![](\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2018.10\/thumbnail\/5bc4bf62fc7e93bb1f8b4587.JPG\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Guardian journalist Owen Jones savaged the Telegraph’s defence editor after he went to a Saudi Arabia Embassy party at a London Museum. Con Coughlin has now deleted his Twitter account after Jones linked him to both Saudi and MI6.<\/p>\n
Coughlin\u2019s credibility was left in tatters after a Jones Twitter thread took aim at the journalist and his wife. The thread was instigated by Coughlin\u2019s attendance at a party hosted by the Saudi government at the Natural History Museum, amidst allegations that Saudi agents had killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi.<\/p>\n
READ MORE:\u00a0Rising tensions between US & Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi case rock oil prices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Following Khashoggi\u2019s disappearance, Coughlin echoed the line of the Saudi government, tweeting: \u201cWas Jamal Khasogghi a liberal or a Muslim Brotherhood lackey who reviled the West?\u201d<\/em> and linking to his article on the matter.<\/p>\n Read through this thread, and bear this mind. Con Coughlin was Foreign Editor, and is now Defence Editor of one of Britain’s main broadsheet newspapers. He is treated as a respected journalist. What does this tell us about the British media?<\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The writer also took exception with Coughlin\u2019s reporting on Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.<\/p>\n Here is a fawning interview Coughlin conducted with Saudi dictator Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in March, who he describes as a “human dynamo”. He concludes: “With this young royal at the helm, Saudi Arabia\u2019s future prospects clearly know no bounds.” 🤢 https:\/\/t.co\/jJeEdfdHh7<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n All Coughlin does is churn out Saudi propaganda and Saudi talking points. Check this out when Saudi Arabia and its allies clashed with Qatar. Is this news reporting, or a de facto press release Saudi Arabia might as well have written? https:\/\/t.co\/2uiTubxRgk<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/u6pmwhVAqg<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Jones didn\u2019t only look at Coughlin\u2019s recent work and connections, he also went back into the veteran\u2019s career to expose numerous instances where Coughlin was reportedly fed lines by MI6, writing: \u201cOne false story fed to him by MI6 about Saif Gaddafi led to the Sunday Telegraph apologising for libel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Stories published by Con Coughlin include a front page splash: ‘TERRORIST BEHIND SEPTEMBER 11 STRIKE WAS TRAINED BY SADDAM’. It was based on a forged letter which had been fed to him. https:\/\/t.co\/31rSY7XUJk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n As Newsweek notes, Coughlin’s “story was apparently written with a political purpose: to bolster Bush administration claims of a connection between Al Qaeda and Saddam’s regime.” No kidding.<\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n As his “story” fell apart, Coughlin said: there’s “no way of verifying it. It’s our job as journalists to air these things and see what happens.” Errrrr.<\/p>\n A book by Pulizter-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims the Bush administration forged the evidence. https:\/\/t.co\/kLM3AEtFKX<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The Guardian writer then exposed Coughlin for his work in the build up to the Iraq War, posting that he was involved in the pushing of \u2018evidence\u2019 of a link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, that \u201cPulizter-winning journalist Ron Suskind claims the Bush administration forged.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0‘Rogue killers’ might have killed Saudi journalist – Trump<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Moving on to his spouse Katharine Bergen, Jones detailed how she \u201cis a former journalist who wrote pro-Bahrain propaganda for publications ranging from The Daily Mail to Standpoint Magazine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Guests on the table included Philip Hammond and his wife; Tory MP Conor Burns – chair of the all-party parliamentary group for Bahrain; and Dr. Afnan Al Shuaiby, the Saudi chief executive of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. https:\/\/t.co\/Q6cAGDTakw<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/Pko2zdW6Ub<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Owen Jones🌹 (@OwenJones84) October 12, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The Twitter thread subsequently went viral, with thousands re-tweeting and liking Jones\u2019 posts. He was hailed by many, although one former Guardian journalist said his words would be a lot more powerful if he looked at his own employers too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Good to see Owen Jones regularly criticising the corporate media. Now if he’ll carry through his own logic to conclude that the Guardian, his employer, is also part of the corporate media \u2013 and part of the problem \u2013 we’ll be making real progress https:\/\/t.co\/RLuQHCJgUS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n