person:mohammad bin salman

  • Report: Netanyahu asked Trump to stick with Saudi crown prince after Khashoggi murder - Middle East News - Haaretz.com
    https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/netanyahu-asked-trump-to-stick-with-saudi-crown-prince-after-khashoggi-murd

    WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked senior officials in the Trump White House to continue supporting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.

    Citing U.S. officials, the report stated that Netanyahu described the Crown Prince as a “strategic ally” in the Middle East.

    The report said that a similar message was conveyed to the White House by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.

  • MbS: The New Saddam of Arabia? – LobeLog
    https://lobelog.com/mbs-the-new-saddam-of-arabia

    As Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) has terrorized his opponents at home and abroad, fear has spread within the Saudi kingdom. Has he become the new Saddam of Arabia? As Iraq’s Saddam Hussein did in the 1980s, MbS is cementing his power domestically and regionally through fear and economic largesse under the guise of fighting Iran, Islamic radicalism, and terrorism.

    Much like the tyrant of Baghdad did in Iraq, MbS has crushed his domestic and regional opponents. Both of them have enlisted the support of foreign powers, especially the United States and Britain, to buttress their hold on power in their territories and expand their reach internationally. They both spoke the language of “reform,” which appeals to Western audiences, and both demonized Iran as a promoter of regional instability and a source of evil internationally.

    They both used chemical weapons against their opponents—Saddam against his Kurdish citizens and against Iran during the Iran-Iraq war; MbS against civilians in Yemen. Saddam threatened and later invaded his neighbor Kuwait. MbS has waged a vicious campaign against his neighbor and fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Qatar and threatened to invade it.

    Saddam and MbS also cynically donned the mantle of Sunni Islam in their hypocritical claims against the so-called Shia Crescent and its main proponent Iran. Saddam’s “Republic of Fear” seems to be slowly morphing into a “Kingdom of Fear” under MbS.

    #arabie_saoudite

  • https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenrwald/2018/07/25/signs-point-to-trouble-ahead-for-saudi-economy/#3591ae46635d

    Signs Point To Trouble Ahead For Saudi Economy

    The lasting impact of that crackdown (or purge, depending on how you see it) has been a stifling of the Saudi private sector, with many wealthy Saudis unwilling to invest domestically despite Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s centralized push for business growth . The government, under the direction of the prince, is trying to compel economic growth and diversification, primarily through the Vision2030 program. This has left the Saudi government as the major source of investment in the Saudi economy, which, ultimately, defeats the objectives of diversification and privatization. Government investment can make Saudi economic numbers look good on paper, but it is a risky strategy. When oil prices fall so does government spending (meaning government spending does not lead to diversification).

    This also sends a troubling signal to foreign investors and foreign businesses considering opportunities in the kingdom. If Saudis are trying to move their money out of the country—and if the government is concerned enough to prevent them from doing so—foreign investors or companies looking to open businesses in Saudi Arabia will hesitate. Without assurances that the rule of law is respected in Saudi Arabia, foreign businesses will consider Saudi Arabia too risky to enter. Capital flight from Saudi citizens is a key indicator.

    #arabie_saoudite suites de la #nuit_torride

  • French arrest warrant out for Saudi crown prince’s sister: source close to probe
    http://www.dailystar.com.lb//News/Middle-East/2018/Mar-15/441675-french-arrest-warrant-out-for-saudi-crown-princes-sister-source

    France has issued an arrest warrant for the sister of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on suspicion of ordering her bodyguard to beat up a worker at her Paris apartment, sources close to the case told AFP Thursday.

    The mandate against the princess, named in the warrant under the French spelling Hussat ben Salmane, was issued in late December, a source said, confirming a report by Le Point magazine.

  • What Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury” says about Trump’s collusion with Israel
    https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/what-michael-wolffs-fire-and-fury-says-about-trumps-collusion-is

    However, the special counsel probe by Robert Mueller has indeed uncovered some collusion between the Trump team and a foreign power: Israel.

    In a plea agreement last month for making false statements to the FBI, Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn admitted that he had contacted foreign governments during the final weeks of the Obama administration to try to derail a UN vote condemning Israeli settlements.

    This possibly illegal effort to undermine the policy of the sitting administration was done at the direction of Kushner and at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Yet mainstream pundits have shown little concern, just as they have shown little interest in any further revelations about what we might well call Israelgate coming out of the Wolff book.

    As the book’s publication was brought forward amid the media frenzy, I decided to take a look.

