Middle East

Britain’s royal family has met members of autocratic Middle Eastern monarchies nearly once a fortnight since the crackdown on ‘Arab Spring’ protests began 10 years ago this month. Their visits have often coincided with human rights abuses in the Gulf, where pro-democracy activists are punished for criticising the Windsor ties to regimes. PHIL MILLER Queen Elizabeth greets Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at Buckingham Palace in March 2018 (Photo: Dominic Lipinski / AFP via Getty) Prince Charles, heir to the throne, held 95 meetings with Arab monarchies since 2011 – the largest engagement by a UK royal.Bahraini royals had most meetings with House of Windsor – 44 over the last decade, followed by House of Saud on 40.House of Windsor draws on its personal friendships ...

Britain’s top military officer in the Middle East said leaders of a Gulf state are offering their young people a ‘hugely exciting future’ – days after the country’s unelected prime minister was accused of holding his daughters hostage, Declassified has found. PHIL MILLER Princess Latifa Al Maktoum, daughter of the ruler of Dubai (Photo: Free Latifa Campaign handout) Air Marshal Martin Sampson made the comment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at an arms fair last week which was endorsed by Liz Truss – Britain’s trade secretary and women’s minister. The UK displayed a warship at the arms fair despite British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab saying shortly beforehand there was “deeply troubling” evidence that women from the UAE’s ruling family are under house arrest for trying to ...

Some of the most senior figures in the British establishment have secretly served as ‘privy councillors’ to a highly repressive dictatorship in the Gulf state of Oman. The elite UK group has included heads of MI6 and the military, a foreign minister, an oil executive, the ex-governor of the Bank of England and one of Queen Elizabeth’s closest aides. PHIL MILLER MI6 chiefs have secretly advised the Sultanate of Oman (Photo: Laurie Nevay / Creative Commons) Several of the UK advisers appear to have broken ministerial, parliamentary or civil service transparency rules by not declaring their services for a foreign head of state.Revelations anger Omani pro-democracy activists who say it is ‘proof that British colonialism never ended’. The repressive ruler of a close UK ally in the ...

Lord Geidt, tasked with investigating government sleaze, did not tell parliament he was counselling an Arab autocrat. Whitehall insists he complied with transparency rules, but is this what the evidence suggests? PHIL MILLER Lord Geidt (Photo: UK Parliament) The government’s new ministerial ethics adviser, Lord Geidt, secretly supported one of the Middle East’s most repressive rulers, Declassified has found. As a former top aide to the Queen, diplomat and army intelligence officer, the government claims Christopher Geidt has a “distinguished record of impartial public service”.  They believe he is the right man to investigate whether Boris Johnson and his ministers are compromised by private interests, including the recent controversy ...

As Oman’s UK-trained police confront popular protests against unemployment and corruption in the dictatorial Gulf state, the British military prepares to deploy an aircraft carrier to a new UK naval base in Oman, and the head of the Royal Air Force praises his Omani counterpart. PHIL MILLER Protests in Oman started on Sunday in Sohar. (Photo: Supplied) Omani police use tear gas and armoured vehicles against largest demonstrations for 10 yearsCampaign Against Arms Trade calls for investigation into possible use of UK-made tear gas, over £16-million worth of which has been supplied to OmanProtesters fear being surveilled in country where UK spy agency GCHQ has three secret listening stationsUK troops serve in Omani military and are believed to assist with internal security  ...

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is facing fresh scrutiny over its long-standing ‘public order’ and security training of Omani police, following last month’s suppression of protests in the country. RORY WINTERS AND LUKE BUTTERLY Omani riot police and special task force patrol in Sohar on 24 May 2021. (Photo: Supplied) Four Northern Irish officers provided virtual public order training to the Royal Oman Police between December 2020 and February 2021 – months before the protests were put down.The PSNI has been teaching Oman’s police “how to deal with protesters” since 2015Amnesty International calls for a “rigorous, independent human rights assessment… before any future agreement to deliver PSNI training to an overseas police force”. In recent weeks in Oman, thou...

Middle East spy chief who bought a palatial property in the UK from former England football captain John Terry is being accused of corruption and human rights abuses, Declassified UK can reveal. PHIL MILLER John Terry sold a house to General al-Naamani for £16-million (Photo: Moosa Mohammed / Declassified UK) General Sultan bin Mohammed al-Naamani was largely responsible for a recent crackdown on demonstrators in Oman“The people like him who rule Oman have made it legal to steal the country’s wealth”, Omani Centre for Human Rights saysUK authorities have failed to enquire as to how al-Naamani afforded luxury homeSpotlight on Corruption says: “The UK must not be a safe haven for those that loot their countries or commit human rights abuses”The dictatorship of Oman is the UK govern...

Britain’s Royal Air Force is about to establish a second fighter squadron with Qatar, an authoritarian Gulf state accused of supporting extremist groups across the Middle East which the UK itself opposes and says promote terrorism. MARK CURTIS Skyscapers tower above dhows docked in Doha, Qatar's capital (Photo: UN / Flickr)   UK/Qatar squadron will be established in September in Yorkshire, northern England  Joint unit is part of a £6-billion deal for the UK to sell Qatar 24 Typhoon warplanes  Qatar is known to have financed militant Islamist groups in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan and Gaza which the UK regards as terrorists.  Ties between the UK and a state accused of funding militant groups are set to deepen within weeks as more fighter pilots f...