RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah held wide-ranging talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy here on Tuesday. The talks, which took place at the king’s ranch in Janadriya, focused on a range of regional and international issues including the Middle East peace process, the latest developments in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran besides ways to boost ties between Riyadh and Paris.
“In addition to the stalled Middle East peace process that needs to be revived as early as possible, King Abdullah and Sarkozy discussed many other issues during their one-on-one meeting,” said a diplomatic source.
On arrival at King Khaled International Airport, Sarkozy inspected a guard of honor with King Abdullah before he left for the king’s ranch, said a French official. Sarkozy arrived in the Kingdom with a few advisers, but no ministers.
France is interested in Kingdom’s infrastructure projects, power plants, high-speed trains, aircraft and defense projects. It was not immediately known whether Sarkozy discussed the commercial issues during his first round of talks with the king on Tuesday night.
While Sarkozy was visiting the Kingdom, his Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was in the Jordanian capital Amman on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Kouchner is expected to arrive in Israel on Wednesday as part of French efforts to revive the stalled peace talks.
Asked about the details of talks Sarkozy will hold in Saudi Arabia, the source said that an agreement on peaceful nuclear cooperation was also on the agenda.
“But, reviving Middle East peace talks is the priority and the present stalemate only serves extremists,” said the French president in remarks published on Tuesday before his visit to the Kingdom. “The absolute priority lies in relaunching the peace process as soon as possible. The current stalemate serves the interest of the extremists,” said Sarkozy.
Sarkozy, who met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, did not say what message he would have for Saudi Arabia on the issue of settlements.
According to an AFP report, no announcements are planned by either side following the summit-level talks in Riyadh, but “King Abdullah and Sarkozy are also expected to discuss French bids to sell helicopters, naval frigates and high-speed trains to the Kingdom,” said the report. “It is not big news,” said a Saudi government official, adding that “military equipment needs are generally discussed during such visits to identify particular requirements of any country or in this case Saudi Arabia.”
