MbS aide Saud Al-Qahtani threatened Jamal Khashoggi's son with unemployment months before journalist's murder
Murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was threatened by
an official close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman six months before his
assassination.
According to Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, Khashoggi was
threatened by MbS' right-hand man Saud al-Qahtani, saying that his son would
lose his job in the UAE if Jamal continued to write critically about the ruler.
The threat was made six months before he was murdered in the
Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.
"If writing and speech continue at the rate you're
currently writing, your son Salah will lose his work in Dubai," Al-Qahtani
texted Khashoggi on April 2018.
The report added that the US-based journalist tempered his
criticisms of the Saudi regime at the time, despite being angry at the demand.
"How bad are these people? Could they get any
worse?" he asked a close friend at the time.
Despite his compliance, Khashoggi's son was still fired from
his post.
Dubbed Saudi Arabia's Steve Bannon, Al-Qahtani was
responsible for finding Riyadh's "online enemies" and coming up with
a list of potential targets for Saudi intelligence.
He, along other aides to Mohammed bin Salman, were fired
from their positions when it was revealed they were closely involved in
orchestrating Khashoggi's killing.
In 2017 Al-Qahtani called for a McCarthy-like blacklist to
be compiled by Twitter users of Saudis who had displayed sympathy for regional
rival Qatar. Under the Arabic hashtag #TheBlacklist, he sinisterly vowed to
"follow" every name reported on this list.
Al-Qahtani also tweeted that anyone who "conspires"
against Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and Bahrain - countries taking part in
the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar - would go on "trial".
He also personally oversaw the torture of at least one
detained female activist in 2018, according to human right monitors.
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