Prince Salman, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, met Hollande and was treated to an official dinner at the Élysée Presidential Palace.
The two are likely to touch on a multi-billion dollar package of French military equipment and arms for Lebanon's Army that Riyadh has agreed to finance, as Beirut faces the threat of jihadists on its border with Syria.
Upon arrival in Paris, Prince Salman made a statement saying that his visit comes within the framework of promoting and developing the close relations between the two countries, adding that the historic visit paid by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in 2007 contributed significantly to the development of bilateral coordination and cooperation.
The Crown Prince underlined the importance of the visit paid by President Francois Hollande to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2013 which resulted in signing a number of agreements between the two countries.
The Crown Prince asserted that this visit comes within the keenness of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques on developing bilateral cooperation and enhancing coordination between the two countries regarding all regional and international issues of common interest. He also said that the level of bilateral cooperation and coordination is at its best.
Prince Salman is also due to meet Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Wednesday for talks over the situation in Iraq and Syria, where jihadists have seized swathes of territory and are terrorizing Christians and other minorities, according to AFP.
On Thursday, Hollande rejected any cooperation with Bashar al-Assad whom he accused of being a “de-facto ally” of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, after the Syrian leader's regime said it was willing to work with the international community to tackle the jihadists.
And in comments carried on national TV on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah warned the West would be the next target of the jihadists sweeping through Syria and Iraq, unless there is “rapid” action.
“If we ignore them, I am sure they will reach Europe in a month and America in another month,” he said in remarks quoted on Saturday by Asharq al-Awsat daily and Saudi-backed Al-Arabiya television station.
The visit comes just over two weeks after Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Fahd fell victim to a brazen heist on the Paris ring road when a gang of heavily armed bandits hijacked the lead vehicle of his 10-car convoy and stole at least 250,000 Euros and documents.
Source: SPA; AFP; Al Arabiya
