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Saudi Arabia will fund the reconstruction of Syria

Saudi Arabia will fund the reconstruction of Syria

2 January 2019
According to President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia could providing the core funding for reconstructing the Syrian Arab Republic.
Over the last seven years, Saudi Arabia has spent more than 500 billion dollars to bring down the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The only reason Saudi Arabia had criticized him was because he was not Sunni. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia was willing to accept that the Republic remains intact and that his vice president succeeds him.
The Saudi decision was taken (...)

The Opening of the 2018 Session of the Future Investment Initiative of Riyadh

The Opening of the 2018 Session of the Future Investment Initiative of Riyadh

24 October 2018
The 2018 session of the Future Investment Initiative opened on 23 October 2018 in Riyadh. This conference was inaugurated in 2017 and the intention was that it become an annual event. However, the feet of most speakers and foreign sponsors turned blue with hypothermia following Jamal Khashoggi’s death.
The Future Investment Initiative was being marketed the “Davos of the Desert”. During the 2017 Session, the Crown Prince Mohamed Ben Salmane (now commonly referred to as “MBS”) presented Project (...)

The Quincy Pact only protects the King of Arabia, not his heir

by Thierry Meyssan

The Quincy Pact only protects the King of Arabia, not his heir

Beirut (Lebanon) | 23 October 2018
The Panamanians who remember Washington’s arrest of its employee, General Noriega, will not be surprised by the fate reserved for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The Jamal Khashoggi affair is one of MBS’s most insignificant crimes, but will probably be his last. The Saoud family is not protected by the Quincy Pact, which only applies to the King. The United States should recuperate several billion dollars.

Jamal Khashoggi’s death: joint statement by UK, France and Germany

Jamal Khashoggi's death: joint statement by UK, France and Germany

21 October 2018
Joint statement by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of France and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany:
“The violent death of Jamal Khashoggi, within the premises of the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul had been feared for many days but its confirmation still comes as a shock.
Nothing can justify this killing and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. ‎
Defending freedom of expression and a free press are key priorities for (...)

The Saudis are publicly divided

The Saudis are publicly divided

20 October 2018
De-fusing the plot to bring down the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed ben Salmane (« MBS »), has caused several members of the Royal family to flee.
While King Salmane personally assured the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that he knew nothing about the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, it was rumoured that his son, MBS, had definitely requested that he be presented with the head of Prince Al-Waleed’s right hand man.
Prince Ahmed ben Abdelaziz, King Salmane’s brother, has set up a permanent base (...)

Jamal Khashoggi and the failed plot against MBS

Jamal Khashoggi and the failed plot against MBS

15 October 2018
On 2 October 2018, the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul.
According to the US press, a trap would have been laid out for him, when he was lured into the consulate to hand over to him his new identity documents following his recent marriage. About a dozen Saudi Secret Service Agents entered the consulate to question him. They tortured him, killed him and cut him apart, limb by limb, before sending his remains to the Saudi (...)

Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi: joint statement by foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany

Disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi: joint statement by foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany

14 October 2018
Joint statement by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian of France and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany:
Defending freedom of expression and a free press and ensuring the protection of journalists are key priorities for Germany, the United Kingdom and France. In this spirit, light must be shed on the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose family has lost contact with him since October 2nd.
Germany, the United Kingdom and France share (...)

Letter by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

Letter by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

Washington D. C. (États-Unis) | 10 October 2018
Dear Mr. President:
The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act requires the President, upon receipt of a request from the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, to determine whether a foreign person is responsible for an extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violation of internationally recognized human rights against an individual exercising freedom of expression, and report to the Committee within 120 days with a determination and a (...)

The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

by Manal al-Sharif

The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi

Washington D. C. (États-Unis) | 9 October 2018
We won’t be silenced
The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, the prominent Saudi journalist and Washington Post contributor, has reverberated among journalists, activists and critics of authoritarianism all over the world.
My first encounter with Jamal’s writings was in 2011, year one of the Arab Spring, in Al-Hayat, the Saudi newspaper we both wrote for. In his columns, he called for seizing the moment and pushed for reforms within Saudi Arabia. For his courageous views, he was banned from (...)

Riyadh purchases an Iron Dome from Israel

Riyadh purchases an Iron Dome from Israel

14 September 2018
The Arab Press has reported that an Israel system of protection against short term grenades and rockets, «the Iron Dome», was sold to Saudi Arabia. The United States probably facilitated the transaction.
The “Iron Dome” was conceived by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It has been operational since 2011 along the Gaza Strip and from 2017 it was installed on several ships at sea. Its cost, normally prohibitive, is being taken care of by the United States. The Israeli lobby in the US Congress (...)

Saudi Arabia will build 560 “model” mosques (sic) in Bangladesh

Saudi Arabia will build 560 “model” mosques (sic) in Bangladesh

7 April 2018
Saudi Arabia has launched a programme to construct 560 mosques in Bangladesh, So announced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka, an announcement made whilst his electoral campaign was in full swing. He made it clear that the Wahhabite Imams of these “model mosques” will spread “the message of an Islam that brings peace”. Each mosque will have its own cultural centre.
The new mosques will form a network in each district of the country. This proves that they do not respond to a need but to a (...)

