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Saudi ex-spy says MBS sent death squad to assassinate him: report
In an interview with US broadcaster CBS News' "60 Minutes", Saad Aljabri -- formerly a top spy and interlocutor between the kingdom's intelligence services and Western governments -- alleged he was targeted after he fled the country following a 2017 power grab by the crown prince.
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In this file handout photo released by Saudi Royal Palace on December 14, 2016 shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef (right) speaking with deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the opening session of the Shura Council in Riyadh. (AFP/Bandar Al-Jaloud)
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former top Saudi Arabian spy has said the country's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman dispatched a feared team of mercenaries to kill him while in exile in Canada.
In an interview with US broadcaster CBS News' "60 Minutes", Saad Aljabri -- formerly a top spy and interlocutor between the kingdom's intelligence services and Western governments -- alleged he was targeted after he fled the country following a 2017 power grab by the crown prince.
A friend at a Middle Eastern intelligence service, he said, warned that he could face a fate similar to that of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who investigations have alleged was murdered by a Riyadh-linked death squad after visiting the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
"The warning I received, don't be in a proximity of any Saudi mission in Canada. Don't go to the consulate. Don't go to the embassy... You are on the top of the list," Aljabri told "60 minutes".
He said the team arrived in Canada in October 2018 -- only to be deported when they lied to customs officials and were found to be carrying suspicious items.
AFP was unable to independently verify Aljabri's claims, and requests for comment to the Canadian foreign ministry went unanswered.
But Canadian officials told "60 Minutes" they were "aware of incidents in which foreign actors have attempted to... threaten... those living in Canada," describing the threats as "completely unacceptable."
