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Saudi Arabia denies 'absurd' reports crown prince is behind Jeff Bezos phone hack

Reports say Bezos' phone was hacked in 2018 after receiving a text from Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Credit: AP
FILE- In this Sept. 13, 2018, file photo Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO, speaks at The Economic Club of Washington's Milestone Celebration in Washington.

The Saudi embassy in Washington, DC is dismissing media reports implicating the crown prince in the hacking of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' cell phone. 

The Guardian, citing unnamed sources, said Bezos' phone was hacked in 2018 after receiving a text from Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to the Guardian, the text, which was sent through the app WhatsApp, included a malicious file. The file was sent on May 1, 2018 after the two men had a "seemingly friendly WhatsApp exchange," according to the Guardian.

"Recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos' phone are absurd," the Saudi Embassy wrote in a tweet. "We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out." 

United Nations experts have called for an "immediate investigation" by the United States into the situation, according to the Associated Press. 

Bezos owns The Washington Post and is the founder of Amazon. At a time when Saudi Arabia was supposedly investigating the killing of Saudi critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and prosecuting those it deemed responsible, "it was clandestinely waging a massive online campaign against Mr. Bezos and Amazon targeting him principally as the owner of The Washington Post," the experts said in their statement.

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