"Hello, Alia, we meet again."
"This means you have confirmed what I said."
This time they met, Alia looked much better than last time, and she was no longer wearing a military uniform. In the Bilu Castle, she was able to be provided with daily clothing.
Apart from being monitored by female bodyguards on a daily basis, her living conditions are also good. She can wash and shower, and read some books to pass the time.
"You will be free soon, after we capture all the Raphael members. Of course, if you want to be free as soon as possible, you must help us achieve this goal."
The reason why they wanted to control her was because she appeared at the scene where the special operations team was arresting the most critical Raphael member, Raphael Digiev.
However, after ruling out her connection with Raphael's organization, her only threat to Barron was the possibility that she would leak the fact that he had captured Raphael to the other party.
Therefore, after the Raphael organization is destroyed, Alia will no longer be a threat to Barron and can be released.
Although Barron doesn't take organizations like Raphael seriously, without its own armed forces, they are not a big threat anyway.
But despise the enemy strategically and take the enemy seriously tactically.
After all, the total value of their previous "London Star" fraud case was 500 million pounds. After deducting various losses, the amount that was successfully laundered overseas, no matter how small, was at least 100 million pounds.
If the news really leaks out and the remaining Raphael members become desperate, with these funds, they can even hire killers on the black market to cause him some trouble.
So before he gets rid of Raphael, Alia couldn't leave, and she couldn't even have the chance to pass on information to the outside.
Of course, the simplest, physical elimination is the best way to keep secrets, but if the other party can provide more information and help him complete the task of eliminating the Raphael organization as soon as possible, it is still worth staying.
And Barron's intuition told him that the woman in front of him should have more value.
"If that's the case, I'm afraid that when you let me go, I'll need to run for my life."
Alia said this with a helpless expression on her face.
Her delicate face looked quite pitiful at this moment.
"Why?"
Alia sighed and said:
"I've been missing for so long. Even if I didn't tell you anything, I'm afraid you've already suspected me of leaking our plan. Given my adoptive father's cautious character, I'm afraid I'll face another round of interrogation when I show up again."
When she said this, a flash of fear flashed across her eyes, and it didn't seem fake at all.
"Is this the Louis Lafayette you mentioned? Isn't he your adopted father?"
When Nigel went to the Middle East, he naturally investigated Alia's French adoptive father, but not much information has been obtained so far. The other party's public identity is that he is a businessman and is kind and generous, and has donated to many charity projects.
In response to Barron's question, Alia gave an ambiguous smile:
"I am not the only child he has adopted. If it weren't for my special identity, I would have become a tool for him to achieve his goals long ago..."
As if thinking of what happened to those people, Alia turned her gaze away from Barron and looked at the wall beside her:
"But even if it's me, I'm afraid I won't be able to escape the same fate sooner or later. It's just that the person who deserves to do that needs to be more powerful than what he has now."
"What's your special identity?"
"Now, there is no need for me to hide anything from you. I am a descendant of the Prophet. My ancestors were the royal family of the Kingdom of Hejaz..."
The so-called descendants of the Holy Spirit refer to the Hashemite family. Their family is considered to be the orthodox descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, so they are called "descendants of the Holy Spirit." At this time in the Middle East, the only royal family that can be called descendants of the Holy Spirit is the Jordanian royal family, and they belong to the Hashemite family.
The Hashemite family can be traced back to the 5th century AD…
Of course, it would be too long to explain, so I will just give a brief introduction.
Amr, the ancestor of the Hashemite family, was the ruler of the holy city of Mecca at the end of the fifth century AD. At that time, a rare drought occurred in Mecca. Amr bought food from surrounding areas and distributed it to his tribesmen.
Amr was therefore called "Hashim" by his tribesmen, which means the one who breaks the bread.
Amr was the founder of the Hashemite family, but it was the Prophet Muhammad who truly gave this family a sacred mantle.
