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☆ Top Biden aide discusses Yemen peace efforts with Saudi crown prince
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to the kingdom on Sunday and reviewed what the White House called "significant progress" in Yemen peace efforts, the White House said. Sullivan, President Joe Biden's top White House national security aide, also thanked the crown prince for Saudi support to U.S. citizens during evacuation from Sudan, the statement added. U.S. special envoy Tim Lenderking travelled to Oman and Saudi Arabia earlier this month to seek to advance Yemen peace efforts, the State Department said. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Iran-aligned Houthis ousted the government from the capital Sanaa. But the White House statement made no mention of Israel.

☆ Saudi Arabia wants to be a bigger player in the Middle East — this time with diplomacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“And that can only reflect well on the Kingdom.”This new diplomacy comes as Saudi Arabia prioritizes economic growth at home, which requires regional stability to succeed. Saudi efforts at revamping its image as a peace-broker may face credibility challenges, however, given its near decade-long combative foreign policy and the bad press it attracted. That group is party to the Sudan conflict that Saudi Arabia is trying to help end. Despite its controversial past, Saudi Arabia may still carry enough influence to bring quarreling parties to the negotiating table, analysts say. “Saudi (Arabia) does not pretend to be an impartial mediator but its voice carries weight with many parties in the region,” Shihabi said, adding that where it can, Saudi Arabia wants to use that influence to reduce tensions.

During the current fighting Egypt has joined calls for an effective ceasefire while saying they consider the conflict an internal matter for Sudan. The most important regional ally for Hemedti before the conflict was the United Arab Emirates. Hemedti said he advised Sudan to cut ties to Wagner after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the private military contractor. Saudi Arabia has had close ties to Burhan and Hemedti, both of whom sent troops to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Israel, which had been hoping to move forward in normalising ties with Sudan, has also offered to host talks.

☆ The Saudi crown prince wants to build a trillion-dollar utopia in the desert. His deals with China reveal a darker vision.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It's part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's modernizing vision of the country. But behind the outlandish plan, developed by Saudi Arabia's powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, is a much darker reality. Crown Prince Mohammed appears keen to replicate those projects on a grander scale. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman announces a zero-carbon city called "The Line" to be built at NEOM in northwestern Saudi Arabia, January 10, 2021. It appeared to be the beginning of a fruitful partnership for Crown Prince Mohammed.

☆ China is succeeding in the Middle East because it learned from watching the US fail there for 20 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Natalie Armbruster | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Conversely, China is clear-eyed about its interests in the Middle East and, more importantly, their limits. In fact, most of China's Belt and Road Initiative investments in the Middle East hinge on ensuring free trade in the Middle East and a steady energy supply, not security. As international scrutiny builds surrounding the Uyghur crisis, China is particularly keen on finding partners in the Middle East who will exchange silence for investment. With Saudi Arabia, which has its own skeletons in its closet, such a trade is tempting. Instead of resorting to undue threat inflation, the United States may benefit from a corrective course on its history in the Middle East thus far.

☆ Saudi stocks gain on rising oil prices; Qatar falls
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Ateeq Shariff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 16 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock markets ended higher on Sunday after Friday's rise in oil prices, although the Qatari index extended losses for a second session. Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI) gained 0.6%, led by a 1.2% increase in Al Rajhi Bank (1120.SE), while oil giant Saudi Aramco (2223.SE) added 0.8%. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman launched on Thursday four new Special Economic Zones in Saudi Arabia, state media reported on Thursday after the market had closed, citing a statement. In Qatar, the index (.QSI) fell 0.4%, extending losses for a second session, with petrochemical maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) losing 1.5%. Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China brokering a deal between the Saudis and Iran is a message for the US: Change your strategy or get left behind
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Hassan El-Tayyab | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced they had normalized relations in a deal brokered by China. Hassan El-Tayyab is legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. By mediating the Saudi-Iran deal, China has demonstrated its ability to play a constructive role in resolving conflicts impartially, rather than relying on arms sales to keep nations in America's corner in geopolitical disputes. There have been some positive signs for diplomacy in Yemen since the Saudi-Iran deal was announced. Hassan El-Tayyab is the legislative director for Middle East policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.

