Princess Latifa: Dubai royal pictured in Iceland
The daughter of the emir of Dubai, who is alleged to have been kidnapped by her own family, was pictured in Iceland in an Instagram photo on Monday.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum has long been thought to be kept in a state of captivity by her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates.
The image, posted on social media by Sioned Taylor, a teacher based in Dubai, appeared to show Latifa and Taylor standing outdoors, either side of a man. "Great trip to Iceland with Latifa and Marcus," the caption read.
Taylor posted a picture with Latifa in Madrid in June.
Latifa was detained by Dubai operatives and sent back to the emirate in 2018 after she attempted to escape from her father by crossing the Arabian Sea.
Last month, the Washington Post, one of the media organisations that analysed the leaked phone numbers in the Pegasus spyware exposé, said Latifa had been captured in 2018 with the help of Pegasus.
The US newspaper said phone numbers belonging to friends and associates of Latifa were added to the leaked list of numbers, in the hours and days after the princess escaped Dubai in February 2018 with the help of her friend Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish capoeira instructor.
Last year, a British judge ruled that Sheikh Mohammed was keeping both Latifa and her sister Shamsa captive and had kidnapped the two on separate occasions.
In February, the BBC broadcast videos secretly recorded by Latifa and sent to friends abroad, in which she described her capture and her imprisonment after her return to the emirate. She said she was being held alone, without access to medical or legal help, in a locked villa guarded by police.
After the Instagram pictures of Latifa in Spain emerged in June, a campaign group which supports her said there had been "very positive steps forward" in terms of her personal freedom.
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