Two UN officials announced this evening, Wednesday, that they have information indicating the possibility of the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the phone penetration of Jeff Bezos, founder of the Amazon website and owner of the Washington Post, and demanded an immediate investigation, but Saudi Arabia quickly denied.
A statement issued by the United Nations was signed by Anis Kalamar, the UN Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions and the head of the independent investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and David Kay, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.
The statement said they had information indicating the "possibility of" the Saudi Crown Prince's involvement in the penetration of Bezos' phone to influence the Washington Post regarding its coverage of news related to Saudi Arabia.
According to the statement, Bin Salman and Bezos exchanged their phone numbers a month before the latter's phone piracy, and the piracy also occurred in the same month in which the phones of two of Khashoggi's associates were hacked.
The UN statement also clarified that the program that Bin Salman used to hack Pezos' phone is the Israeli "Pegasus" program.
The UN officials considered that the timing of the Bezos phone piracy supports an investigation into allegations that Bin Salman commanded or instigated the killing of Khashoggi, and that the allegation of the telephone penetration was consistent with the prominent role of Muhammad bin Salman in leading a campaign against his opponents.
The statement added that these accusations "require the immediate investigation of the United States and other relevant authorities."
Earlier today, the British Guardian newspaper - quoting sources familiar with the results of a United Nations criminal investigation to be published today - said that the message sent by the Saudi crown prince to the American billionaire through the WhatsApp application contained a malicious file that penetrated the phone of the American billionaire.
The analysis concluded that it was "very likely" that the phone was hacked by a video file sent by Bin Salman to Bezos.
The Guardian indicated that bin Salman's letter was sent on May 1, 2018, five months before the killing of Khashoggi at his country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
The newspaper stressed - quoting a source familiar with the analysis - that large amounts of data were withdrawn from the Bezos phone, without revealing its nature.
Saudi Arabia denies bin Salman was involved in the phone penetration of Jeff Bezos, president of the Amazon company
A statement issued by the United Nations was signed by Anis Kalamar, the UN Special Rapporteur on arbitrary executions and the head of the independent investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and David Kay, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression.
The statement said they had information indicating the "possibility of" the Saudi Crown Prince's involvement in the penetration of Bezos' phone to influence the Washington Post regarding its coverage of news related to Saudi Arabia.
According to the statement, Bin Salman and Bezos exchanged their phone numbers a month before the latter's phone piracy, and the piracy also occurred in the same month in which the phones of two of Khashoggi's associates were hacked.
The UN statement also clarified that the program that Bin Salman used to hack Pezos' phone is the Israeli "Pegasus" program.
The UN officials considered that the timing of the Bezos phone piracy supports an investigation into allegations that Bin Salman commanded or instigated the killing of Khashoggi, and that the allegation of the telephone penetration was consistent with the prominent role of Muhammad bin Salman in leading a campaign against his opponents.
The statement added that these accusations "require the immediate investigation of the United States and other relevant authorities."
Earlier today, the British Guardian newspaper - quoting sources familiar with the results of a United Nations criminal investigation to be published today - said that the message sent by the Saudi crown prince to the American billionaire through the WhatsApp application contained a malicious file that penetrated the phone of the American billionaire.
The analysis concluded that it was "very likely" that the phone was hacked by a video file sent by Bin Salman to Bezos.
The Guardian indicated that bin Salman's letter was sent on May 1, 2018, five months before the killing of Khashoggi at his country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
The newspaper stressed - quoting a source familiar with the analysis - that large amounts of data were withdrawn from the Bezos phone, without revealing its nature.
Saudi Arabia denies bin Salman was involved in the phone penetration of Jeff Bezos, president of the Amazon company
For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told Reuters: "I think the word is absurd, is an accurate description," adding, "The idea that Crown Prince Jeff Bezos phone penetrates is definitely absurd."
The minister stated that the Kingdom will investigate the matter if evidence is presented to support these accusations
The Saudi embassy in Washington also denied reports of the crown prince’s responsibility for the breach, and demanded in a tweet on her Twitter account that an investigation be made into these allegations "so that the facts become clear."
The sources who spoke to the newspaper said that Bezos and Bin Salman were apparently exchanging friendly WhatsApp messages (Getty Images).
Breakthrough file
According to the results of the digital forensic laboratory analysis, it is believed that the coded message from the number used by Bin Salman included a harmful file that infiltrated the phone of the world's richest man.
This analysis concluded that it is "very likely" that the infiltration of the phone was caused by a hacked video file sent from the Saudi Crown Prince's account to Bezos.
According to sources who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity, the two apparently exchanged friendly WhatsApp messages when he sent the unwanted file on May 1 of that year. According to a person familiar with the matter, large amounts of data were withdrawn from the Bezos phone within hours.
The newspaper pointed out that this exceptional revelation that the "future" king of Saudi Arabia may have had a personal role in targeting the founder of the American company Amazon will send shock waves that resonate from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and could undermine bin Salman's efforts to attract more Western investors to The kingdom, which he pledged to transform economically, even as he oversaw the campaign of his critics and rivals.
This analysis concluded that it is "very likely" that the infiltration of the phone was caused by a hacked video file sent from the Saudi Crown Prince's account to Bezos.
According to sources who spoke to the newspaper on the condition of anonymity, the two apparently exchanged friendly WhatsApp messages when he sent the unwanted file on May 1 of that year. According to a person familiar with the matter, large amounts of data were withdrawn from the Bezos phone within hours.
The newspaper pointed out that this exceptional revelation that the "future" king of Saudi Arabia may have had a personal role in targeting the founder of the American company Amazon will send shock waves that resonate from Wall Street to Silicon Valley, and could undermine bin Salman's efforts to attract more Western investors to The kingdom, which he pledged to transform economically, even as he oversaw the campaign of his critics and rivals.
Blackmail and target
He told the newspaper Saudi experts, opponents and analysts, that they believed Bezos might have been targeted because of his possession of the Washington Post, its coverage of Saudi Arabia, Khashoggi's articles critical of the crown prince and his repressive campaign against activists and thinkers that had become troublesome for Bin Salman and his inner circle.
Andrew Miller, a Middle East expert who served on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, said that if Bezos was targeted by the crown prince, this would reflect the "personality-based environment" in which Mohammed bin Salman works.
The newspaper said that digital security experts took over the investigation that reached these results, after the American tabloid "National Enquirer" revealed an intimate relationship with Bezos, about nine months after the date his phone was hacked.
Bezos had said that he had been subjected to extortion, adding that his newspaper’s coverage of the Khashoggi killing was “undoubtedly unpopular in some circles”, pointing out that the relationship between American Media, the owner of the National Inquirer, and Riyadh is still not fully understood.
Andrew Miller, a Middle East expert who served on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, said that if Bezos was targeted by the crown prince, this would reflect the "personality-based environment" in which Mohammed bin Salman works.
The newspaper said that digital security experts took over the investigation that reached these results, after the American tabloid "National Enquirer" revealed an intimate relationship with Bezos, about nine months after the date his phone was hacked.
Bezos had said that he had been subjected to extortion, adding that his newspaper’s coverage of the Khashoggi killing was “undoubtedly unpopular in some circles”, pointing out that the relationship between American Media, the owner of the National Inquirer, and Riyadh is still not fully understood.
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