Saad Hariri in Paris

Hariri Does Paris

By Pepe Escobar

November 19, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - 

It’s not that Saad Hariri was itching for a shopping spree at Avenue Montaigne.

French MSM is spicing up the steak tartare to oblivion trying to spin a foreign policy “victory”. Nonsense.

The true story starts in Abu Dhabi when Sun King Macron was having dinner with all-powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) during the inauguration of the Louvre in the Sands (doesn’t it sound like a casino?)

What happened is that MBZ grabbed his mobile and secured a meeting between Macron and MBS for the day after. Easy; after all MBZ is MBS’s mentor – and de facto chief strategist.

Macron’s people had been trying FOR WEEKS to get a meeting with MBS. Zayed did it with one single phone call.

Afterwards, MBS threw a breadcrumb to the begging Macron; OK, you can meet Hariri and even take him away. But under certain conditions; French Minister Le Drian had to publicly scold Iran – which he did; and on top of it Le Drian cancelled his trip to Tehran next week to prepare the terrain for Macron’s own visit.

Talk about “French power”.

Additionally, Hariri WAS indeed kidnapped and under house arrest in Riyadh – as many of us reported.

He even begged for asylum in Amman, Jordan. Denied – because the Jordanians are essentially Saudi vassals.

The New York Times BURIED the info at the end of this piece:

“Mr. Hariri reached out to Jordan with a request to go to Amman as a safe haven, a Western official said. The request was denied, the official said, because the Saudis had pressured Jordan not to accept him. A spokeswoman at the Embassy of Jordan in Washington denied that such a request had been made.”

Who the hell wants exile in the land of King Playstation? Hariri at least is drinking good Margaux.

And the MBS Lebanon power play is an absolute, resounding fiasco.

Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. https://www.facebook.com/pepe.escobar.77377?