LONDON – Britain yesterday defended lobbying Saudi Arabia to up its oil output as energy sanctions on Russia start inflicting a painful toll, after the Gulf kingdom executed a record number of prisoners.
Senior minister Michael Gove did not deny a report in The Times on Saturday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to visit Riyadh this week.
It said Johnson will lobby Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to help offset the impact of the Ukraine-linked sanctions, after Britain and the United States said they were ending imports of Russian oil.
“We have to rely on oil from a number of countries, many of whose human rights records we don’t approve of,” Gove told Sky News, after Saudi Arabia said it had executed a record 81 people in one day.
“Saudi Arabia is a security partner of the United Kingdom. I think that there are human rights concerns. We’re clear about those,” he said.
“But we also recognise that at a time when the world is in a fragile situation, that diplomacy alongside clarity on human rights is important.”
A Downing Street spokesman declined to elaborate on any travel plans by Johnson this week. He is due to host a defence summit with leaders of northern European countries tomorrow.
Fallout from the sanctions on Russia has sent prices of petrol and diesel in Britain to record highs, adding to a cost-of-living crisis as household heating bills also rocket.
Johnson said on Thursday that Britain and its allies were moving away from dependence on Russian oil and gas, so that they were no longer “blackmailed” by President Vladimir Putin.
The White House on Wednesday was forced to deny a Wall Street Journal report that the crown princes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had refused to accept calls by US President Joe Biden.
The Times said Johnson was better placed to lobby bin Salman, having stayed in contact with the Saudi ruler via WhatsApp messages despite the brutal killing in 2018 of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But rights group Amnesty International said Johnson, if he does go, should challenge the crown prince over the mass executions and a 10-year travel ban slapped on blogging rights activist Raif Badawi.
Amnesty UK rights adviser Polly Truscott said also that “Saudi Arabia mustn’t be allowed a free pass over the civilians being killed by Saudi coalition airstrikes in Yemen”.
“Whether or not the PM makes it to Riyadh this week, the key point is that Saudi oil shouldn't be allowed to buy the world’s silence over Saudi Arabia’s terrible human rights record,” she said.
Russia is the world’s largest producer of gas and second-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia.
Questions about the UK’s approach to both countries have resurfaced with the invasion of Ukraine and with the Premier League's green light for the Saudi wealth fund to buy Newcastle United Football Club last year.
The league had initially blocked the takeover, but changed tack after a reported intervention from Johnson following an exchange of WhatsApp messages with bin Salman.
Newcastle on Sunday played Chelsea – whose Russian owner Roman Abramovich was this week sanctioned by the UK government, throwing the club’s future into doubt.
The takeovers of the two clubs were a glaring example of “sportswashing” by foreign regimes, Amnesty said. – AFP, March , 2022
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