A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. Despite the recent threat, Abdulaziz said he still felt safe in Canada. Saudi Twitter gradually morphed into a propaganda platform, with the government deploying trolls and pressuring influencers to amplify its messages,” Abdulaziz wrote in the Washington Post last year. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners have been making vast output cuts this year -- about 10% of global supply -- to offset the loss in demand from the coronavirus crisis. “In his previous contacts with the Canadian government, he was always informed about the general threats and risks to him, but this time it is different,” said Alaa Mahajna. It felt more credible and more concrete.”. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has done this through an unusual method. [3] Consulting firm McKinsey & Company named Abdulaziz in an internal report as one of the top Saudi influencers on Twitter. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has done this through an unusual method. But you have to take some precautions to be ready,” he said. I’m not, honestly. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. You know, if you’re not doing anything that bothers MBS, that means you’re not working very well.”. Abdulaziz's two brothers and several friends are imprisoned in their homes in Saudi Arabia because of their links to him. He wrote: “I’m now in exile; another got arrested, and the third user vanished. Canada will always raise the issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia, both in public and in private.”. After the alleged hack, several members of Abdulaziz’s family and friends were arrested in Saudi. They were given two options: Tweet propaganda or have your private content, including pictures, released on Twitter.”, Abdulaziz was considered among the three most influential users on Twitter. In aggregate, the group implemented 95% of its production cuts last month. I’m OK here in Canada. A prominent Saudi dissident who is living in exile in Canada said he was recently warned by Canadian authorities that he was a “potential target” of Saudi Arabia and that he needed to take precautions to protect himself. I hope that they’re not going to do anything stupid,” he said. US intelligence agencies have reportedly found with a medium to high confidence that Prince Mohammed ordered the murder of Khashoggi but the kingdom has blamed rogue Saudi agents for the killing. The cartel has instructed members who failed to deliver their agreed share of oil-production cuts -- like Iraq and Nigeria -- to promise extra reductions in compensation. 16.5k Followers, 37 Following, 214 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Deena Al-Juhani Abdulaziz (@deenaaljuhanidaily) Have a confidential tip for our reporters? Explore Abdulaziz Alyaeesh (Twitter:@aziiz_4)'s 179 photos on Flickr! He hosts a YouTube satire program known for its criticism of the kingdom and its leadership. OPEC+ compliance with quotas has rarely been so evenly spread, ‘Compensation cuts’ have been an effective tool for discipline. Aljabri previously served as a high-ranking member of Saudi intelligence, and served as a right-hand man to Mohammed bin Nayef, the former crown prince who was deposed by Mohammed bin Salman. Abdulaziz said he believed that such alleged threats emanated from the kingdom as a way to stifle dissent, but that he would continue to challenge the Saudi government. “The warning about serious threats to his life was different this time. The rise of Mohammed bin Salman as crown prince in 2017, Abdulaziz said, had changed the nature of Twitter in Saudi Arabia, where it had been used relatively “freely” by Saudis to express their opinions. Omar Abdulaziz, a 29-year-old activist who had a close association with Jamal Khashoggi, the murdered Washington Post journalist, told the Guardian that he believed he was facing a threat to his safety and that the Canadians had credible information about a possible plan to harm him. In 2018, researchers at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, who track the use of spyware, told Abdulaziz that they believed his phone had been hacked by a network they associated with Saudi Arabia. The long-running issue is known as the cartel’s “Pinocchio Problem.”. Canada’s relationship with Saudi has been chilly since 2018, when the then foreign affairs minister – now deputy prime minister – Chrystia Freeland criticised Saudi’s crackdown on dissent. Jamal Khashoggi, the murdered Washington Post journalist, has nearly half a million Twitter followers, told Abdulaziz that they believed his phone had been hacked by a network they associated with Saudi Arabia, arrest and detention of Saad Aljabri’s two adult children. While Abdulaziz has lived for years with the knowledge that he was one of dozens of Saudi dissidents in the crosshairs of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto Saudi ruler, the activist said that the recent warning indicated a current and credible threat. [1] He was close friends and worked with Jamal Khashoggi, as recounted in the film The Dissident (2020). A spokesperson for Canada’s RCMP said: “Only in the event that an investigation results in the laying of criminal charges would the RCMP confirm its investigation, the nature of any charges laid and the identity of the individual(s) involved.”, A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “Canada remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia and continues to follow human rights cases. When Prince Abdulaziz was appointed as the kingdom’s energy minister last year, analysts predicted his decades of petroleum diplomacy would prove an asset in OPEC negotiations. Abdulaziz and Khashoggi had been seeking to mobilise an army of volunteers to counter the trolls before Khashoggi’s murder. He was close friends and worked with Jamal Khashoggi, as recounted in the film The Dissident (2020).. Abdulaziz was considered among the three most influential users on Twitter. 96.1k Followers, 980 Following, 5,121 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from عبدالعزيز العجيل (@zozalajail) Such high compliance has been achieved in the past, but only because a few members -- frequently Saudi Arabia -- curbed output far more than required.