CBS 42

Federal agents arrest Saudi ‘operative’ in Mississippi

(Getty Images)

JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) — According to the Daily Journal, federal prosecutors have charged a Saudi man living in Mississippi with lying to federal officials.

Ibrahim Alhussayen, who lives in Brandon, is accused of submitting false statements to federal officials about using an Instagram account to intimidate Saudi citizens living in the United States and Canada who are known critics of the Saudi Arabian government.

According to the complaint, which was first reported by The Daily Beast, Alhussayen claimed he worked for the Saudi royal family.

The prosecutors also believed that Alhussayen had multiple screenshots on his phone of tweets posted by Jamal Khashoggi, who was a former columnist for The Washington Post. U.S. intelligence concluded that Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents in 2018 because he was critical of the Saudi government.

Court documents show Alhussayen has been on a student visa since 2013.