Friday, May 3, 2024 - Saudi Arabia has reportedly stepped up arrests of its citizens who comment against Israel over the war in Gaza, despite Riyadh having no relations with Israel.
Recent detentions have included an executive for a company
involved in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 economic plan
who expressed views on the war deemed incendiary by local authorities,
Bloomberg says.
A media figure who said Israel should never be forgiven and
another individual called for the boycott of American fast-food
restaurants in the kingdom, unnamed sources tell Bloomberg.
The arrests are aimed at deterring people from making online
statements about the war that might harm national security, a source familiar
with the Saudi government’s thinking tells Bloomberg.
Another Saudi source familiar with the matter says there has
been a major increase in inmates over the last six months at one of the
country’s maximum-security prisons. This was corroborated by several Saudi
diplomats and rights groups who say they’ve also noticed a spike in social
media-related arrests since October 7. However, many of those detentions could
well be for posts unrelated to the Israel-Hamas war, the sources say.
Riyadh and its regional allies, including Egypt and Jordan,
have clamped down on protests in their own countries with fears that
pro-Palestine rallies could reignite uprisings against authorities in those
countries.
The report comes as Saudi Arabia and Israel take steps
through an agreement brokered by Washington.
The Biden administration has been talking with Saudi Arabia
and Israel on a potential peace agreement since before 7 October and talks have
continued during Israel's war on Gaza but there appear to be still stumbling
blocks to an agreement.
While negotiations with Riyadh were still underway, an
agreement could potentially see the US supply technology to help develop
nuclear power in Saudi Arabia in return for normalisation with
Israel.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 Comments