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New York Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Sheikh that owns Qatari jet gifted to Trump embroiled in $20M luxury hotel spat
The Qatari sheikh who is gifting a $400 million plane that's slated to become President Donald Trump's next Air Force One has previously faced allegations of corruption and antisemitism — and is now embroiled in a $20 million legal dispute over a string of luxury hotels, The Post has learned. A Boeing 747-8 jet that has been dubbed a 'flying palace' is owned by the Qatari royal family. It still carries the initials of one of its leading members — Qatar's former prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, also known as HBJ, in its tail number, aviation records show. Advertisement 8 President Donald Trump was in Qatar on Wednesday where he felt heat for agreeing to accept a donated Qatari plane to become the next Air Force One presidential jet. APAImages/Shutterstock The 66-year-old royal — worth an estimated $4 billion according to Forbes — has been branded the 'Thief of Doha' by a Washington think tank, and allegedly brought senior members of Hamas to the Qatari capital. He was accused by the DOJ of presiding over bribery and corruption when he led the bid to bring the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. HBJ also drew controversy last year over an antisemitic tirade in an interview with Kuwati media outlet Al-Qabas. Advertisement 'Imagine oil was sold by some Jews…what would be the price of a barrel oil? It would be the most expensive thing in the world,' the former Qatari PM was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, HBJ is now facing a fresh lawsuit from Irish property developer Paddy McKillen, who owns the Church of Oak whiskey distillery 40 miles southwest of Dublin with Irish rock legend Bono of U2. The Belfast-born hotelier has accused the Gulf state's monarchy in Los Angeles federal court of 'a lawless plot' to rip him off after he masterminded the expansion of a string of five-star hotels. Advertisement The complaint, filed late last month, focuses on a claim that three Qatari royals led by HBJ tricked McKillen and his firm Hume Street Management Consultants (HSMC) into spending 'significant resources' under 'false pretenses' to upgrade four upmarket properties. The civil suit for $20 million in damages and interest is being brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, anti-Mafia legislation drawn up in 1970 under President Richard Nixon. 8 Britain's Guardian newspaper once dubbed HBJ, seen here with ex-UK PM David Cameron, as 'the man who bought London' after Qatar's sovereign wealth fund snapped up Harrods, London's Olympic Village and the Shard. Reuters 8 The plane, owned by the Qatari royal family, has been dubbed 'a flying palace,' and its tail number carries the initials of HBJ, the ex-PM of the Gulf Nation. YouTube/Spotti Flight Advertisement Once a project had been completed, the lawsuit alleges that HBJ and his two relatives, Qatar's former Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa and the current Emir's sister, Sheikha Lulwah bint Hamad Al Thani, refused to pay up. It said the royal trio 'systematically stonewalled Mr. McKillen and HSMC, refusing to compensate them for many millions of dollars in services in bad faith.' The Post reached out to the Qatari government for comment. 8 This image, posted in 2020, shows the ornate and lavish decor that appears to have caught teh commander-in-chief's eye as he looks to replace the ageing Air Force One plane that the White House currently uses. YouTube/Spotti Flight Michael Gottlieb, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher law firm, who is representing the hotelier, accused the Qatari royals of believing 'they were above the law because of their wealth and power.' 'Mr. McKillen will not be cowed, and will pursue this suit until the defendants pay what his company rightfully earned,' he told The Post. McKillen sold his majority stake in the Maybourne Hotel Group in 2015 to a company controlled by the ex-PM, the lawsuit states, but he stayed on in a property development role with the firm. The court documents claim that McKillen would continue to receive a 'deferred payment' for 'any net increase in the value of the Maybourne Hotel Group' over a period ending in April 2022. Advertisement 8 McKillen is a business partner of Bono, the Irish rockstar and U2 frontman. PA Images via Getty Images 8 McKillen and U2 frontman Bono own a whiskey distillery near Dublin, Ireland. Eric Kowalsky / MEGA They allege that McKillen 'continued to manage and redevelop the Maybourne hotels, at the direction of the Qatari Royals' and even developed an entirely new property, The Emory, an all-suite hotel close to the British capital's Hyde Park that features designs from artist Damien Hirst, according to the same source. His legal team alleges that the Qataris then 'refused to compensate Mr. McKillen or HSMC for nearly all their efforts and absconded with their vision and hard work, essentially free of charge.' Advertisement The two sides fell out, the lawsuit alleges, when McKillen was 'removed, without warning or reason, from Maybourne Hotels Limited's board of directors on April 1, 2022.' 'These schemes to defraud their business partner and his company for, put crudely, free labor are part of a years-long pattern of illegal racketeering orchestrated by the Qatari Royals, and are in line with a history of illicit, lawless actions,' the lawsuit states. 8 Beverly Hills City Councilmember John A. Mirisch, a former mayor of the city, was the first politician to hit out at Maybourne owner Hamad bin Jassim's anti-semitic remarks. Google McKillen alleges that he was drafted in by the Qataris to overhaul the Maybourne Riviera hotel in 2018 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, close to Monaco, and a five-story, $47 million Manhattan mansion owned by HBJ. Advertisement The former Qatari prime minister bought the 22,000 square-foot townhouse on East 71st Street in 2012 from the billionaire real estate tycoon Aby Rosen. The following year, his attorneys claim, they asked him to work on the redevelopment of the historic Parisian Îlot Saint-Germain building, which is set to open as a Maybourne hotel in 2027, and the Maybourne Beverly Hills hotel in 2019. 8 McKillen also worked on top London hotels, including the Connaught in the British capital's upmarket neighborhood of Mayfair. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images McKillen also worked on two properties in London's upmarket neighborhood of Mayfair: the Connaught and Claridge's, where penthouse suites can go for nearly $80,000 a night. Advertisement Claridge's is a hotspot for the British elite as it is where the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted a wedding reception for the then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981. Work done on those properties does not feature in the Los Angeles legal complaint, but the millionaire investor has also filed claims in the UK and France.
