Human rights groups have criticised Emmanuel Macron’s planned meeting with Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, which will mark the first one-on-one public meeting of a major western leader with the crown prince since the state-sponsored assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
For three years since the 2018 murder, western heads of state have avoided direct one-on-one meetings with the crown prince in the kingdom. The US president, Joe Biden, has even avoided speaking to the future king in what has widely been seen as an attempt to avoid conferring legitimacy on the de facto ruler.
But Macron’s move suggests at least one major western leader is ready to formally re-establish ties to the crown prince directly, less than a year after US intelligence agencies released a report stating they believed that Prince Mohammed had approved the murder of Khashoggi. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington | Friday, December 3, 2021
Emmanuel Macron entame une visite contestée en Arabie saoudite : Le président français est l’un des premiers dirigeants occidentaux à rencontrer le prince héritier Mohammed Ben Salmane depuis l’assassinat, en 2018, du journaliste saoudien Jamal Khashoggi. »
Élysée : Depuis Djeddah, le Président Emmanuel Macron répond aux questions de la presse. »
