In Dubai on Friday December 3, Emmanuel Macron announced the sale to the Emirates of 80 copies of the latest version of the Rafale and 12 Caracal helicopters, in exchange for a very large check. Abu Dhabi is a loyal customer of French armaments manufacturers. Other contracts are in the pipeline, in the military field of course, but also in transport, energy and telecommunications. In short, the Head of State arrives like Santa Claus, with a full hood.
A trip in which he will speak very little, if at all, about human rights. While the Emirates, users of the Pegasus spyware, remain an authoritarian regime which has just placed at the head of Interpol a general targeted in France by several complaints of torture. While Qatar is responsible for the deaths of more than 6,500 immigrant workers in the construction sites of its stadiums for the FIFA World Cup.
Emmanuel Macron will not speak about the atrocious death of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Istanbul either. This journalist was killed and then cut with a saw by henchmen of the Saudi regime in the premises of the consulate. Worse, Emmanuel Macron will be the first Western leader to exchange a handshake in public with Mohamed Ben Salman, however designated by the CIA as the commissioner of this assassination.
Since this affair the crown prince has become infrequent, even if the United States continues the discussions undercover Joe Biden still refuses to take him on the phone. Emmanuel Macron breaks this international boycott. The Elysee ensures that it is not a rehabilitation operation for Mohamed Ben Salman. The associations for the defense of human rights do not see it otherwise.
According to the Élysée, the Saudis play too important a role in the Middle East to be ignored. They are members of the G20, represent the main economy in the region. Always the same arguments. Cooperating with Riyadh, as with Doha and Abu Dhabi, is “better fight against radical Islamism and the financing of terrorism”. Short, “we cannot have an ambitious policy” in the region, especially as the United States withdraws, “without having dialogue” with them.
The other reason is Lebanon. Without the support of the Gulf countries the country can definitely sink. Emmanuel Macron therefore also comes to ask for significant financial and humanitarian aid for Lebanon. In front of the “realpolitik”, Jamal Khashoggi’s fate does not weigh very heavily.