Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal stopped in Paris on Tuesday for a quick round of talks with French President Jacques Chirac on the Middle East region before heading to the United States.
Both the French president and the Saudi foreign minister stressed the need for a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, according to Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna, AFP said.
The talks came as officials from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- the so-called "quartet" -- prepared for talks in New York on the situation in the Middle East.
Prince Saud is expected to join the diplomats for talks with US President George W. Bush later in the week. Chirac said an international conference on the crisis "could be a useful tool for reviving a political dialogue, which is necessary if common goals are to be achieved."
The Saudi minister said after his meeting with Chirac that he had delivered to the French president a personal message from Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah. (Albawaba.com)
