Yemeni president in Paris

The Yemeni news agency Sabaa said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen left Sanaa on Sunday heading for Paris on a working visit aimed at "strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries."

Before he left, President Saleh briefed the German ambassador in Sanaa on the health of the four German tourists who were kidnapped on December 6. He stressed to the German ambassador that the Yemeni government "is exerting all efforts in the meantime to release the tourists very soon."

The spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry said that President Saleh's visit comes within regular contacts between the two countries and "affords an opportunity to review bilateral relations and the regional and international situation."