The UK Queen ‘Bans’ Dubai Sheikh from Royal Enclosure at Ascot
British agencies confirmed that the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid, has turned into a pariah figure in Britain and will not be invited to join the Queen in the Royal Box at Ascot in an attempt to distance herself from the ruler.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s reputation has been heavily tarnished by allegations that he used spyware to tap his former wife’s phone and the phone of her divorce lawyer.
It is understood that he will not receive future invitations as a guest of the Queen at the racing highlight, the Telegraph reported today, with royal sources telling the paper that royal aides were keen for her not to be photographed with the Sheikh in public.
The Queen has previously played host to the United Arab Emirates ruler – who has gifted her racehorses in the past, and has arrived in the Royal Carriage.
In a judgment published on Wednesday, president of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane found the Sheikh Mohammed was guilty of a “total abuse of trust, and indeed an abuse of power” by “unlawfully” targeting his wife, Princess Haya, and her lawyer Baroness Shackleton with “sophisticated spyware”.
About 1,000 pages of documents were released after newspapers including The Telegraph obtained permission to publish information on the case, a move that was initially opposed by Sheikh Mohammed. Representatives and human rights organizations called on ministers and parliament to investigate Sheikh Mohammed after it was revealed that he used the Pegasus spyware program produced by the Israeli “NSO Group” to hack the phone of his wife, her lawyer, and a number of other people associated with them.
The Guardian newspaper quoted Labor MP and member of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Graham Stringer, that the committee had previously opened an investigation into “the interference of countries such as China and Russia in this country” and that it should now look into hacking on state-backed phones. And “we have to look at it as a House of Commons committee,” adding that the government should do its own analysis on advanced phone censorship.
In July, the newspaper revealed that more than 50,000 phones were targeted around the world, including 400 phones of Britons targeted from the UAE. Wednesday’s ruling is the clearest evidence of Pegasus being used against Britons. Amnesty International called for a general investigation by government institutions, after it was proven that “citizens and residents of Britain were targeted using the NSO Group program.”
The organization’s technology unit chief, Dana Eagleton, said the authorities in Britain, including Parliament, should carry out an immediate, independent, transparent and impartial investigation. An informed source said that the government had expressed concern about the availability of the “NSO” program, but admitted that no more could be done if it was sold. There is an informal agreement not to sell technology to countries hostile to Britain and the Five Eyes Intelligence Group, but the UAE is considered an ally.
Source: Agencies