    It turns out that Fire and Fury contains evidence that Trump’s policy is not so much America First as it is Israel First.

    Wolff recounts an early January 2017 dinner in New York where Bannon and disgraced former Fox News boss Roger Ailes discussed cabinet picks.

    Bannon observed that they did not have a “deep bench,” but both men agreed the extremely pro-Israel neocon John Bolton would be a good pick for national security adviser. “He’s a bomb thrower,” Ailes said of Bolton, “and a strange little fucker. But you need him. Who else is good on Israel?”

    “Day one we’re moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. Netanyahu’s all in,” Bannon said, adding that anti-Palestinian casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson was on board too.

    “Let Jordan take the West Bank, let Egypt take Gaza. Let them deal with it. Or sink trying,” Bannon proposed. “The Saudis are on the brink, Egyptians are on brink, all scared to death of Persia.”

    Asked by Ailes, “Does Donald know” the plan, Bannon reportedly just smiled.

    Bannon’s idea reflected “the new Trump thinking” about the Middle East: “There are basically four players,” writes Wolff, “Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The first three can be united against the fourth.” Egypt and Saudi Arabia would be “given what they want” in respect to Iran, and in return would “pressure the Palestinians to make a deal.”

    Another key foreign policy relationship for the Trump administration has been with Mohammad bin Salman, the reckless crown prince and real power in Saudi Arabia, who has been willing to go along with the plan, especially by cozying up to Israel.

    According to Wolff, the lack of education of both Trump and MBS – as the Saudi prince is commonly known – put them on an “equal footing” and made them “oddly comfortable with each other.”

    Trump, ignorant and constantly flattered by regional leaders, appeared to naively believe he could pull off what he called “the biggest breakthrough in Israel-Palestine negotiations ever.”

  • Trump on Saudi Leadership Shake-up: “We’ve Put Our Man on Top!”
    https://theintercept.com/2018/01/04/trump-saudi-arabia-fire-and-fury-michael-wolff

    When Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad bin Salman effectively launched a coup and unseated his political rival in June, President Donald Trump took private credit. “We’ve put our man on top!” Trump told his friends, writes Michael Wolff in his forthcoming book, “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.”

    Saudi Arabia’s King Salman had ousted his nephew Mohammad bin Nayef as crown prince and replaced him with his then-31-year-old son, bin Salman, shaking up the line of succession and turning on decades of custom within the royal family. The move was announced in the dead of night and was just another step in bin Salman’s rise to power in the kingdom in recent years. The king also removed bin Nayef, once a powerful figure in the country’s security apparatus, from his post as interior minister.

    Just a month earlier, Trump had visited Saudi Arabia on his first overseas trip, meeting with leaders from across the Middle East and signing a $110 billion aspirational arms deal with the kingdom’s leaders. When bin Salman was named crown prince, Trump called and congratulated him on his “recent elevation.”

    Wolff describes Trump’s Saudi trip as a “get-out-of-Dodge godsend,” as it was an escape from Washington shortly after the president fired FBI Director James Comey. “There couldn’t have been a better time to be making headlines far from Washington. A road trip could transform everything.”

    The book is based on 18 months of interviews and access to Trump and his senior staff. But Wolff has a history of being an unreliable narrator, and questions have already been raised about the veracity of his claims. Trump, for his part, is outraged by the book, which contains damning passages about him and his family, attributed to the president’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon. The president’s lawyer has demanded that Wolff and his publisher cease and desist publication of the book.

    #arabie_saoudite

    • http://french.almanar.com.lb/726801
      Confidence de Trump : « Je suis derrière le putsch en Arabie Saoudite ! »

      Ces révélations viennent confirmer la thèse de coup d’Etat mené, en juin dernier, par le fils du roi Salman contre le prince héritier légitime, à savoir Mohammed Ben Nayef, avec le soutien de Donald Trump, qui a fait, durant la même semaine, son premier voyage en Arabie Saoudite pour présider un sommet avec les chefs d’Etat d’une quarantaine de pays musulmans. Une thèse que réfute Riyad puisque, selon la version officielle, cette ascension de Mohammed Ben Salman aurait obtenu l’approbation de tous les membres de la famille régnante.

      Aussi, l’implication du gendre de Trump, Jared Kushner, déjà évoquée par plusieurs sources, dans le rapprochement entre l’Arabie Saoudite et Israël, notamment, est ici indirectement confirmée.

