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| “ | With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive. | „ |
| ~ Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence |
Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum is the current Emir of Dubai[1], as well as the Prime Minister and Vice President of the United Arab Emirates as a whole.
Biography edit
Sheikh Mohammed is the third son of Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum's four sons, members of Dubai's ruling Al Maktoum family and descendants of the House of Al-Falasi, of which Sheikh Mohammed is the tribal leader.[10] His mother was Sheikha Latifa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan, daughter of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, formerly the ruler of Abu Dhabi.
As a young man, in January 1968, he was present when Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Zayed first met in the desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi at Argoub El Sedira to agree to the formation of a union of emirates following British notification of intent to withdraw from the Trucial States. When the new nation of the United Arab Emirates was founded on 2 December 1971, he became its first Minister of Defence.
In 1973, Sheikh Mohammed was involved in protracted negotiations with the hijackers of JAL 404, led by Japanese Red Army member Osamu Maruouka, which landed in Dubai after being hijacked as it departed Schiphol. Although unsuccessful in obtaining the release of the hostages (they were finally freed, and the 747 blown up, in Libya), he was more successful in a later negotiation with the three hijackers of KLM 861, who released the balance of their hostages and handed over the plane in return for safe passage.
On 3 January 1995, Sheikh Mohammed's elder brother Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum signed two decrees that appointed him Crown Prince of Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed, at the time of being appointed crown prince, also served as Minister of Defence, a position held since 9 December 1971.
After roughly a decade of de facto rule, he became the Ruler of Dubai on 4 January 2006 upon the death of Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The following day, the Federal National Council selected him as the new Vice President of the UAE. On 11 February, the Council approved President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan's nomination of Sheikh Mohammed for Prime Minister.
As Dubai is an extremely conservative Muslim state, tourists have been imprisoned for minor offences due to their violation of Islamic law. A famous example is British tourist Jamie Harron, who was arrested after he accidentally touched a man's hip in a bar.[2] There is also an extreme intolerance of violating the country's dress code, especially cross dressing.[3] It is also completely illegal to be gay in Dubai.[2][3]
In 2006, when Al Maktoum was crown prince, he and other members of the royal family were accused in a class action lawsuit of masterminding the abduction and enslavement of 30,000 boys from Africa and South Asia, who were forced to participate in camel racing in what was called "one of the greatest humanitarian crimes of the last 50 years".[4] The case was eventually dropped due to none of the accused living in the USA.[5]
On 11 March 2018, a video was released of Sheikha Latifa, one of Sheikh Mohammed's daughters, after her failed attempt to flee the UAE and subsequent disappearance, in which she claimed she was fleeing from her family, made allegations of abuse, and said her father was responsible for a number of murders, including the murder of his deceased older brother's wife. She later reappeared in Dubai, giving rise to kidnapping allegations. Another of his daughters, Sheikha Shamsa, was kidnapped after fleeing the UK family estate. A UK court later ruled that Al Maktoum had probably abducted both of them.[6]
References edit
- ↑ Dubai Rulers - Government of Dubai
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 What not to do in Dubai as a tourist - The Independent
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cross-dressing tourists held in Dubai crackdown on 'indecency' - The Guardian
- ↑ Dubai princes accused of masterminding trade in jockey slaves - The Independent
- ↑ Dubai ruler accused of slavery - SBS News
- ↑ Dubai ruler organised kidnapping of his children, UK court rules - The Guardian