What started as a regular airport check-in for a British family turned into a terrifying ordeal when a father of four was arrested just moments before boarding a flight back home.
Now, that man—Ahmed al-Doush—is facing 10 years behind bars in Saudi Arabia, and his family is still struggling to understand why.
A Sudden Arrest Before Heading Home
Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst for Bank of America, was preparing to return to Manchester from Riyadh with his pregnant wife and three kids.
But just as they were about to fly, plainclothes officers stopped him at King Khalid International Airport.
He told his wife to continue on to their layover in Turkey, promising he’d join them shortly.
He never did.
The Sudan-born British citizen was detained under Saudi Arabia’s sweeping anti-terror laws, accused of criticizing the government online and being associated with a known Saudi dissident based in London.
Locked Up and Left in the Dark
Ahmed’s arrest quickly turned into a drawn-out nightmare.
He was placed in solitary confinement for 33 days, denied access to a lawyer, and wasn’t even allowed contact with British consular officials for over two months.
He has a chronic thyroid condition and a back injury—both untreated for a long stretch of his imprisonment.
His wife, Amaher Nour, didn’t find out he’d been officially imprisoned until she and the kids were already back in Manchester.
And the worst part? Even after his sentencing, the family still hasn’t been told exactly what he was convicted of.
The Mysterious Tweet and Alleged Connections
So what’s he being punished for? The evidence is shaky.
According to his lawyer, Ahmed may have been arrested over a now-deleted 2018 tweet related to the war in Sudan—his homeland—which reportedly criticized Saudi involvement in Yemen.
The kicker? His account only had 37 followers, and he never posted anything directly critical of Saudi Arabia.
There’s also speculation that his friendship with the
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