The Irish Sun
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Hamas terrorists who murdered, raped & kidnapped innocents will be hanged in first Israeli death penalty in six decades
EVIL Hamas terrorists who slaughtered, raped and tortured innocent civilians on October 7 are set to be executed, prosecutors told The Sun. It will be the first time Israel has exercised the death penalty in more than 60 years in a testament to the depth of depravity of the terror group's crimes. 7 Hamas terrorists holding up guns. Stock picture Credit: APAImages / Polaris 7 Kibbutz Nir Oz in Israel was decimated by Hamas on October 7, 2023 Credit: Katie Davis for The Sun 7 The community remains in ruins a year and a half on Credit: Katie Davis for The Sun Israeli intelligence officers have worked tirelessly to scour piles of evidence collected since Hamas triggered war in October 2023. Agents have been putting together a compelling case to charge multiple monsters who murdered and assaulted citizens after tearing through Israel's defences. Evidence found on laptops seized during military operations in Gaza has allowed intelligence chiefs to compile a strong case to go to trial. At least 22 Hamas terrorists are set to be charged - all of whom attacked Read more on Hamas The kibbutz, just a mile from the Gaza border, was attacked from three directions and Hamas brutes killed at random. Spineless terrorists torched homes as families cowered inside before dragging hostages, including Their bodies were sickeningly released in a stomach-churning ceremony earlier this year. Israel's leading prosecutors believe that because of the callous nature of Hamas' crimes, the beasts will likely be executed. Most read in The Sun Sources involved in the case confirmed to The Sun those found guilty could be sent to the gallows and hanged. It would be the first time the country has executed anyone since the only time it did so in 1962, when wicked Nazi Adolf Eichmann was executed. I visited kibbutz where Hamas terrorists slaughtered families & left trail of carnage… what I saw made my blood run cold Military prosecutor Alan Baker, who has been a judge on scores of high-profile terrorist cases, said Israel is also no longer concerned by international pressure in dealing with these matters. Baker, former legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Office and ex-Israeli ambassador to Canada, told The Sun: "About 30 years ago, I was the prosecutor on the trial of a particularly nasty and cruel terrorist, and I managed to get him convicted with the death penalty. "It wasn't carried out at the time, because of a theory that it could encourage terrorists to do more horrific acts, if they feel like they are going to die anyway. "There is of course, also always the concern of what the international community thinks too. "In these particular cases, because of the cruel nature of these atrocities, I don't think the sensitivity of what world will think will be considered, as there is now the feeling that the rest of the world inevitably hate us whatever we do. 'We are still as hated as we were eighty years ago. 'These people not only crossed the border illegally, but there are thousands of residents of Gaza who tagged along, who stole whatever they liked, televisions, etc. and set fire to houses. What happened to the Bibas family? HAMAS terrorists kidnapped the Bibas family from their home in Nir Oz during the horror October 7 assault. Yarden Bibas was abducted separately from his wife Shiri and son Ariel, four, and nine-month-old Kfir. They were hauled to Gaza where they were held hostage. Shiri's parents were both killed in the attack on the kibbutz. Shiri and her boys - the two youngest hostages taken from Israel on October 7 - became symbols of the hostage crisis. Late in 2023, Hamas claimed the mum and youngsters were killed in an Israeli airstrike without offering any proof. Israeli authorities were unable to confirm their deaths. Fears for Shiri, Ariel and Kfir grew as the months went by amid a lack of confirmation whether they were still alive or not. On February 1, Yarden was released amid the ceasefire after 484 days in captivity. Then on February 20, Hamas handed over coffins it said contained the bodies of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir. Ariel and Kfir's remains were verified by Israel, but the remains of the female did not match Shiri's DNA. Her body was finally handed back on the evening of February 21. Hundreds lined the streets for their funerals on February 26, with buildings and monuments around the world illuminated in orange as a tribute to the boys' hair colour. Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were buried alongside her parents in Tsoher Regional Cemetery. 'There is a vast array of offenses that have been committed, including the heavy stuff, rape and murders, and these crimes against humanity will have to be dealt with very seriously.' Baker, who now heads the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign and Security Affairs, has implored the prosecuting team to fully consider "the seriousness of these criminals". He added: "They committed these crimes in Israel, they invaded, they committed offences according to Israeli law, and this will have to be overseen by Israeli judges. 