Bahrain Mirror: Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei, director of advocacy at the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said that the UAE government has targeted him through the Israeli Pegasus spying program.

The British "The Guardian" newspaper revealed that the Israeli technology firm NSO Group targeted editor of the Financial Times and more than 180 editors, investigative reporters and other journalists around the world through surveillance program provided to its government clients across the world, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

"I was targeted by the government of Mohammad bin Zayed among the Israeli Pegasus spying program list," Al-Wadaei tweeted.

Al-Wadaei's family has already been targeted by the Bahraini government. His mother-in-law Hajar Mansour and brother-in-law Nizar Al-Wadaie and cousin Mahmoud Marzouk Mansour were jailed in retaliation for his human rights and media activities in London.

According to The Guardian, a successful Pegasus infection gives NSO customers access to all data stored on the device. An attack on a journalist could expose a reporter's confidential sources as well as allowing NSO's government client to read their chat messages, harvest their address book, listen to their calls, track their precise movements and even record their conversations by activating the device's microphone.

Arabic Version