You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the program. I do hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker.

My guest today is one of the loudest, most high-profile critics

of what he calls the tyrants, still exercising power in much of the Arab world. Perhaps unsurprisingly,

Iad al-Baghdadi is unable to live in his home region. Instead, his political activism and

tile as social media commentary

is conducted from Norway, where he was granted political asylum four years ago. He was a friend and

associate of the Saudi journalist and reform advocate Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered inside the

Saudi consulate last October.

Six months on, Norwegian intelligence acting on information from the CIA warned Mr. al-Baghdadi

that he too could be a target.

Now, despite that, he continues to speak out against the authoritarianism he sees not just in Saudi Arabia, but in Egypt and a host of

other Arab states. Strongman rule he contends is simply not sustainable and will lead the region to

disaster. But after the chaos, violence and repression that followed the Arab Spring,

who is going to listen to the region's political revolutionaries?

Well, Yad al-Baghdadi joins me from Oslo now.

Welcome to Hard Talk.

Thank you so much for having me, Stephen.

You live in political asylum in Oslo.

Of course, Norway deemed to be a very safe place to be and yet just a few short weeks ago you were

informed that there were serious threats to your safety tell me who the warning came from and what

...