For the first time since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, the French President Emmanuel Macron, an important Western head of state, has visited Saudi Arabia again.
Macron met on Saturday in the port city of Jeddah for talks with the Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman.
The US government published an intelligence report in February that said Salman was implicated in the Khashoggi assassination. The Crown Prince denies this. Khashoggi disappeared from the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018. It later emerged that he had been murdered by a special squad. His body has disappeared to this day. From the United States, Khashoggi had published opinion pieces in the Washington Post that criticized Salman.
Macron had denied allegations on Friday that he legitimized the crown prince.
Rather, the various crises in the region could not be resolved by ignoring Saudi Arabia.
Macron believes the country is indispensable for signing a regional peace agreement with Iran.
Macron also believes that the kingdom is an ally in the fight against Islamist extremists.
France is one of the most important arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia.