Saudi media claims ex-intelligence chief is member of Muslim Brotherhood

Saudi media outlets have published claims that former intelligence chief, Saad Al-Jabri, is a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Khaleej Times reported yesterday.

A disinformation and propaganda campaign was launched against Al-Jabri as authorities try to encourage Canada to extradite him. Al-Jabri is thought to be in possession of documents that prove Riyadh’s support for terror attacks.

Saudi journalist, however, claim he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is deemed a terrorist organisation in the kingdom and he helped the group to infiltrate into the Saudi institutions.

Abdullah Al-Otaibi wrote in Asharq Al-Awsat: “This person was not only financially corrupt, but he ran a network of corruption organisations and an ideological organisation affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood and other political Islamic parties.”

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Adding that the Muslim Brotherhood “is the most dangerous group because it is targeting the state and its institutions.”

Al-Jabri held a cabinet-rank intelligence post under deposed Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef and has been living in Toronto since a 2017 palace coup in Riyadh.

The Saudis attempted to have Al-Jabri arrested by issuing a “red notice” order through Interpol, the international cooperation organisation for police, in late 2017. In 2018, a visiting Saudi delegation also pressed Canada to extradite him.

In recent months, Bin Salman has also increased pressure on Al-Jabri’s relatives, detaining his adult children, to force him to return to the kingdom, his family said.