Chirac in an Arab Maghreb tour

The spokeswoman for the Elysee palace Catherine Colona has announced that the French President Jacques Chirac will in the beginning of January hold a visit to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Colona added that this tour comes " in the framework of continued consultation carried out by France on developments concerning International conditions." The spokeswoman added that " Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are among the main partner states for France in the Mediterranean with whom it maintains close relations of friendship and co-operation in all fields.."

The visit of Chirac to Algeria will be the first for a French President since the visit of Francois Mitterrand in March of 1989..

Mitterrand visited France for the first time in 1981 as a President for the republic and later visited it in October 1984 and March 1987.