Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s daughter, 32 – year – old Emir of Dubai, Princess Latifa, went to the United Arab Emirates on February 24, 2018, with her best friend Tina Jahianinen, a Finnish gymnastics teacher.
Project Pegasus: Hundreds of targeted politicians around the world, including 12 heads of state or government
On that day, the two women drop their mobile phones into the toilets of a hotel, before joining a French entrepreneur, Hervவ் Gebert, a former member of the DGSE, as they leave the country under a circumstance worthy of James Bond. They first go to Oman, in an Audi Q7, which may have been hidden in a vehicle while crossing the Latifa border, thus not being approved by customs officials. The small group then joined the second man, a French sports coach Christian Elompo, with whom they would board the Jeep Wrangler, which would attract a canoe. Arriving at a beach in Oman, on a rough sea, they join a boat, the Nostromo.
They make part of the trip by canoe, then take them on by Hervவ் Jobert and a team member Jet Sky. Elombo will bring the canoe back to the beach. At the request of the United Arab Emirates, he will soon be arrested and then imprisoned in the Sultanate of Oman, where he will be imprisoned for a month before being deported to Luxembourg.
Latifa’s run will be short-lived. He initially hoped to reach the shores of Sri Lanka to seek asylum in the United States, but bad weather prevented him from doing so. He was arrested on March 4, during a joint operation by India and the Emirates, as he approached Indian territorial waters. The escapees were first summoned from a ship, while an Emirati plane flew over them. Then, at night, a commando of the Indian Special Forces, backed by helicopters and Emirati soldiers, boarded the ship and fired smoke bombs in support.
Herv Jabert will be brought back to land and jailed in the Emirates until March 20. He will then immigrate to the United States. But Latifa disappears. From this episode, she will only have one photo taken on December 15, 2018. We see her in the company of Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On February 16, 2021, in a video secretly aired by the BBC, the princess calls for help. He says he is being held hostage in a villa guarded by police officers. In the coming weeks, the Emir of Dubai maintains that his daughter is well, while the UN demands proof of life.
It is necessary to wait until May 20 for new photos to appear on social networks. In front of a cinema in the Dubai Mall, we see Latifa on the terrace of a hotel with her friend Zionet Taylor, who teaches mathematics at the Princess-funded school for young girls in Dubai. More photos of her, face half covered, with smiling friends. One of them will be posted by a woman named Fiona Day who introduces herself as a psychiatrist and animal healer. In the title we can read: “I’m enjoying dinner with my good friend Latifa.” It is not known whether these pictures prove that the princess is now living a new peaceful life, or whether they are a communication activity aimed at giving a transformation to the international media.
But the federation formed by Forbidden Stories, of which Radio France is part of the Investigation Division, chose the day after she flew, the princess’ phone number and some of her relatives. Pegasus target in the United Arab Emirates. When she left the country, she no longer had a phone. But on the boat she was on, there were two in addition to the satellite internet connection that Herv ஜா Jobert thought was safe. Latifa is said to have made phone calls to her mother and her friend Zionist Taylor. He would also use smartphones to send emails, communicate on Instagram and via WhatsApp messaging.
The NSO’s Emirati operator listed all his entourage numbers in the Pegasus. He specifically targeted the phone numbers of Zionist Taylor, the phone numbers of Juan Meyer, a parachute teacher and friend of the princess, and Linda Pachiki, the event organizer who was the princess’ official companion.
Was spyware a tool in locating the boat? It is impossible to say. On the other hand, it has been established that all of these numbers actually entered during the period we are trying to find. According to a source close to the NSO, the company may have terminated its contract with Dubai in early 2021. The use of Pegasus against the princess may have been a factor that led to this conclusion. In the meantime, has the young woman’s life returned to normal? On June 20, a new photo posted on Zionist Taylor’s Instagram account shows two women at the Madrid airport. It is titled: “Greatest holiday in Europe with Latifa. We’re having fun visiting.”
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