News - Middle East - UAE: The daughter of the billionaire ruler of Dubai has accused him of keeping her hostage after she was abducted from a yacht during an escape attempt.

In a series of secretly recorded videos, Princess Latifa bint Mohammed Al Maktoum claims to have been threatened with being shot unless she co-operates with official statements issued by her father.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is close to the British royal family, and especially the Queen, because of their shared love of horseracing. He is also an influential ally of Britain in the Middle East.

A UK court ruled last year that the sheikh had abducted Latifa and her sister, Princess Shamsa. After the ruling, the Queen was reported to be distancing herself from the sheikh and avoiding being photographed with him.

Latifa’s videos, which are being handed to the UN, were recorded in the bathroom of a villa close to a beach in Dubai. They were taken on a phone she was given about a year after her failed attempt to escape the UAE in 2018.

“This villa has been converted into a jail,” she says in one recording. “All the windows are barred shut. There are five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can’t even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I’m a hostage.”

Lawyers for the princess said they were preparing action to force the British government to impose sanctions against the sheikh.

Rodney Dixon, QC, who presented Latifa’s case to the UN, urged ministers to use Britain’s “close relationship” with the UAE to seek the princess’s immediate release.

Source: Agencies