Highlighting the significance of the recently concluded visit of Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, to France, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister, said "the importance of the visit surpasses mere concluding of commercial deals." In a statement published today in the Paris-based 'Le Figaro' newspaper, Prince Saud said Crown Prince Abdullah and French President Jacques Chirac had reiterated their keenness for safeguarding the interests of their citizens through implementing projects in various domains and boosting trade exchange as well as establishing joint companies. Asked about the reports pertaining to purchase of planes and building trains, Prince Saud said such projects were not discussed at the bilateral meetings. 'Even if we are planning to conclude such deals, no agreements were signed in this respect during the visit of Crown Prince Abdullah to France'. Prince Saud highlighted the capability of France in the field of railways, and said the Saudi-French military cooperation is well-known, adding that 'nothing can prevent the French companies from gaining profits in these domains'. On the Lebanese crisis, Prince Saud said Syria will fully withdraw from Lebanon within the next few days, adding that it has unconditionally accepted the implementation of the resolution 1559, adopted by the UN's Security Council. "It is high time for the Lebanese to unify their ranks, form a transitional government and hold elections for ensuring their country's stability," he elaborated. On the Arab peace initiative approved by the Arab Summit and rejected by Israeli and the US, Prince Saud said 'We cannot say that the US has rejected it because the peace initiative is included in the Road Map' and added 'but the rejection of the initiative by Israel is really a sad matter, not only because it is a good Saudi project, but because its is a project that is capable of ending blood-shedding and normalizing the situation'. 'Israel has turned down our project without thinking and caring about constant blood-shedding of Israelis and Arabs," Prince Saud said, affirming that the Israeli rejection of the peace initiative "is really sad and tragic' --MORE 1405 Local Time 1105 GMT
