Saudi moves in the Emirati file suggest that Riyadh is seriously considering retaliating against Abu Dhabi’s recent step of hosting and promoting Abdulaziz Al-Khamis, the Saudi dissident formerly linked to the kingdom’s security apparatus.

Since the Content Creators Conference organised by the UAE in Dubai on 27 April, during which Al-Khamis was hosted, it has become increasingly clear that Riyadh intends to respond in kind. Saudi officials are said to have begun searching for an Emirati government figure — preferably one with a security background — to present as a counterweight in the media arena.

According to information circulating within Saudi lobbying circles, these efforts have become “highly active”, with a race reportedly under way to manufacture and spotlight the “promised Emirati government defector”.

It also appears that Saudi government-linked online networks, led by Saud al-Qahtani, may have moved prematurely, having begun circulating claims about the presence of an Emirati security defector in London — allegations that remain unsubstantiated so far.