Qatari Emir’s brother wanted drone armed with guns to ‘shoot people’: US lawsuit

Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al-Thani, the brother of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim wanted his staff to arm a drone with guns so that he would be able to shoot people, a new lawsuit filed in the US revealed.

The 137-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday, levels a significant number of accusations against Sheikh Khalid, including that he beat his wife’s driver to death, attempted to spy on senior royal members from across the Arabian Gulf, and repeatedly threatened to murder employees.

Terry Hope, a plaintiff and former employee of Sheikh Khalid’s Al Anabi motorsport racing team, was instructed to purchase a drone for the Sheikh, although at the time he was unaware of the purpose why.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app

Sheikh Khalid then asked Hope to modify the drone to carry a working assault rifle, so that he would be able to “fly it around and shoot people,” he told Hope, the lawsuit alleges.

Hope, who was being held in Qatar at the time against his will, deliberately crashed the drone and fled back to the US with it in his possession once he learnt of Sheikh Khalid’s plans.

The drone was just one example of a system of repeated violence by Sheikh Khalid, according to the suit.

Employees report being repeatedly threatened at gunpoint for trying to leave the Sheikh’s palace in Qatar or being coerced into signing new employee contracts.

All six of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are suing Sheikh Khalid for the physical and emotional damage caused to them while in his employ.

Read more:

Qatari Emir’s brother tried to spy on Qatar, Bahrain, Dubai royals: US lawsuit

Qatari Emir’s brother accused of murder, sodomy and misconduct in new US lawsuit