{"id":1163,"date":"2017-12-08T05:07:19","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T05:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/?p=1163"},"modified":"2017-12-08T05:07:19","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T05:07:19","slug":"saudi-arabias-leader-spent-450-million-on-a-painting-heres-what-that-could-do-for-victims-of-his-war-in-yemen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/middleeastandnorthafricablog\/2017\/12\/08\/saudi-arabias-leader-spent-450-million-on-a-painting-heres-what-that-could-do-for-victims-of-his-war-in-yemen\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia\u2019s Leader Spent $450 Million On A Painting. Here\u2019s What That Could Do For Victims Of His War In Yemen."},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON \u2015 Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman, secretly spent $450.3 million on a Leonardo da Vinci painting last month,\u00a0according to a Wall Street Journal report<\/a>\u00a0on Thursday based on U.S. government intelligence and an interview with a top Middle East figure in the art world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Journal noted that news of the prince\u2019s purchase \u2015 the highest ever in an art-world auction \u2015 damages his claim that he will impose more transparency on the money accumulated by various members of the sprawling Saudi royal family. It suggests a huge amount of hidden wealth and, damningly for a man whose supporters paint him as a populist, excess.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But it also throws into stark relief the way the oil-rich monarchy continues to spend on luxuries while it pummels neighboring Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pioneered by Mohammed in his capacity as defense minister, the U.S.-backed Saudi military intervention in Yemen has now lasted more than two-and-a-half years and claimed thousands of civilian lives, many of them\u00a0children<\/a>, while causing the some of the starvation and disease crises in the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Saudi-led campaign has caused significantly more pain there since Nov. 4, with the tightening of the blockade on the entry of shipments to Yemen. That action was taken in response to a missile strike over Riyadh launched by the Iranian-aligned Yemeni Houthi rebels they\u2019re fighting, which Saudi officials say was a result of Iranian weapons transfers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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World leaders and humanitarian groups<\/a> have urged the kingdom to ease the restrictions so food, fuel, medicine and other aid can get in \u2015 so far to no avail.\u00a0President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter of the Saudi leadership, joined the chorus on Wednesday with a surprise statement calling for complete aid access \u201cimmediately.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe past month\u2019s escalation has killed thousands and condemned thousands more to die in the near future,\u201d Oxfam America said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cMillions will die in a historic famine and public health crisis if President Trump\u2019s call is not heeded.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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