French F.m., Visiting Saudi Arabia, Reaffirms His Government’s Support for Palestinian Self-determin

Foreign Minister Jean-Bernard Raimond restated that his government “firmly supports the right of the Palestinians to self-determination” during a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia this week. His remarks were reported by the French press on his arrival Sunday in Jeddah.

On Monday, he held talks with Prince Faisal during which he delivered a message from French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac to King Fahd before returning home. News reports said his talks with the Prince focused on the Persian Gulf war, the Palestinian question and bilateral cooperation.

The Foreign Minister’s comments were viewed as a further bid to smooth ruffled Arab public opinion over comments made to an Israeli journalist by Chirac last month in which he said he did not believe in a Palestinian state.

Chirac and his Ministers subsequently backtracked on the comments, and in meetings with two senior PLO officials Raimond said France’s two-pronged policy on the Middle East remained unchanged — recognition of Israel’s right to exist and support for Palestinian self-determination.

AIM OF THE VISIT

In his comments on Sunday, the Foreign Minister said his visit was aimed at “re-establishing in all their scope the friendship and confidence which must be the basis of relations between France and Saudi Arabia.” Raimond called Saudi Arabia an “essential partner for France.”

He stressed that his visit was the first to Saudi Arabia by a French Cabinet Minister since Chirac’s government ousted the Socialists in last March’s parliamentary elections and called it “an illustration of the esteem in which France holds Saudi Arabia.”