Saudi prince to face rape inquiry over Ibiza claims

Spain has re-opened a rape investigation into a Saudi prince, looking again at allegations he drugged and sexually assaulted a young model on a yacht moored at the holiday island of Ibiza.

The alleged assault by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, 56, reportedly took place on 13 August, 2008, but an investigating magistrate on the island closed the case last year due to insufficient evidence.

But a higher provincial court in the Balearic Islands, which include Ibiza, has issued an order instructing the original magistrate to resume the case.

The order said judge Carmen Martin Montero had not questioned Prince Alwaleed in her initial probe. It also said tests done by a government lab had found semen in the woman, then 20, and traces of a sedative called nordazepam.

The prince’s investment firm, Kingdom Holding Company, issued a statement denying the accusations. It said the prince was not even in Ibiza in August 2008 and has not been on the island for more than a decade.