Muhammad was born in 570 AD. He lost his parents at a young age and was raised by his uncle. He followed his uncle to Palestine, Syria and other places to do business.
Muhammad married Khadijah, the widow of a wealthy merchant in Mecca, but they had no sons, only four daughters (the eldest daughter was Khadijah's child with her ex-husband).
Later, Muhammad married his daughter Fatima to his uncle's son, his cousin Ali. Today's Hashemite family are all descendants of Ali and Fatima.
Although the Hashemite family failed to inherit the supreme power of the Arab Empire, because of the religious influence of Muhammad, the Hashemite family has a very high religious status in the Islamic world and is called the "descendants of the prophets."
In the 10th century AD, the Abbasid Caliphate was competing with the Fatimid Caliphate that ruled Egypt, and both sides tried to win over the Hashemite family of Mecca in order to enhance their status in the Islamic world.
Members of the Hashemite family began to officially hold the position of Emir of Mecca, becoming the religious leaders and secular rulers of Mecca, and later expanded their influence to the entire Hejaz region (western Arabian Peninsula).
During the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman Sultan recognized the Hashemite family's status as "Mecca Sharif" (religious leader of Mecca) and allowed them greater autonomy.
The Hashemite family pledged allegiance to the Sultan of the empire, and the Sultan recognized the Hashemite family's control over Mecca and other places as well as its lofty religious status.
After the 18th century, the Ottoman Empire's national strength began to decline and it gradually became the target of bullying by European powers.
Some forces within the Arabian Peninsula that opposed the Ottoman Empire (such as the Saudi family) took the opportunity to cause chaos. The Ottoman Empire twice united with pro-Turkish Arabs to destroy the regime established by the Saudi family.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire had further declined, having almost lost all of its territory in North Africa and the Balkans, and the Arab communities under its rule had become unstable under the influence of nationalist ideas.
Under the invasion of the great powers, the Ottoman Empire's territory in the Arab region was stripped away bit by bit. For example, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and other places were controlled by Britain. The local Sabah family, Al Khalifa family and Al Thani family were successively supported to come to power, and the Saudi family also rose again in the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Because of the loss of large tracts of territory, the Ottoman Empire was preparing to strengthen its actual control over the Arabian Peninsula, which harmed the interests of Arab dignitaries including the Hashemite family.
The leader of the Hashemite family at this time was Hussein bin Ali, the Sharif and Emir of Mecca.
Here let's talk about Arab names. Their most common names are often composed of three or four parts. Men's names often have "Ben" in the middle, meaning someone's son; women's names often have "Benti", meaning someone's daughter.
Like Alia's name is Alia Bindi Hussain, which means her name is Alia and she is the daughter of Hussain.
Hussein bin Ali means that Hussein's father's name is Ali. Arabs also use several names back and forth, such as Hussein, Ali, and Muhammad. Don't use them too many times.
If the name is composed of four parts, the family name will be added at the end. For example, the Saudi king's name must end with "Saudi"…
…
After the outbreak of World War I, the Hashemite family's opportunity came and Hussein bin Ali received support from the British.
Because at that time the Ottoman Empire joined the Allied Powers led by Germany and Austria to fight against Britain, France, Russia and other countries.
In order to weaken the Ottoman Empire, Britain, France and other countries supported the Arabs in their resistance against the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
Under the influence of nationalism, Britain verbally promised to support the Hashemite family and allow it to establish a "unified Arab state" in the Arab-populated areas of the Ottoman Empire in the future.
In June 1916, the Hashemite family launched an uprising in Hejaz, setting off a wave of Arab national uprising. Although the garrisoned Turkish troops were better equipped, they were restricted by logistics and were unable to launch an effective attack on the rebels.
Hussein ibn Ali founded the Kingdom of Hejaz and proclaimed himself "Sultan of the Arabs".
Several of his sons also actively cooperated with Britain, France and other countries. The second son, Abdullah, was supported by Muslims in Iraq and other places, while the third son, Faisal, led his troops to occupy Syria and other places.
