Newsletters
French President Emmanuel Macron was set to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman late Sunday for a two-day state visit, an occasion that brought fresh condemnation from journalist unions who called the trip a "provocation" given ongoing legal action in France tied to the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The visit, which begins Sunday evening and continues through Monday, will see the crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, join Macron at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Paris before the two leaders turn to matters of state, including agreements on health, transport and energy, and the first meeting of a new Saudi-French strategic partnership council.
Three French journalist unions, the SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes and SGJ-FO, issued a joint statement Sunday objecting to the visit. The groups pointed to a live French judicial investigation into MBS on charges of torture and forced disappearance, opened after a 2021 complaint over Khashoggi's killing.
The unions said the visit, MBS's second hosted by Macron since July 2022, "looks like a provocation for defenders of media freedom and freedom of expression."
Khashoggi, a Saudi national and US resident who had been critical of the kingdom's ruling family, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. His body was dismembered and has never been recovered. US intelligence agencies concluded MBS was directly involved in the killing, while a United Nations investigation characterized it as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible."
MBS's visit formally opens at 1800 GMT Sunday, when he joins Macron at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup, a competition spanning video games and chess that has drawn heavy backing from the crown prince. This year's edition marks the first time the tournament has been held outside Saudi Arabia.
A French presidential official said the two governments are expected to sign agreements Monday covering health, transport and energy, though the official declined to say whether talks would touch on Dragons Ball, a large Saudi-backed theme park proposed for the Val-d'Oise region outside Paris.
On Monday afternoon, Macron and MBS are due to chair the inaugural session of the Saudi-French strategic partnership council. According to Macron's office, the two leaders will discuss "key regional issues, in a context calling for close coordination between France and its Gulf partners to foster stability and peace" in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, a close US ally with a history of friction with Iran, is monitoring developments inside the Islamic republic following the recent US-Israeli war. The kingdom is also preparing to host a series of major international events in the coming years, including Expo 2030 and the 2034 football World Cup.
Macron first met MBS in Saudi Arabia in December 2021, becoming one of the earliest Western leaders to do so after the Khashoggi killing. The crown prince has returned to France for multiple visits since.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
1 min read
