French
President Jacques Chirac conducted a three day
state visit to Saudi Arabia to promote
Franco-Saudi relations in a wide range of fields
-- political, financial, military, cultural --
through discussions with King Abdullah, an
address to the Consultative Council, art exhibit
visits and press briefing. Chirac, who
last visited the Kingdom in August to express
his condolences over the passing of King Fahd,
arrived in Riyadh March 4, 2006 to a welcome by
King Abdullah. The French leader was
accompanied by his foreign,
defense, economy and external trade ministers as
well as over 20 leading French businessmen who
shared "a view to forge close business ties
with the Kingdom and to cash in on its strong
economy" according to Arab News.
King
Abdullah, who met with Chirac in Paris in April
2005 on his way to a summit with US President
George Bush in Texas, hosted the French
delegation at a dinner banquet before the two
leaders began meetings that lasted several
hours. They discussed defense
cooperation, the Iranian nuclear program, Iraq,
the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections and
tensions between Lebanon and Syria, according to
a Western diplomat cited by Arab News.
On
March 5, President Chirac addressed the Saudi Majlis
Ash-Shura, or Consultative Council, the
first foreign dignitary to do so. His
remarks touched on the components of the
French-Saudi relationship and regional issues of
concern to both countries which were summarized
by Arab
News' Raid Qusti:
|
Chirac
lauded King Abdullah�s efforts for the
development of the country. �I would
also like to express France�s support
for the agendas King Abdullah has drawn
for his country. He has been able to
cement the element of trust in the
people, supported by various plans of
general investments and adding dynamism
to the private sector... all of this in
the context of a turbulent region.�
He
said King Abdullah was dedicated to
fighting the threat of terrorism and had
called for the international community
to combat it. �France announces its
joint resolve with the Kingdom to combat
this problem. We will win this battle if
we unite our efforts and respect the law
and our values,� he continued.
The
president also said France was seeking
to cooperate with the Kingdom in the
fields of science and technology in
order to help the government implement
its Saudization plan and give the
Kingdom�s youth a chance to excel in
the future. The French leader also said
his country and the world had been
watching the developments in the Kingdom
over the past few years.
�France
and the world have watched such
developments as the implementation of
democratic municipality elections and
the attainment by women of high
positions in the chamber of commerce.�
He
said that since the Kingdom had joined
the World Trade Organization (WTO), the
Saudi economy had become even more
attractive to investors. He hoped the
agreement signed between the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) and the
European Union (EU) would further
facilitate trade between Europe and the
Gulf states.
On
regional issues, Chirac said the
majority which had won the Palestinian
elections (Hamas) should realize that
recognizing Israel and abandoning
violence, in addition to respecting
international agreements, would alone
ensure the establishment of a
Palestinian country which is the dream
of its people. �By doing so, they
would also be following the Arab
world�s initiative which was first
enunciated by the then Crown Prince
Abdullah in Beirut in 2002,� he said.
Referring
to the situation in Lebanon, the French
president said the entire Lebanese
nation was waiting for the results of
the international investigation into the
assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri as well as for the
assassins and all involved to be
punished.
�Truth
and justice are necessary in order for
trust to be rebuilt in Lebanon. Syria,
which has a strategic location in the
region and seeks to maintain its
security interests, should also take
into account the wishes of the Lebanese
people as well as the developments in
the Middle East and the world.�
The
president stressed that Syria should
change its course, especially toward
Lebanon, adding that �Syria should
cooperate fully with the
investigation.�
On
Iran�s nuclear program, Chirac said
that Tehran had refused to respond to
�rational calls� from France, the
United Kingdom and Germany, despite
being promised help in developing
nuclear energy for civilian use. �Our
hand is still extended to Iran. It�s
up to them to take our initiative or not
regarding its sensitive activities,�
he added.
Source:
Arab
News |
While
in Riyadh President Chirac attended a meeting of
a French-Saudi business group
and an exhibition of Islamic art including rare
items from the Louvre museum, sponsored by the King
Abdul Aziz Historical Center.
King Abdullah and President Chirac continued
their discussions on Sunday evening. On
Monday President Chirac faced reporters to
discuss the results of the state visit.
The press conference was reported on by M.