After the end of World War I in 1918, the Ottoman Empire was defeated and disintegrated, leaving only the Anatolian Plateau where the Turks lived.
Britain and France quickly entered the former Ottoman Empire. France drove the Hashemite family out of Syria and Lebanon and took control of the area, while Britain gained the Mesopotamian Valley, Palestine, and Transjordan (now Jordan).
The Hashemite family was unable to fight against Britain and France and could only get a few scraps under the geopolitical arrangements of the great powers.
France did not allow the Hashemites to enter its sphere of influence, and only Britain agreed to allow the Hashemites to establish a subsidiary regime in its colonies.
Hussein bin Ali's second son, Abdullah, became the Emir of Transjordan and founded the present-day Hashemite family of Jordan, and his third son, Faisal, became the King of Iraq.
The Hashemite family was not the only one trying to dominate the Arab world. The Saudi family also received arms and funds from Britain during the Great Uprising, and established the Kingdom of Nejd in the central and eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula after World War I.
In 1923, Türkiye established a secular republic and the Caliphate was abolished.
In 1924, Hussein bin Ali, the patriarch of the Hashemite family and King of Hejaz, took the opportunity to proclaim himself Caliph.
The expansion of the Hashemite family's power is obviously not in the interests of other Arab dignitaries, and families such as Saudi Arabia do not recognize the old Hussein's status as caliph.
In order to gain the support of Jewish bankers during World War I, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, promising to help Jews return to their homelands in West Asia and rebuild their country after the war.
The promise violated the interests of local Arabs, and the Hashemite family refused to recognize it, causing Britain to stop supporting it.
In 1924, due to the constant harassment by the Saudi family, Hejaz announced a ban on the residents of Najd from going to Mecca for pilgrimage, which caused great dissatisfaction among the Saudi family.
In August of that year, the Saudi army suddenly attacked and occupied the holy city of Mecca, officially launching the war to unify the Arabian Peninsula.
The House of Saud convened an Islamic conference and gained the allegiance of surrounding tribes.
The House of Saud's control over Mecca was recognized, greatly increasing its influence.
The Hashemite family lost the land they had controlled for thousands of years, and the morale of their army was crushed.
Having lost the support of the British, the Hejaz army was unable to resist. The Saudi family continued to win over the surrounding tribes and, using a carrot and stick policy, occupied the entire Hejaz by the end of 1925.
This is Saudi Arabia today.
The Saudi family did not exterminate the Hashemite royal family of Hejaz. Hussein bin Ali fled to Jordan via British-ruled Cyprus and was buried in Jerusalem after his death in 1931.
His eldest son Ali bin Hussein fled to Iraq after the fall of Hejaz and joined his third brother, King Faisal of Iraq.
Ali died in Iraq in 1935. Later, a revolution broke out in Iraq and the entire Faisal family was killed. However, Ali's son was studying abroad at the time and survived. He stayed in the United States. It was not until his descendant, Alia's grandfather, that he returned to the Middle East.
Alia's parents died of illness when she was very young, and she was adopted by her adoptive father until now.
Of course, these are just what she said verbally. Whether they are true or not still needs further investigation to confirm.
"Since you are both descendants of the Hashemite family, why didn't you seek asylum from the Jordanian royal family?"
"During my grandfather's generation, the Jordanian royal family helped us, but by my parents' generation, this kind of help was rare. After all, you know, the royal family itself has many princes and princesses, not to mention us outsiders..."
That's true. For example, in the Arab royal family, the king alone would often marry four wives, and there were many princes and princesses in each generation. After accumulating from generation to generation, many of the former princes and princesses are actually no different from ordinary people, not to mention an "outsider" like Alia.
However, even if Alia is a so-called descendant of the "holy family", it does not mean anything to Barron. Not to mention that the Arab royal families in the Middle East are now difficult to overthrow. Even if they are overthrown, it is impossible for them to be replaced by another royal family. