FRANCE: Saudi Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah hopes for regional stability after meeting with France's Hollande

Record ID: 189501

  • Title: FRANCE: Saudi Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah hopes for regional stability after meeting with France's Hollande
  • Date: 18th June 2014
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 18, 2014) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ELYSEE PALACE FRENCH AND EUROPEAN FLAGS PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PHOTOS FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE WALKING OUT OF ELYSEE, WAITING ON STEPS HOLLANDE WAITING CAR ARRIVING / SAUDI PRINCE MITEB BIN ABDULLAH STEPPING OUT AND WALKING UP STEPS TO GREET HOLLANDE / SHAKING HOLLANDE'S HANDS / ENTERING ELYSEE HOLLANDE AND MITEB BIN ABDULLAH TAKING SEATS MITEB BIN ABDULLAH WINDOW OF ELYSEE MITEB BIN ABDULLAH SHAKING HOLLANDE'S HAND, LEAVING ELYSEE, WALKING TOWARDS JOURNALISTS CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAUDI PRINCE MITEB BIN ABDULLAH SAYING: "As I said in my first address here, as I have said elsewhere in responding to questions from the press, we have addressed numerous subjects and we observed that the points of view were extremely close between France and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a country which is interested above all in security, stability, and these are objectives French authorities share with us. We have always worked for regional stability and security with the international community. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been against violence, against sectarianism, and against all religious divides. We want to work towards security and stability." FRENCH GUARD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAUDI PRINCE MITEB BIN ABDULLAH SAYING: "I just want to emphasise that Saudi Arabia has always refused and still refuses to intervene in the interior affairs of another country, we only hope that the region will be able to find security and stability." PRINCE MITEB BIN ABDULLAH WALKING TOWARDS CAR FRENCH FLAG CAR LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 3rd July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABDB71GU2CHK96L6BOLXAO87H3
  • Story Text: Saudi Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah says he hopes for regional stability and security after meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

    Saudi Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah said on Wednesday (June 18) he hoped for regional stability and security after a meeting with French President Francois Hollande.
    Neighbour Iraq has seen an offensive through the north of the country by Sunni Islamist militants over the past week, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has appealed for national unity with bitter Sunni critics of his Shi'ite-led government.
    Maliki has also accused regional Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia of backing the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who want to carve out a Sunni caliphate in the heart of the Middle East.
    Speaking to reporters outside the Elysee palace in Paris about his meeting with the French leader, Miteb Bin Abdullah said Saudi Arabia and France shared similar points of view.
    "Saudi Arabia is a country which is interested above all in security, stability, and these are objectives French authorities share with us. We have always worked for regional stability and security with the international community. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always been against violence, against sectarianism, and against all religious divides. We want to work towards security and stability," he said.
    Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal meanwhile told a gathering of Arab and Muslim leaders in Jeddah on Wednesday neighbouring Iraq faced the threat of full-scale civil war with grave consequences for the wider region and, in an apparent message to arch rival Iran, warned against outside powers intervening in the conflict.
    The Arab nation will also not be intervening in Iran, Miteb Bin Abdullah confirmed.
    "I just want to emphasise that Saudi Arabia has always refused and still refuses to intervene in the interior affairs of another country, we only hope that the region will be able to find security and stability," he said.
    On Monday, Saudi Arabia blamed the Iraqi crisis on Maliki, citing what it called years of "sectarian and exclusionary policies" by his government against Iraq's Sunni minority.
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