New spy, power and obsession plot engulfs Emir Dubai and his family

The Emir of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and personal friend of Queen Elizabeth, spied on his ex sixth wife, Princess Haya of Jordan, her lawyer in her litigation divorce case in London, Baroness Shackleton, her former lawyer, security staff and the Princess’s assistants with the Israeli Pegasus system, which is only sold to the states. {

A system that was also used to assassinate Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabia at the Istanbul consulate.

British justice has ruled on the telephone interference of the highest authority in the United Arab Emirates. The victims were informed by Cherie Blair, lawyer and wife of Tony Blair, who works in the ethics department of Pegasus, an Israeli company that has sold the system to Gulf countries, among others.

Princess Haya, a member of the Jordanian royal family, felt threatened by the emir, her ex-husband in Dubai and fled to London, with his two children, where he sought protection from the UK courts and initiated Western divorce proceedings.

Difficult diplomatic relations

On Wednesday evening, the British government was invited to review its diplomatic relations with one of its closest allies in the Middle East after a judge implicated the Emir of Dubai in cell phone hacking from different Brits, in addition to his ex-wife.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum of Dubai, member of the queen running circle, faces a new police investigation into the use of the Pegasus spy program. Among the victims are his ex-wife, Princess Haya bint al-Hussein, 47, and his lawyer, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia.

Scotland Yard, the National Crime Agency and Black Rod, which oversees the administration of the House of Lords, have all been made aware of the hack.

It was also discovered that Sheikh Mohammed, 72, had attempted to buy a mansion in Surrey bully his ex-wife, who lived with her two young children in a nearby mansion. He denies the allegations and said the conclusions were based on incomplete information and were unfairly made to him.

Labor MP Chris Bryant said: “The Foreign Office must conduct a proper investigation into our relations with Dubai.”

The authorities will not take any action on the sheikh ”.

Royal Piracy

In a ruling on Wednesday, Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the High Court’s family division, concluded that Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum “Was responsible for hacking or hacking” of his ex-wife and the phone numbers of his divorce lawyer, who is the one who intervened between the divorce between Prince Charles and Princess Diana as well and that of Paul McCartney.

The Foreign Ministry said it would not comment on possible sanctions against the leader of Dubai, who has diplomatic immunity.

The Emir of Dubai was investigated in London in 2001 over the kidnapping of his daughter, Princess Shamsa, in Cambridge a year earlier. He was dumped after police were kicked out of Dubai. The officers later blamed the obstruction of the British Foreign Office, which does not want to interfere in diplomatic relations.

The court decision

The hacking decision came ten months after discovering that Emir Mohammed had ordered the kidnapping in 2000 of Shamsa and her sister, Princess Latifa, 35 years old, taken from a yacht in the Indian Ocean in 2018.

The judge found in civil proceedings that the phones of Mohammed’s ex-wife, Jordanian Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein, 47, had been hacked; his divorce lawyer, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia; fellow lawyer Nicholas Manners and attempts to hack the phones of the Princess’s personal assistant and two of her security staff.

Shackleton, 65, is one of Britain’s leading divorce lawyers, with clients like the Prince of Wales.

McFarlane concluded: “The monitoring of the six phones that I found was most likely done by Pegasus software. It was carried out by attendants or agents of the father, the Emirate of Dubai or the United Arab Emirates and the surveillance was carried out with the express or implied authority of the father, i.e. the Emir . “

McFarlane said that if Dubai couldn’t be a client of Pegasus, the United Arab Emirates, where Mohammed is the prime minister, could have used the system. “The court has the right to assume that the father and those acting on his behalf must have the capacity to order the UAE security services to take action,” the British judge said.

The sheikh had asked the Supreme Court to block the investigation into the piracy allegations, which was part of the costliest child custody battle in British legal history. He said it was an “act of a foreign state” over which the courts had no jurisdiction. He also said that Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia or Jordan could have been the source of the piracy.

The fear of Princess Haya

Princess Haya of Jordan, sister of the current king of the country and daughter of King Hussein, feels threatened by her ex-husband, even in London, where he took refuge.

“Since July 2020, the pressures on me have increased dramatically. I felt my health and strength slowly and gradually deteriorate under the stress of harassment towards me, both through litigation and otherwise. I feel persecuted all the time, “Princess Haya assured the court.

The princess fled to London with her two children in 2019 after her husband became concerned about his close relationship with his British bodyguard. He was afraid to risk another princess: Latifa, who was kidnapped by her father.

Haya said she was warned by her mother-in-law Queen Noor in February last year that Emir Mohammed was trying to buy a property next to hers in Castelhouse, Surrey .

He had been judicially prevented from getting closer to his family, by a perimeter measure decided by the British justice. The emir was furious because he claimed that limited access to Windsor Palace, where he’s been, to his polo games and to Ascot, the area where he travels for horse racing.

The emir attempted to buy the mansion, through his Royal Trust, which has huge investments in Britain, for £ 30million. Baroness Shackleton, one of the leading lawyers specializing in divorce, denounced “I am being listened to”.

The emir’s lawyers, the firm Harbotlwe & Lexis, had assured her that there was no such intention when the princess made the discovery, that she intended to buy the house next door. of his mansion. The sheikh had to admit that it was the trust that bought his properties for security reasons.

A problem for Queen Elizabeth

The decision of the British court will hamper not only the Chancellery but also Queen Elizabeth, who every year he accepted the gift of two horses from the emir. He and she have the best thoroughbred stallions in the world. Last year the ruler received the last gift.

The emir shared the royal box with the sovereign at Ascot and got into the carriage with her. But since British justice ruled that the emir had organized the kidnapping of 2 of her 30 children, princesses, the bond could not remain as before.

Buckingham Palace prevent the ruler from being photographed near the emir, but there is a huge difference between being in public and not seeing him in private. Of the Queen’s 39 horses in horse racing this year, four belonged to the Emir.

Dubai is also a strategic ally of Great Britain in intelligence and arms sales in the Gulf.

Paris, correspondent

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