Mohammed Al Maktoum, the mysterious and powerful Sheikh of 18 billion who rules the destinies of a country and kidnaps Princesses Latifa and Shamsa

It would seem that everything around it must be majestic. Of 30-day marriage at $ 400 million even scandals and their repudiable sexist acts. The sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum It is still relevant today: more because of the noise caused by his family life than because of the administration he makes of the rich country which he rules as master and lord, United Arab Emirates. This time her name is once again making headlines around the world for the disappearance of one of her daughters, the Princess. Latifa Al Maktum, whose videos have emerged in recent days.

Latifa, 35, first tried to escape when he was still a teenager, but his case traveled the world in 2018, after leaving the country on a boat with a former instructor, Tiina Jauhiainen. It was the second time he had desperately tried to escape his father’s clutches. Then, the ship was intercepted after eight days of navigation off the Indian coast. Indian army commandos in the Indian Ocean “saved” her and forcibly returned her to Dubai. Shame passed through the royal family who ordered even more private surveillance of the confined heir. The sheikh would never forgive such a rebellion.

Before the frustrated plan, the princess had told her friends that she wanted to leave the small country due to the restrictions imposed by her family and especially her father, Al Maktoum. That is why he has filed public complaints about alleged abuses that the Emirati authorities have always denied. Isolated and without contact with the outside world, she managed to record the videos revealed in recent hours. According to these, the princess was alone in a house with doors and windows closed and guarded by security forces, with no access to doctors or lawyers. She was his confidante and his friend, Powdery mildew, who sent the recordings to BBC.

The case already has diplomatic edges. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of United Kingdom, Dominic raab, said he would like to have proof that the princess is “alive and healthy», After the broadcast of videos where she claims to be kidnapped by this Arab royal house. “These are very painful images, it is a very difficult case. And I think it’s worryingThe official told various local media.

“I am in a mansion. I’m kidnapped and this mansion has become a prison“Said the princess in the video recorded with a cell phone from the bathroom because”It’s the only room with a door I can close. All the windows are closed (…), there are five police officers outside and two policewomen inside“. “I worry every day for my safety and my life (…) the police told me that I will be in prison all my life and that I will never see the sun againHe said in the infuriating video that quickly went viral across the world.

During his second escape attempt, in March 2018, Latifa he also recorded a video. On the verge of tears, she said as her father had “tortured“Y”imprisoned for three years“After a first escape attempt when she was just a teenager, in 2002. She criticized a”father who thinks only of his own image“And what”destroyed the lives of so many people“. “I make this video in case it fails (escape), ”he said. The recording was released because its second escape attempt, worthy of a thriller and released on February 24, 2018, failed dramatically due to the intervention of Indian troops at the request of the Emirates. The Dubai government broke its silence on the issue on April 17, 2018, confirming that the Princess had been “back“To his family and was”good“.

The renewed scandal, far from fading, is growing. A spokesperson for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, declared to the BBC who will question United Arab Emirates about the princess. Different NGOs demanded that the international organization intervene actively to save Latifa’s life, despite the sheikh’s indifference. “We just hope that the UN is calling fully and clearly for their release and not just proof of life.“, Said Hiba Zayadin, researcher on the Gulf in Human Rights Watch. “We don’t know what Princess Latifa’s situation is at this time. Videos recently posted by the BBC did not make it possible to verify when and where they were posted“, He added.

Mary robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he had been “horribly mistakenBy the emir when he investigated the situation in Dubai years ago and left the life of Latifa which he had described as “a woman with problems“. Now the former president of Ireland changed his mind: “I am still very worried about Latifa. Things have changed. I think it should be studied“, He said Robinson in statements to the UK media.

The life of the emir is so sumptuous, prolific and secret and shrouded in a cloak of mystery that no one has access to the most intimate part of his life. During her six marriages, she had 21 children, two of whom died at an early age. Devoted to horses, his fortune increases – according to Forbes– to the $ 18 billion, which places him among the richest leaders in the world.

The ruler of Dubai, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, is the majority shareholder in Dubai Holding, a conglomerate with stakes in HSBC Holdings and Sony, as well as multiple real estate properties such as the Essex House Hotel in New York. He recently bought the Australian Ingham Stud Farm for $ 460 million. He is one of the 15 richest royals in the world.

However, the Latifa it is not the first kidnapping – or attempted kidnapping – within the family. In June 2019, one of the sheikh’s ex-wives also fled. Princess Haya Bint Hussein escaped London at that time and once settled there, he applied to a court in the English capital for the divorce of Mohamed Al Maktoum, sheik of Dubai. Is he was born in Jordan, is the daughter of the late king Hussein I and half-sister of the current king Abdalá II.

It is thanks to this divorce that the veil began to emerge on what was really hidden in the sumptuous emirate: a life of anguish for the women of the royal family. According to a British court, the emir ordered the kidnapping of two of his daughters (fruit of another marriage) and performed a “bullying campaign” against Jordan beech, forcing her to flee abroad. In certain conclusions on certain procedural points, the judge who conducted the investigation considered that the Sheikh “acted in a way that intimidated and frightened“To the princess. In connection with this case, Haya asked the London court to rule on the fate of two daughters that the Emir had with another of his wives, Shamsa Yes Latifa. According to the magistrate, the sheikh “ordered and orchestratedHis kidnapping.

Princess Shamsa – born in 1981 – had tried to flee her father in 2000 while he was on vacation in England, When I was 18. According to the account of Latifa, the girl was found after two months on the run, “drugged”, returned to Dubai in a private jet and “locked up”.

So far the reality of Shamsa unknown, unknown about him for years. As well as that of Latifa, whose videos have traveled the world and again placed the rector of the United Arab Emirates at the center of the world stage.

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