ELYSEE PALACE; PRESIDENT DIORI ARRIVES; DE GAULLE AND DIORI ON PALACE STEPS; DIORI BEING INTERVIEWED BY NEWSMEN.




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Background: PRESIDENT HAMANI DIORI OF NIGER HAD A 45-MINUTE MEETING WITH PRESIDENT DE GAULLE OF FRANCE AT THE ELYSEE PALACE, IN PARIS YESTERDAY (FRIDAY).

THE TWO LEADERS DISCUSSED PROBLEMS CONCERNING OCAM, THE AFRO-MALAGASY COMMON ORGANISATION OF FRENCH-SPEAKING AFRICAN STATES, AND ALSO REVIEWED RELATIONS BETWEEN THEIR TWO COUNTRIES. MR. DIORI IS THE PRESIDENT OF OCAM.

HE TOLD REPORTERS AFTER THE MEETING THAT HE AND PRESIDENT DE GAULLE ALSO DISCUSSED THE IDEA OF A KIND OF COMMONWEALTH OF FRENCH-SPEAKING STATES. PRESIDENT DIORI SAID HE SAW IT AS NOT ONLY A CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC GROUPING, BUT ALSO AS AN ECONOMIC ALLIANCE.