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At the London court, two princesses face their cruel sheikh

He loves horse racing. Emir almighty, billionaire obviously, lover of the secret, he is also a frequent interlocutor and even a friend of Queen Elizabeth II, also a passionate about horses. He married six women, often beautiful, without necessarily divorcing between two weddings, and is the father of about thirty children. At first, it looks like an oriental tale to sleep upright. And then, reading the awaited reports from the British Supreme Court, the highest judicial body in the country, published last week, the tale turns to sordid and tragic.

Kidnappings, kidnappings, tortures and death threats, the character turns out to be more ruthless autocrat than prince charming. The court found that Mohammed ben Rachid al-Maktoum, 70, emir of Dubai, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates for fourteen years, had ordered the kidnapping and the kidnapping of two of his daughters, the princesses Shamsa and Latifa, eighteen years apart. He is also guilty of a campaign of incessant intimidation against his last wife, Princess Haya, 45, half-sister of King Abdullah of Jordan and mother of two of his children, added the court. Princess Haya fled Dubai last year with her two children and took refuge in the United Kingdom, in a luxurious residence in the heart of London. Since then, she has been fighting in court to seek custody of her children after the divorce and prevent their return to Dubai. The judge found that he was in “Public interest” authorize the publication of this information.

Revolver

Geopolitical interests are mixed with this story of divorce. The British government is suspected of failing to respond to Princess Shamsa’s requests for protection and help out of fear of upsetting an important economic ally. Shamsa was 18 years old when in 2000 she tried to flee the family property where she lived, in the great suburbs of London. She had been caught and kidnapped in the middle of Cambridge street by “Sheikh agents” before being repatriated to Dubai where she has been held against her will ever since. A lawyer said in 2017 the princess reportedly called Cambridge police for help, but to no avail. Police who dropped the original investigation for kidnapping due to lack of evidence have announced that they are investigating the new information “After the revelations of the court”.

Latifa, 34, Shamsa’s sister, tried to flee Dubai twice, in 2002 and 2018. After her first attempt, she had been imprisoned for three years. His second attempt was widely publicized. She had boarded a sailboat with the help of a French mercenary, Hervé Jaubert, bound for India. But had been overtaken by men from the emir, just before reaching the Indian coast. She has since been placed under house arrest in Dubai. But she had had the time to record a video made public claiming to have been raped and tortured, charges which the judge considered perfectly “Credible”. The emir continues “To exercise a regime where, in fact, the two young women are deprived of their liberty”, concluded the court which also ruled that the emir had not been “Open and honest with the court”.

Princess Haya, 45, educated in Oxford and a former Olympic rider, married Emir Al-Maktoum in 2004. The couple had two children, ages 7 and 11. At the end of 2018, the princess was subjected to a heavy intimidation campaign in Dubai, especially after the discovery of the relationship she had with her British bodyguard. Twice, a revolver was placed on his pillow, trigger released. According to his testimony before the court, the emir had warned her that she and her children would not be “Never safe in England”, before publishing poems for him with verses as charming as “You lived, you died”. “The father did act from the end of 2018 in a way which aimed to intimidate and frighten the mother and to encourage others to do the same on his behalf”, tried the court. The court also revealed that the emir had used his media contacts to publish articles seeking to tarnish the reputation of the princess, some of whom were “Totally wrong”.

“Very dangerous”

These extraordinary revelations are totally unusual and deeply embarrassing for the emir. His team of lawyers has spent the past few months trying to prevent the publication of these pleadings. In a press release, he complained that the publication of this judgment exposed “Children in the media” and regretted that it only reflects one “Only side of the story”.

The testimony of his first wife, however, confirms that of his last wife. Randa al-Banna, 64, now lives in the United Kingdom. She was 16 when she married the Emir of Dubai. She was then his first wife. “Let me tell you, he is a very dangerous man, he is very very powerful. No one can stop him from getting what he wants, “ she entrusted to Times. Originally from Lebanon, Randa al-Banna divorced four years after her marriage. She had left her daughter Manal, still a baby, behind her in Dubai, the time to settle her affairs in Lebanon. She never saw her again.


Sonia Delesalle-Stolper correspondent in London

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