Saudi leader in first visit to Europe since Khashoggi murder
SAUDI Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman travelled to Europe yesterday for the first time since the 2018 murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
He is scheduled to meet Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek prime minister, in Athens where they will sign deals on energy, military cooperation and discuss terms of a joint venture to lay an underwater fibre optic data cable that will link Europe with Asia.
Mr Mitsotakis is among Western leaders who have visited Riyadh since Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul sparking an outcry in the West and tainting the prince’s image as a dynamic reformist.
Joe Biden, the US president, also faced controversy when he met Prince Mohammed on a trip to the Middle East earlier this month.
An investigation by the CIA has concluded that Khashoggi’s assassination in Turkey was orchestrated by Prince Mohammed, a charge he and the Saudi authorities deny. Last December, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, was accused of seeking to “rehabilitate” Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler when he became the first Western leader to meet him since Khashoggi’s death.
Human rights groups said the meeting between the two leaders in Jeddah should not have happened. The Elysée countered that Saudi Arabia was “a major actor in the region” and stressed that France would have a “demanding dialogue” with the kingdom.
It was part of Mr Macron’s long-term strategy for France to contribute to “stability” in the region by presenting itself “as a balancing power in reinforcing dialogue” between countries from the Mediterranean to the Gulf.
Last week Mr Macron received Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-nahyan, the new president of the United Arab Emirates, in Paris where they announced a deal between France’s Total Energies and the UAE state oil company ADNOC.
After visiting Greece Prince Mohammed will head to France.