Palestinian-born activist says CIA notified Norway of threat against him

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Palestinian-born activist living in Norway was reportedly whisked away to a secure location after the CIA informed Norwegian officials of an unspecified threat against him, according to reports Tuesday.

Iyad el-Baghdadi, who is outspoken on Twitter and was researching several issues related to Saudi Arabia, is quoted by Norway’s news agency NTB as saying Norwegian officials came to his home on April 25 and told him he may be in danger before taking him to a safe place.

He is quoted as saying it is unclear what the threat was, but that “something came on the radar of the CIA.” He says Norwegian security agency PST told him the threat is not imminent.

The Guardian, which first reported the incident, said the CIA had warned Norway that el-Baghdadi faced a potential threat from Saudi Arabia. It quoted el-Baghdadi as saying that after Norwegian authorities took him to a secure location, they warned him he was in possible danger from an unspecified threat emanating from the kingdom.

The CIA declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press, referring any questions to authorities in Norway. El-Baghdadi did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment. The Saudi Embassy in Washington cannot be immediately reached for comment.

— AP

1. It is not clear at this time what the nature of the threat was, and there's no indication that it had translated into a specific plot. As I said earlier: They seem to have me in their cross-hairs but it's not clear what they want to do.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) May 7, 2019