The CIA warned Norwegian officials of a potential threat to an Arab dissident granted asylum by the European nation, according to the Guardian.

Iyad el-Baghdadi, a Palestinian-born pro-democracy activist and frequent critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been living in Norway under asylum. He was reportedly taken to a secure location on April 25 by Norwegian authorities, who told him he was at risk due to an unspecified threat from Saudi Arabia.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The way I understood it was, the Saudis have a crosshairs on me, but there is no idea of what they are going to do,” el-Baghdadi told the newspaper. “They assured me that they are taking it very seriously. They came prepared.”

El-Baghdadi was granted political asylum in 2015 after he was expelled from the United Arab Emirates. He is a frequent critic of Gulf State governments, particularly on Twitter, and stepped up his criticism of the Saudi government after the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, tweeting “if they get away with kidnapping the next step will be assassinations in your capitals, and I’m not joking even a little bit.”

Norwegian authorities relocated el-Baghdadi in response to a tip from the CIA, which has a legal “duty to warn” if it becomes aware of an imminent, credible threat of killing, injury or kidnapping, according to the Guardian. El-Baghdadi told the newspaper that the situation illustrates that educated Saudi dissidents living outside the kingdom are becoming a growing problem for Prince Mohammed that the government cannot address by simply cracking down on dissent.

El-Baghdadi confirmed the incident on Twitter Tuesday, adding “Thanks for your concern, everyone. If they don't want to kill me, then I'm not doing my job.”

Thanks for your concern, everyone. If they don't want to kill me, then I'm not doing my job. — İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) May 7, 2019

The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.