Paris to improve ties with Riyadh despite rights record
Senior French and Saudi officials are to hold a fresh meeting to discuss projects worth billions of dollars; a sign that Paris is adamantly seeking warm ties with a kingdom known for its abysmal record in human rights.
French President Francois Hollande and Saudi Defense Minister Prince Mohamed bin Salman are expected to meet Wednesday in Paris to potentially finalize deals on aeronautics, nuclear power, health and investment sectors.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts for reinforcing links with top Western powers beyond its traditional ally the United States.
France has also actively sought close ties with Saudi Arabia. In May, President Hollande became the first Western leader to travel to the kingdom for a summit of the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. He was also the first Western leader to meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud since he came to power in January.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced after those meetings that Paris and Riyadh were in talks on 20 major projects potentially worth tens of billions of dollars.
It is unclear whether the Wednesday meeting between Hollande and Salman could result in concrete contracts, but the French president announced in May that the two countries could finalize the deals in June.
French officials say the bilateral trade between Paris and Riyadh has experienced a considerable boom over the past years, reaching more than 10 billion euros in 2014.
The improving ties between the two countries come despite the growing international criticism about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. Western governments, including the French, have been urging Riyadh to drop a sentence of 1,000 lashes for Raif Badawi, a renowned human rights activist and blogger, who received 50 of his lashes in January.
Adam Coogle, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, told AFP that Riyadh uses petrodollars to intimidate other countries out of taking a stand on its human rights record.
“The French should use their relationship both to improve their economic situation, but they should then try to use that leverage to convince the Saudis to improve on their (rights) record,” Coogle said.
Saudi Arabia’s increasing use of the death penalty with the sword has also triggered a global uproar, with Amnesty International designating the kingdom as one of the world’s top three executioners in 2014.
The report of growing ties between Paris and Riyadh further comes as Saudi Arabia continues to push with a devastating military aggression against Yemen, its impoverished southern neighbor, which, according to the UN, has claimed the lives of at least 1,500 civilians since its onset on March 26.
MS/HSN/HMV
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