• Dubai handed Christian Michel over to India only weeks after Latifa was seized
• A UN report says it was in exchange for Indian forces' help in kidnapping Latifa
• Latifa resurfaced in videos earlier this month describing her alleged captivity
• UN report says there is no legal basis for detention of Michel and the accusations he faces are politically motivated

A British arms dealer at the centre of a bribery scandal was used as part of a prisoner swap that saw Dubai's Princess Latifa seized by Indian forces and taken back to Dubai where she remains a 'hostage' of her billionaire father.

Christian Michel was extradited to India from Dubai just weeks after Latifa - the daughter of Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed - was seized by Indian special forces off the coast of Goa in March 2018.

Latifa has endured a difficult relationship with her father over the years that has resulted in her trying to escape his kingdom twice.

She twice attempted to escape from Dubai in 2002 and 2018, and says she is now being held captive by her father and has been threatened with being shot unless she cooperates.

Her sister Shamsa also tried to escape Dubai when she was 19 in 2000 because she was angry her father wouldn't let her go to university and disgusted by Dubai's human rights record. But she was also captured by men working for her father in England and returned to Dubai. 

The sheikh has denied all abuse claims made by his daughter, who is one of 30 children he has with six wives. 

The United Nations has now officially linked the extradition to Latifa's capture and called for Michel, who is accused of accepting a £40million bribe to sell British-made helicopters to India, to be released.

A report by the UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention - which says the charges against Michel are politically motivated - does not mention Latifa by name.

But in its investigation into Michel's detention, it says: 'Mr Michel was told that his extradition was in exchange for the earlier seizure and return of a high-profile detainee to Dubai, despite the detainee's plea for asylum by Indian forces which intercepted the detainee's yacht in international waters off the coast of Goa in March 2018.’