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World News See other World News Articles Title: EXCLUSIVE: Top Arab spy and prince's conduit to the Kremlin were at the Seychelles meeting between Trump donor Erik Prince and Russian oligarch which Mueller is probing EXCLUSIVE: Top Arab spy and prince's conduit to the Kremlin were at the Seychelles meeting between Trump donor Erik Prince and Russian oligarch which Mueller is probing Erik Prince, the billionaire Blackwater founder and Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian banker close to the Kremlin met in the Seychelles in January 2017 Robert Mueller is probing the meeting amid claims it was an attempt to set up a back channel between the Kremlin and the Trump transition Prince denies that is the case and says it was a chance meeting after he went to the island to meet the crown prince of Abu Dhabi , Mohamed bin Zayed But DailyMail.com can reveal that Zayed brought with him Hamad al Mazroie, the de facto head of the United Arab Emirates intelligence service He also brought Mohammed Dahlan, a bin Zayed adviser who is fluent in Russian and is seen as a conduit from the UAE to Putin's Kremlin Prince did not disclose both men's presence when he testified under oath about the meeting to the House Intelligence Committee By Ryan Parry, West Coast Correspondent For Dailymail.com and Josh Boswell For Dailymail.com Published: 15:01 EDT, 12 March 2018 | Updated: 12:36 EDT, 15 March 2018 One of the Arab world's top spies and a shadowy conduit to Vladimir Putin's Kremlin were present at a meeting in the Seychelles being probed by Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, DailyMail.com can disclose. The meeting between Erik Prince, the Trump donor and billionaire Blackwater founder whose sister is education secretary Betsy DeVos, and Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian banker close to the Kremlin, was convened by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohamed bin Zayed, who is the de factor joint ruler of the United Arab Emirates. But DailyMail.com can disclose that also present were bin Zayed's spy chief and a Palestinian seen as the crown prince's personal conduit to Putin's Kremlin. The two men - Hamad al Mazroie, the de facto head of the UAE intelligence service, and Mohammed Dahlan, a bin Zayed adviser who is fluent in Russian - were never named by Prince when he testified to the House intelligence committee about the meeting. It emerged last month that George Nader, a Lebanese-American businessman and Middle East expert with ties to the Trump administration was present. Strange meeting: Billionaire Blackwater founder Erik Prince (left) - whose sister is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - has testified that he met a Russian oligarch in the Seychelles. Now DailyMail.com discloses that he did not tell Congress that also present were the United Arab Emirates' top spy Hamad al Mazroie (right) Details: Erik Prince has already said that he went to the Seychelles to meet Mohamed bin Zayed, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, then had an encounter with Kirill Dmitriev, an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin New details: DailyMail.com can reveal that also present was Mohammed Dahlan (left), a bin Zayed adviser who is fluent in Russian who is known as the UAE's conduit to Putin. And it can also be revealed that George Nader, who is co-operating with the Robert Mueller probe, was involved in a massive arms deal between Russia and Iraq Venue: Despite Erik Prince having a home in the UAE, he was invited to meet the crown prince of Abu Dhabi at the Four Seasons in the Seychelles. The Abu Dhabi crown prince is seen as the de facto joint ruler of the United Arab Emirates Nader is now co-operating with Mueller after being stopped as he entered the U.S. in January and being served with a subpoena. The identities of the two newly-named attendees at the meeting were confirmed to DailyMail.com by a source close to bin Zayed, and a Kuwaiti lawmaker with access to intelligence on the UAE. The source close to bin Zayed said: 'Hamad supervises all these things. Those guys supervise major secret operations.' Their presence adds a new dimension to the now notorious meeting in the Seychelles. The meeting, which took place in January 2017, was disclosed in April last year in a Washington Post report. It was said to be an attempt by the UAE to create a back channel of communication between the incoming Trump administration and the Kremlin. Prince donated $250,000 to the Trump campaign and was known to be close to Steve Bannon, who become Trump's senior adviser in the White House. Prince testified that he first met the crown prince - known by his initials MBZ - at the Four Seasons resort on the tropical islands, and was then introduced to Dmitriev, a Russian oligarch and friend of Putin. The Blackwater founder told the House Intelligence Committee under oath that the prince had invited him to discuss 'business opportunities' and that 'some of his brothers' were present as well as an 'entourage'. The prince is one of 19 sons born through his late father's seven marriages. Prince told the intelligence committee that he met with Dmitriev only because the Emiratis said that they should and that the two discussed US-Russia relations, including trade but did not even exchange business cards after the discussion over a beer. Prince has denied representing the Trump transition during the meeting, which he characterized as a chance encounter in the hotel bar over a beer that lasted no more than 30 minutes. However Prince never mentioned the presence of al Mazroie or Dahlan. According to sources close to the UAE leadership, al Mazroie acts as bin Zayed's right hand man and informal head of intelligence, giving him access to the country's advanced surveillance technology. The sources say he is at the center of an Emirati plan to exert influence on both western democracies and its neighboring Gulf states. Poster Comment: It is odd that there are so many connections that seem to be coming out now. But maybe not so odd. Sooner or later they will all see the light of day. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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