      Très lié à Mohammed Ben Salman, Kushner serait à l’origine de toutes les démarches d’« ouverture » initiées par Riyad envers ‘Israël’ et un durcissement envers l’Iran et ses alliés. Il est également la cheville ouvrière de la décision bouleversante annoncée par Trump, le 6 décembre dernier, reconnaissant AlQuds capitale d’ « Israël ».

  • Je vois passer ceci. Quelques reprises (dont Jerusalem Post), mais qui toutes se contentent de cette unique source. Avec de grosses pincettes donc… Jordan’s King arrests brothers and cousin in suspected Saudi-led coup | Al Sura English
    http://al-sura.com/jordans-king-arrests-brothers-and-cousin-in-suspected-saudi-led-coup

    King Abdullah spared no time in arresting both his brothers and cousin; Prince Faisal bin Hussein, Prince Ali bin Hussein and Prince Talal bin Muhammad after Jordanian intelligence services alerted the King that there was communication between the brothers and cousin and Saudi and Emirati leaders; Mohammad bin Salman and Mohammed bin Zayed. The shock house arrest of the King’s siblings comes as the Middle East faces a renewed ‘revolutionary’ movement in several countries. Leadership among the MENA states has looked towards Saudi Arabia for explanations for it’s belligerency towards the governments despite showing good working relations otherwise. Long standing allegiances with Qatar were seemingly thrown aside in moments when Saudi Arabia launched an economic blockade against long time ally Qatar. Many blame Saudi Arabia’s young Mohammad bin Salman for these poor choices in relations.

    • King sends letters to princes Feisal, Ali, Talal after retirement from army | Jordan Times
      http://jordantimes.com/news/local/king-sends-letters-princes-feisal-ali-talal-after-retirement-army

      AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday voiced his gratitude for Their Royal Highnesses Prince Feisal, Prince Ali and Prince Talal for their distinguished military services in three letters after they were referred to retirement from the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF). 

      In his letters, the Monarch expressed his sincerest appreciation of the military services of the three princes, adding that the services at the JAF have been such a great honour for the Hashemite Royal family, a Royal Court statement said.

      The King also noted that modernising the armed forces and improving their capabilities to enable them to carry out their responsibilities has been among his key priorities, adding the JAF is currently undergoing a comprehensive restructuring and development process, aimed at enhancing the capabilities of operation units, cutting down expenses and re-organising the army’s command structure for the coming years, the statement said.

      Addressing the three princes, the King said: “As institutionalism is the basis of the JAF’s work and the main pillar upon which the modernisation, development and restructuring process is rested, it has been required that you are sent to retirement just like your high-ranking brothers in the army.”

      King Abdullah expressed his pride in the services of Prince Feisal while he was serving as commander of the Royal Jordanian Air Force and assistant for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, granting him the honorary rank of lieutenant general at the JAF. 

      The King expressed his pride in Prince Ali’s services in the Special Forces and Royal Guards, and granted him the honorary rank of major general.

      His Majesty also expressed his pride in Prince Talal’s services as a military secretary to His Majesty the late King Hussein and an officer at the Special Forces, granting him the honorary rank of major general.

    • Communiqué de la cour ce samedi, pour démentir :

      Rumours and misleading claims have been circulated over the past few days by a number of online outlets and social media websites, spreading lies about Their Royal Highnesses Prince Feisal bin Al Hussein, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, and Prince Talal bin Muhammed.

      The Royal Hashemite Court will pursue legal measures against those who spread lies and false claims against Their Royal Highnesses the Princes and members of the Royal Hashemite Family, as the fabricated news circulated recently is aimed at undermining Jordan and its institutions.

      Our loyal people do not fall for such lies, which can never damage Jordan’s national unity and the deep-rooted relationship between Jordanians and the Royal Hashemite Family.

      His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF), had sent Their Royal Highnesses letters in appreciation of their service after they were referred to retirement from the JAF.

      Their Royal Highnesses had been exemplary officers of the Arab Army, loyal to Jordan and the Hashemite Throne

      https://rhc.jo/en/media/news/statement-royal-hashemite-court-2

  • Israel lobby billionaire praises Kushner for collusion with Netanyahu | The Electronic Intifada | Ali Abunimah Power Suits 4 December 2017
    https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-lobby-billionaire-praises-kushner-collusion-netanyahu

    President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner received public praise on Sunday from a billionaire Israel lobby financier for his possibly illegal attempts to derail a UN Security Council vote condemning Israel’s settlements a year ago.

