost of SR4.2 billion. Not only this, the Saudi-German Development and Investment Company Ltd. is currently promoting 19 joint projects in petrochemicals, engineering, services and environment sectors.