The de facto leader of the world’s main oil producer club sent crude prices spiking on Monday after proposing a further cut to crude production. Bank collapses on both sides of the Atlantic sent oil prices down by 15% to $73 a barrel in March. More importantly, while a Chinese post-Covid demand recovery should boost oil prices, it’s not totally clear by how much. Unlike Europe and the U.S., Chinese oil consumption is more led by industry than travel, and the former has yet to properly pick up. The U.S. administration said on April 2 the surprise oil output cuts were not “advisable”.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ 9 Middle Eastern funds and investors pouring money into US media, sports, and entertainment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Lucia Moses | Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Governments and investors in the Middle East are pouring money into Western media and entertainment. Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment, and they're finding plenty of takers. The channels for money from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East are complex. Insider broke down the key entities — their owners, leaders, and high-profile investments and joint ventures — in the top three Middle Eastern nations pouring money into US entertainment and media. It describes itself as the largest media company in the Middle East and North Africa and runs one of the largest TV news channels, Al Arabiya.

☆ Egypt's Sisi visits Saudi Arabia amid financial pressure, regional realignment
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RIYADH, April 2 (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday, Saudi state news agency SPA said, as Cairo seeks financial inflows to ease pressure on its currency and bolster a faltering economy. The trip also comes amid a major diplomatic realignment in the region, with moves by Saudi Arabia and Egypt to ease tensions with Syria, Iran and Turkey. Other Saudi and Egyptian officials, including Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban and Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, attended the meeting, it added. Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have repeatedly come to Egypt's help since Sisi led the ouster of Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood a decade ago. When Egypt's financial difficulties were exposed and exacerbated by the fallout from the war in Ukraine last year, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar made deposits in Egypt's central bank and pledged major new investments.

☆ China's Xi speaks with Saudi crown prince, supports Saudi-Iran talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, discussing a wide range of subjects including supporting follow-up talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, state media CCTV reported on Tuesday. Xi recently helped broker a surprise deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Middle East rivals, earlier this month to restore diplomatic ties, in a display of China's growing influence in the region which is being warily watched by the United States. Prince Mohammed, who is also the kingdom's prime minister, voiced appreciation for China's initiative to support "efforts to develop good neighbourliness" between Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia and Shi'ite Iran, Saudi state news agency SPA said. The two leaders stressed the importance of strategic ties between Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and economic powerhouse China, a main trade partner of Gulf states, it added. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have voiced concern about perceived disengagement by main security guarantor the United States from the region and have moved to diversify partners with an eye on national economic and security interests.

DUBAI—Riding an oil-price boom last year, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman directed government-backed Saudi National Bank to make a $1.5 billion investment in Credit Suisse Group AG that his financial advisers harbored doubts about, according to people familiar with the matter. Now, the Saudi investment is almost wiped out after Credit Suisse’s emergency merger with UBS Group AG. Credit Suisse’s meltdown also erased billions of dollars in investments made by Qatar’s sovereign fund and the Saudi-based Olayan family, making the Persian Gulf one of the biggest losers from a slide in financial stocks since the collapse of two U.S. banks last week.

[1/2] Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attends an Arab summit with U.S. President Joe Biden (not seen), in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 16, 2022. If the resolution passes, the administration must submit the report within 30 days, or all security assistance to the country automatically stops. After the report is received, the act stipulates that Congress may adopt a joint resolution terminating, restricting or continuing security assistance to that country. Aides said it was too soon to assess how the resolution would be received, but they hoped it would trigger a broader conversation about human rights. Murphy, long a vocal critic of the conflict in Yemen and Riyadh's record on human rights, praised Biden for being willing to reassess ties.

☆ Saudi money is pouring into Hollywood and media, 5 years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Here's who's cashing in and how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Even those media players that are comfortable with invetment from the Middle East may not find funds flowing, one Hollywood veteran said. A major live WWE event in Saudi Arabia is slated for May. Of the growing ties between US entertainment and media and Middle East investors, this person added, "Presumably media organizations got into this to help society make better decisions."

☆ Saudi Crown Prince Test Drives Nonaligned Foreign Policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Stephen Kalin | Summer Said | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman whose decision making has been criticized in the past as erratic. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Flush with cash from an oil boom, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is making foreign-policy and business moves that test whether it is possible not to take sides in the rivalries between the U.S. and Russia and China. Last week’s China-brokered agreement to renew diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia’s rival Iran demonstrated a shrewd pragmatism from the 37-year-old de facto ruler, whose decision making has been criticized in the past as erratic. The deal would cool tensions across the Persian Gulf and bring Saudi Arabia closer to its biggest trading partner, China, without alienating its top security partner in Washington, where officials said they saw the detente as positive.

