A Paris-based reporter for Israeli news outlets was denied a visa to Saudi Arabia to cover the French president’s visit.
Gideon Kouts, who is Jewish, told the online European Jewish Press agency that he was denied a visa to cover Nicolas Sarkozy’s official trip to Saudi Arabia for Israeli radio and television stations “because I am writing about Israel.”
Kouts, who also writes for the French-Jewish magazine L’Arche, previously received a Saudi visa to travel with former French President Jacques Chirac. He also traveled to Libya with Sarkozy in December.
“This is setting a dangerous precedent which can affect any Jewish journalist who covers Israeli-related news,” Kouts told EJP.
The Union of Jewish Communities of the Parisian region denounced Saudi Arabia’s decision.
