PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron was hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as part of increased Western efforts to court the major oil-producing state amid the war in Ukraine and faltering talks to revive a nuclear deal with Iran.
French opposition figures and human rights groups have criticised Macron’s decision to invite to dinner at the Elysee Palace a man Western leaders believe ordered the murder in 2018 of prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“The rehabilitation of the murderous prince will be justified in France as in the United States by arguments of realpolitik. But it’s actually bargaining that predominates, let’s face it,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said on Twitter ahead of Prince Mohammed’s visit.
Macron, who last December became the first Western leader to visit Saudi Arabia since the Khashoggi affair, has dismissed criticism of his efforts to engage the crown prince by saying the kingdom was too important to be ignored.
Ahead of a working dinner with bin Salman on Thursday evening, Macron welcomed the Saudi leader with a long handshake in front of the red-carpeted stairs of the Elysee.
They made no comments to the press.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 10, 2018. Yoan Valat/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, receives French President Emmanuel Macron in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, December 4, 2021. Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS
July 29, 20226:14 AM GMT+8
Sources from: Reuters
SVE NEWS is the leader in world news liberal sharing.
(Comments on this news are welcome)
2022 CWMALLS: Standard, Sharing,Ecology, Value;
2022 CWMALLS COMMODITY: Patent, Technology, Art, Intelligence;
2022 CWMALLS NEW SPECIES: Keen, Aggressive, Personality, Value;
2022 MWE FUND: Charity, Public Welfare, Responsibility
Tips: In order to explore more planet species diversity and ecosystem of Mars and earth’s biosphere of cohesion, from now on in the chosen experts and scholars of Mars and planets, especially the astrophysicist, astrobiologists, astrochemists, and so on all over the world’s elite, contribute to the existence and development of simulation of Mars landing. Thank you very much! CWS (Mars) Asia-Pacific Preparatory Committee 0086-57189877088/89877099, E-mail: mars@cws-mars.com, Twitter: CWS, October 3, 2021