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DOCUMENT: Celebrity, Crime OCTOBER 7, 2009

The Sheikh's Dirty Secret Share

America's Cup host once arrested for hotel sex assault

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OCTOBER 7--The Middle Eastern leader set to host the upcoming

America's Cup yacht race was once arrested for sexually assaulting a
housekeeper at a luxury hotel adjacent to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

The previously unreported bust of Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, 53,
occurred in June 2005, according to Rochester Police Department
documents. The sheikh is the crown prince and effective ruler of Ras
al-Khaimah, one of the seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), which includes Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

About nine months after the sheikh's arrest, prosecutors declined to pursue
the case "due to a lack of probable cause," according to police records. The
prosecutor's file on the case has been purged, and only a computer entry
noting that "prosecution declined" remains, according to an Olmsted County
Attorney employee. One investigator involved in the case told TSG that
they believed Sheikh Saud's status as a head of state--not to mention his
UAE domicile--played a role in charges not being pursued.

The sheikh, pictured above in an Olmsted County Sheriff's Office mug shot,
was arrested for felony criminal sexual conduct following an incident in his testify in
The Sheikh's Dirty penthouse at the upscale Broadway Plaza, which is favored by
Secret extended-stay patients at the Mayo Clinic. A housekeeping supervisor told DOCUME
police that she was cleaning the suite (which rents today for nearly $5000 a
Indian
night and is owned by a wealthy UAE businessman) when Sheikh Saud
asked if he could read her palm. The woman agreed. "The suspect held my
hands and rubbed them as he told me about my past," she told cops. DOCUME

After about 15 minutes, the woman told investigators, the sheikh "told me
Yes, T
that he needed to rub my neck to get a better reading." In her June 10
interview, the alleged victim--whose name was redacted from documents
provided to TSG by Rochester police--said that she did not know why she
agreed to the neck rub, "but I did."

As Sheikh Saud rubbed her neck, he "began to breath heavy and in my ear,"
the woman told Officer Julie Claymon. He then allegedly "grabbed my
shoulders with one hand and proceeded to put his hand up my shirt and
under my bra. He began rubbing my breasts." The woman said that she told
him to stop, but he continued to fondle her. "He then pushed me down on

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