Macron hosts Saudi's MBS for visit ranging from esports to Mideast

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Saudi crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday for a two-day visit set to range from esports to the war in the Middle East.

Several agreements on health, transport and energy will be signed on the second day of the visit on Monday, according to a French presidential official, underlining the strength of the Paris-Riyadh relationship.

But the visit will kick off in a different style on Sunday evening from 1800 GMT with Macron hosting the Saudi strongman -- known as MBS -- at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup hosted by Paris.

The event, which brings together the leading performers in esports ranging from computer games to chess and has been eagerly backed by MBS, is being held outside Saudi Arabia for the first time.

The French presidential official declined to comment on whether the agreements could touch on a vast theme park known as Dragons Ball, backed by a Saudi fund, which is mooted for the Val-d'Oise region outside Paris.

Saudi Arabia is also set to host a string of key global events, notably the Expo 2030 and above all the football World Cup in 2034.

- Rights on agenda? -

Saudi Arabia, a close US ally which has a history of tensions with Iran, is also closely watching developments in the Islamic republic in the wake of the US-Israeli war.

On Monday afternoon, MBS and Macron are to chair the first meeting of the Saudi-French strategic partnership council.

Macron and MBS "will discuss key regional issues, in a context calling for close coordination between France and its Gulf partners to foster stability and peace" in the Middle East, according to Macron's office.

It remains unclear if rights will feature high on the agenda, some eight years after dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside Riyadh's Istanbul consulate in 2018.

A United Nations investigation described Khashoggi's death as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible".

US intelligence agencies determined that MBS had "approved" the operation that led to Khashoggi's killing. Riyadh denies this, blaming rogue operatives.

In December 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet MBS in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Khashoggi killing. The Saudi crown prince has made multiple visits to France since then.

Dt-sjw/sbk/cms