Okaz newspaper

THE visits of foreign leaders to the US in general are usually for short periods during which they will meet with the president and sometimes the leaders of the Congress.

Such meetings, in addition to their political objectives, may have publicity purposes as well. These leaders often want to send a message to their home audience that their head of state or government was meeting with the most powerful president in the world.

However, the visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, who was received will all the protocols for a head of state with overwhelming diplomatic overtures, was different.

The visit carried strategic objectives in every sense of the word and it sent grim messages to the enemies of the Kingdom, as one expert has put it.

He said the enemies were crying every time an agreement was signed between the Kingdom and the US.

These hostile elements were exasperated by the results of the visit, which they tried to conceal or undermine. Their antagonistic blare of trumpets was silenced by the overwhelming attention given to the visit by the international media.

I think Prince Muhammad has endeavored to build a historic partnership, mustering all economic and geopolitical resources available, and in its backdrop the Kingdom would need America only as much as it needs the Kingdom, in the words of an American commentator.

Some Arab newspapers and satellite channels have failed to give the visit its due coverage. Their analysts have failed to do justice to the visit and fairly analyze its outcomes.

The Arab journalists, as is customary for them, tackled the visit from different aspects and contradictory angles.

However, the foreign media had a completely different attitude. They highlighted the visit from a neutral point of view. They stood strongly behind the visit, highlighting it in detail and analyzing the charter of the prince, who is the future man as the Washington Post has described him.

Admiral James Stafides of NATO wrote in Time magazine that he met many world leaders but MBS was close to No. 1 among them.

He said the prince was distinguished, had significant energy, great ambition and a very clear vision.

In a banner headline, the Financial Times wrote that MBS was the most strong leader in the Middle East and that the US should work and closely cooperate with him.