Saudi Arabia 'planned to spy on Khashoggi's fiancee in UK'
Source: The Guardian
Saudi Arabia 'planned to spy on Khashoggi's fiancee in UK'
Exclusive: US agencies believed kingdom intended to monitor Hatice Cengiz after journalist killed
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
@skirchy
Fri 24 Jan 2020 13.00 GMT
Last modified on Fri 24 Jan 2020 16.05 GMT
US intelligence authorities urged British counterparts to keep a close eye on Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of the murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, after they became aware of a plan by Saudi Arabia to keep her under surveillance in the UK last year, according to western intelligence sources.
The US believed the kingdom had the ambition and intention to monitor Cengiz in London last May, seven months after Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain papers so the couple could marry.
It is not clear if the intended surveillance of Cengiz was electronic or physical, or if it was successful.
However, the revelation that intelligence agencies feared Cengiz was being targeted in this way and that Saudi Arabia was preparing to do so in the UK so soon after the outcry over Khashoggis murder will have caused alarm in the diplomatic community.
It will also highlight the concerns of human rights activists, who have long argued the Saudis are using surveillance to monitor and intimidate dissidents and critics of the kingdom.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/24/saudi-arabia-planned-to-spy-on-jamal-khashoggi-fiancee-hatice-cengiz-in-uk