Campaign to free Princess Latifa disbanded after Dubai ruler’s daughter spotted in Iceland

Dubai’s royal family has not commented on the latest photograph.
shinnybryn/Instagram

A campaign set up to demand the release of Princess Latifa has been disbanded after she was pictured in Iceland with a family member.

The image, posted on Instagram, shows Latifa with her cousin, Marcus Essabri , and a British woman who has previously appeared in photos with her.

The Free Latifa campaign issued a statement on Monday confirming that the princess had met her cousin in Iceland.

In a statement, it said: “Following the meeting... it has been decided that the most appropriate step at this time is to close the Free Latifa campaign.

“The primary purpose of [the] campaign was to see Latifa free leading the life she chooses for herself,” the statement added. “We have clearly gone a long way towards achieving that goal.”

It is unclear to what extent she is operating under her own free will but co-founder of the Free Latifa campaign, David Haigh, has said it’s “quite right...to look at everything that’s happening now with extreme caution.”

He also told the BBC that the princess’s current situation was “the best position she has been in in terms of freedom [...] for two decades”.

But Dubai’s royal family has not commented on the latest photograph.

The social media post comes after the BBC broadcast footage earlier this year in which the princess said she was being held captive by her father.

She said she was being held alone without access to medical or legal help in a villa with windows and doors barred shut, and guarded by police.

It prompted an international outcry, with the UN calling for proof that the 35-year-old was still alive.

Several images of Latifa have since emerged. They were posted by Sioned Taylor, who was also in one such image in June that appeared to show the pair together at Madrid airport.

Others showed Latifa at a shopping mall and a restaurant in Dubai.

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