Saudi crown prince MBS heads to France to meet Macron

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has left for a state visit to France where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron, a statement said on Wednesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of a working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 28, 2022. REUTERS - BENOIT TESSIER

The 37-year-old prince, who is overseeing sweeping social and economic reforms in the oil-rich monarchy, will also take part in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris next week, the Royal Court statement said.

According to the French Presidency, Macron will discuss the war in Ukraine and other matters when he meets bin Salman on Friday.

The planned talks between Macron and the Saudi crown prince come just a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended a summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia to canvas support, during a meeting at which bin Salman expressed his readiness to mediate in the war between Moscow and Kyiv.

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on May 19, 2023 shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky (L) during the Arab League Summit in Jeddah. AFP - -

Khashoggi

The crown prince's agenda also includes presiding over the Saudi delegation during an international Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, to be held on June 22-23, and hosted by Paris as well as taking part in the kingdom's official reception of Riyadh's candidacy to host Expo 2030 on June 19.

The trip underlines close French ties with the resource-rich Gulf. 

In December 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside Riyadh's Istanbul consulate in 2018 - an operation approved by the Saudi ruler himself, according to US intelligence.

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Rights groups have criticised the visit, saying it gives legitimacy to a leader whose values are at odds with those of France.

"By hosting MBS, we are restoring the image of someone who absolutely does not deserve it" the NGO's secretary general, Agnès Callamard, told France Info.

Saudi Arabia, she added, was about to execute seven young people who were children at the time of their alleged crimes.

"One was only 12 years old ... We are rebuilding an international system, but on the basis of what? From what values?"

(with AFP)