Saudi prince's wife denies Spain rape allegations

'I was with my husband all the time':

SAUDI ARBIA: The wife of billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal denied Saturday claims her husband raped a model on a yacht in Spain in 2008, saying she was with him in France when the alleged crime took place.

"I was with my husband outside of Spain the day these allegations took place in Ibiza," Amira al-Taweel was quoted as saying by the prince's chief of staff, Kholud al-Dussari.

"Quite simply we were not there. We were together in the French city of Cannes. I was with him all the time, and we were with at least 30 people," she said.

"Hundreds of witnesses can confirm that we were in Cannes, just as there are dozens of proofs that we were not in Ibiza in 2008."

A Spanish court has reopened a probe into the allegations, according to a ruling seen by AFP on Wednesday.

Prince Alwaleed is a nephew of King Abdullah and one of world's richest men. He is being asked to respond to a complaint of sexual assault against him in August 2008 by a model who was 20 at the time.

AFP