CIA warns Arab activist of potential threat from Saudi Arabia
The CIA has warned Norway that a prominent Arab activist who is living in the country under asylum protection is facing a potential threat from Saudi Arabia, the Guardian has learned.
The pro-democracy activist, İyad el-Baghdadi, is a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
El-Baghdadi was alerted to the threat on 25 April, when Norwegian authorities arrived at his doorstep, took him to a secure location, and warned him he was in possible danger from an unspecified threat emanating from the kingdom.
The activist was told the threat had been passed on to Norwegian authorities by a foreign intelligence agency, which the Guardian has confirmed was the CIA.
“The way I understood it was, the Saudis have a crosshairs on me, but there is no idea of what they are going to do,” El-Baghdadi said in a phone interview with the Guardian. [Continue reading…]
Under US policy known as the intelligence community directive 191, the agency has a legal “duty to warn”; embarrassed after Khashoggi’s killing? [PDF] https://t.co/khPctX0DNT pic.twitter.com/mJFxOJJ2J1
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