On the telephone call between Chirac, Barak

French President Jacques Chirac on Monday made a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

This telephone call was made before the talks Chirac will hold today with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara and tomorrow with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Elysee presidential palace sources said that al-Shara, expected to arrive in al-Elysee this evening, will be carrying a written message from President Hafez al-Assad while Arafat will stop in Paris in the course of a tour he will carry out in several European states.

Talks will center on the decision taken by Israel to withdraw its army from south Lebanon by next July.