A suspected agent of the Saudi government tried to kidnap a regime critic after he criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The FBI stopped Abdulrahman Almutairi, a 27-year-old comedian and former student at the University of San Diego, from being killed, the Daily Beast reported.
An unidentified Saudi man accompanied Almutairi’s father on a flight to collect Almutairi and bring him back to Saudi Arabia against his will after he used social media to criticize the October 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The FBI intervened and prevented the plot, two sources said.
“The Saudi government realized I was a threat,” Almutairi said. “If I go back to Saudi Arabia, I’ll be killed in the airport.”
Almutairi said he had previously received a call from a Saudi trying to lure him back to the kingdom for a “family reunion.”
The young Saudi, who had his expenses paid for by the kingdom as part of a stipend for citizen’s education abroad, said he used to praise the regime when Mohammed took power.
When Khashoggi was murdered, Almutairi believed Mohammed’s denials about his involvement. But the accumulating reports linking the murder to Mohammed eventually led him to denounce the leader.
Death threats then began piling up in his mentions and his messaging apps. He said he still receives messages that say “come home” daily.
In October 2018, he received a warning from someone he described as a source in Saudi Arabia that told him his life was in danger, prompting him to call police.
Without Almutairi’s knowledge, his father flew to Los Angeles, California, with an unidentified man. They never made it to San Diego because the FBI was waiting for them at the airport and sent them back to Saudi Arabia. Almutairi said the FBI told him about the incident after it happened. He believes his father was forced to board the plane to Los Angeles.
“I was shown a picture of someone who came with my dad, who I didn’t recognize,” he said.
He has since dropped out of school because the Saudis cut off his scholarship, his $1,800-a-month allowance, and his health insurance. The threats also discouraged him from speaking out against the Saudi government.
“My criticism against the government won’t do anything. It’ll just turn more people against me,” Almutairi said.
