RIYADH — The Kingdom and France signed an agreement yesterday to reinforce their cooperation in internal security and civil defense.
Interior Minister Prince Naif and French Interior and Overseas Territories Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who arrived here last night on a 36-hour visit to the capital, signed the accord. On arrival, Prince Naif and other key government officials met the visiting French minister.
Giving details of the agreement, Alain Guepratte, information counselor of the French Embassy, said that the two countries have had a technical cooperation agreement since 1980 and the new accord would incorporate new areas of activities between France and the Kingdom. The accord included cooperation in the fight against terrorism and against organized crime.
French Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot was also present at the signing ceremony.
Guepratte said that Alliot-Marie’s mission to the Kingdom is aimed at enhancing bilateral relations as a sequel to mutual commitments made during Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s visit to Paris last year. During the meeting, the king and the newly elected President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to enhance ties and bolster programs aimed at improving ways the two countries can work together. Prince Naif hosted a dinner in honor of the visiting minister yesterday.
Alliot-Marie, who had visited the Kingdom earlier as her country’s defense minister, is slated to meet King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan to discuss matters of mutual interests. She will also meet Sheikh Saleh Al-Asheikh, minister of religious affairs, endowments, call and guidance (dawa).
The French minister will also visit Prince Naif University for Security Sciences, which helps in training forces from countries in the Arab League. She will evaluate the training programs conducted by the university and exchange views on how best they could be improved. The university and France have a longstanding cooperation in security affairs.
Alliot-Marie’s was the first woman to lead a major French political party, France’s first woman defense minister, and is now the first woman to become France’s minister of the interior and overseas territories. She was ranked as the 57th most powerful woman in the world in Forbes magazine in 2006.