    This came as news broke that Kushner failed to disclose in government ethics filings his role as director of a family foundation that funded Israeli settlements.

    Kushner, a senior adviser to Trump, is in charge of efforts to revive the so-called peace process.

    New details of Kushner’s Saudi-backed plan reported Sunday confirm that it would require nothing less than a complete capitulation by the Palestinians to Israel’s demands, leaving them with a state in name only.
    “Nothing illegal”

    On Sunday, Kushner appeared at the Saban Forum, an Israel lobby conference at Washington’s Brookings Institution, financed by Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban.

    Saban and Kushner sat on stage for what was billed as a “keynote conversation.”

    “You’ve been in the news the last few days, to say the least. But you’ve been in the news about an issue that I personally want to thank you for, because you and your team were taking steps to try and get the United Nations Security Council to not go along with what ended up being an abstention by the US,” Saban said in the exchange in the video at the top of this article.

    “As far as I know there was nothing illegal there but I think that this crowd and myself want to thank you for making that effort.”

    “Thank you,” Kushner responded.
    (...)

    “Peace” plan

    Given the systematic lack of accountability for senior US officials, dating back decades, there is little reason to expect that anything short of an indictment will remove Kushner from his role.

    And the more that is known about the “peace plan” he is helping forge, the clearer it is that Kushner and his colleagues are simply mouthpieces for Netanyahu.

    On Sunday, The New York Times characterized the as yet unpublished plan in the following terms: “The Palestinians would get a state of their own but only noncontiguous parts of the West Bank and only limited sovereignty over their own territory. The vast majority of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which most of the world considers illegal, would remain. The Palestinians would not be given East Jerusalem as their capital and there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.”

    These were the elements reportedly conveyed to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman last month with an ultimatum that he accept them or resign.

    These ideas are so far below what any Palestinian could ever accept that even Abbas was “alarmed and visibly upset” by the Saudi proposal, according to an official from his Fatah party cited by the Times.

    The White House has denied that its plan has been finalized, and Saudi Arabia denied it supported such positions, according to the Times.

    But the newspaper provides ample reason to doubt those denials, noting that: “the main points of the Saudi proposal as told to Mr. Abbas were confirmed by many people briefed on the discussions between Mr. Abbas and Prince Mohammad, including Mr. [Ahmad] Yousef, the senior Hamas leader; Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Parliament; several Western officials; a senior Fatah official; a Palestinian official in Lebanon; a senior Lebanese official; and a Lebanese politician, among others.”

    The Saudis have been pressuring the Palestinians to capitulate to Israel evidently to clear the Palestinian cause out of the way so that the growing Saudi-Israeli alliance aimed at Iran can be brought fully into the open.

    One element of the plan reportedly includes giving Palestinians a capital in the village of Abu Dis, instead of Jerusalem.

    This is a revival of a 1990s fantasy in which the small village would be renamed “al-Quds” and declared the “capital of Palestine,” while the real city of Jerusalem is swallowed up by Israel.

    Israel currently uses part of Abu Dis as an illegal garbage dump.

    #Flynn #Kushner #Mueller

    • L’étrange cas de Jared Kushner et du lobby israélien
      Richard Silverstein | 4 décembre 2017
      http://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/opinions/l-trange-cas-de-jared-kushner-et-du-lobby-isra-lien-1758255038

      Il était clair que l’objectif de toute la hiérarchie, à commencer par Netanyahou et Trump, était de détruire la résolution, qui bénéficiait du soutien tacite de l’administration Obama.

      Bien que les États-Unis se soient finalement abstenus, l’administration Obama n’a manifestement rien fait pour arrêter la résolution – ce qui signifie qu’elle l’a tacitement soutenue. Par le passé, elle avait en réalité opposé son veto à des propositions pratiquement identiques du Conseil de sécurité.

      L’abstention était alors une initiative assez audacieuse de la part des États-Unis. Par conséquent, en intervenant pour tuer la résolution, Kushner a franchi la ligne entre le fait d’utiliser son droit de s’exprimer librement sur la politique du gouvernement garanti par le Premier Amendement et le fait de subvertir la politique étrangère officielle des États-Unis. Il s’agit là d’un terrain juridique encore inexploré.

