Emirati actress thanks police after handbag stolen in Paris is found

Dubai Police liaise with French counterparts as Mahira Abdel Aziz tracks down AirPods to thief's location

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  Emirati TV star and actress Mahira Abdel Aziz walks the red carpet during the Gouna Film Festival, in Egypt's Red Sea resort of El Gouna in October 2021. Photo: AFP

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  The actress has thanked police after she was reunited with a handbag and passport that were stolen from her while in Paris. She said a bag containing her passport, mobile phone, and credit cards vanished from the toilets in Orly Airport on August 20. Photo: AFP

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  Mahira Abdel Aziz at Al Arabiya Studios, MBC offices, Dubai Media City. Photo: Jaime Puebla / The National

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  Abdel Aziz arrives on the red carpet for the screening of the film 'Huda's Salon', at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in December 2021. Photo: AFP

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  Abdel Aziz at the Gouna Film Festival last year. Photo: AFP

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  Abdel Aziz in a scene from 'The Platform'. Filmgate Productions

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  Abdel Aziz interacts with an exhibit by artist Shaikha Mohammed Khalid Al Nahyan during the opening day of Abu Dhabi Art. Photo: The National

An Emirati actress has thanked police after she was reunited with a handbag and passport that were stolen from her while in Paris.

Mahira Abdel Aziz said a bag containing her passport, mobile phone, and credit cards vanished from the toilets in Orly Airport on August 20.

The 34-year-old, who starred in the Arabic-language thriller series The Platform on Netflix, used an app to track the AirPod headphones that were in her bag.

“All my social media and payments are connected to my mobile phone. I have been posting these videos with help from a friend because I know many were trying to reach me especially on WhatsApp,” she said in a video on Twitter.

A big thank you to them and to everyone who helped me recover my items

Mahira Abdelaziz

After lodging a report with the French airport's police, she was told there was no access to surveillance cameras at weekends.

“I told them the first person who entered the toilet after I accidentally forgot my bag was the cleaning lady — and asked police to question her, but they wouldn’t,” Abdel Aziz said.

“I tracked my AirPods and informed them of the location, but they said [they were] in a different city.”

When she contacted the UAE embassy in Paris, she was assured an emergency passport would be issued within three days to enable her to fly home.

On Tuesday, Dubai Police attempted to call her and then sent her text messages on WhatsApp telling her they were following up the issue with local police in France.

Abdel Aziz said officers contacted French police and the head of security at Orly Airport. French officers investigated the issue further and looked at the camera footage.

A female suspect was seen throwing the passport in a location outside the airport.

After recovering the passport, officers tracked down the suspect to a location nearly two hours away from Paris.

The woman was questioned and the bag and all of the items it contained were handed back to Abdel Aziz, a few hours before she boarded a plane back to Dubai.

“Thank you very much, Dubai Police, for showing concern and following up while I’m outside of the country," Abdel Aziz said. "A big thank you to them and to everyone who helped me recover my items.”

“I also thank the UAE embassy in France and her excellency Hend Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to France.

“Thank you for everything you have done. You have played a big role, encouraging more interest by the French police which I didn’t get at first.”

Ms Al Otaiba thanked Abdel Aziz for her "kind words" on Twitter.