Sister of Jordanian king fled her abusive husband - ruler of Dubai

Photo by: Wikimedia Commons

Princess Haya Bint Hussein, Jordan's King Abdullah and sixth wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, fled from Dubai and is currently seeking political asylum in Germany, claiming she was abused.

Princess Haya, who is 45, and bin Rashid, who is 70, have two children: Zayid, seven, and Al-Jalila, 11. Haya has taken the children with her to Germany, according to The Daily Beast.

“I no longer care whether you live or die, you no longer have any place in my life, go to the person that interests you,” wrote bin Rashid who, despite showing his indifference to his wife's escape, said he would do all he could to return his children.

King Abdullah has attempted to distance himself from taking a stand on the matter as the relations between Jordan and the Gulf states are tense, and any comment could harm the status of 200,000 Jordanians who are currently employed in the UAE, as well as impact the financial aid that the UAE provides Jordan with, according to Haaretz.

The relations between Jordan and the Saudis are already tense due to a report that Saudis aspire to remove its custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites. 

 

Last month the deputy head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Kamal Khatib, warned in an interview with Al Khalij that “There’s a deep Jordanian fear and an even greater Palestinian concern that trusteeship over Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem is Donald Trump’s next move, and that he intends to transfer it to Saudi custodianship as a gift from Washington to Riyadh.”