\n<\/p>\n
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) receives French President Emmanuel Macron in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah in 2021 – Copyright Saudi Royal Palace\/AFP Bandar AL-JALOUD<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n Stuart WILLIAMS and Joris FIORITI<\/em><\/p>\n French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris on Thursday, defying criticism that the invitation is deeply inappropriate barely four years after the murder by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.<\/p>\n The meeting will be seen as the latest step in the readmission of the de-facto ruler of the kingdom into the international fold, after US President Joe Biden met the man universally known as MBS earlier this month.<\/p>\n The topics set to loom over the meeting include energy supply as concern grows over possible power shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as reining in the nuclear programme of Riyadh\u2019s top regional foe Iran.<\/p>\n MBS \u2014 who is portrayed at home as a champion of social and economic reform but seen by critics as a murderous tyrant \u2014 arrives in France fresh from a trip to Greece to discuss energy ties.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel profoundly troubled by the visit, because of what it means for our world and what is means for Jamal (Khashoggi) and people like him,\u201d Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard told AFP, describing MBS as a man who \u201cdoes not tolerate any dissent\u201d.<\/p>\n The visits mark MBS\u2019 first trip to the EU since the murder of Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom\u2019s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, a crime that a UN probe described as an \u201cextrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible\u201d.<\/p>\n It also said there was \u201ccredible evidence\u201d warranting further investigation of the individual liability of high-level Saudi officials, including MBS.<\/p>\n US intelligence agencies determined that MBS had \u201capproved\u201d the operation that led to Khashoggi\u2019s death, though Riyadh denies this, blaming rogue operatives.<\/p>\n \u2013 \u2018Double standards\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n The killing drew outrage not just over the elimination of a prominent critic of the Saudi regime, but also for the manner in which it was carried out. Khashoggi was lured into the Saudi consulate on October 2, 2018, strangled and dismembered, reportedly with a bonesaw.<\/p>\n \u201cThe visit by MBS to France and Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia do not change the fact that MBS is anything other than a killer,\u201d said Callamard, who at the time of the killing was the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings and led the independent probe.<\/p>\n His reception by world leaders is \u201call the more shocking given many of them at the time expressed disgust (over the killing) and a committment not to bring MBS back into the international community\u201d, she added, denouncing the \u201cdouble standard\u201d. \u00a0<\/p>\n But despite the concern over Saudi Arabia\u2019s rights record, the kingdom is seen by many in the West as an essential partner due to its energy resources, purchases of weaponry and staunch opposition to Iran\u2019s theocratic regime.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine has made the the oil and gas reserves of the kingdom all the more important for the West.<\/p>\n Callamard expressed concern that \u201cvalues were being obliterated in the face of concern about the rising price of oil\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2013 \u2018Political leverage\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n The French president had already travelled to the kingdom in December 2021 for talks with MBS, a visit that raised some eyebrows at the time.<\/p>\n MBS is in charge of the country\u2019s day-to-day business due to the ailing condition of his father, King Salman.<\/p>\n Macron will be meeting MBS fresh from talks with two close allies of the kingdom, UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed and Egpytian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. The red carpet welcome for both leaders dismayed activists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Macron will also be arriving from a three-nation tour of Africa, where he visited Cameroon, Benin and Guinea Bissau, none of which are seen as exemplary democracies.<\/p>\n After the recent fist-bump greeting from Biden that for many symbolised the West\u2019s re-acceptance of MBS, there will be huge interest in the body language between Macron and the Saudi.<\/p>\n The talks are set to get under way late in the day, at 4:30 pm (1830 GMT), and include a working dinner at the Elysee Palace. MBS reportedly arrived late Wednesday at a Paris airport and headed to a private residence outside the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe war in Ukraine has put the energy-producing countries back in the spotlight, and they are taking advantage of it,\u201d said Camille Lons, research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).<\/p>\n \u201cThis gives them political leverage that they will use to reassert their importance on the international stage,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (L) receives French President Emmanuel Macron in the Saudi Arabian…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",768,527,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf-300x206.jpg",300,206,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",640,439,false],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",640,439,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",768,527,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",768,527,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf.jpg",768,527,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/91ad104d123be078dcf5df63ca2b17b7dec2f5bf-540x340.jpg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Macron hosts Saudi crown prince despite rights outrage
\n#Macron #hosts #Saudi #crown #prince #rights #outrage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"