President Georges Pompidou said in a letter made public yesterday that France “cannot be held responsible” for acts of discrimination committed by Saudi Arabia against certain French journalists who were denied entry visas because of their Jewish origin. The particular incident of discrimination involved Le Monde correspondent Eric Rouleau who was prevented by the Saudis from accompanying Foreign Minister Michel Jobert on his recent Saudi Arabian trip because he was Jewish.
Pompidou’s letter, dated Feb. 5, was in reply to a letter addressed to him by Ady Steg, president of the Representative Council of the Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) asking the French President to issue an official statement denouncing such discrimination.
In his letter, Pompidou said: “My position and my personal feelings oblige me to confirm to you most solemnly that France can in no way be held responsible for discrimination against French citizens.” He reasserted that France, for its part, had never committee acts of discrimination against either race or religion.
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