The Spanish-Lebanese arms dealer Abdul Rahman el-Assir is a wanted man. According to El País, Interpol has issued two international search and arrest warrants for the trafficker. In this context, the international police body has listed El-Assir in red, that is, his arrest and extradition are now actively sought.
The arms dealer dodged French and Spanish justice for almost three years, but after an investigation by El País noted that El-Assir not only lived in Abu Dhabi, but was close to Spain's former king Juan Carlos I, Interpol has demanded his extradition.
El-Assir's arrest and extradition warrant was processed by the Interpol office in Madrid. Meanwhile, the organization's office in the United Arab Emirates has passed the order to the Arab state's operational police groups. The pressure to capture the arms dealer comes not only from this body, but also the Spanish state itself, which has appealed to Abu Dhabi through its embassy in the country.
Fugitive from Spanish justice
Juan Carlos's right-hand man in the United Arab Emirates has a more-than-complicated relationship with the justice system in the European country in which his friend was head of state. El-Assir gave the Spanish judiciary a slap in the face when it sought to try him for an alleged 14.7 million-euro tax fraud in 2019. The intimate buddy of the emeritus, however, chose not to report to justice and left the country to avoid a trial.
Spanish public prosecutors are demanding 90 million euros from El-Assir, specifically a fine of 73,923,014 euros and compensation to the Spanish treasury of 14,784,602 euros. In addition, an eight-year prison sentence is sought for the trafficker.
His relationship with the French judiciary is not much better: north of the Pyrenees, he is being prosecuted for corruption. In France he has already been convicted in his absence for the Karachigate affair, a corruption and arms sale scandal centred on Pakistan, for which he is also wanted.
Decades of friendship with Juan Carlos
The relationship between Juan Carlos I and Abdul Rahman el-Assir goes back many years. So much so that for months now the arms dealer has been living in Abu Dhabi - where the former king has himself been resident since he also fled Spain, in August 2020 - and the two have been spending time together at the private complex where the Bourbon lives. Their relationship is very close, but they are rarely seen, especially the arms dealer, for obvious reasons.
The Spanish emeritus king is not the only influential figure in Spain with whom he has a good relationship. In his list of contacts are names like José María Aznar, Rodrigo Rato and Felipe González.