Trump’s 9/11 comments mark the latest in a string of public relations victories for Saudi Arabia, #Trumps #comments #mark #latest #string #public #relations #wins #Saudi #Arabia Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Former President Donald Trump’s comments that cast doubt on Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks are the latest in a string of recent public relations victories for the desert kingdom and reigning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Four years after he was charged with ordering the murder of prominent Saudi critic and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the crown prince was welcomed to two European capitals and a Saudi Arabia-funded golf tournament kicked off this weekend at the Bedminster. Trump’s golf club.
While Salman also enjoyed positive headlines this week about his outlandish plans for a futuristic megacity, activists and pundits warned that Saudi Arabia’s efforts to restore its global reputation were working, despite scant evidence of a change in its approach to human rights. leading to accusations of Western hypocrisy and subversion calling for reform in the region.
On Thursday, Riyadh’s ongoing efforts to distance itself from the September 11, 2001 attacks were given a welcome boost when Trump said “nobody got to the bottom of 9/11,” in response to criticism from the victims’ families of his decision to host the lavish LIV golf series event at his New Jersey club.
The kingdom’s investment fund is financing the lucrative breakaway golf tour, while a Saudi Arabia-backed consortium also bought British football club Newcastle United last year.
“Saudi Arabia has adopted a deliberate long-term strategy of investing in sports and celebrities to derive their reputation – sports laundering, money laundering, reputation laundering,” said Michael Page, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Division. at Human Rights Watch. .
“The money the Saudis use is shaping the way people downplay or avert very serious concerns about Saudi Arabia, especially human rights abuses,” he added.
Many Americans hold Saudi Arabia responsible for the 9/11 attacks, as 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Investigations do not involve Saudi leaders, but they did establish links between Saudi citizens and the funding of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. The Saudi government denies any involvement.
Trump’s comments came nearly two weeks after President Joe Biden smashed his fists with Crown Prince Mohammed during a visit to the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.
The action provoked outraged human rights groups, who want the crown prince to be held accountable for the 2018 murder of Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by an intelligence team with close ties to the crown prince, according to a report by the U.S. intelligence agency. .
Salman has taken responsibility for the murder, but has denied any involvement, accusing the murder of rogue Saudi agents.
People walk past a memorial poster celebrating the first anniversary of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2019. Elif Ozturk / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The incident sparked international outrage and in 2019, Biden, then a presidential candidate, vowed to make the kingdom a “pariah.”
“Bin Salman was isolated, he was convicted of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Now he has received the red carpet… he is out of his cage,” said Abdel Bari Atwan, political analyst and editor of the Arab news website Rai al-Youm.
Salman’s apparent return from the diplomatic cold highlights the West’s continued reliance on Saudi oil, especially given the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine, analysts said. Washington and its allies are also eager to counter the influence of China, Russia and rival regional power Iran.
Earlier this week, the Crown Prince, one of the world’s most autocratic rulers, toured the birthplace of Western democracy while visiting the Acropolis in Athens.
On Thursday he left for Paris, where he enjoyed a long handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron in front of the red carpet stairs of the Elysee presidential palace. The two leaders discussed the “diversification of energy supplies for European countries,” according to a French statement.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks at President Joe Biden at the Jeddah Security and Development Summit in Saudi Arabia earlier this month. Royal Court of Saudi Arabia / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Salman’s rehabilitation will encourage other autocrats to ignore human rights, activists say.
“He has succeeded, he has really managed to restore relations with the West after Khashoggi,” said Ali Adubisi, the Berlin-based director of the European Saudi Organization for Human Rights. “These Western leaders are not responsible for human rights. They have their own priorities. And the message for civil society? Don’t trust those leaders.”
In addition to oil, Saudi Arabia is also a major arms buyer and a potential source of multibillion-dollar construction contracts to realize Salman’s ‘Vision 2030’ for his country’s development.
This week, social media was abuzz with bizarre images of a planned 106-mile mirrored building in the Saudi desert, part of the crown prince’s blueprint for a futuristic new city called “Neom”.
While some critics welcomed the plan as groundbreaking urban innovation, most labeled it a half-baked idea that will inevitably leave a giant white elephant in the desert. In addition, Amnesty International has said that forced evictions and vandalism related to the project violated human rights standards.
Former President Donald Trump drives a golf cart with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, NJ on Thursday. Doug Mills / Redux Pictures
Salman has established himself as a modernizer, and along with the ambitious building projects, he has reined in the power of the clergy, allowed women to ride and oversee the opening of movie theaters and other entertainment venues once unimaginable in his conservative era. kingdom.
But the country is even more repressive than it was under the Crown Prince’s predecessors, with rights groups condemning arbitrary arrests, the detention of human rights defenders and government critics, the use of the death penalty for minors and the devastating Riyadh war in Yemen, one of the poorest countries in the world. world.
Saudi Arabia’s reintegration into the global community, despite the abuses, is likely to fuel even more cynicism about the West’s pursuit of better human rights standards, according to the analyst Atwan.
“The West is actually shooting itself in the foot. They are not trusted by Arab public opinion when they give lectures on human rights,” he said. “People say, ‘No, sorry. You know, we don’t believe you. We don’t trust you anymore.’”