"Shoot me here! Don't take me back!" Princess Latifa – whose full name is Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum – screamed during

How the FBI played a role in the capture of Princess Latifa of Dubai

submited by

Style Pass

2021-07-08 04:30:38

"Shoot me here! Don't take me back!" Princess Latifa – whose full name is Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum – screamed during the raid in March 2018 as the armed men bound her wrists. They had been sent by her father, the billionaire prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and authoritarian ruler of the Emirate of Dubai.

Despite her pleas, confirmed by two eyewitnesses who traveled with her aboard the U.S.-flagged yacht Nostromo, the princess was dragged off the vessel and returned to Dubai and her father's rule.

A USA TODAY investigation established that the FBI, responding to an urgent plea from the powerful Dubai leader's office, provided assistance essential to her capture.

The FBI obtained and provided data about the yacht's location to the Dubai government after officials there claimed the princess had been kidnapped and needed emergency aid to secure her release, according to multiple people familiar with the FBI's role in the highly sensitive operation.

Sheikh Mohammed declined to comment through legal representatives, but he has maintained in court records that he rescued the princess, and he has repeatedly rejected claims of mistreating her. USA TODAY's sources said they believe the FBI was misled about her circumstances aboard the yacht, prompting the agents to obtain geolocation data from Nostromo's U.S.-based internet service provider and supply it to the Dubai government.