PARIS
\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron is hosting Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris on Thursday, defying criticism that the invitation is deeply inappropriate barely four years after the murder by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
\nThe meeting will be seen as the latest step in the readmission of the de-facto ruler of the kingdom into the international fold, after US President Joe Biden met the man universally known as MBS earlier this month.
\nThe topics set to loom over the meeting include energy supply as concern grows over possible power shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as reining in the nuclear programme of Riyadh\u2019s top regional foe Iran.
\nMBS, who is portrayed at home as a champion of social and economic reform but seen by critics as a murderous tyrant, arrives in France fresh from a trip to Greece to discuss energy ties.
\n\u201cI feel profoundly troubled by the visit, because of what it means for our world and what is means for Jamal (Khashoggi) and people like him,\u201d Amnesty International secretary general Agnes Callamard told AFP, describing MBS as a man who \u201cdoes not tolerate any dissent\u201d.
\nThe visits mark MBS\u2019 first trip to the EU since the murder of Khashoggi by Saudi agents at the kingdom\u2019s consulate in Istanbul in 2018, a crime that a UN probe described as an \u201cextrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible\u201d.
\nIt also said there was \u201ccredible evidence\u201d warranting further investigation of the individual liability of high-level Saudi officials, including MBS.
\nUS intelligence agencies determined that MBS had \u201capproved\u201d the operation that led to Khashoggi\u2019s death, though Riyadh denies this, blaming rogue operatives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PARIS French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for talks in Paris on Thursday, defying criticism that the invitation is deeply inappropriate barely four years after the murder by Saudi agents of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The meeting will be seen as the latest step in the readmission of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-274237","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n