Saudi crown prince and former UK PM Cameron went on camping trip a year after Khashoggi murder
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron went on a camping holiday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman more than a year after the murder of Washington Post and Middle East Eye columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the Financial Times.
Cameron and bin Salman are reported to have taken the camping trip together in the Saudi desert in January or February 2020, shortly before the spread of Covid-19 largely halted international travel.
The two men were accompanied by Australian financier Lex Greensill, who was employing Cameron at the time, according to the Financial Times.
The trip has come to light following the collapse of Greensill’s financial services company, Greensill Capital.
Cameron, an adviser to and shareholder in the company, attempted to persuade the UK government to grant it emergency coronavirus support loans, sending several text messages to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and holding a series of virtual meetings with senior officials.
Khashoggi was murdered in October 2018 after being lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
His body was dismembered and the remains have never been recovered.
The following month the CIA concluded that bin Salman had ordered the murder.
A year later, Cameron visited Saudi Arabia publicly, attending the so-called Davos in the Desert summit at Riyadh.
'Appalling human rights record'
Cameron was criticised by Amnesty International, which said the visit would be “interpreted as showing support for the Saudi regime” despite its “appalling human rights record”.
Last June, a senior Greensill Capital executive spoke publicly about the company’s partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, describing it as “part of the family” of the sovereign wealth fund.
Greensill was said at that time to be opening offices in Riyadh, and was attempting to enter into a contract to provide supply-chain finance to Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company.
Cameron is said to charge at least £120,000 an hour for speaking engagements and would travel around the world on Greensill’s corporate jets, according to the Financial Times.
The UK opposition Labour Party is calling for an investigation into Greensill’s activities within government when Cameron was prime minister.
Cameron could not be contacted for comment.
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