HRW queries Dubai ruler about runaway daughter

dubai: Human Rights Watch asked Dubai’s ruling sheikh to reveal the whereabouts of his daughter after a French ex-spy and others say she fled the emirate, only to be arrested off the coast of India.

A statement by the organisation marks the latest twist in the cloakand-dagger drama surrounding the disappearance of Sheikha Latifa Mohammed Al Maktoum, who friends believe has been returned to Dubai after fleeing in late February.

She was detained on March 4 in a seaborne raid, witnesses said.

Sheikha Latifa’s father is Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai’s ruler and the United Arab Emirates’ vice-president and prime minister.

“Failure to disclose the wherea- bouts and status of the princess could qualify as an enforced disappearance, given the evidence suggesting that she was last seen as UAE authorities were detaining her,” Human Rights Watch said yesterday.

Dubai has declined to comment publicly about Sheikha Latifa since her disappearance was first reported in April.

The government’s Dubai Media Office offered no immediate comment yesterday.

“UAE authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Sheikha Latifa, confirm her status and allow her contact with the outside world,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Human Rights Watch’s Middle East director, told reporters yesterday. — AP