(Bloomberg) -- Twitter has shut down the account of a former top aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman who was fired from his position following the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Saud al-Qahtani's account was removed for violations of Twitter's “platform manipulation policies,” the company said in a disclosure that also detailed other actions around the world. Twitter's investigation resulted in the termination of six accounts linked to Saudi Arabia's state-run media apparatus.
“While active, the accounts in this set presented themselves as independent journalistic outlets while tweeting narratives favorable to the Saudi government,” the company said.
Mystery Shadows Prince's Enforcer in Year Since Khashoggi Death
Qahtani, who was a senior adviser to the crown prince, the kingdom's de facto ruler, is sanctioned by the U.S. over the murder of Khashoggi, who was killed last year after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Questions have centered on whether the crown prince knew about or ordered the killing, a possibility U.S. intelligence agencies consider likely. Saudi Arabia's attorney general has arrested 21 people involved in the case and has requested the death penalty for five who confessed to the murder. Qahtani, who is under investigation, was removed from his post after Saudi authorities began an investigation into Khashoggi's murder.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Khraiche in Beirut at dkhraiche@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Mark Williams, Stuart Biggs
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