Egypt contributes part of its own territory for Plan Neom

Egypt contributes part of its own territory for Plan Neom

8 March 2018
On receiving the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed ben Salmane, the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, announced that Egypt was joining the Saudi project Neom.
In October 2017, Saudi Arabia announced its wish to build a high-tech mega city, to be called Neom, targeting luxury tourism. The region in which the city would be built would be governed by a specific legal regime geared for a Western lifestyle. This legal regime would be completely insulated from Wahhabism specifically and (...)

Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have not broken ties with the Muslim Brotherhood

Saudi Arabia and the Emirates have not broken ties with the Muslim Brotherhood

2 January 2018
Prince Mohammed Ben Zayed (Crown Prince of the Emirates) and Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane (Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia) received the leaders of the Yemini Party, al-Islah .
The following were present at the meeting:
On the Emirates side: Prince Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan (National Security Adviser), Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi (Joint Secretary General of the National Security Council) and Prince Shakhbout bin Nahyan Al Nahyan (Ambassador for the Emirates at Riyadh); and
On the Saudi (...)

Jared Kushner reorganises the Middle East

by Thierry Meyssan

Jared Kushner reorganises the Middle East

Damascus (Syria) | 19 December 2017
A personality who is highly contested by his fellow members of the Trump administration, Jared Kushner nevertheless enjoys the total confidence of the President. He has been handed the job of reorganising the Middle East according to the « reality principle », against the received wisdom of each camp. After tangible successes in Saudi Arabia, he is now taking on the Israëlo-Arab question.

Macron succeeds in negotiating Hariri’s liberation

Macron succeeds in negotiating Hariri's liberation

20 November 2017
True the French President Emmanuel Macron had been given an icy reception when he visited Riyadh, but he has now at last secured the liberation of the Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri. The latter had been detained with his family in Saudi Arabia.
After the United States and Russia had got Saudi Arabia to reconsider the rational basis for its decision, France officially invited Mr Hariri and his family to Paris. It would appear that Saudi Arabia has accepted this arrangement.
To save (...)

The United Kingdom is trying to organize Aramco’s flotation

The United Kingdom is trying to organize Aramco's flotation

19 November 2017
Whilst it appears that an agreement has been concluded between the White House and Aramco for Aramco to be floated on Wall Street rather than Riyadh, the United Kingdom has put another offer on the table.
Theresa May has proposed a secured loan of 2 billion dollars to the oil giant if it floats in the City [of London].
Aramco is Saudi property. Its director is the Crown Prince, Mohamed Ben Salmane (« MBS (...)

President Macron snubbed by Saudi Arabia

by Thierry Meyssan

President Macron snubbed by Saudi Arabia

Damascus (Syria) | 14 November 2017
Having hastily organised a detour via Saudi Arabia in order to repatriate the Lebanese Prime Minister, who is being held prisoner with his family there, President Emmanuel Macron had to swallow an unprecedented public affront. Although the French and Western Press did everything they could to camouflage the events, Arab public opinion could not help but note the staggering loss of French prestige and influence in the Middle East.

800 billion dollars confiscated in Saudi Arabia

800 billion dollars confiscated in Saudi Arabia

11 November 2017
According to the Wall Street Journal, the total number of assets confiscated from adversaries and political rivals of Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane (« MBS ») would probably rise to 800 billion dollars .
This sum could increase by a further 550 billion dollars to reach 1 250 billion dollars. However a large chunk of these assets is stationed abroad. This will force Saudi Arabia to enforce its rights.
The current claw back of assets would thus permit the Kingdom to re-establish its (...)

The Houthis propose granting political asylum to the Saudis

The Houthis propose granting political asylum to the Saudis

11 November 2017
The Houthi rebels that control most of Yemen have proposed granting political asylum to the victims of the Palatial coup at Riyadh.
The Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane, who has just liquidated all clans capable of challenging the succession to the throne, is the one that initiated the war that Saudi Arabia is waging against Yemen.
Furthermore, we learn that, when Prince Abdul Aziz ben Fahd was arrested, he would probably have been killed, resisting the law enforcement agencies. A member (...)

Israel orchestrating Hariri’s resignation to provoke a war

Israel orchestrating Hariri's resignation to provoke a war

9 November 2017
On Sunday 5 November 2017, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking in a pre-recorded address, observed that it was incongruous for the Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad Hariri, to resign not from Lebanon, but from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh in the presence of “MBS”. He accused Saudi Arabia of interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
On Monday 6 November, the Saudi Minister for Foreign Affairs, Adel Jubair, declared on CNN that the firing of a missile by Houthi rebels against Riyadh’s airport (...)

Saudi Arabia: 1 300 personalities arrested in 48 hours

Saudi Arabia: 1 300 personalities arrested in 48 hours

9 November 2017
Since Saturday 4 November 22 hrs (Universal Time), more than 1,300 Saudi personalities have been arrested in relation to the Palace coup,
Most suspects belong to the Abdallah clan, but others belonged to other clans capable of seeking succession to the throne.
Some suspects have been imprisoned while others have been assigned to house arrest at the Ritz- Carlton hotel. They are sleeping on mattresses, guarded by security (...)

