QATARI EMIR’S BROTHER HIRED MAN ACCUSED OVER US DRAG-RACING DEATH
▶ Mustapha Atat fled to Lebanon after death of female spectator at illegal race in Detroit before settling in Qatar
A senior member of Qatar’s ruling family is accused of shielding a senior business associate who is wanted in the US over the death of a woman in an illegal high-speed car race.
Mustapha Atat, a close associate of Sheikh Khalid Al Thani, fled from the US where he faced criminal charges in connection with the crash during the October 2001 drag race on the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
Mr Atat’s rival in the race, Aaron Reynolds, lost control of his car in the early hours of the morning and ploughed into a small crowd, killing Denise Jones, 35.
Reynolds later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, failing to stop at the scene of a fatal accident and illicit drag racing but Mr Atat fled to Lebanon before he could be prosecuted on similar charges, according to US court documents. An arrest warrant for second-degree murder was issued for him in July 2002.
Mr Atat settled in Qatar with his family in 2007 and was a driver for Sheikh Khalid’s Al Anabi car- racing team. Former employees claim that Mr Atat continued to work closely with Sheikh Khalid, even after renewed publicity about the case when it featured in a 2009 episode of US television show America’s Most Wanted.
Mr Atat, wearing a branded T-shirt of one of Sheikh Khalid’s racing teams, featured in a 2016 Facebook video produced by Qatar Racing Club at a workshop with other members of the team.
He was pictured on top of the podium in February this year at a drag-racing event in Qatar with a winner’s cheque for 12,000 Qatari riyals ($3,300).
Mr Atat told The National that he kept working for Sheikh Khalid until 2013 but had been working for himself in Lebanon for at least three years.
He said that he left the US in 2001 because he refused to give evidence as a witness at the trial of Reynolds.
He said he would not return and claimed that the Americans suing Sheikh Khalid were motivated by money.
“Sheikh Khalid did a lot for me and my family and helped my kids go to college. He’s that kind of man,” Mr Atat said.
In a statement in 2010, Sheikh Khalid, a brother of the emir, Sheikh Tamim, said that he only came to know Mr Atat after he moved to Qatar. Sheikh Khalid said he was not aware of the full details of the crash in the US.
He said he asked Mr Atat to “separate himself from Al Anabi Racing” in Qatar and “expressed my hope that he will take the necessary steps to resolve his personal legal issues”.
Former employees – who are suing Sheikh Khalid, 34, in the US over alleged unpaid wages, false imprisonment and assaults on staff – say that the statement was a smokescreen and Mr Atat remained an integral part of his operation.
“I was physically sitting next to Mr Al Thani when this statement was issued by his attorney in London, England,” said Terry Hope, one of the six Americans suing Sheikh Khalid.
“Mr Al Thani laughed and said: ‘That should shut them up for a while.’
“I personally observed Mr Atat continue working for Mr Al Thani, and Mr Al Thani told us not to take videos and pictures of Mr Atat working for him.”
The 180-kilometre per hour drag race in Detroit went ahead despite four police officers turning up – and one even gambled on the outcome, according to court documents.
In 2003, a Michigan court ordered the drivers to pay $25 million to the estate of Jones, who was among a crowd of 150 to 300 watching the race.
Mr Atat said that he was not liable for any compensation claim. The lawyer for the family of Jones did not answer requests for comment.
Information about Mr Atat’s role in the organisation is detailed in court papers filed in Boston, Massachusetts, in which the six accuse Sheikh Khalid of treating staff brutally, including beating his wife’s Indian chauffeur to death.
The National reported last month that Sheikh Khalid was accused of abusing a migrant worker with an electric dog collar after accusing the employee of mistreating a dog.
Mr Hope spent 10 years running Sheikh Khalid’s racing team. In three years, Sheikh Khalid spent $100m on building teams and competing, according to papers filed by Mr Hope and five other men.
Mr Al Thani told us not to take videos and pictures of Mr Atat working for him
TERRY HOPE
Former employee