{"id":56314,"date":"2020-07-29T17:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-29T17:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icrowdnewswire.com\/?p=2679869"},"modified":"2020-07-29T17:16:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-29T17:16:00","slug":"us-seeks-to-drop-charges-against-former-twitter-employees-accused-of-spying-for-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ipsnews.net\/business\/2020\/07\/29\/us-seeks-to-drop-charges-against-former-twitter-employees-accused-of-spying-for-saudi-arabia\/","title":{"rendered":"US seeks to drop charges against former Twitter employees accused of spying for Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span>Illustration by Alex Castro \/ The Verge<\/small><\/p>\n

Two former Twitter employees who were last fall charged with spying on behalf of the government of Saudi Arabia may have charges against them dropped at the recommendation of US prosecutors, according to Bloomberg<\/em>. It is unclear at this time why the US is pushing to have the case against the two men, Ahmad Abouammo and Ali Alzabarah, dismissed. But lawyers in San Francisco submitted the recommendation to a judge on Tuesday. It has yet to be approved.<\/p>\n

A third man, a Saudi citizen named Ahmed Almutairi, was also implicated in the operation as the recruiter who convinced Abouammo and Alzabarah to spy on Saudi dissidents using internal Twitter tools. Prosecutors are also recommending charges against him be dropped, Bloomberg <\/em>reports.<\/p>\n

Twitter declined to comment for this story.<\/p>\n

The operation is said to have run from November 2014 to May 2015, and it involved Abouammo and Alzabarah using Twitter credentials to glean email addresses, phone numbers, IP addresses, and other data from the accounts of those critical of the Saudi kingdom and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Bin Salman is later believed to be responsible for ordering the assassination of critic and Washington Post <\/em>contributor Jamal Khashoggi.<\/p>\n

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