'I would tell them not to take into consideration what the Pope, the French government, the British etc will say, because inevitably whatever we do, whether we keep them in prison or we hang them, Israel will be condemned anyway. 'I trust they will do what they need to do, without looking at any external consideration. That is the last thing that should enter into the equation.' 7 Shiri's face became a symbol of the horrors of October 7, when she and the children were taken by Hamas Credit: Ian Whittaker 7 Kfir Bibas was just nine months when he was kidnapped Credit: Reuters As well as the 22 set for indictment, at least 300 more terrorists who took part in the October 7 attacks are being held in Israeli prisons. Maurice Hirsch, director of the Initiative for Palestinian Authority Accountability and Reform in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said the complexity of Israel's legal system means the cases could go in many directions. But because these are deemed the most horrific acts since the Holocaust, the death penalty upon conviction is the most likely outcome, he said. Hirsch, a senior legal analyst at Human Rights Voices, said: 'The death penalty may seem like a crazy scenario to contemplate, but it is very possible. "They should be subject to the death penalty, but it will depend on whether Israel will be able to withstand international pressure. 'There is a question of which crimes we prosecute for. If there is no specific one victim, and as they [the terrorists] don't even know who they've murdered, that could make things challenging. 'Where, when were they arrested? We can see if any of them can be linked to direct crimes. Fogs are still uncovering, but the country will do well if we can clear this up. 'It would be convenient if we could isolate 22 cases, but if I was a defense lawyer, I would ask for the evidence of mass murder.' More than a quarter of the kibbutz's residents were either killed or taken hostage in one of the most vile atrocities on October 7. Per capita, Nir Oz suffered the most bloodshed and damage. 7 Oded Lifshitz's body was released in a coffin in a vile ceremony alongside the Bibas children Credit: Getty 7
The Guardian
25-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Israel military issues further calls to evacuate northern Gaza as airstrikes continue – Middle East crisis live
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Welcome to our live coverage of the latest developments in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Israel's continuing war on Gaza. Gaza's health ministry said yesterday that 730 Palestinian people had been killed in Israeli attacks since the country's military resumed intensive bombardments across the strip last Tuesday, including about 60 people in the past 24 hours. Israeli attacks have killed at least 23 Palestinians, including seven children, since midnight in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. Most of the attacks reportedly targeted areas in south and central Gaza. The victims include three children and their parents who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their tent near the southern city of Khan Younis, according to Nasser hospital which has received dead bodies throughout the war. Three people were killed in an airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda hospital, while an Israeli airstrike on a residential building killed 5 people in Gaza City, according to officials. Palestinian children inspect the destruction after an Israeli airstrike on tents in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Photograph: APAImages/REX/Shutterstock In other news: Hossam Shabat , a journalist for the Al Jazeera Mubasher channel , was killed in northern Gaza on Monday. Witnesses told the network that his car was targeted in the eastern part of Beit Lahiya . Earlier in the day, Mohammad Mansour , a reporter who worked for Palestine Today , was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis. The Israeli military issued more calls to evacuate parts of northern Gaza, telling Palestinians to head towards 'known shelters' even though there is no guarantee of safety there. 'Terrorist organizations are once again returning to and firing rockets from populated areas... For your safety, head south toward the known shelters immediately,' the Israeli military spokesperson wrote on X, after issuing similar warnings for the northern towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun . In extraordinary blunder, top Trump cabinet members added the Atlantic magazine editor to a Signal group chat discussing secret military plans for recent attacks in Yemen. The major security breach sparked bipartisan outrage and calls from one Democratic group for Pete Hegseth to resign as defence secretary. The Israeli military said earlier today it struck targets – 'Tadmur and T4' - at two Syrian military bases in Homs province, claiming they hosted 'military capabilities'. Israel's defence ministry has announced the creation of an administration dedicated to the 'voluntary departure of Gaza residents to a third country', drawing outrage from Egypt, which borders Gaza and Israel. Cairo expressed 'its strong condemnation' of the creation of the authority. Share
