In February, British media outlets shared clips which showed Princess Latifa claiming that she was being held hostage in a villa-turned-prison.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “provided assistance essential” to the capture of Princess Latifa, one of the numerous daughters of United Arab Emirates (UAE) Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, USA Today claims.
Neither the UAE Embassy in Washington nor the White House and the FBI has commented on the US news outlet’s probe.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum has been seldom seen publicly since she attempted to flee her home country in 2018, managing to reach India’s west coast via Oman. However, she was reportedly tracked down and captured by Indian forces, who handed her over to the UAE.
In this Dec. 15, 2018 photograph, released on Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, by the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, a daughter of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, left, meets Mary Robinson, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Ireland, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The insiders claimed that the princess was spotted after Sheikh Mohammed’s office contacted FBI agents and claimed Latifa had been kidnapped and there was a ransom demand.
They argued that the FBI agents immediately found out where the Nostromo was via its internet provider KVH Industries, a Rhode Island-based satellite company.
In this Dec. 15, 2018 photo, released on Monday, Dec. 24, 2018, by the United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum, a daughter of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, left, eats a meal with Mary Robinson, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former president of Ireland, right, in Dubai, United Arab Emirate
The agents allegedly circumvented procedure and did not provide an obligatory subpoena for the internet data. Instead, they asked KVN Industries to hand the information over as part of a “dynamic, emergency situation involving a hostage who was the daughter of the leader of a close US ally in the Middle East”.
According to the sources, the name of the yacht was disclosed after Sheikh Mohammed’s office asked an FBI agent to determine “when and where email accounts used by Latifa were last checked”, information that is typically accessible by internet providers.
Villa-Turned-Jail?
In mid-February, the BBC broadcast secretly recorded footage of Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum, in which she claimed she was being held in a villa against her own will. Per the footage, which has not been independently verified, the villa “had been converted into [a] jail”.
Latifa also revealed that she tried to escape Dubai in 2018 with the help of her capoeira instructor Tiina Jauhiainen to seek political asylum, but was seized by commandos sent by her father, who reportedly drugged her and forcibly returned the royal to Dubai.
Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum, for his part, stated he acted in the best interests of his daughter and later the family released a statement via the UAE Embassy in London, saying that the princess is being “cared for at home” and “supported” by her relatives and medical professionals. The statement also said the videos recorded by Latifa were “not reflective of the actual position”.
The United Nations, which has remained worried about the woman’s fate while calling on the UAE to provide evidence that the princess was alive, told the BBC at the time that it is still waiting for “convincing proof of life” in the case of Latifa.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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