Iran denounces Saudi accusation against it

by Gholamali Khoshroo

Iran denounces Saudi accusation against it

New York (USA) | 7 November 2017
Upon instructions from my Government, I would like to bring to your attention the following:
Pursuant to a reported launch of a missile on 4 November 2017 from Yemen to Riyadh, the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its Crown Prince and Minister for Foreign Affairs, accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of supplying missiles to Yemen for the purpose of attacking Saudi Arabia. Based on this unfounded assumption, they maintained that such measures are a “direct military (...)

Palace Coup in Riyadh

by Thierry Meyssan

Palace Coup in Riyadh

Damascus (Syria) | 7 November 2017
While the war against Daesh is drawing to a close in Iraq and Syria, and the war against the pseudo-Kurdistan seems to have been avoided, several States of the Greater Middle East are regaining the initiative. Profiting from the fluidity of the moment, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has brutally eliminated the members of the royal family who may be in a position to contest his Power. So not only has the regional balance of power been modified by war, but one of the region’s main actors has just changed its objectives.

Will Qatar replace Saudi Arabia against Myanmar?

Will Qatar replace Saudi Arabia against Myanmar?

30 October 2017
In the past, the British have used Islamist extremist terrorism as an instrument to achieve its objectives and now continues with this strategy in South East Asia. In February – March 2017, the King of Saudi Arabia, Salmane had come to Malaysia, to get it ready to play a supporting role in the Rohingya crisis, soon to unfold in Myanmar. However, after President Trump got Saudi Arabia to reverse its strategy in May, noone was prepared to follow through with the preparedness plan when the (...)

Saudi Arabia could abandon Wahhabism

Saudi Arabia could abandon Wahhabism

26 October 2017
Opening the Economic Forum, “Future Investment Initiative”, Mohamed Ben Salmane, the Prince heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia, declared his intention to transform Saudi Society, making it “normal, tolerant and good”.
Over the past few months, the Prince has fluctuated between autocratic political measures (incarcerating oppositional leaders) and measures to liberalize society (such as authorizing women to drive their own cars).
The undertaking that the Prince gave is a logical consequence in (...)

Saudi Arabia issues a call for an international alliance against Hezbollah

Saudi Arabia issues a call for an international alliance against Hezbollah

13 October 2017
Thamer Al-Sabhan (photo), as well as holding other offices, is the Saudi Minister for Gulf Affairs. Thus he has relations with Iran but not with Lebanon. He has indicated in a tweet:
“There is only one terrorism and that must be fought everywhere. Would the world agree with the presence of members of Daesh and members of Al-Nusra in Parliaments and governments? It is necessary to unite against the Party of the Devil”.
Al-Nusra is the former name of Al-Qaeda in Syria. The expression “Party (...)

Lavrov: Saudi Arabia supports the Russian Peace Process in Syria

Lavrov: Saudi Arabia supports the Russian Peace Process in Syria

13 September 2017
On 9 and 10 September 2017, the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, met with his Saudi homologue and King Salmane in Riyadh.
In the final communiqué, the two parties declare:
“Our examination of the problems in the Middle East has emphasized the need to reach, as soon as possible, a diplomatic and political settlement to the conflicts and crises that persist in this strategic region, notably, regarding the situation in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, the Gulf area and the (...)

Saudi Arabia gets ready to change its foreign policy

Saudi Arabia gets ready to change its foreign policy

27 August 2017
Saudi Arabia continues with its preparations for King Salmane’s abdication and for his replacement by his son, Prince Mohammed.
First: Saudi Arabia is getting ready to withdraw from Yemen. Although Prince Mohammed is at the origin of the conflict, he has now understood that that he just cannot win this battle, and could let the responsibility of this disastrous adventure flow back to his father, King Salmane. This approach is confirmed by emails exchanged between the US ambassador Martin (...)

The civil war continues in Qatif (Saudi Arabia)

The civil war continues in Qatif (Saudi Arabia)

15 August 2017
Since the end of 2011, a number of anti-government demonstrations have taken place at Qatif (the Saudi province on the Persian Gulf). For three months, the “Eagles of Nayef “ (the Saudi police unit that extinguished the revolution in Bahrain) “have been maintaining order there”.
Deploying armoured vehicles and bombing the rebels of Al-Awamia, the police has totally destroyed the Moussawara district and is getting ready to make an assault on the Chouweikat district.
All the demonstrators are (...)

Riyadh: No secret that the Nayef clan is losing control of state security

Riyadh: No secret that the Nayef clan is losing control of state security

21 July 2017
The coup in the palace got rid of the clan of Prince Mohammed ben Nayef, Riyadh’s heir to the throne. However, the latter still believes that he is in charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs which has in fact been transferred to the son-in-law of the deposed prince.
However, King Salmane has just set up State Security organ which is directly accountable to him. According to the official press agency, several departments of the Ministry for Home Affairs, including the Intelligence service and (...)

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