President Francois Mitterrand assured Saudi Arabia’s King Khaled Saturday that his country wants to continue its cooperation with Riyadh in all fields, condemned the Israeli bombing of the Iraqi nuclear reactor and pledged to continue honoring all of France’s previous international commitments.
After the one hour talk and a State lunch given in the King’s honor at the Elysee Palace, Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson told newsmen “we consider that the Palestinians have a sacred right to live in peace, to express themselves like all other peoples and to have a homeland of their own. There is no peace without the total respect of this right.”
He added “As regards the Jerusalem holy places, we consider it is a fundamental issue which cannot be changed by any unilateral decision but must be the subject of an international agreement reached directly by those concerned.”
After Khaled’s meeting with Mitterrand, the King’s brother, Defense Minister Sultan Abdel Azziz, said the King “is leaving highly satisfied with all of President Mitterrand’s explanations. On all issues, whether connected to European or Arab affairs, our points of view are similar.”
Abdel Azziz said that Mitterrand had shown himself in the course of his meeting with the Saudis to be “a strong friend of Israel” but added “he nonetheless supported the Palestinians’ right to a homeland” and seemed to understand that “the question of Jerusalem is an integral part of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom’s policy.”
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