Posted on 03/05/2006 3:11:07 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
VISITING French President Jacques Chirac has praised Saudi reforms overnight, and urged respect between Islam and the West in a charm offensive that may win contracts from the world's biggest oil exporter.
Addressing Saudi's consultative Shura council, which reformers hope will one day act as a parliament that balances the powers of the absolute monarchy, Mr Chirac said France could contribute to "spectacular development" in Saudi Arabia.
"Saudi Arabia and France can unite efforts to foil those who, flaming the fire of fanaticism, incite an unfortunate 'clash of ignorance', described as a 'clash of civilisations'," said Mr Chirac, the first Western leader to address the body.
"The introduction of elections for renewing municipal councils, in a spirit of democracy, and woman gaining places in chambers of commerce boards, have been followed with sympathy in France and the world," he told the all-male assembly.
Saudi Arabia last year held limited though pioneering elections for half the seats to local councils.
But since the new king took power in August, creating an atmosphere of openness in the conservative Muslim country, women have been elected to key business bodies.
Mr Chirac is accompanied on the three-day trip by about 15 business leaders and his economy, defence, foreign affairs and trade ministers, as well as experts on the Arab world. The trip ends on Monday.
The delegation includes the heads of Dassault Aviation , the maker of Rafale jets, and French defence electronics company Thales , which has been chasing a deal for more than a decade to supply Riyadh with border security equipment worth €7 billion ($US8.5 billion).
There has been no word of any deals clinched so far, but Thales Chairman and Chief Executive Denis Ranque said he was confident even if the "Miksa" deal is not concluded now.
"It is a question of timing, I am still confident. The prospective customer exists, the contract will exist but it is taking more time than planned," Mr Ranque told reporters.
Other business leaders include the chief executives of Total , Alstom and Alcatel . Mr Chirac urged greater tolerance and respect after violent protests in recent weeks over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed which were first published in a Danish newspaper but have been reprinted in many countries, including France.
"We must now, more than ever, embrace global values that form our common existence. We must cultivate all opportunities for dialogue to avoid misunderstandings," he said. "With globalisation, everything is known immediately and everywhere. We are no longer isolated, each one in their own country."
The row over the Danish cartoons has reinforced some Saudis' resolve to turn away from Western business partners and look to Asia, where King Abdullah made a ground-breaking tour in January. Rival U.S. and British firms already have a strong foothold in Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.
In a tape posted on the Internet on Saturday, al Qaeda's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims to boycott countries where the cartoons were reprinted, including France.
Screw the Frogs!!!
French "charm offensive". Words that I had never expected to see juxtaposed.
Also, the House of Saud turned on the Jihadis when it figured out at some point during the 90s that they wanted its butt.
And of course, the United States remains the most important Saudi ally, though the relationship cooled a little after 9/11.
Your Iranian neighbors are getting nasty. Better stay home and take care of your own backyard before it goes boom.
So is it still his position that he would use nuclear weapons against those supporting terrorism if necessary?
I guess those reforms weren't good enough....
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