LOC23:28
20:28 GMT
PARIS, Sept 2 (KUNA) -- Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz met Tuesday with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls for "cordial" talks on bilateral relations and areas of future cooperation, diplomats at the Prime Minister's office said in press remarks.
No agreements were signed during the meeting and no public statements were made but both sides were happy with the "get-to-know you" session that was the first since Prime Minster Valls came to office in the spring.
France and Saudi Arabia are cooperating already in a number of domains, political, economic and industrial, defence and education and there are hopes this cooperation will blossom in the coming years.
Prince Salman already was the guest at an official dinner offered Monday night by President Francois Hollande, who noted the convergences of views of the two countries on Syria and the priority of getting a lasting peace in the Middle East and of combating the emergence of brutal, extremists elements in northern Iraq and Syria.
Prince Salman is also meeting separately Wednesday with Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to discuss the international situation and cooperation.
The decision of France and Saudi Arabia to cooperate in supporting Lebanon and its army is likely to be high on the agenda for those talks.
France is offering to supply weapons to the Lebanese army to help it fight external threats from extremist groups emanating from Syria and Saudi Arabia is discussing financing the plan to the tune of USD three billion.
Officials in Paris said that it is still unclear if the agreement between France and Saudi Arabia will be signed during this visit, but they said it was being discussed. (end)
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