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David Cameron
Saudi Arabia-UK relations: Is this realpolitik or greedy nihilism?
By Shane Crouher
!tober "#$ "%&' &%:%% ()*
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Sa
udi Arabia,s King Abdullah ./ meets British 0rime )inister David Cameron on
1anuary &+$ "%&" in .iyadh$ Saudi Arabia23ahad Shadeed450A-0ool4(etty Images
Saudi Arabia has issued a veiled threat to the British establishment amid gro6ing
onern about the Arab state,s grubby human rights reord2 *he latest 6ave o7
British ritiism o7 Saudi Arabia 6as sparked a7ter it emerged that a "&-year-old
Saudi man$ Ali )ohammed al-8imr$ 7aes beheading and rui9ion in publi2
At age $ al-8imr 6as tortured into on7essing to trumped up harges a7ter
taking part in a protest2 *he nephe6 o7 a voal Shia leri and ativist$ he has
been inarerated sine2
Aross the politial spetrum there has been voal unease at the ongoing osy
relationship bet6een the British and Saudi governments2 Despite the latter,s
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notorious human rights abuses$ the desert,s blak$ slimy rihes are 6orth more
than the lives o7 ordinary Saudis2
Keep ;uiet about ho6 6e run things in .iyadh - the beheadings$ the torture$ the
ivil rights abuses$ and so on -- or 6e 6ill take our oil money and lavish it
else6here2
As 6ell as al-8imr 6as the ase o7 a British grand7ather 6ho lived in Saudi Arabia
and had been imprisoned 7or bre6ing his o6n alohol at home2 Karl Andree$ #
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6e eport - leaving a trade balane in our 7avour2 In "%&"bn
6orth o7 goods and servies 7rom the Saudis2
As the Saudi soiety gro6s$ and gro6s riher$ there are a number o7
opportunities 7or British 9rms to apitalise on$ be it in7rastruture$ retail$
eduation$ health2 And they may get speial pre7erene i7 the relationship staysspeial2
*he Saudis pump money into Eondon2 Some o7 it goes on property in the most
epensive entral and 6est Eondon post odes$ suh as Knightsbridge2 And some
o7 it is lavished in the luury shopping distrits2
A7ter Fid$ many 6ealthy Saudis - oil-enrihed plutorat prinelings - ok to
Eondon,s 6est end to splash out on lothes$ ars and =e6ellery2 Aording to
5orldpay$ a payment proessing 9rm$ Saudis spend on average >&2"H per
transation in the UK2 *hat puts them in third plae 7or )iddle Fast spenders$
behind the UAF in seond at >"#'2$ and Jatar in 9rst at >
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least one th6arted plot to attak Britain that relied on Saudi intelligene - saving
hundreds o7 lives2
*he Saudis$ he insisted$ are an important ally in the )iddle Fast in the 9ght
against terrorism$ an ally that helps to keep the UK sa7e2 And his priority is the
seurity o7 Britons$ 6hih means having diplomati and ommerial relationships6ith states 6hose systems 6e 7undamentally disagree 6ith2
But 6hile the Saudi regime is sharing intelligene 6ith the UK$ some o7 its
itiens are sharing their 6ealth 6ith the 6orld,s terrorists$ in partiular the
nightmarish Islami State Isis/2
*oday$ Saudi itiens ontinue to represent a signi9ant 7unding soure 7or Sunni
groups operating in Syria$ said a "%&< note by *he 5ashington Institute
thinktank2 Arab (ul7 donors as a 6hole - o7 6hih Saudis are believed to be the
most haritable - have 7unnelled hundreds o7 millions o7 dollars to Syria in reent
years$ inluding to Isis and other groups2 *here is support 7or Isis in Saudi Arabia$and the group diretly targets Saudis 6ith 7undraising ampaigns$ so .iyadh
ould do muh more to limit private 7unding2
Saudi Arabia,s most barbari punishments: 3rom ogging to eye-gougingIB*imes
UK
*here is a ;uestion to be asked about all this: ho6 muh ompromise on British
values is too muh? It is a ;uestion not =ust being applied to the Saudi
relationship$ but also to the Chinese one in the 6ake o7 the state visit by
0resident i 1inping2
*he Saudi system is based on a hardline interpretation o7 Sharia la62 It is not
going to hange that system anytime soon2 And it is unlikely that 6e an use our
diplomati and ommerial inuene to muh eLet in terms o7 human rights
abuses2
So should 6e take a utilitarian vie6 and =ust ash in 7or our bene9t$ even i7 it
means helping to legitimise an anti-demorati$ brutally repressive regimes
6hih stand opposed to our values? Are 6e really happy to repeat the
nauseating spetale o7 the hal7-masting o7 5estminster Abbey,s ag in
de7erential respet 7or the 7resh adavers o7 Saudi kings$ =ust to keep thems6eet? *he government$ 6ide-eyed at the Saudi bank aount$ seems ontent
enough2
But there is realpolitik$ and then there is nihilism2 It is a 9ne line and one o7ten
trod lumsily by the British government$ 6hih is happy to abandon liberal
demorati priniples 7or the right prie tag2
https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/saudi-funding-of-isishttps://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/saudi-funding-of-isishttp://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xi-jinping-visits-uk-george-osborne-promises-golden-decade-china-what-cost-1524890http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xi-jinping-visits-uk-george-osborne-promises-golden-decade-china-what-cost-1524890http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/king-abdullah-dead-anger-uk-flies-flags-half-mast-saudi-arabia-tyrant-1484886https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/saudi-funding-of-isishttps://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/saudi-funding-of-isishttp://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xi-jinping-visits-uk-george-osborne-promises-golden-decade-china-what-cost-1524890http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/xi-jinping-visits-uk-george-osborne-promises-golden-decade-china-what-cost-1524890http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/king-abdullah-dead-anger-uk-flies-flags-half-mast-saudi-arabia-tyrant-1484886