Jeff Bezos phone hack claim is a ‘total lie’ says Saudi Crown Prince’s minister as United Nations demand probe
EXPLOSIVE allegations Saudi Arabia’s crown prince hacked Amazon boss Jeff Bezos’s phone has been dismissed as “nonsense” and “pure fiction” by the country’s minister of state for foreign affairs.
The ruler is alleged to have hacked the phone of the Amazon founder with a corrupt WhatsApp message.
It is claimed the prince tried to intimidate Mr Bezos, 56, so his Washington Post newspaper would tone down its coverage of the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Responding to the allegations today in Davos, Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi Arabia’s minister of state for foreign affairs told CNBC: “Total nonsense. This story was out almost a year ago, it was debunked, we rejected it completely.
“It was based on false and unproven allegations, people trying to sensationalise something that is pure fiction.”
His comments come as UN human rights experts demanded an immediate investigation into the phone hack claim.
They said bin Salman should also be investigation for “continuous, direct and personal efforts to target perceived opponents”.
A message from a phone number used by the prince has been implicated in a breach of Mr Bezos’s data.
The kingdom’s US embassy has denied the “absurd” story.
But the independent UN experts – Agnes Callamard, special rapporteur on summary executions and extrajudicial killings, and David Kaye, special rapporteur on freedom of expression – said the crown prince’s “possible involvement” had to be investigated.
Mr Bezos has made no response to the UN experts’ statement, but did tweet an image of himself with Khashoggi’s fiancée, along with the tag #Jamal.
The White House on Thursday said it is taking reports about the hacking of Mr Bezos’ phone seriously.
Yesterday it was revealed Boris Johnson’s personal data could have been compromised after sending messages to the Saudi Crown Prince on WhatsApp.
A source said they were “99 per cent sure” the PM texted bin Salman.
It is believed Mr Johnson would give out his number to world leaders when Foreign Secretary.
Simon Collis, UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, is also believed to have shared messages with the prince.
An ex-Foreign Office source told The Telegraph it was “commonplace” to communicate with Middle Eastern notables over WhatsApp.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “This is not something we would comment on.”