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Report: Saudi king cancels visit to France

Decision comes less than two weeks after Le Figaro quoted Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist

Saudi Arabia's state news agency said King Abdullah has indefinitely postponed a trip to France planned for this week.

 

The Saudi monarch was to open an exhibition of Saudi antiquities at the Louvre museum in Paris during his visit.

 

The Saudi Press Agency on Saturday did not say why the trip was postponed. But the decision comes less than two weeks after the French daily Le Figaro quoted King Abdullah as saying both Israel and Iran don't deserve to exist.

 

The Saudi government denied the newspaper report, describing it as "totally untrue," and a government spokesman said the incident upset the royal family.

 

Saudi Arabia, a Sunni power, refuses to have normal ties with Israel. It also fears Iran's growing Shiite influence in the region.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.10.10, 19:03
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