1.
GV EXTERIOR: Elysee Palace, Paris, France with guard outside.
0.08

2.
SV: Crown Prince Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia out of car and up steps into palace.
0.17

3.
CU: guard standing at attention.
0.22

4.
CU INTERIOR: Prince Fahd seated left with President Valery Giscard d'Estaing.
0.48

5.
GV EXTERIOR: Palace
0.51

6.
SV: Prince Fahd leaves palace and speaks to newsmen in Arabic and then interpreted into English.
1.41

7.
CU AND SV: Saudi flag as Prince walks to car before driving away. (3 shots)
2.00


TRANSCRIPT: TRANSLATOR: "It was a friendly discussion with a great friend of our country and it was an opportunity to discuss many of the issues that are important to both our countries.'




Initials RH/1705



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz met the French President, Valery Giscard D'Estaing, in Paris on Tuesday (31 May). The Crown Prince stopped over in the French capital on his way home from a visit to the United States. He told newsmen later that President Giscard d'Estaing agreed that a Middle East settlement should not be delayed any longer.

SYNOPSIS: The Paris meeting took place at the Elysee Palace -- the French President's official residence. Prince Fahd arrived in Paris on Monday (30 May) after his discussions with President Jimmy Carter in Washington. The Prince said during his American visit that his country would not use oil as a weapon in Middle East diplomacy.

The Paris meeting gave Prince Fahd the opportunity to inform President Giscard d'Estaing of Saudi Arabia's hopes for an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Prince issued a statement in Washington in which he supported Israel's right to security as part of an eventual peace. However, he told newsmen in Paris that any settlement should safeguard the rights of the Palestinian people to return to their home-land.

Prince Fahd also discussed the international energy conference and the situation in Africa before leaving the Elysee. He was asked by newsmen how he felt his talks with President Giscard d'Estaing had gone.

Prince Fahd's visits to the United States and Europe have given him the chance to discuss the present Middle East situation. Saudi Arabia is highly respected among its Arab neighbours and could greatly influence any new peace plan.