{"id":1031,"date":"2021-03-02T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T07:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/dubai-princess-kidnapper-is-praised-by-uk-at-arms-fair\/"},"modified":"2023-04-26T13:25:27","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T12:25:27","slug":"dubai-princess-kidnapper-is-praised-by-uk-at-arms-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/dubai-princess-kidnapper-is-praised-by-uk-at-arms-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Dubai princess kidnapper is praised by UK at arms fair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Air Marshal Martin Sampson made the comment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at an arms fair last week which was endorsed by Liz Truss \u2013 Britain\u2019s trade secretary and women\u2019s minister.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The UK displayed a warship at the arms fair despite British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab saying shortly beforehand there was \u201c<\/span>deeply troubling<\/span><\/a>\u201d evidence that women from the UAE\u2019s ruling family are under house arrest for trying to escape Dubai \u2013 a city state in the Emirates run by Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Sheikh Mohammed\u2019s grown-up daughters, Princess Latifa, claims she has been tortured and is being kept in a \u201cjail villa\u201d after an escape attempt failed in 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Her sister, Shamsa, was kidnapped, tranquilised and forcibly returned from England to Dubai in 2000 by Sheikh Mohammed\u2019s henchmen. She has not been seen in public since.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n English police confirmed last week they have received a letter from Princess Latifa asking them to reinvestigate her sister\u2019s abduction.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n A previous police probe stopped after pressure from the Foreign Office, which wanted Britain to stay friendly with Dubai\u2019s billionaire ruler.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n The comments by Sampson, whose formal title is Defence Senior Advisor to the Middle East and North Africa, suggest this strategy of appeasement is still in place.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n