UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng held secret meetings with Saudi oil giants
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng held undisclosed meetings with senior executives at Saudi Arabian firms earlier this year, according to a report in the Guardian.
The meetings took place in January when Kwarteng visited the kingdom in his previous role as business secretary, documents obtained using the Freedom of Information Act revealed on Tuesday.
The chancellor met with the chief executive of Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil producer, and the chief executive of Sabic, the fourth-largest petrochemical firm. He also held a meeting with the chair of the industrial conglomerate Alfanar Group.
The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy did not disclose any reference to these meetings when it published transparency disclosures at the time.
A government spokesperson blamed the lack of details about the meeting on an “administrative oversight”.
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Kwarteng was flown around the country by Saudi Aramco, during which minutes of meetings held reveal that the former business secretary discussed the “history and opportunities for the company”.
According to UK ministerial guidance, while meetings with foreign government officials do not need to be declared, those with business executives should be.
The guidance also states that free travel should not be accepted unless it is provided by a foreign government with “no undue obligation”.
A business department spokesperson said the Aramco transportation was organised by the Saudi energy ministry.
'Women's rights continue to improve'
The Guardian also obtained a 68-page briefing document prepared for Kwarteng ahead of the trip, which included information on human rights in Saudi Arabia.
The human rights section contained four bullet points, of which one was redacted and the other three stressed positive developments such as “women’s rights continue to improve dramatically”.
There was no mention of the killing in 2018 of Middle East Eye and Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents, or the imprisonment of human rights defenders.
“The briefing being referred to is only one part of wider briefing [Kwarteng] received on Saudi Arabia, which included content on human rights, recent political developments in Saudi Arabia, and UK-Saudi engagement activity,” a government spokesperson said.
Last week, a group of oil exporting countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to slash oil output by two million barrels a day, prompting a backlash from the United States.
In response, US lawmakers have proposed legislation that would remove all American troops and missile systems from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
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