A former Twitter employee was convicted Tuesday of charges related to spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia by obtaining information on dissidents who used the platform.

Driving the news: A federal jury in San Francisco found Ahmad Abouammo, a 44-year-old dual U.S.-Lebanese citizen, guilty on six of 11 criminal counts, including acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying U.S. officials.

Why it matters: It's the first time Saudi Arabia has been connected with a spying case in the U.S., AP notes.

• The verdict comes as the Biden administration pushes for closer ties with Saudi Arabia. A key goal of President Biden's trip to Riyadh last month was to urge Gulf countries to increase oil production as the fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine impacts prices, per Axios Middle East correspondent Barak Ravid.

The big picture: Abouammo and two others, Ali Alzabarah and Ahmed Almutairi, were initially charged by indictment in 2019 for acting as agents of the government of Saudi Arabia without notification to the attorney general as required by law, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

• Abouammo helped oversee relationships at Twitter with journalists and celebrities in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Reuters.

Details: Abouammo was found guilty after a nearly three-week trial. The jury took three days to deliberate.

• He was convicted on two counts of wire fraud or conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, one count of falsifying...

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