The missing Al Ain schoolboy Ibrahim Hasan Abdul had told classmates that he planned to run away, according to the headmistress of his school.
Ibrahim, 14, a British citizen, was last seen on the afternoon of May 10 outside Al Ain Mall, just across the street from his family's home.
Police and mall security guards saw him on security cameras crossing Othman Bin Affan Street and walking towards 106th Street at 5.23pm. He has not been seen since.
He was wearing a brown T-shirt, white shorts, black sports shoes and carrying a red and black England sports backpack.
A ninth-grader at Al Dhafra Private Schools Al Ain, Ibrahim had been telling friends for a week before his disappearance that he would leave the city, said the headmistress, Elham AlAbed.
He said he would take off to Abu Dhabi, Dubai or sleep in a mosque. "They all thought he was joking. He even said he might cross the border into Buraimi as he had his passport."
Ibrahim's mother, Fatima Elmi, said she had initially been concerned that her son had run away, but now believed that was not the case.
"I was worried when I couldn't find his passport but found it after a couple of days," she said. "I don't trust the kids because they have a different story every time. The principal won't even let us talk to them anymore."
Mrs Elmi still believes Ibrahim would never run away. "My son is not the kind of teenager who would do this, he is a good boy who would not leave home like this."
Mrs Elmi has been constant contact with the police, but says she has had no news about Ibrahim's whereabouts.
Ms AlAbed remains confident he is safe and sound. "The boy doesn't have any money or food so if something happened to him we would have known it by now," she said. "My intuition says he is being sheltered by someone somewhere."
She said she had "never had a case like this" in her 12 years as principal, and the whole school was in shock at Ibrahim's disappearance. She described him as a humorous youngster.
He had a normal Thursday at school, despite a slight altercation with a classmate before taking the school bus home.
Reeba Arthur, principal at the neighbouring Al Manahil Private School, where Ibrahim was a pupil until last year, agreed. "He was a respectful and well-behaved boy who no one ever complained about."
[ tsubaihi@thenational.ae ]
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Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
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Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
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Date started: January 2022
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Based: Dubai
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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Started: 2019
Founders: Mohammad Raafi Hossain, Daniel Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $2.45 million
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Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
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Started: January 2019
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Industry: software as a service
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1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
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November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
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The fielding side shall be ready to start each over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.
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• The third umpire starts the clock either when the ball has become dead at the end of the previous over, or a review has been completed.
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Co-founders: Karl Naim, Wissam Ghorra, Jean-Marie Khoueir
Based: Hub71 in Abu Dhabi and Beirut
Started: 2021
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Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:
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