President Saleh to visit France for talks with Sarkozy

SANA’A, June 21 (Saba)- Informed sources said that President Ali Abdullah Saleh would pay an official visit to France by the end of June for talks with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy on mutual cooperation ties between the two countries, military-run September weekly reported on Thursday. The source said that president Saleh would talk with the newly-elected French President Sarkozy on means of developing the economic relations, attracting French investments to Yemen and increasing the French aids to developmental plans and programs in the country. “The Yemeni-French talks will include the latest developments in Middle East, particularly in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Sudan”, said the source. “President Saleh would urge France to practice more active role in the European Union to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East region”. The Yemeni-French cooperation has witnessed remarkable developments after the French Agency for Development had resumed offering aids to Yemen. France is pioneer in investments in Yemen as the French Total Company has a 70 percent interest in the Yemen Liquefied Natural Gas project by Total of $3.2 billion. YA/NS