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A Saudi exile in Canada has disappeared.
When he reappeared in the kingdom, fear struck the community
Ahmad Abdullah al-Harbi has been working on various ventures with opponents of other regimes, fearing he has exposed them after returning under mysterious circumstances to his home after a visit to the Saudi embassy.
"We had people with fake names. They now know who they are,"
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Saudi Arabia
Canada
Muhammad bin Salman
News agencies
Sunday, 28 February 2021, 22:10
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In the video: Biden refers to the intelligence report on the murder of Jamal Hashukaji (Photo: Reuters)
An opponent of the Saudi regime living in Canada disappeared last month after visiting the Kingdom embassy in Ottawa.
Fear for the life of 24-year-old Ahmad Abdullah al-Harbi has faded after he recently reappeared in Saudi Arabia, but his colleagues in the Diaspora in Canada fear he was forced to return to his homeland and ultra-Orthodox because of information he may provide to authorities.
"They are normal people from Saudi Arabia who have left Saudi Arabia and disappeared from the radar," an opponent of the Saudi regime living in Canada said in an anonymous conversation with the Washington Post.
"Now, they are exposed. Ahmed has revealed their names. They are afraid they will be marked, that at any moment something will happen."
Fear in the Saudi Saudi community is in line with a U.S. intelligence report released Friday, which states that Regent Muhammad bin Salman approved the operation in which journalist Jamal Hashukaji was assassinated in 2018.
He was tempted to enter the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he was brutally murdered and his body was never found.
The report noted that "the regent supports the use of violent means to silence opponents of exile regime."
Al-Harbi's friends, who arrived in Canada in 2019 and were granted asylum there, said he was working on several projects with opponents of other Saudi regimes in Canada.
Among other things, he was involved in a program of hosting Saudi exiles on YouTube and participated in a network of volunteers who acted on Twitter against the "flies" of Saudi Arabia - a nickname for the kingdom's operation to defame activists in networks criticizing the government.
"We had people with fake names. They now know who they are," said Omar 'Abd al-Aziz, who opposes a prominent Saudi regime that has been living in Canada for a long time.
He heads Twitter's opposition network and network.
He said the Saudi authorities may be in a position to allow them to obtain sensitive information about those operations.
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The Saudi exiles are moving away from the representations of their homeland.
A memorial service for Hashukaji's murder (Photo: AP)
'Abd al-'Aziz and two other members of al-Harbi said he disappeared a few weeks ago, blocked them with Snapshot and left all their shared groups in messaging apps.
He then told at least two of his friends, 'Abd al-Aziz and Omar a-Zuhiri, that he was at the Saudi embassy.
He told them he was being questioned and pressured to reveal the names and details of those active network members.
Al-Harbi admitted in talks that he had given names of other activists.
In a recording of one of the conversations, which reached the Washington Post, al-Harbi said, during long pauses, that he was asked about 'Abd al-'Aziz and his network.
Al-Harbi said he felt his family living in Saudi Arabia was being implicitly threatened.
"When you enter, you feel like you are Hashukaji," he described his entry into the Saudi embassy in the Canadian capital.
Al-Harbi told Abd al-Aziz that the embassy staff gave him a plane ticket to Saudi Arabia and took him to the airport, but he told his escorts that he had decided not to return to the kingdom, and fled.
After that, he disappeared for almost three weeks.
On February 16, 'Abd al-Aziz alerted his popular Twitter account to the disappearance of his acquaintance.
Two days later, al-Harbi reappeared, with a new Twitter account.
There have been no references to Saudi regime opponents, political prisoners or Hashukaji.
Instead, the regent appeared in the roof image of the account.
In his first tweet, he celebrated his return to the homeland.
He posted a photo of a plane ticket with his name, from February 7th.
Authorities in Canada declined to say whether they had opened an investigation.
The Saudi embassy in Canada did not respond to questions about al-Harbi.
U.S. intelligence blamed him for Hashukaji's assassination.
Ben Salman (Photo: Reuters)
'Abd al-'Aziz is the most prominent activist in al-Harbi's circle.
He moved to Canada almost 20 years ago, and became an asylum seeker.
He later received Canadian citizenship.
Over time, he became active against what he described as injustice on the part of the Saudi government.
His YouTube program, which criticizes the authorities in the kingdom, has become extremely popular.
He said that in 2018 his phone was hacked, and Saudi agents who came to Canada tried to seduce or return to the kingdom.
He said his family, who could not leave the kingdom, had stopped being in touch with him.
Two of his brothers and more than a hundred of his acquaintances were arrested after being in contact with him.
Another Saudi exile seeking refuge in Canada, former Saudi intelligence chief Saad al-Jabri, accused Muhammad bin Salman of plotting to assassinate him.
He filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court last year against the prince, stating that two of his natives had been arrested by Saudi authorities to pressure him to return to the kingdom.
The Saudi government, on the other hand, accuses him of embezzling public funds.
"He knew everything about us"
An opponent of the Saudi regime, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was responsible for al-Harbi's activities on Twitter, known as the "Bees." He said he had felt more vulnerable in recent months, a feeling that had intensified significantly after al-Harbi returned to Saudi Arabia.
"Ahmed used to eat from my plate, and I his own. He really was with us. He knew our secrets. He knew our lives. He knew everything about us," the regime opponent said. He said he feared the Saudi authorities would pressure, or even answer, al-Harbi to obtain information about a network of opponents of the regime in Canada. If their names are revealed, their families in Saudi Arabia will be in danger.
The Saudi government routinely imposes movement restrictions on relatives of exiled regime opponents as a means of intimidation against them. Fearing violence against them, even in Canada, Saudi exiles refrain from reaching Saudi diplomatic missions so as not to face a fate similar to Hashukaji's.
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