Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is wrapping up his three-day visit to France with a gala dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris this evening.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Islamic kingdom’s throne, is also holding formal discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron tonight.
The president’s wife, Brigitte, was spotted helping out with preparations for the bash while walking along the red carpet set up to welcome Prince Mohammed.
Saudi national company Aramco and French oil giant Total, meanwhile, have signed an agreement to build a giant petrochemical complex in Jubail in Saudi Arabia.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 32-year-old heir to the Islamic kingdom’s throne, stands with French President Emmanuel Macron outside the Elysee
The president’s wife, Brigitte, was spotted helping out with preparations for the bash while walking along the red carpet set up to welcome Prince Mohammed
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as he arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris
After the dinner this evening – where the duo will discuss the war in Syria among other things – they will hold a joint news conference. Pictured: Brigitte tonight
The two leaders plan to work on a ‘strategic document’ involving a series of contracts to be signed by Macron during a visit to Saudi Arabia later this year, his office said. Pictured: Brigitte on the red carpet
In total, $9 billion will be invested, creating 8,000 local jobs. The project will produce more than 2.7 million metric tons of high value chemicals, the statement said.
The duo – who are also discussing the war in Syria – held a news conference together.
President Macron defended French weapons sales to the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, but said he was concerned by the humanitarian situation and would host a conference on the issue before the summer.
‘Between now and the summer a joint conference will be held on Yemen to clarify what is being done and what needs to be done,’ Macron said at a news conference alongside Prince Mohammed.
When asked about civilian casualties, Prince Mohammed said the coalition was doing everything to avoid civilian casualties in Yemen, but that mistakes were inevitable in conflicts
They are expected to discuss a future ‘strategic partnership’ to see new contracts signed during Macron’s trip to Saudi Arabia at the end of the year.
French President Emmanuel Macron meets with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Elysee Palace in Paris tonight
French President Emmanuel Macron greets Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman following their press conference at the Elysee Palace
The kingdom revealed on Monday that it would enter short films at the Cannes film festival next month for the first time, a further sign of Prince Mohammed’s mission to modernise his country. Pictured: The prince arriving at the Elysee
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris
On Monday evening, the Saudi heir held a surprise meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as well Moroccan King Mohammed VI, which was revealed in a tweet by Hariri showing the three leaders smiling and dressed casually.
‘No comment,’ read the caption.
It appeared designed to send a message of reconciliation after Hariri was allegedly pressured to resign by the Saudi royal during a trip to Riyadh last November, causing a crisis which Macron helped defuse.
‘This period of ambiguity and confusion is now behind us thanks to the efforts from all sides and the personal implication of President Macron,’ Moueen Merhebi, an MP in Hariri’s party, told AFP in Beirut on Tuesday.
Macron’s role in helping mediate in the Lebanese leadership crisis, which led Hariri to travel to Paris and then rescind his resignation, was seen by analysts as exposing the limits of Prince Mohammed’s authority.
This sequence – as well as Macron’s planned trip to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s arch-regional rival – is thought to have come up during a first round of talks between Macron and his Saudi visitor on Sunday night.
The pair met for nearly three hours Sunday at the Louvre museum, where they visited an exhibition by 19th century painter Eugene Delacroix, creator of the famous ‘Liberty Leading The People’ painting.
On Monday evening, the Saudi heir held a surprise meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri, as well Moroccan King Mohammed VI, which was revealed in a tweet by Hariri showing the three leaders smiling and dressed casually. Pictured: King Mohammed VI of Morocco with Macron
The two leaders plan to work on a ‘strategic document’ involving a series of contracts to be signed by Macron during a visit to Saudi Arabia later this year, his office said. Pictured: Prince Mohammed’s arrival tonight
The painting features a bare-breasted woman holding the French tricolour, an image that would be banned in Saudi Arabia for its nudity and its subversive political message.
Delacroix’s work was inspired by the 1830 July Revolution that saw protestors overthrow the inept French royal king Charles X.
But the gallery tour and dinner at the Louvre also underscored one of main themes of the visit so far, namely deepening cultural ties that will see Saudi officials call on French expertise to set up a national opera and orchestra.
