DUBAI (Dispatches) – Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ordered the phones of his ex-wife and her lawyers to be hacked as part of a “sustained campaign of intimidation and threat” during the custody battle over their children, England’s High Court ruled.
Al Maktoum used the sophisticated Pegasus software, developed by Zionist firm NSO, to hack the phones of Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, half-sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, and some of those closely connected to her, according to the ruling.
Those working for him also tried to buy a mansion next door to Haya’s estate near the British capital, intimidatory action the court ruled that left her feeling hunted, unsafe, and like she “cannot breathe anymore”.
The latest ruling comes 19 months after the court concluded Al Maktoum had abducted two of his daughters, mistreated them, and held them against their will.
“The findings represent a total abuse of trust, and indeed an abuse of power to a significant extent,” Judge Andrew McFarlane, president of the Family Division in England and Wales, said in his ruling.
Al Maktoum’s lawyers argued other countries in the Middle East could have been to blame.
“The father has no knowledge of any such activity taking place,” David Pannick, his lawyer, told the court. “He has not authorized it or instructed, encouraged or in any way suggested any other person should use NSO or any software in this way.”
Al Maktoum, 72, and Haya, 47, have been involved in a long, bitter and expensive custody battle since she fled to the UK with their two children, Jalila, 13, and Zayed, 9.

Calls for Inquiry Into Royal Kidnapping

Meanwhile, a campaigner who says he has new evidence relating to the kidnapping of an Emirati princess in the UK is calling for a public inquiry into why police halted their investigation into her disappearance.
Sheikha Shamsa Al Maktoum is said to have fled her family in 2000 while she was studying in the UK, only to be recaptured by Emirati agents from a busy street in Cambridge, sedated and then taken by helicopter out of the UK and returned to Dubai. She is still believed to be held captive.
A High Court judge ruled last year that her father, Al Maktoum, abducted Shamsa, as well as her sister Latifa, who attempted to flee the UAE on a yacht in 2018 before it was stormed by Indian and Emirati forces and she was forcibly returned.
David Haigh, who has campaigned for Latifa’s release, and his London-based law firm Bindmans, say he has “crucial new” evidence into Shamsa’s kidnapping, which will be presented to Cambridgeshire police.
They are also calling for a public inquiry into why the Cambridgeshire police halted their investigation into the princess’ disappearance in 2000.
Princess Latifa, Shamsa’s younger sister, has also called for the police to reopen their investigation in a handwritten letter, dated from 2018. Haigh’s advocacy group, Detained International, passed the letter to the police force this February.