French president to kick off gulf tour Monday

French President Francois Hollande will head Monday to Doha so as to finish the Rafale deal that was announced on Thursday.

The president's tour will include visiting Saudi Arabia where he will attend on Tuesday the summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) as a guest of honor.

Hollande will be accompanied with French Foreign and Defense Ministers Laurent Fabius and Jean-Yves Le Drian as well as number of officials.

The French president is expected to hold discussions with Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani on the latest developments in the Middle East especially in Yemen.

The discussions will be followed by inking the agreement of importing 24 Rafale planes to Qatar as part of the strategic cooperation between the two countries.

The second agreement stipulates training the Qatari pilots, technicians as well as intelligence officers.

Hollande will take part Tuesday in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit to probe the latest developments concerning the Iranian nuclear file, the conditions in Yemen as well as efforts exerted to fight Daesh terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.