Chirac contacts Saudi crown prince on Iraqi developments

In a telephone call, the Saudi Crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz discussed with the French President Jacque Chirac "the developments of conditions in the region." The Saudi official news agency said on Thursday that the telephone call was made by Chirac.

The agency added that two men exchanged "views on the developments of conditions in the region and on the international arena as well as discussing bilateral relations and issues of mutual concern." On Wednesday evening, Abdullah received a message from the French president. No information was disclosed on the content of the message.

Worthy mentioning that Chirac's message and telephone call coincided with the criticism addressed by the Saudi foreign minister prince Saud al-Faisal in his weekly press conference in Jeddah to the French- German initiative concerning Iraq, considering that this initiative does not solve the Iraq problem.

However, the French- German proposals call for increasing the number of UN inspectors and air control in Iraq and to draw schedules for the assessment and inspection operations.