A picture purportedly showing Sheikha Latifa at Madrid’s airport emerged on Monday, the latest in a series of images posted after the UN asked for proof the Emirati royal was still alive.
The UN human rights office asked for evidence about Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s daughter in February, after the BBC aired a video shot by Latifa saying that she was being held captive and feared for her life.
Sheikh Mohammed is vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is one of the seven emirates.
Photo: Instagram @shinnybryn via Reuters
His 35-year-old daughter made an unsuccessful attempt to flee the emirate in March 2018, escaping by boat with the help of friends, before being hauled back. She has not been seen in public since.
Agence France-Presse was unable to verify the latest photograph or when it was taken.
It was published on Monday on an account belonging to a woman that British media have identified as Sioned Taylor, a former Royal Navy member. It showed the two women standing side-by-side, wearing masks, near an airport tarmac.
A caption read: “Great European holiday with Latifa. We’re having fun exploring!”
In the comment section, the account’s handler responds “well spotted” to an inquiry as to whether the picture was taken at Madrid’s Barajas airport.
Last month, the same account published two pictures purportedly showing Sheikha Latifa — one in a restaurant and another in a Dubai shopping mall.
Friends of Latifa have said they recognized the two women seen in the mall image, and that the royal is acquainted with them, the BBC reported.
A London-based group that has campaigned for her freedom said the release of the photographs was encouraging.
“We say we are pleased to see Latifa seemingly having a passport, traveling and enjoying an increasing degree of freedom, these are very positive steps forward,” said David Haigh, cofounder of the Free Latifa campaign.
“I can also confirm that several of the campaign team have been contacted directly by Latifa,” he added in a statement.
Dubai’s royal family in February released a statement that said Latifa was being “cared for at home.”
“Her family has confirmed that her highness is being cared for at home, supported by her family and medical professionals. Sheikha Latifa continues to improve and we are hopeful she will return to public life at the appropriate time,” the statement said.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
RSS