American firm receiving millions to sanitize Saudi Arabia's image: Report

American public relations firm Edelman has reportedly signed deals worth $9.2 million with the Saudi regime in the past four years to sanitize the image of the kingdom, especially in the United States.

“Since Khashoggi’s murder, the powerful PR firm has received or is contracted to receive $9.6m (£7.9m) in fees from Saudi government agencies and companies controlled by the regime,” The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing the US Department of Justice documents made available by the watchdog group OpenSecrets.

Most of Edelman’s work for the regime has focused on rehabilitating its reputation in the United States, an effort that the kingdom had begun before journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents, added the report.

This comes just some two weeks after a US court dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), over his role in the 2018 murder of Khashoggi after Washington decided to provide him with immunity in the case.

Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, used to be a vocal critic of the kingdom and its crown prince.

The CIA concluded in 2018 that MBS had ordered the killing of Khashoggi. The prince has denied ordering Khashoggi’s killing but acknowledged later that it took place “under my watch.” Saudi officials later blamed “rogue agents” for the journalist’s murder.

Edelman’s services to the Saudis come as its CEO Richard Edelman has on several occasions claimed to support human rights and oppose repressive regimes.

Edelman is not the only American firm doing business with the Saudi regime, reads the report, noting, “but Edelman’s work for the regime is particularly notable given Edelman’s reputation for producing the ‘trust barometer’, an annual survey of public trust in government, business, the media and other institutions.”

MG