(CNN) Twitter has suspended a network of accounts that appeared to be pushing pro-Saudi messages about the Jamal Khashoggi scandal, a person familiar with the situation told CNN Friday.

The accounts were behaving like typical spam accounts, the person said, adding that Twitter had been aware of them for some time. Twitter said it has no evidence the accounts were pro-Saudi or Saudi government-backed.

The move came after internet analysts such as Josh Russell, a systems analyst and programmer at Indiana University and a part-time Russian troll hunter , identified a surge in suspected botnet activity promoting pro-Saudi lines around the Khashoggi case, as first reported by NBC News.

Khashoggi's disappearance and apparent killing has created a diplomatic rift between Riyadh and the West. Turkish officials believe Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, and that suspicion arose within hours of his entering the consulate, CNN has learned

Arabic hashtags praising the kingdom's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and calling on users to "unfollow enemies of the nation" were among the top trends globally in the past few days, presumably boosted by bots as well as real users.

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