☆ Saudi Arabia making peace with Iran in a deal brokered by China is a 'middle finger to Biden'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China. The US and Saudi Arabia have a close relationship and have been security partners for years. Saudi Arabia ultimately moved to cut oil production instead, which was viewed as a diplomatic embarrassment for the Biden administration and sparked outrage in Congress. Bandar Algaloud/ReutersThe deal also comes as the US contends with historic tensions with both Iran and China. The agreement also has the potential to throw a wrench in efforts to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, given the latter and Iran are longtime enemies.

☆ Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Clash Over Oil, Yemen as Rift Grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Summer Said | Stephen Kalin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Middle East leaders at a regional event in January. DUBAI—When Abu Dhabi hosted a summit of Middle East leaders at a seaside palace in January, there was a glaring absence: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman . Prince Mohammed and U.A.E. President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan steered clear of each other’s events intentionally, Gulf officials said, even as the rulers of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar and others attended. The snubs exposed a growing rift between neighboring U.S. security partners that for years marched in lockstep on Middle East foreign policy.

☆ LIV Golf Fight Stirs Up Questions About Saudi Ownership of Newcastle United
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Joshua Robinson | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—When Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund took a majority interest in English soccer team Newcastle United in 2021, the Premier League set out a clear condition before approving the sale. Newcastle, the league said, couldn’t in any way be controlled by the government of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Public Investment Fund assured the league that the team’s operations would be free of state influence, despite the fund’s chairman being Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

☆ Saudi companies to invest $51 billion under government-backed plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RIYADH, March 2 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has launched 192 billion riyals ($51.2 billion) of investments led by local companies, including oil giant Aramco (2222.SE), SABIC (2010.SE) and Ma'aden (1211.SE), under a government-backed initiative, state news agency SPA reported. Other investments in the telecommunications and logistics will also receive Shareek support. Prince Mohammed had announced 12 trillion riyals of investments that the kingdom is planning by 2030, which include the Shareek programme, 3 trillion riyals from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and 2 trillion in foreign investment. As part of the plans, officials have also pressed international companies to invest in Saudi Arabia and move their regional headquarters to Riyadh in order to benefit from government contracts. ($1 = 3.7524 riyals)Reporting by Alaa Swilam; Writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UAE gas IPO’s $50 bln valuation looks like a floor
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Karen Kwok | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United Arab Emirates’ bumper gas listing inevitably invites comparisons with Saudi Aramco (2222.SE). As with the five other subsidiaries which ADNOC has listed, including its distribution arm and Borouge (BOROUGE.AD), ADNOC Gas comes with juicy shareholder payouts. While ADNOC Gas benefits from a 25-year agreement with its parent to provide gas for its needs, ADNOC takes a share of the resulting profit. That said, with over two thirds of its gas serving local customers who contribute one-third of its operating profit after tax, ADNOC Gas earnings are arguably more predictable. ADNOC Gas envisages an equity valuation of at least $50 billion, people familiar with the situation told Reuters Breakingviews.

☆ Trump and Kushner's Saudi Ties Are an Ethical Minefield: Watchdog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Weeks after leaving office, Jared Kushner obtained a $2 billion investment from the Saudi government. The Saudi support came despite the kingdom's own financial advisers urging against any investment in Kushner's new company, citing the "inexperience" of its top brass. Let's start with Jared Kushner before we get into the LIV Golf situation. You have John Bolton, Trump's own national security advisor, making it very clear that you had somebody, like Jared — and President Trump, apparently — working to promote their business interests. Trump, not only did he keep his company, the Trump Organization, but he's a transactional president, right?

☆ Jared Kushner's private equity firm concealed the origins of Saudi-backed funds and used the SEC's own rules to help them do it, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In April 2022, The New York Times reported Jared Kushner received $2.5 billion in Saudi-backed funds. A new Washington Post report reveals how Kushner's company concealed the source of the funds. On an SEC form, a box reading "Sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions" was blank. In the form, Kushner lists Affinity as an "other business name." Kushner and his father-in-law, Trump, have received a fair share of scrutiny for their ties to the Saudi prince and his allies.

☆ Washington Post publisher slams Pompeo calling Jamal Khashoggi an 'activist' in new book, fires back that CIA 'concluded Jamal was brutally murdered'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Washington Post official blasted Mike Pompeo for his portrayal of Jamal Khashoggi in his new book. Post publisher Fred Ryan said Pompeo "outrageously" misrepresents "the life and work" of Khashoggi. "As the CIA — which Pompeo once directed — concluded, Jamal was brutally murdered on the orders of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman." The report also described that later in his life Khashoggi's ties to the group were "ambiguous." Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, Khashoggi's widow, told NBC News that Khashoggi' was never part of the group.

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