Saudi crown prince meets Spain king as warship sale mooted

MADRID: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince held talks Thursday with Spain’s king and prime minister in Madrid, the last stop of his global diplomatic charm offensive to try to project a new liberal image for his kingdom.

Spain’s King Felipe VI met with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who serves as defence minister and also controls economic policy for the world’s top oil exporter, at the Zarzuela Palace on the outskirts of Madrid, before hosting a luncheon in his honour attended by senior Spanish officials and businessmen. The Saudi prince then held talks behind closed doors with Defence Minister Maria Dolores Cospedal and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He is expected to sign five memorandums of understanding in the areas of culture, science, employment, air transport and defence. Top-selling daily newspaper El Pais reported earlier this week that Spain would likely make progress during his visit on a deal to sell five corvettes warships to Saudi Arabia for around $2.5b. “The signing of this memorandum of understanding (on defence) can be a step in that direction,” a Spanish government source told AFP. He arrived in Spain late on Wednesday hot on the heels of a three-day official visit to France and after a tour lasting several weeks of Egypt, the US and Britain that saw the self-styled moderniser sign multimillion-dollar deals.