Spanish and French police tighten the siege in Dubai on the arms merchant friend of the king emeritus

Spain and France do not give up on arresting Abderramán El Assir, the Lebanese arms merchant claimed by Interpol and a refugee in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who accompanies Juan Carlos I there. Last September, a delegation of Spanish and French police officers belonging to the European Network of Active Fugitive Search Teams, an organization that integrates 28 European countries, demanded in Dubai from the police of that country the immediate arrest of El Assir, as police sources have confirmed to EL PAÍS. The friend of the king emeritus is being searched and captured due to judicial claims from both countries. His whereabouts were a mystery until, in December 2022, an investigation by this newspaper located him in Abu Dhabi in the company of the former head of state.

The police meeting held in Dubai was attended by three representatives of the Fugitive Location Brigade of the National Police, two French agents specialized in the search for escaped criminals and senior officials of the Emirati police. The meeting took place within the framework of the Spanish presidency of the European Network of Active Fugitive Search Teams and was used by the delegations of both European countries to demand “as a joint case” the arrest and immediate surrender of Abderramán El Assir, of 73 years old, an elusive character who, according to people close to the emeritus king, has found in Juan Carlos I a “protective shield” in which to take shelter. The collaboration of the French and Spanish Police was strengthened after EL PAÍS revealed the whereabouts of the fugitive. Then, the Fugitive Location Group reactivated the search order at Interpol and asked the Provincial Court of Madrid to urgently send a fingerprint profile of El Assir to its colleagues for international comparison. The judge investigating the case authorized it.

The purpose of the trip of the Spanish and French delegations to Dubai was to present to the Emirates police authorities the cases pending resolution and to try to “improve” cooperation. “They are extremely secretive and it is one of the most problematic countries when it comes to handing over fugitives,” describes an agent. France has just opened a liaison officer position in Dubai and Spain only has an attaché from the Ministry of the Interior in the embassy in Abu Dhabi. The United Arab Emirates is considered one of the havens for international crime. The US Anti-Drug Agency (Drug Enforcement Administration) points it out as one of the favorite places for drug traffickers, fraudsters and economic criminals, a criticism in which police sources from different European and Anglo-Saxon countries agree.

Interlocutor and secretary

The relationship between Abderramán El Assir and Juan Carlos I has strengthened since the king emeritus established his residence in Abu Dhabi in August 2020. Juan Carlos I has introduced the arms dealer to several people in his closest circle as an “intermediary.” or interlocutor” for his personal efforts, according to several witnesses. “Since 2021, he has been doing secretarial work for him, giving him advice and calling some people on his behalf,” says a source close to the emeritus king. “He gives him ideas to monetize his figure and he does it in public. He doesn’t hide,” another agrees.

For a year now, El Assir has been joined in this role by his son-in-law Hugo Linares, a young Madrid lawyer married to one of his daughters. “He will call you Hugo. Contact Hugo,” the king emeritus usually tells his interlocutors. In 2018, Linares, a lawyer by profession, managed for months an agreement between El Assir and the Prosecutor's Office, the State Attorney's Office and the Tax Agency for his father-in-law to return to Spain, settle his debt of 15 million with the Treasury (they reduced it to five million) and will end a leak of more than a decade. The five million never arrived and the Lebanese, true to his style, once again turned scared and did not appear at the trial. The Prosecutor's Office is now requesting an eight-year prison sentence for him and the payment of almost 90 million.

The friendship between the king emeritus and El Assir is not new. It is public, dates back to the eighties and is based on a core of common friends and the love of hunting. “Now some have tried to distance them, but they have not succeeded. The relationship cooled, but the reunion and loneliness of both in Abu Dhabi has brought them together again,” describes a person close to Juan Carlos I. The relationship with this fugitive, of whom there are only two photographs taken in the last 40 years. , has earned Juan Carlos I criticism from some of his best friends, according to those around him.

Despite his obsession with privacy, Abd al-Rahman El Assir has moved like a fish in water in the circles of international high society. Brother-in-law of Adnan Khashoggi, the famous weapons salesman based in Marbella who died in 2017, gossip magazines reported his separation from Samira, mother of Dodi Al-Fayed, who was Diana of Wales's boyfriend; and announced their marriage and separation with María González Longoria, daughter of Carlos Fenández-Longoria y Pavía, Spanish ambassador in Cairo between 1985 and 1990. Khali, the second daughter of the couple, married Juan José Franco in Abu Dhabi in 2022. Suelves, son of the first marriage between Francis Franco and María Suelves, and great-grandson of the dictator. The king emeritus was the guest of honor.

Two red alerts

In addition to the search and arrest order issued by the Spanish justice system in 2019 – which reactivated a previous one – the French courts ordered the international arrest of El Assir in 2020. The Lebanese was sentenced in absentia in France to five years in prison. jail for him Karachigate, a c
orruption and arms sales scandal in Pakistan. He is being pursued for financial and property crimes. Until now, the United Arab Emirates has turned a deaf ear to the two red alerts issued by Interpol, an organization that brings together 195 member countries and is chaired by Ahmed Naser al Raisi, the Emirati general and the country's highest police authority.

In Spain, the judicial siege on the Lebanese became so tight that El Assir moved his residence to Switzerland. For years he resided in the Geneva hotel Beau Rivage, facing Lake Leman, which was the residence of Empress Sissi. From there, to his home in the Gstaad ski resort and finally the jump to Abu Dhabi, because in Switzerland he also left a trail of debts with the local Treasury: he owes 2.2 million in taxes, according to several Swiss media.

“He is a survivor. And his problems are not only with the Treasury,” says a businessman close to the emeritus king who asks that his name be omitted. This newspaper has not obtained the testimony of El Assir or that of his son-in-law Hugo Linares.

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