The Crown Prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salmanleft this Tuesday for Greece and France, in his first official visit to European Union (EU) countries since the assassination in 2018 of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
(Read: Biden turns the page on his differences with Saudi Arabia)
The official Saudi news agency SPA reported that Bin Salmán “began a trip on Tuesday to visit Greece and France, where he will meet with the presidents of both countries to discuss bilateral relations and ways to promote them in all sectors”.
(He is interested in: Biden begins meeting with Bin Salmán focused on Oil)
He also indicated that the crown prince began this tour – which did not specify how long it will last – by order of his father and King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
The monarch has “interest” in “fostering communication and bilateral relations between the kingdom and friendly and brother countries in all sectors”, according to SPA.
This is Bin Salman’s first official visit to European Union countries after Khashoggi’s scandalous murder in October 2018 at the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, where he went to ask for a marriage certificate and there a group of people mutilated his body and they made it disappear.
Bin Salman’s tour also comes just a couple of weeks after US President Joe Biden’s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met with the young prince, known as MBS, whom the CIA blames for the Khashoggi’s assassination.
Precisely, the greeting between the two leaders – who bumped their fists – generated a lot of controversy after Biden promised during his election campaign to make the Saudi leaders pay a “price” for the murder, which raised a wave of condemnations from the community international.
Bin Salman has been ostracized by Western countries due to the 2018 assassination of critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul.
Khashoggi was a US-based Saudi journalist who contributed to The Washington Post and was a bitter critic of the Saudi royal family.
The US intelligence services pointed to Mohamed bin Salmán as responsible.
The interest in Arabia
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have been trying to convince the leading exporter of crude oil to open the floodgates to ease the markets.
However, Saudi Arabia is resisting pressure from these allies, citing its commitment to OPEC, the oil alliance it co-leads with Russia. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron received the new President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed, in Paris.
During the trip, officials announced an agreement between the French energy giant Total Energies and the Emirati state oil company ADNOC “for cooperation in the field of energy supply.”
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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