A message from Chirac to King Fahd

French Foreign Minister Alain Richard left Saudi Arabia on Sunday after he conveyed a message to King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz a message from French President Jacques Chirac. The Saudi News Agency said that the Saudi King received the French minister at the Royal palace in Jeddah.

It added that Richard returned home after having dinner with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, who indicated the possibility of signing an arms deal between Saudi Arabia and France "in the near future."

Richard, who visited Saudi Arabia for the second time since July 1997, arrived in Jeddah on Sunday morning. He intended to hold talks, especially dealing with selling Leclerc tanks to Saudi Arabia, which compete with the British Challenger 2 and US Abrams tanks.