A palace in style Louis XIV all for him and immersed in the utmost splendor. That Louis XIV Castle“Pied-a-terre” in France of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmanis a few kilometers away Paris. Luxurious accommodation as requested by the Crown Prince. Nothing unusual, were it not that the house that the Saudi leader cherished so much, so much that he bought it for about $300 million in 2015, was built 10 years ago Emad KhashoggiWashington Post columnist’s cousin, Jamal Khashoggiwho was killed in the Saudi embassy in 2018 Turkey and whose assassination bin Salman is believed to be the instigator. Another scar in the Saudi journalist’s memory after the farce trial he set up riad which – as is easy to guess – has led to nothing. But yet another Western leader who has decided to “rehabilitate” Mbs is contributing to this new crackdown on the Khashoggi family: Emmanuel Macron.
In fact, the crown prince was received with all honoursElisha by the French President, a major trading partner of al-Saud monarchyespecially in the field of armor. The condemnation statements from the world’s most powerful leaders following the assassination of the Washington Post journalist seem so far away. president Joe Biden has publicly named Mohammed bin Salman as the instigator of the Khashoggi murder. However, this did not stop him from traveling there Jeddah last week to talk to him about it petroleum on top of Gulf Cooperation Council. That the crown prince had that “Hands Dirty With Blood” of the journalist did not stop Biden from giving him his fist, a universal greeting in times of Covid. Of the White Housethe gesture was defined as “cold”, in contrast to the much warmer greeting reserved for the Crown Prince’s father, Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. Small changes however.
The same pantomime that the world saw in Jeddah has been reproduced in recent days. Different place, different political leader, same contradiction. This time it was actually Emmanuel Macron who shook hands with the crown prince, bin Salman, in one of the most beautiful rooms of the Elysée, the crown prince Salon of the Festival, where the two leaders could have dinner and discuss geopolitics away from prying eyes. President Macron’s decision to reserve this treatment for an individual accused of serious human rights abuses drew widespread criticism from the French public and beyond.
The Saudi journalist’s girlfriend, Hatice Cengizshe said to herself “Scandalized and outraged” for the fact that the French President “receives with all honours Executioner of my fiancé“. The main organizations that defend human rights have opposed it, one in particular Amnesty International. “I am deeply concerned about the visit, what this means for our world and for Jamal and people like him,” the NGO Secretary-General told France Presse. Agnes Callamard. Strong criticism, to which the Elysée replied that the French President also discussed it with Mohammed bin Salman during the working lunch human rights.
It seems to be a script already written that all international law firms ignore when they have to justify contacts with whoever is there CIA credited with instigating Khashoggi’s murder. In fact, the same words were used by the White House to justify meeting with Biden. Washingtonon this occasion he referred to an alleged “Pulled Ears” by the US President to MBS on human rights and the Khashoggi case, followed by a back-and-forth between the two leaders. However, this was not enough to appease the spirits. As in this case. Macron says he spoke about it too war in Ukraine on “intensifying cooperation” and “mitigating the impact in Europe, in middle East and in the world “of the Russian invasion of the country led by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but the controversy continues, especially since it is not the first time that Macron has found himself in such a situation. In fact, in 2020, after recognizing the regime, the president was caught in a whirlwind of criticism Legion of Honour – the highest award in France– to the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
But Bin Salman’s honorable visit to Paris is just the tip of the iceberg. France is one of the most important Arms exporters to Saudi Arabia. Therefore International Institute for Peace Research Stockholm (Ispri) buys arms mainly from the United States (73%), the United Kingdom (13%) and France (4.3%) and was the world’s first buyer of French arms in 2020 for a total of over 700 million euros. Weapons that the country also used in the civil war Yemen.
Even the politicians in our House had to defend themselves against the accusation of maintaining relationships with people accused of systematic human rights violations. As Matteo Renziboard member of FII institute (the entity controlled by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, editor’s note) that intervenes in the Davos the desert Saudi glorified the kingdom by claiming that it had the makings of a “neo-renaissance.”