Saudi King Abdullah is to head to Europe next week for a tour that will include talks in Paris ahead of a conference there aimed at ending Lebanon's crippling political deadlock. A Western diplomatic source told AFP that Abdullah, currently on holiday in Morocco, would be in Spain on June 18, France on June 21 and Poland on June 24.
France has offered to host informal fence-mending talks between rival Lebanese political groups, and factions from across the political spectrum have already given their support to the proposal from the former colonial power.
While the French foreign ministry has said the talks would take place "at the end of June", the Lebanese press has said the meeting will take place June 29-30 at La Celle-Saint-Cloud in the Parisian suburbs. Both Saudi Arabia and France back the government of beleaguered anti-Syrian Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Abdullah is expected to discuss the upcoming talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.