US: Former Twitter employee found guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia

A US federal court has found a former Twitter manager guilty of spying for Saudi Arabia’s royal family. Ahmad Abouammo was convicted on six criminal charges including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. He was hired by a close advisor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for gaining access to the personal information of Saudi dissidents. Prosecutors said that Abouammo, a dual US-Lebanese citizen, received at least 300 thousand dollars for sharing private information with Twitter users. Also, Ali al-Zabarah, a colleague of Abouammo was accused of accessing Twitter accounts on behalf of Saudi Arabia. He left the U-S before being charged. Riyadh was accused of spying on the US for the first time with the arrest and indictment of Abouammo in late 2019.