      L’inclusion de la loi Logan dans une liste d’accusations contre Kushner ne serait pas seulement un fait nouveau : cela avertirait en effet le lobby israélien qu’une ligne rouge a été franchie. Et qu’une fois que cette ligne est franchie, on a affaire à un comportement criminel. Ce serait là une première. Un coup de semonce choquant qui ferait vaciller le lobby.

      Cependant, on peut douter que Mueller fasse de la loi Logan un élément clé de sa stratégie juridique. Lorsque l’on poursuit un président des États-Unis, on préfère ne pas s’essayer à des théories juridiques non éprouvées ou ésotériques.

  • House of Saudi Cards : The Inside Story
    https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201706241054941082-saudi-house-of-cards-inside-story

    A top Middle East source close to the House of Saud, and a de facto dissident of the Beltway consensus, minces no words; “The CIA is very displeased with the firing of [former Crown Prince] Mohammad bin Nayef. Mohammad bin Salman is regarded as sponsoring terrorism. In April 2014 the entire royal families of the UAE and Saudi Arabia were to be ousted by the US over terrorism. A compromise was worked out that Nayef would take over running the Kingdom to stop it.”

    Escobar. L’idée de base c’est qye bin Nayef était l’homme de la CIA et que le coup de force pour faire accéder au trône MBS est une fuite en avant qui risque très vite de mettre la région à feu et à sang. Hypothèse invérifiable mais crédible.

    #catastrophe_arabe peut-être ?

  • Farsnews
    http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960401000990

    Mujtahid on his Twitter page wrote that UAE’s Mohammad bin Zayyed and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammad bin Salman had been plotting to wage a coup in Qatar.

    According to the scenario, the Saudi and UAE forces were planning to stage a coup in Qatar by occupying that country in cooperation with Blackwater security forces and give control of the country to a sheikh from Al Thani family who would support Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

    He noted that but they cancelled their plot in the last moment after the US interference.

    Mujtahid said that according to the plot, the Qatari forces were to stay for a while in Najran in Southern Saudi Arabia in a bid to make them lose contact with the Centcome in Qatar, but they were to be sent there on an errand and treated with respect.

    In the meantime, the Saudi and Emirati forces were supposed to enter Doha in the Qatari army uniforms and pretend that they are Qatari troops who had been stationed in Southern Saudi Arabia. Concurrently the UAE naval forces would arrive in Qatar with the help of US Blackwater company forces and take control of all sensitive and important centers, he added.

    He noted that the scenario of the military coup and ousting the Qatari emir was cancelled due to the US opposition despite their high preparedness for implementing the plot. “It was said that the CIA had monitored the plot in detail and had opposed it.”

    Mujtahid continued that Bin Salman and Bin Zayed had trusted (US President) Donald Trump’s Tweets without realizing that Pentagon and other security centers would not accept such plans. “The Pentagon also conducted a joint military maneuver with Qatari forces in order to abort the coup.”

    #nuit_torride vraiment !

  • ..."مجتهد" : بن سلمان يسعى لسحب
    http://www.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=1378364

    “مجتهد” : بن سلمان يسعى لسحب “البند السري في محاربة الإرهاب” من بن نايف

    Mujtahid [compte Twitter très suivi en Arabie saoudite et au-delà] : Bin Salman [30ans, min de la Défense, vice prince héritier] essaie de capter le « fonds secret » de luttre contre le terrorisme des mains de Bin Nayef [56 ans, prince hériter, min. de l’Intérieur].
    .
    Le fonds, qui n’est pas comptabilisé dans le budget, permettrait environ 30 millions de dollars PAR JOUR ! Comme le min. de l’Intérieur a déjà un budget propre, Moh. bin Nayef en garde probablement une bonne partie pour ses menues dépenses personnelles. Sur 10 ans, conclut le Tweeteriste, cela doit faire des dizaines, voire des centaines de MILLIARDS de dollars.

    Imaginons que cet argent soit investi au développement de la région... Cela changerait pas mal de chose à l’actuelle #catastrophe_arabe.

    • En anglais ici : http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=245705&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=28&s1=1
      The Saudi tweeter Mojtahed revealed that the deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman “is seriously considering to control the confidential item in the fight against terrorism”, which has been completely under the control of the Crown Prince and Interior Minister Mohammad bin Nayef, since ten years.

      Mojtahed explained that “this item, which is listed out of the budget, costs daily SR 50 million spent in the kingdom, and $ 10 million outside the kingdom, i.e. a total cost of f 87.5 million riyals daily.”

