Washington: A lawsuit has been filed against the brother of Qatar’s Amir Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani accusing him of trying to have two people murdered and holding another captive, according to Al Arabiya.
Filed on July 23 in a US federal court, the lawsuit against Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani alleges he attempted to enlist his American security staff guard to murder two people and ordered him to hold another American captive.
The lawsuit also includes complaints from a second plaintiff who says he was held captive in a compound and threatened with a gun while working as a medic for Shaikh Khalid.
The second plaintiff added that he needed surgery for the injuries he received after being forced to scale a 5.4m perimeter wall to escape. The plaintiff escaped after Shaikh Khalid refused him a day off in approximately three weeks and then threatened him with a gun.
Plaintiffs
Both plaintiffs – security guard Mathew Pittard and medic Mathew Allende – worked for Shaikh Khalid in the US, Qatar, and any location he chose to travel, according to the lawsuit.
Shaikh Khalid is accused of asking Pittard to murder two people.
“During his employment, Pittard was solicited by defendant Shaikh Khalid for the murder of two individuals. In late September and November of 2017, in Los Angeles, the defendant asked Pittard to murder a male and a female who he viewed as threats to his social reputation and personal security. Pittard refused to execute these unlawful requests,” the factual allegations section of the lawsuit stated.
The allegations against Shaikh Khalid also include the claim that he imprisoned an American citizen more than once.
The lawsuit alleges that Shaikh Khalid and his private Qatari staff held an American citizen against his will on at least two occasions during Pittard’s employment. The US embassy and Pittard came to the aid of the American citizen and helped him depart from Qatar, the lawsuit adds.
Shaikh Khalid threatened that Pittard “would pay the price” after learning about his role in helping the captive, according to the lawsuit, which adds that he “directly told Pittard that he would kill him, bury his body in the desert, and kill Pittard’s family”.