The Daily Telegraph: Saudi and Pakistani opponents complain that the London police do not take their reports seriously

The "Daily Telegraph" newspaper published a report on the fears of exiled political opponents in London of a repeat of a scenario like the one suffered by Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018.

The report, prepared by Henry Bodkin, said that the police in Britain should take seriously threats against Saudi politicians and others living in exile, or another crime would occur.

They said British police had "no idea" of the international context when dealing with reports of death threats. This comes after British police refused to investigate a campaign of intimidation against a prominent Saudi dissident living in London.

Former pilot Yahya al-Asiri found a large knife in his kitchen window in August, which came after threats on social media and a knife sign and the word "soon."

Asiri is now the secretary-general of the National Assembly Party - a Saudi opposition party most of whose members live in exile. The report indicated that members of the police visited his home but refused to check the knife for fingerprints or the nearby surveillance camera on the grounds that there was “no crime” and that this would be a waste of money, he claimed.

Although he pleaded with them to search for him online to see that he was a known activist, they refused on the grounds that doing so would be "bias".

 Al-Asiri leads the “ALST” human rights organization, where he faced death threats and pictures bearing the phrases “You will return to Saudi Arabia to confront Mohammed bin Salman,” the crown prince. "The British government knows that we are under threat and knows the level of danger we face from the system, but when the police send people to inspect, they send people who don't know anything," Asiri said. And the threat level escalated, he said.

He said that knowing countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE about the police's lack of interest encourages people to engage in violence. "I think they are still afraid of Britain, but would they have continued if they were afraid?" he said. I do not know". Saudi Arabia represents a strategic ally in the field of economic and military initiatives.

"Over the past two years, the car of Asiri and his family was stormed, and they were threatened in the street, and they were victims of wiretapping and other electronic surveillance," the report said.

In November, the newspaper revealed that Matthew Higgs , a British academic who was arrested and tortured in the UAE in 2018, was being prosecuted in London. He and his attorney, Rodney Dixon, were also vulnerable to Pegasus hacking attempts, such as Asiri.

Higgs has since received protection from Scotland Yard's Counter-Terrorism Unit. Last year, Pakistani dissidents living in London warned that their names had been put on an assassination list prepared by the army, and Pakistan is another British ally. "People are afraid," said Hedges, a Middle East specialist. "The context is that America, which has become distant from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, means that London has become the arena for influence," he added. And “there are larger opposition societies, although they feel fear.”

The London Metropolitan Police said it "has no record of any recorded crime in connection with the August knife incident".

A police spokesman added to the newspaper: "We are asking anyone who has received threats or other malicious communications to report to the police, who will evaluate each report."

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem: Israeli Extremists Threaten Christian Existence

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III accused Israeli extremist groups of threatening the presence of Christians in the Old City, and stressed that the Christian community in Jerusalem was suffering at the hands of Zionist extremists, pointing out that churches were regularly exposed to desecration and vandalism.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III accused Israeli extremist groups of threatening the presence of Christians in the Old City, statements rejected by Israeli officials as unfounded.

In a column published in the Times of London on Saturday, the patriarch said he believed the goal was to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem's Old City, which is home to sites sacred to the three faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 war. It annexed East Jerusalem after the war in a move that did not gain international recognition.

In the article published a day after the celebration of the glorious Christmas of the Greek Orthodox, the Patriarch wrote: “Our presence in Jerusalem is under threat.”

He said, "Our churches are threatened by Israeli extremist groups... At the hands of these Zionist extremists, the Christian community in Jerusalem suffers a lot."

He added: “Our brothers and sisters are victims of hate crimes. Our churches are regularly desecrated and vandalized. Our clergy are repeatedly intimidated.”

Noting that the extremists are Israelis, the Patriarch's criticism was more severe than the criticism issued in a collective statement by the heads of other churches in Jerusalem before Christmas.

Their statement spoke of “repeated and persistent attacks by fringe extremist groups,” but stopped short of identifying them as Israeli.

Kazakhstan 7,939 arrested during the unrest

Kazakhstan's Interior Ministry announced that security forces had arrested a total of 7,939 people as of January 10 during last week's unrest, the worst wave of violence in the country's history.

Kazakhstan's interior ministry said Monday that security forces detained a total of 7,939 as of Jan. 10 during last week's unrest, the worst wave of violence in the post-Soviet Central Asian nation's history.

Local government buildings were briefly seized or torched in several major cities last week as initially peaceful protests against rising fuel prices turned violent.

In a related context, the Kazakh Interior Ministry announced on Sunday morning that 164 had been killed in the protests erupting in the country.

This came, according to what was reported by the state-run "Khabar 24" TV, quoting the Ministry of Interior, as the outcome represented a significant increase from the previous one.

The ministry said that 103 of the dead were killed in Almaty, the country's largest city.

It is not yet clear whether the announced death toll is only civilians or includes members of the security forces.

In turn, the Ombudsman for Children's Rights, Uruzhan Sen, said that 3 of the dead were minors, including a 4-year-old girl.

The latest death toll revealed was 26 protesters and 18 security personnel before the latest update.

Kazakhstan's presidential office said thousands of people stood by the police during the protests, which later turned violent and prompted the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization to send troops into the country.

On January 2, protests erupted in Kazakhstan over the increase in gas prices, which resulted in casualties, looting and riots in Almaty, the country's largest city.

On January 5, the government announced its resignation against the backdrop of anti-government protests, followed by the imposition of a state of emergency throughout the country in order to preserve public security.