Riyadh – It all started with a handshake.
Saudi Arabia’s 81-year-old King Salman shook hands with US First Lady Melania Trump when she landed with President Donald Trump on Saturday in the capital Riyadh.
The picture was circulated widely; and not without a pinch of sarcasm from some of the Saudis who shared it on social media: “It is not permissible to shake hands with women unless she is Melania Trump.”
Saudi Arabia is using President Trump’s two-day visit to project a more positive image of the country, stressing that extremism is found all over the world.
“Fighters of Daesh do not belong to a certain school of thought nor a certain country,” said Mohammed al-Issa, secretary general of the Muslim World League, using an Arabic acronym of the Islamic State.
The Muslim World League is an Islamic group funded by the Saudi government.
Ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia seeks to revamp image with Trump – A local woman wearing a niqab in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. Photo: Artur Widak Photo: Artur Widak/dpa
“Terrorism strategies aim at finding negative religious tendencies within young people to mobilize it. The league works on explaining Islam and its moderation,” he told journalists at a question-and-answer event.
Saudi Arabia is known for its strict interpretation of Islam, and it had been accused of exporting the fundamentalist brand known as Wahhabism, since the rise of former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was a Saudi national.
Shaking hands with women is not common in the ultra-conservative country, where women have to wear long, loose, dark clothes. Outside the big cities, they put on the full-face veil, known as the niqab.
Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.
“Extremism is exceptional in any religion, and even within politics. We aim through our strategies to stop the spread of terrorism,” al-Issa said.
Sitting in front of al-Issa were many female foreign journalists. Most of them did not cover their hair.
Pictures of Saudi officials speaking with Melania and Trump’s daughter and White House adviser, Ivanka, were also widely shared on social media.
Another image that was shared showed former crown prince Muqrin teaching Ivanka how to shake her cup of coffee to indicate that she does not want more coffee.
The change comes around a month after King Salman issued a decree that women should not be denied access to government services because they do not have a male guardian’s consent.
Government agencies still have to provide a list within three months of procedures that require male guardian approval, but the order was welcomed by local and international rights groups.
The most prominent part of Trump’s visit focuses on efforts to combat terrorism and extremism. Trump is expected to give a speech on Islam on inaugurating the Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology together with King Salman.
The plan came as a surprise, with Trump having repeatedly lashed out at the Muslim faith. Since becoming president, he has signed decrees seeking to ban people from Muslim-dominated countries from entering the US. In a March 2016 CNN interview, he said, “I think Islam hates us.”
But al-Issa dismissed Trump’s previous anti-Islam remarks, making sure to stress that both countries are aligned behind the same cause.
“The president clarified what he meant by his statements during the presidential race: He meant religious extremism, he clarified this quite well,” al-Issa told reporters in Riyadh. “We are all against religious extremism.”
– dpa
