Saudi linked to Khashoggi murder accused of trolling Newcastle takeover critics
CRITICS of the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United are being attacked on social media by a Twitter account allegedly operated by an official accused by the CIA of being involved in the brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saud Al-Qahtani is believed to be behind an account called KateStewart22, which cyber experts last night warned was among thousands of troll accounts used by the Saudi regime to pump out propaganda and shut down criticism of the country’s appalling human rights record, after the kingdom’s £370billion Public Investment Fund bought Newcastle United football club.
Among those targeted by KateStewart22 last week was The Mail on Sunday’s chief sports writer Oliver Holt, after he tweeted criticism of what he called a ‘murdering, misogynistic, homophobic, despotic’ regime.
The account, which has 25,000 followers and tweets in both English and Arabic, accused Mr Holt of ‘sly racism’ and having a ‘blatant agenda’, adding: ‘KSA [Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia] is a monarchy and well-loved by the people there. Who are you to label it authoritarian?’
The account added: ‘There are many low-grade, hypocritical, desperate “journos” on here trying to bait #NUFC fans. They’re rattled the takeover happened and we have a new manager. Anti-Saudi/Newcastle bias and agenda is there for all to see. But who cares? We’re the RICHEST club in the world!’
However, court papers filed in the US claim that KateStewart22 is secretly operated by Al-Qahtani, regarded as a ‘digital henchman’ to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS.
A lawsuit filed by Al Jazeera journalist Ghada Oueiss last year stated that KateStewart22 is a ‘masked Twitter account created and operated by’ Al-Qahtani and ‘an unidentified person based in England’. Ms Oueiss, a friend of Mr Khashoggi, said she was attacked by KateStewart22 and had her phone hacked by the Saudi regime after she accused Prince Mohammed of being behind Mr Khashoggi’s murder. Fake nude photos of Ms Oueiss were shared on the internet, and she suffered online abuse from KateStewart22 and other Saudi troll accounts.
Al-Qahtani, who ran social-media operations and served as chief propagandist for Prince Mohammed, was named by US intelligence officials as the ringleader of the operation to murder Mr Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Arab and Turkish intelligence services had bugged the building. He allegedly called in to the consulate via Skype to talk with and insult Khashoggi personally, before telling the hit squad: ‘Bring me the head of the dog.’
A CIA investigation found that Prince Mohammed bin Salman exchanged at least 11 messages with Al-Qahtani in the hours before and after the assassination of Khashoggi. This led the US government to conclude that bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder, which the Crown Prince denies.
Following the US intelligence report, Al-Qahtani was said to have been placed under house arrest. But he is now believed to be back in favour with the royal court, leading its army of social media trolls.
Professor Marc Owen Jones, an expert in Gulf politics, said: ‘The modus operandi is about seeking out those who dare criticise Saudi, and trying to intimidate them and silence them. That’s something that KateStewart22 does. Her interactions with people are like a guide as to who others should attack.
‘She’s constantly talking about Newcastle, and the more fans that follow her the more they’ll see her rhetoric. She gives them an anchor on which they can base a lot of their justification for the takeover… she legitimises an aggressive and hostile discourse against the media.’
Al-Qahtani, Mohammed bin Salman, Newcastle United and ‘KateStewart22’ did not respond to questions.
‘He told the hit squad, bring me the head of the dog’