‘No comment’: Lebanese Prime Minister poses for a smiling selfie with Saudi’s Crown Prince and Morocco’s King five months after he ‘was held hostage in Riyadh’
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has appeared in a photograph with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – months after it was claimed he was held hostage in the kingdom.
The duo appeared in a late-night selfie yesterday alongside Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in Paris, reportedly at the King George V Hotel.
It was accompanied by a caption with only two words: ‘No comment’.
The photograph appeared part of an attempt to dispel rumours that Hariri and Prince Mohammed have bad blood.
The duo appeared in a late-night selfie yesterday alongside Morocco’s King Mohammed VI in Paris, reportedly at the King George V Hotel. Hariri is left and Prince Mohammed right
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri as he arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris
Last November, Hariri announced his shock resignation from Saudi Arabia but changing his mind.
He blamed Hezbollah and Iran for the resignation speech, saying he feared for his life.
But Lebanese politicians and officials said Hariri had been held hostage in Saudi Arabia, a claim denied by the prime minister.
French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, has invited Hariri to join him for talks and dinner Tuesday at the Elysee Palace with Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
‘Before the official diner, the three leaders will briefly discuss subjects linked to stability in the Middle East, the fight against terrorism, and economic and cultural cooperation,’ the French statement said.
The kingdom also revealed on Monday that it would enter short films at the Cannes film festival next month for the first time, a further sign of Prince Mohammed’s mission to modernise his country.
The two leaders plan to work on a ‘strategic document’ involving a series of contracts to be signed by Macron during a visit to Saudi Arabia later this year, his office said.
Talks between the men on Tuesday are also expected to cover the war in Syria, where Macron and US President Donald Trump are threatening military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad over alleged chemical weapons attacks.
The prince’s delegation was also attending a forum on Tuesday with French business leaders, which is expected to lead to a host of agreements pledging future economic deals.
Brigitte Macron leaving the Elysee Palace in the rain yesterday
Meanwhile, a French lawyer has filed a lawsuit in a Paris court against Prince Mohammed, accusing him of complicity in torture in Yemen.
Joseph Breham, representing a Yemeni human rights group, is suing the crown prince for his leading role in the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The criminal lawsuit claims that Bin Salman knowingly targeted civilians.
Breham told The Associated Press that French courts have ‘universal jurisdiction’ to investigate the case since the lawsuit was filed Monday while the crown prince was present on French soil.
But he acknowledged Bin Salman can’t be arrested by French authorities due to his diplomatic immunity.
Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir called the lawsuit ‘ridiculous.’
The Paris-filed legal complaint by Yemeni group Legal Center for Rights and Development will automatically trigger the opening of a formal judicial inquiry by a French investigating judge.
But the prosecutor’s office will have the opportunity to challenge French courts’ jurisdiction to the investigating magistrate who’ll have the final say, the lawyer said.
‘The complaint is anything but symbolic,’ Breham insisted in an interview with The Associated Press.
Bin Salman, who was defense minister when Saudi Arabia launched the war in Yemen, allegedly provided the means and instructions for these crimes of torture to be committed, the lawyer said.
The pair met for nearly three hour ons Sunday at the Louvre museum, where they visited an exhibition by 19th century painter Eugene Delacroix, creator of the famous ‘Liberty Leading The People’ painting
The prince’s visit is part of a global tour that has already seen him travel to the United States, Britain and Egypt as he seeks to project a more moderate vision of Saudi Arabia, typically associated in the West with exporting jihadist ideology.
After Paris, he will head to Madrid, before travelling home ahead of the next Arab League summit meeting, on April 15 in Riyadh.
Amid the flurry of announcements in France, campaigners are also mobilised to keep attention focused on French weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and rights abuses in the country.
The kingdom is the lead partner in a coalition of countries bombing and blockading Yemen, where a combination of fighting, disease and food shortages has led the UN to dub it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Three out of four French people believe it is ‘unacceptable’ for France, one of the world’s biggest arms exporters, to continue selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to a YouGov poll.