Saudi researcher Madawi al-Rasheed said that the disappearance of Saud al-Qahtani, former adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, remains a mystery, asking the Crown Prince: Where is al-Qahtani?
Al-Qahtani, who was sacked following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has not appeared in public and has not posted anything on social media, as he has always done, Madawi said in an article on the Middle East Eye website.
Al-Rashid quoted a tweet by Palestinian human rights activist Iyad al-Baghdadi on August 28, saying that he had received reports that Saud al-Qahtani had been poisoned to death by the Saudi crown prince, stressing that his sources were reliable.
She points out that the Swedish intelligence services put Baghdadi two months ago under protection, after warnings from the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that his life is at risk because it may be the target of agents of the Saudi regime.
The Saudi researcher said that the tyrants are famous for killing their critics and opponents, but they are equally fond of killing close relatives, especially when they have helped rid them of a stubborn adversary.
She pointed out that, in the absence of compelling evidence about al-Qahtani's fate, it cannot be assumed that what al-Baghdadi cited was an out-of-the-art fabrication. , But rather obnoxious conspiracies, as described by the researcher.
Al-Qahtani was named in several reports as one of the masterminds of Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul - including a UN probe of human rights expert Anis Kalamar in June - and is also one of those banned from the United States, Britain and other European countries, Madawi said. .
The Saudi researcher says the Saudi crown prince is still determined to silence all critics, encourage extremist national discourse, and establish death squads that have become prominent in spreading fear inside Saudi Arabia, explaining that his death squad has planned, executed, hacked and intimidated critics inside and outside the country in the name of protection. Nation and defend it.
Al-Qahtani was linked in 2017 to the Ritz-Carlton incident, where the Crown Prince arrested a number of businessmen and others from the ruling family on the pretext of fighting corruption.
Since 2012, according to the Saudi researcher, Al-Qahtani has been reported to be in contact with Italian authorities and obtaining spyware for use in Saudi Arabia, and since working with the Crown Prince has initiated contact with an Israeli spy company called NSO, which produces spyware.
In 2017, al-Qahtani was mentioned in the context of the detention of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in Riyadh and forced to read his resignation statement to complicate the political scene in Lebanon and undermine Hezbollah's grip on the country, as Rasheed put it.
At the end of her article, the Saudi researcher says that al-Qahtani's bullying reflects the characteristic of the Saudi regime under Mohammed bin Salman, adding that in 2018, relatives of the activist Jain al-Hathloul said that al-Qahtani was responsible for her physical torture.
Al-Qahtani's aggressive remarks on social media have prompted opponents and critics of the regime to describe him as "Mr. Hashtag," who is believed to have been responsible for establishing "electronic flies," a team dedicated to hacking accounts and intimidating dissidents.