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French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin will travel to the Middle East this weekend to discuss postwar Iraq and the Middle East peace process, a ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
Villepin will travel to Egypt on Friday and tour Syria, Lebanonand Saudi Arabia over the weekend, said the spokeswoman. She gave no further details.
Villepin said after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on Wednesday that it was crucial to restart the Middle East peace process to ensure the stability of the region.
France called for the publication and immediate implementation of the so-called "road map" peace plan, which envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005 on condition Israel's security is safeguarded.
On Iraq, Villepin and Straw agreed on the need for international involvement in the reconstruction process.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said in Cairo that de Villepin would travel to Egypt "in the next few days" for talks on the US-led war in Iraq.
"The situation needs friends to consult with each other so that they can unify their efforts to end the tragic situation of the Iraqi people which will have dangerous repercussions in the region," Maher told reporters.
(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2003)
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