French President Emmanuel Macron Wednesday indicated that he would send to Saudi Crown Prince a list of terror groups and would expect Riyadh to cut their financing as pledged by the apparent heir of the Saudi throne.
The Kingdom has been accused of funding the promotion of religious extremism around the world through its strict Wahhabi school of Islam.
But over the past few months, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who has gained enough power from his father, vowed to eradicate extremism and introduced soft changes into the kingdom.
Speaking from Abidjan where he was attending the EU-Africa Summit, President Macron told France 24 television that France is in possession of a list of terror groups linked to the Saudi throne.
“He (the Crown Prince) never did it publicly, but when I went to Riyadh (this month), he made a commitment, such that we could give him a list and he would cut the financing,” Macron said during an interview.
“I believe him, but I will follow up. Trust is built on results,” he added.
Saudi Arabia funds religious program around the world through its Mecca-based Muslim World League.
The Head of the League, Mohammed al-Issa told Reuters last week that the league is now bent on squashing extremist ideology.
“We must wipe out this extremist thinking through the work we do. We need to annihilate religious severity and extremism which is the entry point to terrorism,” Issa said in an interview.
Macron’s comments disclose Riyadh’s links with terror groups, at a time Saudi Arabia accuses Qatar of its alleged support terrorism.
The French leader added he was looking forward to see Qatar, Iran and Turkey cut financing of terror groups.
Macron is expected in Doha on December 7. He is contemplating a visit to Iran next year at the invitation of President Hassan Rouhani.
