Saudi crown prince postpones visit to Paris

The Elysee palace announced, following a meeting between President Chirac and the Saudi foreign minister Saud al-Faisal that the visit which the Saudi crown prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz to France on Saturday was postponed for reasons pertaining to dates and appointments.

Saud al-Faisal arrived in Paris carrying a message to this effect from the crown prince to Chirac. A Saudi official announced in Riyadh on Tuesday that Prince Abdullah will head on Saturday to Paris in an official visit at "an old invitation" from Chirac with whom he said he will discuss the developments of conditions in the Middle East and Lebanon.

The spokesman for the French Presidency Jerome Bonavon said that Chirac and al-Faisal discussed regional issues especially on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran.