person:mohammed bin salman

Armement : quels contrats en Arabie Saoudite pour la France ?
▻http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/aeronautique-defense/armement-quels-contrats-en-arabie-saoudite-pour-la-france-559883.html

Rafale, avions-ravitailleurs MRTT, corvettes Gowind, patrouilleurs rapides, système de défense anti-aérienne Mark 3 seront fin avril au cœur des discussions entre les autorités françaises et le vice-prince héritier et ministre de la Défense saoudien, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz.

C’est une visite très importante pour la France, et plus particulièrement pour l’industrie de défense tricolore, si elle est maintenue. Déjà reportée, la venue à Paris le 25 avril du vice-prince héritier et ministre de la Défense saoudien, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, qui était initialement attendu le 22 mars, pourrait débloquer plusieurs dossiers d’armement en suspens entre les deux pays. Au cœur des relations dans le domaine de l’armement entre Paris et Ryad, l’avenir de la société ODAS, qui représente les intérêts de la France en Arabie Saoudite, sera évoqué lors des entretiens de Mohammed bin Salman à Paris.

(...)

Le contrat le plus mature, qui pourrait être mis en vigueur rapidement par l’Arabie Saoudite, est celui du chantier naval de Cherbourg, Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), propriété de l’homme d’affaires franco-libanais Iskandar Safa. Sans passer par l’aide de la société ODAS, CMN a signé il y a quelques mois un contrat avec Ryad pour la vente de plus de 30 patrouilleurs (34/35) de 35 mètres équipés du système de combat Tacticos, le CMS de Thales Nederland, pour un montant inférieur à 600 millions de dollars.

Un contrat qui n’a toujours pas été mis en vigueur par l’Arabie Saoudite mais le chantier a récemment franchi un jalon très important. Selon des sources concordantes, il a obtenu des garanties bancaires d’un consortium de banques russes et du Golfe. En dépit des pressions de l’Etat français, les banques tricolores n’ont quant à elle pas souhaité accompagner CMN, qui est allié avec l’industriel saoudien Zamil.

#arabie_saoudite #armes #déshonneur_national

Saudi Arabia’s Unholy War
▻http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/?fa=62959

Since it began its war on the Houthis in March 2015, Saudi Arabia has justified its intervention as a broader holy duty to fight Shia and protect the government in exile. Yet Yemenis increasingly view Saudi intervention more as a campaign—in which they are collateral—to upgrade Riyadh’s own influence and an ill-conceived effort to promote Mohammed Bin Salman as a powerful future Saudi king. As such, Yemenis fail to see any moral or legal justification for the U.S.-backed Saudi war. What is evident to them is the deliberate destruction of people and capital—all to no end, as the war has failed to accomplish Saudi Arabia’s goal of weakening the Houthis. Instead, the airstrikes and blockade that form the core of Saudi Arabia’s strategy have increased anti-Saudi hatred, driving greater numbers of Yemenis to support the Houthis every day.

#arabie_saoudite #yemen

Qu’est-ce que le tandem saoudo-turc est en train de préparer au nord du Liban ? Coup de bluff ou tentative de déstabilisation ?

Depuis quelques jours, plusieurs pays du Golfe ont incité leurs citoyens à ne pas se rendre au Liban, alors qu’il n’y a a priori aucun signe sécuritaire qui justifierait celà.
Pour les EAU voir ici : ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/463844 (signalé par @nidal)
En plus des Emirats, c’est aussi le cas de l’Arabie saoudite, du Qatar, du Koweït et de Bahreïn qui ont fait de même :
▻http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/kuwait-joins-gulf-allies-banning-travel-lebanon-160224161730185.html

Kuwait, Qatar join GCC allies in Lebanon travel warning
The two countries follow Saudi, UAE and Bahraini move after Riyadh halted $4bn aid to Lebanon over Hezbollah.

Dans le même temps l’Arabie saoudite a annulé son aide de 4 milliards de dollars à l’armée libanaise : ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/462711

Et en sus, les 6 pays du Conseil de Coopération du Golfe ont décidé de classer le Hezbollah « organisation terroriste », accusant celle-ci d’actes hostiles contre les membres du CCG :
▻http://www.timesofisrael.com/gulf-nations-declare-hezbollah-a-terrorist-group

A Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations formally branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Wednesday, ramping up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria.
A statement from GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani said the bloc decided to implement the terrorist designation because of hostile acts by Hezbollah within its member states. It said the designation applies to the militant group as well as all its leaders, factions and affiliates.
Al-Zayani accused Hezbollah of charges including seeking to recruit members within the GCC to carry out terrorist acts, smuggling weapons and explosives, and incitement to sow disorder and violence.

Le récent discours de Nasrallah témoigne du sentiment d’une volonté saoudienne de faire monter la tension au Liban pour sanctionner le Hezbollah :
▻http://seenthis.net/messages/466108 (signalé par @gonzo)

Qui plus est hier on apprenait qu’un navire en partance de la Turquie avait été arraisonné par la Grèce alors qu’il contenait une cargaison d’armes et que, selon son équipage, il se dirigeait vers le Liban : ▻http://seenthis.net/messages/465954 (signalé par @kassem)

Enfin, l’agence privée américaine de renseignements Stratfor, considérée comme des services bis, a rapporté que selon les confidences d’un « politicien sunnite » libanais, l’Arabie saoudite tentait de recruter dans les camps de réfugiés syriens au Liban pour monter une milice sunnite anti-Hezbollah. Une indication sur les destinataires de cette cargaison d’armes de Turquie ?
▻https://www.stratfor.com/sample/situation-report/lebanon-saudi-arabia-courting-syrian-refugees-politician-says?amp%3Buuid=a

Lebanon: Saudi Arabia Is Courting Syrian Refugees, Politician Says
March 1, 2016 | 15:42 GMT
According to a Sunni politician in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is reportedly courting Syrian refugees in Lebanon with the goal of establishing an anti-Hezbollah Sunni militia. The politician said Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sees Sunni Syrian refugees with military training as a way to harass Hezbollah , and he may be using Saudi philanthropic organizations that provide aid to refugee camps as a way to court potential militia recruits. Though Stratfor could not verify the politician’s claims, it is clear that Saudi Arabia is using Syria’s convoluted battlespace as a way to expand its regional clout.

Saudi Arabia’s Uncertain Future | Hoover Institution
▻http://www.hoover.org/research/saudi-arabias-uncertain-future

Since 1979, in an effort to prevent the Islamic Revolution in Iran from appealing to Sunnis, Saudi Arabia has sponsored anti-Shia propaganda and movements around the world. The Wahhabi doctrine, established in the 18th century as a puritan movement to reform and homogenize Islamic practices (and expel or kill those unwilling to comply), seemed like a God-given ideological tool to undermine Iran. The Al Saud thus reaffirmed an alliance that dates back centuries and gave unprecedented funding to Wahhabi and Salafi clerics and to Islamic institutions. And it worked, at least for a while (it also helped that the Islamic Republic turned viciously anti-American and anti-Soviet, thereby uniting more or less the whole world against it, which was expressed in American, Soviet and Gulf aid to Saddam Hussein after he invaded Iran in 1980). When confronted with popular uprisings across the region in 2011, Saudi Arabia reverted to the classic playbook of supporting old friends and increasing sectarianism. In the first few years since the Arab uprisings began, it was in large part King Abdullah and the old guard of the Al Saud that made decisions on how to respond to domestic and regional challenges. As such, Saudi moves were counter-revolutionary, but not particularly surprising.

Over the last year, however, since Salman took over the throne in Riyadh and appointed his son Mohammed bin Salman, 30, as deputy crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s policies have become increasingly unpredictable.

#Arabie_saoudite #sectarisme #wahhabisme

This young prince could be the next Saudi king - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/tablet/wp/2016/01/15/2016/01/15/biggest-story-you-missed-this-young-prince-could-be-the-next-saudi-king/?wpisrc=nl_draw2

Late last year, Germany’s intelligence service issued a stern warning about Saudi Arabia: King Salman and his 30-year-old son, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, want to become “the dominant rulers of the Arab world,” it claimed.

The entire region could be destabilized by their quest and the internal power struggles under way in the kingdom, the memo said.

#arabie_saoudite

The most dangerous man in the world ? | Voices | The Independent

▻http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-most-dangerous-man-in-the-world-a6803191.html

http://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/12/18/19/Salman.jpg

When Mohammed bin Salman was just 12 he began sitting in on meetings led by his father Salman, the then governor of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Province. Some 17 years later, at 29 and already the world’s youngest defence minister, he plunged his country into a brutal war in Yemen with no end in sight.

#arabie_saoudite

اتحاد الكرة السعودي يبلغ « فيفا » انسحابه من مباراة فلسطين | القدس العربي Alquds Newspaper
▻http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=428805

La guerre du foot continue au Moyen-Orient ! Al-Quds al-’arabi (pro-Qatar) annonce ce matin que les Saoudiens renoncent à jouer en Palestine et laissent leurs trois points aux Palestiniens, tandis que sur la principale chaîne d’information saoudienne, Al-Arabiya, c’est le dauphin de l’actuel roi, le très ambitieux Mohammed bin Salman, qui aurait "sauvé" l’équipe nationale en obtenant, via Mahmoud Abbas, que le match soit joué ailleurs qu’en Palestine (▻http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/sport/2015/11/04/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%).

Pour plus de détails, le dernier billet de cpa : "Manque de fair play" : l’unité arabe minée par le foot (▻http://cpa.hypotheses.org/5746).

#football #palestine #fifa #cpa

▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.678048

A senior Saudi prince and grandson of the state’s founder has issued an unprecedented call for change in the country’s leadership, the Guardian reported on Monday.
The prince, who was not named for security reasons, wrote two letters to members of the sprawling royal family earlier this month calling for the removal of the current leader, King Salman, who ascended to the throne in January this year.
The prince reportedly told the Guardian that the king is not in good health and that recent events in the kingdom have led to disquiet in the royal family, as well as among the wider public.

“The king is not in a stable condition and in reality the son of the king [Mohammed bin Salman] is ruling the kingdom,” the prince is quoted as saying.
He added that he expected four or five of his uncles, Salman’s brothers and half-brothers, to meet shortly and discuss the issues he raised in his letters.
“They are making a plan with a lot of nephews and that will open the door,” he said. "A lot of the second generation is very anxious.”

“The public are also pushing this very hard, all kinds of people, tribal leaders,” the prince added. “They say you have to do this or the country will go to disaster.”
The kingdom has been buffeted by a series of setbacks recently: The precipitous drop in the price of oil, Saudi Arabia’s key export, a draining war against Shi’ite rebels in neighboring Yemen and, most recently, two disasters during the recent hajj in Mecca that left over 800 people dead.
Blame for country’s slow and hesitant response to the hajj deaths and its halting efforts to deal with the other challenges is being laid at the door of King Salman, his crown prince, Mohammed bin Nayef, and the deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, Salman’s son.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a new arrival to the Saudi senior leadership team, has quickly become one of the most controversial. Although still very young by Saudi standards – officially 35 but rumored to be much younger – he holds a multitude of posts including minister of defense and chair of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, which is the country’s main economic policymaking committee.
Nicknamed “Reckless,” the prince is regarded as being the main proponent of the war in Yemen, which continues to grind on, despite punishing attacks by the Saudi air force and ground forces.
Now, many are accusing Mohammed bin Salman of rushing into the war without a proper military strategy or an exit plan.
The letters from the unnamed prince call on the 13 surviving sons of Ibn Saud – specifically the princes Talal, Turki and Ahmed bin Abdulaziz – to unite and remove the leadership in a palace coup, before choosing a new government from within the royal family.
“Allow the oldest and most capable to take over the affairs of the state, let the new king and crown prince take allegiance from all, and cancel the strange, new rank of second deputy premier,” states the first letter.
“We are calling for the sons of Ibn Saud from the oldest Bandar, to the youngest, Muqrin, to make an urgent meeting with the senior family members to investigate the situation and find out what can be done to save the country, to make changes in the important ranks, to bring in expertise from the ruling family whatever generation they are from.”
The letters are the clearest indication of strife within the royal family since King Faisal deposed King Saud in a palace coup in 1964.

▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-son-who-would-be-the-saudis-king/2015/09/08/06e94328-566c-11e5-8bb1-b488d231bba2_story.html

Mohammed bin Salman’s most intriguing move on Syria was a meeting in Riyadh in late July with Ali Mamlouk, the top intelligence adviser to President Bashar al-Assad. At that meeting, apparently brokered by Russia, the young Saudi defense minister “floated the idea that Assad could stay in power if Iran would go,” according to an administration official. Any such offer to allow Assad’s survival in power would mark a sharp change in official Saudi policy, and a sign of the price Riyadh would pay to reduce Iranian influence in Damascus.

How Saudi Arabia got its Yemen campaign so wrong
▻http://theconversation.com/how-saudi-arabia-got-its-yemen-campaign-so-wrong-45664

Recent reports from the front line of Saudi Arabia’s war will superficially be encouraging to Riyadh. Coalition forces have taken over Al-Anand airbase; a tank brigade from the UAE has joined the effort. The Houthis have been pushed out of several of their positions in Aden, though the fighting has intensified and shows no signs of waning.

The latest success should not detract from the fact that the Saudi army did very badly in Yemen. It has proved unable to coordinate with Yemeni forces loyal to Hadi in Aden and in the South – indeed, on many occasions it has apparently dropped bombs on them by mistake.

Things aren’t looking good back in Saudi Arabia either. The defence minister in charge of the war, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is flailing. He is mocked as “the little general” because of his disastrous war, especially since he ignored warnings from his advisers that a war in Yemen would be a huge debacle for the Saudi Army.

Saudi King Salman purging monarchy of Abdullah’s inner circle - Middle East - Israel News | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.654210

After the first purge carried out by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman in January, a few days after the death of his predecessor King Abdullah, comes the second round. It is not likely to be the last.

The first to be ousted was Abdullah’s inner orbit of loyalists, including his bureau chief, Khaled al-Tuwaijri, his two sons, Mashal (governor of Mecca) and Turki (governor of Riyyad), his intelligence chief Khalid bin Bandar and the latter’s father, Bandar bin Sultan, who headed the National Security Council.

The current round aims to ensure the line of succession. Among others, Salman ousted the crown prince, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz – Abdullah’s favorite – replacing him with the powerful Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef. The king appointed his son, Mohammed bin Salman, as deputy crown prince – that is, the man who will inherit the kingdom if Mohammed bin Nayef departs.

These moves are not surprising. From the beginning of Salman’s rule, it was clear that Prince Muqrin, once the failed intelligence chief, would not remain crown prince for long. Even Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment as deputy crown prince was expected, and not only because of his diplomatic skills and expertise on terrorism, which he acquired in numerous courses he took at the FBI Academy.

The distancing of Abdullah’s loyalists and strengthening of the Sudairi branch of the ruling family, of which Mohammed bin Nayef is a member, is part of a settling of scores with King Abdullah, whose reign saw a waning of the influence of the Sudairi princes – the sons of Hassa al-Sudairi, one of the 10 wives of Saudi Arabia’s first king, Abdulaziz (Ibn Saud).

If there is a surprise appointment, it is that of Adel al-Jubeir as foreign minister, replacing Saud al-Faisal, who designed and implemented Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy for four decades. Al-Faisal, 75, has Parkinson’s disease and it seems his request to leave office was authentic. Jubeir is the first Saudi foreign minister who is not a member of the royal family.

No change in foreign policy due

These appointments are part of internal housekeeping; they do not change the kingdom’s foreign policy. King Salman, despite his own health issues – he apparently suffers from Alzheimer’s – immediately made his mark when he intensified official public discourse against Iran, supported the establishment of an Arab intervention force and initiated the attack on the Houthis in Yemen to root out Iran’s influence in that country.

The strong man in the kingdom is no doubt Nayef, who will continue to serve both as interior minister and head of the National Security Council. He is the man who will implement foreign policy, one of whose principles is the effort to establish a “Sunni axis” against Iran.

As part of this effort, Saudi Arabia has changed its policy toward Turkey, and despite the rift between Egypt and Turkey, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was invited to visit the king. Nayef, who met with Erdogan in Turkey before that visit, set its agenda.

It seems that as part of the efforts toward a “Sunni axis,” Saudi Arabia will encourage Hamas to cut itself off entirely from Iran and return to the “Arab fold,” despite the ongoing enmity between Egypt, Saudi Arabia’s ally, and Hamas.

Salman’s son Mohammed, who is defense minister, is in his 30s, too young to be seen as successor to the throne, but that could change.

The main challenge before the new regime is to absorb the strategic changes expected to accompany the emerging nuclear agreement with Tehran, and the rapprochement between Iran and the United States. If and when sanctions on Iran are lifted, new oil will flow that is expected to grab an important share of the Saudi market. Saudi Arabia will also have to build up its influence in Syria and Iraq as a bulwark against Iranian power in those countries, especially if Iran proposes its own solution to the crisis in Syria.

A Saudi war going badly wrong
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/saudi-war-going-badly-wrong-689564484

You are bristling with new weapons, billions of dollars’ worth of them, you have a powerful older rival and you need to prove your mettle both to your supporters and to him. Go to war, young man, go to war and win a quick, decisive victory that confirms your stature as a great military leader.

And so when Mohammed bin Salman, sixth and favourite son of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, launched Operation Decisive Storm on 26 March, and orchestrated an air war against the Houthis of Yemen, he did so no doubt convinced of an easy win.

This would be a breeze, especially as the Egyptians would commit ground troops and if not them than the Pakistanis. After all, both countries have received billions of dollars in aid and interest-free loans from the Saudis over the years. But the Egyptians proved to have long memories. In the 1960s, 20,000 of their soldiers died in Yemen fighting a futile war that came to be known as Egypt’s Vietnam. 

And Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan who, it is frequently said, owes his life to the Saudis, proved shrewd in referring the matter to parliament that then universally rejected it. No doubt the MPs were annoyed that the Saudis had previously and rather pompously announced Pakistan had joined the fray, without bothering to ask them.

However, the Saudi-led bombing campaign, which was supposed to break the Houthis resistance and drive them from the cities, seems to have failed miserably. Despite what the Saudi-led coalition has said, the Houthis remain in control of the capital Sanaa and much of the key southern city of Aden.