In Canada, the disappearance of Saudi dissident Ahmed Al-Harbi frightens the exiles

These concerns are most acute among Saudi activists, who have tried to keep a low profile and avoid attracting unwanted attention from the Saudi government. One of the opponents said, “They are normal people from Saudi Arabia who left Saudi Arabia and disappeared from view.” Canada, which spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by the Saudi authorities. “But now they are exposed. Ahmed revealed their names. They are worried that they will be targeted, and that something will happen at any moment.” In recent years, the Saudi authorities have repeatedly tried to intimidate critics living abroad and put pressure on their relatives who remained in the kingdom. In some cases he kidnapped opponents and returned them to Saudi Arabia, and on Friday, the CIA submitted a report to Congress in which it concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The Director of National Intelligence referred to “the crown prince’s support for the use of violent measures to silence dissidents abroad.” Al-Harbi, who entered Canada in 2019 and was granted asylum, has worked on several projects with other Saudi dissidents in Canada, according to the friends. This included participating in an opposition talk show on YouTube and participating in a network of volunteers active on Twitter to confront “the flies” in Saudi Arabia, a government-backed operation that attacks social media users who criticize the authorities. “We have people with false names.” Omar Abdulaziz, a prominent Saudi dissident and long-time Canadian resident who runs the opposition TV program and Twitter network, said, “Now they know who they are.” He indicated that Saudi authorities may also be in a position to know now. The intimate details of these operations, as Abdulaziz and two other Harby friends said in interviews that Harbi had disappeared a few weeks ago, preventing them from entering Snapchat and leaving all their shared messaging groups. Al-Harbi then called at least two friends, Abdulaziz and Omar Al-Zuhairi, and told them He went to the Saudi embassy, ​​where he was interrogated and pressured to reveal names and details of people in the activists’ network, the two friends said .. In the calls, Al-Harbi said that he had provided the names of other activists, and in a recording of one call obtained by the Washington Post, Harbi said, Between long pauses, he was asked questions about Abdulaziz and his work. Al-Harbi said that he felt that his family in Saudi Arabia was under hidden threats. Describing his visit to the embassy, ​​he said: “When you enter, you feel like you are Khashoggi.” Al-Harbi told Abdulaziz that the employees of the An embassy gave him a plane ticket to Saudi Arabia and took him to the airport, but he told his companions. He had decided not to return to the kingdom and fled. Harbi then disappeared for about three weeks, and on February 16, Abdulaziz raised the alarm on his famous Twitter account, and two days later, a new Twitter account appeared for Harbi. Previous references were absent from the Saudi dissidents, prisoners and Khashoggi. The new account released a photo of the crown prince, as Al-Harbi’s first tweet celebrated his return to his homeland. A photo of a plane ticket bearing his name, dated February 7, showed the Canadian Public Safety Corporation referred questions about whether Canada would investigate how Harbi reached Saudi Arabia to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which declined to comment. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said it “cannot confirm or deny” whether he has requested asylum in Canada, citing “privacy grounds”. The Saudi embassy in Canada did not respond to a request for comment on Al-Harbi. Abdel Aziz is the best – a well-known activist in my war circle. Abdulaziz moved to Canada nearly two decades ago and became an asylum seeker and then a Canadian citizen. Over time, he became activist against what he viewed as an injustice committed by the Saudi government. His YouTube program critical of the government has become very popular, in 2018 he said that his phone had been hacked, and that Saudi agents had traveled to Canada to try to lure him back to the kingdom, according to the recording of that conversation. He said that his family in Saudi Arabia, which is now banned from travel, stopped speaking to him, and that two brothers and more than 100 of his friends are in prison due to their contact with him. Saudi intelligence chief Saad al-Jabri accused Muhammad of targeting him for assassination and filed a lawsuit last year against the crown prince. The lawsuit also alleges that two of Jabri’s children were detained in Saudi Arabia to pressure him to return. The Saudi government accused Al-Jabri of misappropriating public funds, and the Saudi dissident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, supervised an act of war with the Twitter network known as “bees”. The defector said he had felt increasingly vulnerable in recent months, but that the situation had gotten much worse after Al-Harbi’s return to Saudi Arabia. He was really with us. He knew our secrets. He knew our life. The opposition said he knows everything about us. ”He said he was concerned that the Saudi authorities might now press – or even torture – al-Harbi to obtain information about the opposition circle. If their names were revealed, the authorities might threaten their families in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is a travel ban on relatives of dissidents as a way to intimidate them, and for fear of being targeted with violence even in Canada, the exiles said they are already avoiding Saudi diplomatic missions so they don’t end up like Khashoggi. ”I never came out with my name, my picture, my likeness, or anything else. Always in stealth mode. The anonymous defector said, “There is no name or information about me or my city, even on Twitter. But if I take one step forward and come out with my real name or picture,” his words slow down, ”then it is as if I gave them the green light to take my family, to arrest my brother Or my sister or my father or my mother. ” Amanda Coletta in Toronto contributed to this report.