Le Monde: Saudi ‘normalises’ relations with Muslim Brotherhood

French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Saudi Arabia is trying to “normalise” its relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in order to benefit from their sovereignty in Yemen, Syria and Palestine.

According to a report published yesterday by Almesryoon.com, Le Monde said that 72 hours after the announcement of the Iranian nuclear deal, Saudi King Salman received Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal. It is a step that had suggested many things, it said.

The French newspaper described Meshaal’s visit to Saudi as a “seed of a large diplomatic change” in the kingdom’s policy after the new king took power in January.

“The Saudi policy is set based on two goals: achieving stability in the Middle East and curbing Iranian expansion in the region,” Editor-in-Chief of Saudi’s Al-Watan newspaper Jamal Khashoggi told Le Monde.

“Normalisation with the Muslim Brotherhood contributes to this strategy as the group has sovereignty in Syria, Yemen and Palestine,” Khashoggi explained. “If we want to play an effective role in the region, we cannot ignore them. We have to be realists.”

“Compared to his predecessor, the late King Abdullah, King Salman is not sensitive towards the moderate Islamic groups.”