Saudi dissident says he 'was followed' by killer of King Salman's bodyguard

Saudi newspapers reported on Sunday that Abdulaziz al-Fagham, King Salman’s longtime bodyguard, was killed by intelligence officer Mamdouh Al Ali after the two argued over a personal matter.

Foreign journalists, however, treated the death as suspicious, noting that al-Fagham was dismissed from his post a few days prior to his death - drawing parallels with last year’s killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In his tweet on Sunday Ghanem Al-Dosari, a human rights activist and satirist who lives in London, said that Al Ali had followed him around, joining the same gym that Dosari was registered at and trying to convince him to return to Saudi Arabia. 

When Dosari refused, Al Ali invited him to a friend’s farm outside London. Dosari confirmed he had rejected both invitations

Dosari has a channel on YouTube where he mocks Saudi regime officials, referring to Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman as al-dib al-dasher (the tubby bear).

In August 2018, he and a friend was assaulted by two men thought to be Saudi agents outside Harrods’ department store in central London.

The men asked him who he was to talk about the Saudi royal family and punched him three times.

Speaking to The New Arab after the incident, Al-Dosari said he didn't feel safe in London anymore and noting he was worried for the safety of all Saudi dissidents.

In May 2019, Dosari said that Saudi Arabia had hacked his telephone with the Pegasus spyware programme, which was developed by the Israeli software firm NSO.

Dosari’s tweet about Al Ali’s harassment of him is likely to raise further questions about Al-Fagham’s death, which Saudi authorities are trying to present as the result of a “personal dispute”.