A key Saudi suspect in the murder of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 had his account reinstated on X, the social media company controlled by Elon Musk, after it was permanently suspended under the company’s previous owner.
Saud al-Qahtani, a onetime key adviser to Mohammed bin Salman, had “direct involvement” in the murder of Khashoggi, according to a US intelligence assessment released by the Biden administration in 2021.
Hours after the Guardian reported on the account being reinstated, it was suspended again. An X spokesperson said in a statement: “Due to an error the suspension was originally lifted, but it has since been reinstated.”
The US assessment found that the crown prince had approved the grisly operation in Turkey that killed the Washington Post columnist, who was dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The US assessment also pointed out that the 15-member Saudi team that traveled to Istanbul to target Khashoggi included officials who worked for the Saudi Center for Studies and Media Affairs (CSMARC), which Qahtani headed. In that role, he was referred to among Saudi dissidents as the “lord of the flies”.
Qahtani and his subordinate, Maher Mutreb, were sanctioned by the US treasury in 2018 for their involvement in Khashoggi’s murder. Qahtani seemed to disappear from public view after he was hit with the sanctions, but Saudi prosecutors ruled in December 2019 that there was no evidence linking Qahtani to the journalist’s murder.
It is unclear why Qahtani’s account was reinstated and then suspended again. Experts speculated that it could have been part of a wider attempt by Musk to reinstate users who were previously suspended, or was simply an unintended technical glitch.
Saudi Arabia is a key investor in X through its stake in Kingdom Holding, the investment vehicle controlled by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whose investment in the platform dates back to 2011.
The company that was previously known as Twitter first suspended Qahtani’s account in September 2019, about a year after he had allegedly been sacked from his role as an adviser to the crown prince. It announced in a blog post at the time that the “permanent” suspension was a result of violations of the platform’s manipulation policies. It was part of a broader move to shut down Saudi’s “state-run media apparatus”, which amplified pro-Saudi messages across social media networks.
After his suspension in 2019, Qahtani’s account – which had 1.2m followers – appeared blank, and the words “account suspended” appeared under his handle. Then the account was back online, only to be suspended again hours later.
A review of previous tweets shows that the Saudi adviser was visiting New York in late September 2018, days before the Khashoggi killing.
It is not clear what role, if any, Musk had in reinstating Qahtani’s account. The move comes at a time when the billionaire has played a key role in supporting the candidacy of Republican candidate Donald Trump.
“It is a telling indictment of the current state of X that a man suspected of involvement in the killing of a Saudi journalist, who was also suspended for manipulating Twitter, and who personally created a black list of those critical of Saudi regime policy, is having his account reinstated,” said Marc Owen Jones.
Jones said it was possible that the account was reinstated due to a technical glitch, but said X was “such a black box” that it was hard to know. He said it was possible that Musk’s quest to reinstate previously banned users has gone “global” and that it was reinstated as part of an automated drive.
“But Saudi have a big stake in X so they could be using their leverage or there could be some pressure to bring back and rehabilitate [him]. Ultimately we don’t know for sure why he’s back, but it would be a weird mistake or glitch to happen,” he said.
An investigation by disinformation experts at DFRLab in 2023 found a network of 28 pro-Saudi X accounts appeared to be coordinating an attempt to get Musk to reinstate Qahtani’s account. The investigation found that the mostly anonymous accounts “displayed a pattern of using similar text and graphics to promote Qahtani and the kingdom”, as well as content promoting Saudi Arabia, tourism, its role in Ukraine mediation and its hosting of the Expo 2030.
Musk has reinstated several controversial figures who have previously been banned, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, the US congresswoman, and Trump.
“Reinstating the accounts of individuals who violated the platform’s policies has allowed malicious actors to take advantage of the change in Twitter’s leadership to adapt their manipulation tactics, as seen in this case, without fear of consequences,” DFRLab concluded.