      “Bin Nayef enjoys the right to dispose annual total of 32 billion riyals a year in confidential items of the Royal Court that are not subjected to any follow-up,” the Saudi tweeter said.

      “After the announcement of the Islamic Military Alliance against terrorism, no one can rule out that Bin Salman could issue a royal order making this item at his disposal, hitting Bin Nayef a severe blow,” he added.

  • Face aux #sanctions occidentales, la #Russie se rapproche de l’#Arabie_saoudite
    http://www.latribune.fr/economie/international/face-aux-sanctions-occidentales-la-russie-se-rapproche-de-l-arabie-saoudit

    Contrat de poids pour Moscou. Lundi 6 juillet, le fonds d’investissement public saoudien a signé un accord avec le fonds d’investissement direct russe (RDIF) pour investir dix milliards de dollars (9,11 milliards d’euros) en Russie, rapporte le Wall Street Journal. Cette somme injectée dans l’agriculture, la médecine, la logistique et l’immobilier notamment. Sept projets ont été validés pour le moment. Dix devrait être conclu d’ici la fin de l’année, selon Kirill Dmitriev, directeur du fonds d’investissement russe. Un contrat précieux pour une économie russe en difficulté. En 2015, le PIB russe devrait chuter de 3,4%, selon le FMI, qui ne prévoit qu’une faible croissance à 0,2% en 2016.

    Les bases de cet accord ont été discutées pendant le le forum économique de Saint Petersbourg, après une rencontre entre Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, le prince d’Arabie saoudite et Vladimir Poutine, en juin, selon le RDIF. Ce contrat est signé dans un contexte tendu entre les deux pays, puisque Moscou et Ryiad tentent de réchauffer leurs relations refroidies par le soutien de président russe au régime de Bachar el-Assad.

    Moscou regarde donc du côté du #Moyen-Orient après s’être tourné vers l’#Asie. Début mai, Pékin avait signé un contrat pour investir 25 milliards de dollars dans l’#économie russe via des banques d’investissement chinoises, rappelle le journal économique américain.

    La Russie cherche à renforcer des liens avec certains de ses partenaires en raison des sanctions économiques imposées par l’#Europe qui reproche à Moscou son implication dans le conflit ukrainien. L’#Union_européenne a par ailleurs prolongé ses sanctions contre #Moscou jusqu’à fin janvier 2016. Ces dernières frappent des pans entiers de l’économie russe, dont les secteurs des banques, de la défense et du pétrole, empêchés de se financer sur les marchés européens. Fin juin, Moscou avait riposté, prolongeant son embargo sur les produits alimentaires.

    #Chine

  • La Russie poursuit sa percée dans le secteur nucléaire au Moyen Orient, après la Russie et la Jordanie
    Nuclear deal among key Saudi-Russian pacts | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR
    http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Jun-20/302970-nuclear-deal-among-key-saudi-russian-pacts.ashx

    Saudi Arabia and Russia have signed several key agreements, including on nuclear energy, after President Vladimir Putin met with Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman al Saud.

    A Saudi government body in charge of such projects confirmed the agreements.

    The government body, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, announced the nuclear cooperation deal on its website Thursday.

    Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV, citing unidentified sources, said that the Gulf kingdom planned to construct 16 nuclear reactors in which Russia would play a significant role in operating.
    [...]
    In 2012, Saudi Arabia said it aimed to build 17 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power by 2032 as well as around 41 GW of solar capacity. The oil exporter currently has no nuclear power plants.

    Nuclear and solar power stations would reduce the diversion of Saudi Arabia’s oil output for use in domestic power generation, leaving more available for export.

    #énergie #electricité #nucléaire

  • Saudi to restructure its oil giant Aramco - Al Arabiya News

    http://english.alarabiya.net/en/2015/05/01

    Saudi Arabia approved on Friday the restructuring of the kingdom’s oil giant Aramco, a move that will see it separated from the oil ministry, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel.

    The country’s Supreme Economic Council approved the restructure plan that had been proposed by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

    The restructuring comes soon after Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz announced a major government reshuffle.

    Prince Mohammad bin Salman, also minister of defense, was appointed as the deputy crown prince earlier this week. King Salman also appointed Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Khaled Al-Falih as chairman of the state oil firm and health minister.

    In a statement on Wednesday, Aramco described Falih as the outgoing CEO and president, and also as chairman of its board of directors.

    The state-owned giant is a world leader in crude exports. Aramco is involved in hydrocarbons exploration, production, refining, distribution, shipping and marketing.❞