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Stark light shone on Latifa’s father, a big player in Irish horse racing
The woman who helped Princess Latifa in her attempt to escape from Dubai has called on Irish horseracing authorities to ban Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum from the sport. Princess Latifa’s friend Tiina Jauhiainen said it is time for Irish racing to take a stand on the ruler of the gulf state over his…
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Tories accused of ‘turning a blind eye’ to plight of Dubai’s captured Princess Latifa
The Tories have been accused of “turning a blind eye” to the fate of Dubai’s Princess Latifa because her father is an ally of the UK. When Latifa released secretly recorded video messages last month claiming she was being held against her will after her abduction in 2018, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab described the footage…
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Abducted, kidnapped, escaped: the ugly tale of Dubai’s princesses
It’s the stuff of a dark fairy story: imprisoned daughters, a runaway bride and an overbearing father. Recent headlines about the family of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum have sent shockwaves around the world – and there’s no happy ending in sight. Martin Fletcher investigates. As a child Marcus Essabri used to play with his…
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Government ‘turned blind eye’ to Dubai leader for failing to prosecute him over daughter’s kidnap in Cambridge
Ministers have questioned why the Government failed to prosecute the ruler of Dubai over the kidnap of his daughter in Cambridge and for continuing to hold her sister hostage. Former Labour Cabinet Minister Lord Hain questioned whether the Government was “turning a blind eye” to abuses under Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum because he…
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Robinson’s evidence ‘critical in the fight to free Latifa’
A lawyer and friend of missing Princess Latifa of Dubai says former president Mary Robinson has vowed to “help in the campaign to free her” and has a “critical and key” role to play. The captive daughter of Dubai’s ruler, who is reportedly being held hostage by her father, was previously described by Mrs Robinson…
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UN should seek release of Dubai princess and her sister, says Mary Robinson
Princess Latifa has called for police to reinvestigate the disappearance of her sister in 2000. Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson has said the UN Office of the High Commissioner should “seek the release” of Dubai princess Sheikha Latifa and her sister. Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last month that…
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Brenda Power: Let’s not horse around — racing is just business
What would the bloodstock magnate Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum have to do to provoke the same horror and indignation in the racing world as that picture of trainer Gordon Elliott sitting on a dead horse? Abduct two of his own daughters at gunpoint and keep them as prisoners for years? Get agents to terrorise…
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If a woman succeeds, she must be taken down
Princess Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum’s plaintive cries from her captivity are heart-rending. Here is a young woman who has been locked up by her father, the ruler of Dubai and the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates. Rapunzel may be eating off gold plates in her villa jail but she can’t escape. In her…
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Queen has accepted racehorses from ruler of Dubai even after his wife Princess Haya fled to London
The Queen has continued to accept gifts of racehorses from the ruler of Dubai, even after his wife fled to London in fear of her life. Horses given by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum accounted for a sixth of those that carried the Queen’s silks during the flat season last year. Some of the…
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The tourists who flock to Dubai seem happy to overlook a few missing princesses
How many abducted and imprisoned princesses would it take for British tourists to turn their backs on Dubai? Three? Four? Ten? Because two “disappeared” princesses doesn’t look like being enough, even now that a secretly filmed account by one of them, saying she had been captured, assaulted, drugged and repatriated, has appeared on the BBC…