FRANCE: PARIS: ALI ABULLAH SALEH VISIT

(16 Jan 1995) Natural Sound

Yemen's President, General Ali Abdullah Saleh, arrived in France, Sunday, for a two-day official visit.

He is to meet with President Francois Mitterrand, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Admiral Jacques Lanxade.

The visit takes place amidst a new flare-up in a border dispute between between Yemen and Saudi Arabia that has seen claims of armed incursions from both sides over recent weeks.

General Saleh arrived with a delegation that included industry, oil and planning ministers. Yemen, struggling to rebuild itself after a bitter civil war, is looking for investment from French companies.

But growing border tensions with Saudi Arabia were likely to hold a large place in the talks.

Both Yemen and Saudi Arabia have accused each other of armed
incursions in recent weeks.

Tension flared again between the two countries Sunday when Yemeni forces briefly opened fire after planes, believed to belong to Saudi Arabia, entered Yemeni airspace.

Yemen still claims three provinces which became part of Saudi
Arabia in a 1934 treaty. But the border remains poorly defined, and
disputed by many Yemenis.

Particularly contested is Riyadh's claim to parts of a vast desert
region known as the Empty Quarter and believed to be rich in oil.

The Saudis also opposed the 1990 merger of conservative North
Yemen and formerly Marxist South Yemen, fearing the emergence of a strong democracy on their southern borders.

Now that Yemen is struggling to rebuild itself after the civil war between north and south earlier this year, French help could be
critical.

According to experts the 1994 civil war cost the already poor country eight (b) billion dollars.

A program of economic reforms that includes a partial privatization of the public sector could attract French companies.

Mitterrand mediated two years ago after Riyadh sent letters to
oil companies including a number of French firms, warning them not to operate in disputed border regions.

Earlier, on his way to Paris, the Yemeni president visited Cairo to discuss the border tensions with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak has tried to mediate in the dispute between the two countries.

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