Saudi Arabia has appointed a new ambassador to Germany. There are hopes he will help improve ties between the countries, but Saudi dissidents view his appointment with great concern following the Khashoggi murder.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Vogler
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Saudi Arabia's leader, King Salman, has appointed Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud as the monarchy's new ambassador to Germany. While official channels at the Saudi and German foreign ministries have remained mute on the matter, Germany's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Jörg Ranau, used the embassy's official Twitter account to congratulate the new ambassador in fluent Arabic: "We congratulate the newly nominated ambassador to Germany, Prince Faisal bin Farhan."
Faisal, who was born in Germany, in turn, thanked Ranau for his support — in perfect German.
Before embarking on his diplomatic career, Faisal held high-ranking positions in Saudi and international companies, predominantly in the aviation and arms industry. He remains on the board of Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI). Most recently, Faisal served as an adviser to Saudi King Salman and as an assistant to the Saudi ambassador to the United States.
Faisal's appointment follows months of diplomatic tension between Saudi Arabia and Germany. In November 2017, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri surprisingly announced his resignation in a televised speech from the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Observers suspected Hariri, who has Saudi citizenship, had been held in Riyadh against his will and forced to resign. Hariri later rescinded the resignation.
In response, Germany's then-foreign minister, Sigmar Gabriel, lashed out against Saudi Arabia, saying that Europe must make it clear "that we will no longer sit by silently and tolerate the adventurism that has become widespread there in recent months." Following Gabriel's criticism, the Gulf monarchy withdrew its ambassador to Germany in protest.
Relationship returns to normal
Many Saudi Twitter users welcomed the appointment of the new apparent ambassador to Germany.
"The appointment of the new ambassador carries great importance," Saudi writer and journalist Hani Naqshbandi told DW. "But both countries' shared interests are even more important. They will help overcome the recent conflict."
Naqshbandi added that Saudi Arabia is eager to implement what it calls its Vision 2030 reform agenda, which he said will the Saudis eager to establish an amicable relationship with Germany.
"It was an honor to swear an oath before King Salman to be ambassador to Germany," Faisal tweeted in German. "This duty is very special to me as Germany is the country of my birth. I will spare no effort in my service to good relations between both our countries."
Concern among dissidents
Saudi critics of the Gulf monarchy living in exile in Germany, however, see Faisal's appointment with great concern.
Saudi dissident Prince Khalid bin Farhan al-Saud, a distant relative of Faisal, lives under police protection in Germany and said he fears the new ambassador could have been sent to Germany to persecute Saudi opposition figures such as himself.
Khalid told DW he feels threatened and is extremely concerned about Faisal's close relationship with powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is suspected of having a role in planning or at least condoning the assassination of Saudi dissent journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last October.
Khashoggi's murder raised worries among many dissidents inside and out of Saudi ArabiaImage: imago/Depo Photos
Ali Aldubisi, who heads the Berlin-based European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR), shared this concern. He told DW "one of the Saudi Embassy's main tasks is to monitor and weaken the opposition." Adding that this is "why the German government should pay close attention to who enters the country."
The Saudi Embassy in Berlin did not respond to a request for comment regarding the situation of Saudi dissidents in Germany.
What do German parliamentarians think?
Ulrich Lechte, a member of German parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee from the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), said that while embassies gather information about civil society activism, including actions taken by their own citizens, the laws of the host country need to be observed.
"It must be clear that we do not accept dissidents being harassed or abducted or anything worse than that," Lechte told DW. "All people in Germany are protected by our constitution and our free democratic order."
Sevim Dagdelen of Germany's Left Party was fiercely critical of Faisal's appointment.
"His move to the Saudi embassy in Berlin does not bode well for the future," Dagdelen told DW.
She said it bodes ill for dissidents in Germany that Faisal is regarded as a close ally of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who many contend ordered Khashoggi's murder.
As a board member of Saudi defense company SAMI, Faisal will "first and foremost" strive to pave the way towards new arms deals, Dagdelen said.
For a man who has not yet presented his credentials to the German president, Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud has polarized more than many diplomats who have been in Berlin for years.
Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Official Saudi statements on the fate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have changed several times since he disappeared at the Istanbul consulate on October 2. DW traces the most important events in this intricate case.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Martin
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
Image: Reuters TV
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi's whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/V. Mayo
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team "came from Saudi Arabia" to kill the man.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Jamali
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist's disappearance.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/T. Kovacs
'Davos in the Desert' hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group's space ventures, citing Khashoggi's case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the "Davos in the Desert." His move was followed by Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan's Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
Image: picture alliance/dpa
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom's public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a "fistfight." He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is "investigating the regrettable and painful incident."
Image: Getty Images/C. McGrath
'Grave mistake'
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom's foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a "rogue operation," calling it a "huge and grave mistake," but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi's body was.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Owen
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi's death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from "the highest levels" of Saudi Arabia's government.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. E. Yildirim
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi's murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist's death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Coffrini
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was "unable to express her sorrow" upon learning that the journalist's body was dissolved with chemicals. "Are these killers and those behind it human beings?" she tweeted.
Image: Reuters/Haberturk
Turkey shares audio recordings
November 10: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reveals that officials from Saudi Arabia, the US, Germany, France and Britain have listened to audio recordings related to the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Presidential Press Service
Symbolic funeral prayers
November 16: A symbolic funeral prayer for Khashoggi is held in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. Yasin Aktay, advisor to President Erdogan, speaks at the service.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi-owned villas searched
November 26: Turkish forensic police bring the investigation to the Turkish province of Yalova, where sniffer dogs and drones search two Saudi-owned villas in the village Samanli.
Image: Reuters/O . Orsal
100 days since killing
January 10: Amnesty International Turkey members demonstrate outside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul, marking 100 day since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. One woman holds up a street sign which reads "Jamal Khashoggi Street". The organization has called for an international investigation into the case.
Image: Reuters/M. Sezer
Saudi murder trial begins
January 3: The Khashoggi trial begins in Saudi Arabia, where state prosecutors say they will seek the death sentence for five of the eleven suspects. A request for the gathered evidence has been send to Turkish authorities. A date for the second hearing has not yet been set.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/Depo Photos
UN inquiry team in Turkey
January 28: Agnes Callamard, who is leading the UN probe into the handling of the Khashoggi case, arrives in Ankara where she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. The human rights expect will stay in the country for the rest of the week to speak with prosecutors and others involved in the case.
