Camel Jockey Suit Filed Against Two Foreign Leaders

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Camel Jockey Suit Filed Against Two Foreign Leaders

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A Lexington attorney has filed a lawsuit against two United Arab Emirates leaders over the use of thousands of children to ride racing camels.

The filing comes two months after a federal judge in Miami dismissed a similar suit, saying the case didn't belong in an American court.

The latest suit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court in Lexington. It seeks damages from Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Emirates prime minister and ruler of Dubai, plus unnamed others.

Attorney Elizabeth Seif of Lexington has asked a judge to grant class-action status for up to 10,000 children and their families who she says were illegally trafficked to serve as camel jockeys.

Neither the children nor their parents live in the United States, and the racing was held in several Persian Gulf countries for decades. The families of about 10,000 children are mainly from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan and Mauritania. Maktoum denied any wrongdoing in the Florida case.

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