US to host Saudi prince who rocked kingdom ‘Women can choose whether to wear abaya robe’
COURTING HIS ALLY Mohammed bin Salman to discuss Iran, Yemen war and his plans to transform Saudi economy
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, arrives in Washington on a grand tour of the US this week seeking to burnish his credentials as a decisive reformer to do business with.
With reports of brutality at home, delays to his plans to transform the economy and a deepening proxy conflict with Iran in neighbouring Yemen, the prince’s charm offensive to the American capitals of government, finance and entertainment has taken on more urgency.
The 32-year-old will meet Donald Trump on March 20, his first trip to the US since taking over as de facto leader of the world’s largest oil exporter. The aim is to strengthen their bond after he rolled out the red carpet for Trump last May in Riyadh. On that visit, both sides played up their mutual interests in containing Iran, tackling Islamic extremists and enhancing business ties.
Since then, things have changed. Prince Mohammed locked up dozens of the Saudi business elite in November for
RIYADH:
about three months in a declared crackdown on corruption. The kingdom is also likely to delay the sale of a stake in oil giant Aramco until next year.
The White House said the visit will strengthen ties between the US and Saudi Arabia. Prince Mohammed will also dine with national security adviser HR McMaster to discuss $35 billion of business deals, Iran’s threat to their interests and the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
There are also companies the Saudis are courting to help shift their economy away from oil. Planned meetings include the heads of Apple Inc and Google as well as top movie executives.
The US is just the latest stop for Prince Mohammed. But his handshakes with the Egyptian leadership and dinner with the British monarchy haven’t obscured setbacks in his foreign policy.
The Saudi-led coalition is bogged down in a three-year old war in Yemen, and the push to isolate Qatar has gone nowhere.
Women in Saudi Arabia need not wear headcover or the black abaya - the loose-fitting, full-length robes symbolic of Islamic piety - as long as their attire is “decent and respectful”, the kingdom’s reform-minded crown prince said.
With the ascent to power of young Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the kingdom has seen an expansion in women’s rights including a decision to allow women to attend mixed public sporting events and the right to drive cars from this summer.
The changes have been hailed as proof of a new progressive trend towards modernisation in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom, although the gendersegregated nation continues to be criticized for its continued constraints on women.
“The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of sharia (Islamic law): that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men,” Prince Mohammed said in an interview with CBS television aired late on Sunday.REUTERS
RIYADH: