Saudi crown prince in Paris

The French president Jacques Chirac on Thursday received the Saudi crown prince Abdullah at al-Elysee palace and the two sides held separate talks followed by a dinner banquet.

The Saudi crown prince who arrived in Paris has arrived from Morocco in a work visit to France by the end of which he will head for Egypt in a visit which will last for three days.

On the other hand, the London- based Saudi daily al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted "an American source" as saying that the Saudi crown prince will meet today with the US secretary of state Colin Powell who will stop in Paris at the end of a tour on the Middle East.

The Saudi crown prince had apologized for not taking an invitation extended by the US President George Bush to visit the US in the course of a tour he recently made on several countries. Diplomats in al-Riyadh said that the crown prince intended by that to express his protest against the US policy in the region which he considers as very biased to Israel.

A Saudi official source told news reports that Saudi Arabia feels regret from the absence of a serious US role to halt the brutal aggressions carried out by Israel against the Palestinians.