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Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying for Saudi Arabia

VOA News

   The U.S. Justice Department has charged two former Twitter employees of
   spying on users on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

   The charges unsealed in a San Francisco court said Ali Alzabarah and
   Ahmad Abouammo used their employee credentials to access information
   about specific Twitter users.

   Abouammo, a U.S. citizen, was arrested Tuesday. Alzabarah, a Saudi
   citizen, remains at large.

   A third person, Saudi citizen Ahmed Almutairi, is accused of spying and
   acting as an intermediary between the Twitter workers and Saudi
   officials.

   Prosecutors said Abouammo falsified documents and lied to FBI agents.

   Alzabarah is accused of accessing the personal data of more than 6,000
   Twitter users in 2015, including a Saudi national who was a friend of
   Jamal Khashoggi, theWashington Postjournalist allegedly slain in
   October 2018 by men with ties to Saudi government officials.

   Alzabarah and Almutairi are both believed to be in Saudi Arabia.

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