Saudi case against Twitter user may have its roots in US

A Saudi humanitarian aid worker’s anonymous Twitter account used to write satirically about the economy in Saudi Arabia has landed him in prison in the kingdom

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A Saudi humanitarian aid worker's anonymous Twitter account used for satire about Saudi Arabia's economy landed him in prison in the kingdom over three years ago. But the story may have roots in an elaborate ploy that began in Silicon Valley and sparked a federal case against two Twitter employees accused of spying for the kingdom. The case, spanning from San Francisco to Riyadh, reveals Saudi Arabia's continued efforts at suppressing criticism of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and shines a spotlight on the lengths to which the kingdom has gone to target perceived critics. For Areej al-Sadhan, a dual Saudi-U.S. citizen living in California, the saga began on March 12, 2018, when plain-clothed security forces entered the office of the Red Crescent in Riyadh, where her younger brother, Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, was working.