Paris, Sha'ban 19, 1435, Jun 17, 2014, SPA -- At the start of his visit to France today, Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Minister of the National Guard, met French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Odrian at the headquarters of the French defense ministry in the capital Paris. The two Saudi and French sides held a meeting co-chaired by Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and the French defense minister. The meeting addressed the bilateral relations between the Kingdom and France and ways to boost them in various fields and issues of mutual concern and developments at the regional and international arenas. At the beginning of the meeting, the French Minister of Defense welcomed the Minister of the National Guard, stressing that exchange of visits deepens the foundations of the relationship between the two countries and opens up many areas of cooperation. He said that the visit of Prince Miteb bin Abdullah to France comes as an extension of previous visits he made to the kingdom during which he met Saudi officials in the context of efforts by both sides to strengthen the existing partnership between the kingdom and France as these meetings discuss many topics, particularly in the areas of security, military, training and qualification areas. --More 15:32 LOCAL TIME 12:32 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w