Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected in France on Saturday for an official visit where he will hold meetings with French President Jacques Chirac and Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign ministry announced on Wednesday.

This will be Abbas' third visit to France since he was elected Palestinian president in January 2005.

During this visit, the French authorities will reaffirm their support for Abbas' current efforts aimed at putting in place a government of national unity, said the foreign ministry spokesman Denis Simonneau.

France welcomes the agreement reached by the two Palestinian rival movements Hamas and Fatah in Saudi holy city of Mecca earlier this month to form a government of national unity to replace the Hamas-led one.

It is a step in the right direction towards the fulfillment of all the principles set out by the Quartet, namely the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States, according to Simonneau.

France reckons that the international community should take all the necessary steps in helping the Palestinian people constitute a government of national unity, which will provide an avenue for new cooperation and the revival of the peace process, the spokesman said.

Source: Xinhua