Ghazanfar Ali Khan
of Arab
News and included discussion of a high
interest defense deal, the possible sale of
Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter jet:
|
In
reply to the question about the much-publicized
multibillion security deals involving the plan
to sell French Rafale fighters and Miksa
electronic border-monitoring systems to Saudi
Arabia, Chirac said Saudi Arabia was studying
the French proposals for �cooperation in
defense and security�. [MIKSA -
acronym for Ministry of Interior Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia]
�All
of this is taking place in an excellent
climate,� he said.
According
to reports, the proposed deal involves the
purchase of 48 French  fighters with an option
for 48 more valued at $7.2 billion. The other
potential deal involves the border-monitoring
system under which French defense manufacturer
Thales has proposed to supply 225 radars to the
Kingdom in a staggered 12-year schedule. The
sale includes a telecommunications network,
reconnaissance aircraft and about 20 helicopters
at a cost of $8.4 billion.
Referring
to the growing commercial relations between
Riyadh and Paris, Chirac said he was pleased by
the contacts established between more than a
dozen French businessmen accompanying him and
their Saudi counterparts.
Source: Arab
News
|
Summary
The
French President said he was pleased with
commercial contacts made during the visit but
the absence of a deal on Rafale fighter jets,
two months after an announcement the Kingdom
would buy British
made Typhoon Eurofighters, resulted in mixed
reviews in the French press.
|
"Received with great pomp and cordiality by King
Abdullah, with whom he spent several hours in
private conversation, the French president was
rather like some old family friend that you
always like to have to dinner but whose advice
and requests are not heeded very closely."
French
newspaper Liberation website on 7
March
|
Meanwhile,
from perspectives in the Kingdom the lack of
specific defense and business agreements during
Franco-Saudi meeting were not as important as
the bolstering of bilateral ties as summed up in
an Arab News editorial on March 7, 2006:
|
"..The
visit has to be seen against a wider backdrop.
Saudi Arabia and France have long been friends;
Chirac�s visit is testimony both to that and
to a personal friendship between him and
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah,
forged two years ago when the king paid an
official visit to France. It is not just a
matter of Saudis importing French products or
holidaying in France, although there is plenty
of that.
"It
is, however, at the political level that the
relationship is at its most effective and
productive. That, in many respects, is due to
the views of the French president himself. He
has shown himself, time and again, a supporter
of both stability and justice in the Arab world.."
Arab
News Editorial - March 7, 2006
|
Saudi
Foreign Minister Saud
al-Faisal who spoke at the press briefing on
March 6, according to the Saudi Press Agency,
said, "The visit was very successful.
Undoubtedly, it will have a great impact on
relations between our two countries, as much as
the success his previous visit had in
entrenching strategic partnership between the
two countries and boosting Saudi economy,
particularly in the activities of the private
sector between the two countries. I believe that
this visit will promote these ties even
further." He added that the two
leaders had very close if not totally identical
views on most of the issues they discussed.
Lastly,
the subject of Franco-Saudi relations and
US-Saudi relations was on the mind of Thomas
Lippman when he spoke with SUSRIS last
May. The interview followed the visit of
King Abdullah, then Crown Prince, to Paris to
meet with President Chirac and then to Texas to
meet with President Bush:
|
Crawford
Summit Perspective: A Conversation with
Thomas Lippman
SUSRIS
Interview - Monday, May 9, 2005
An
Excerpt
SUSRIS:
The
same thing could be said about the announcement,
about the same time, of a purchase of commercial
aircraft from Brazil's Embraer aircraft company.
Lippman:
Right, why? The last big commercial jet
purchase was the huge purchase form Boeing about
ten years ago. But why? Maybe in the case of the
fighter deal they get a better arrangement from
the French. Maybe they just decided it would be
politically out of the question to try to get an
American company to bid on it and get the
Pentagon to sign off on the deal. I don't know,
but I was struck by that.
SUSRIS:
There's always your theory that Saudi Arabia
wants friends on the UN Security Council who are
also nuclear powers. You said China fit the
bill, but France meets those conditions.
Lippman:
France fits that description too, absolutely.
Some observers tried to make something of the
fact that Abdullah spoke very effusively in
praise for the character and nobility of Jacques
Chirac and hasn't said similar words about Bush.
But, in the end, he came here, they had a
cordial meeting and they did issue a very
positive joint statement. So I don't make so
much of that. There hasn't been much analysis of
that aspect of the Crawford meeting. It's
disappointing that the press didn't take the
time to ask those questions.
Source:
SUSRIS.org |
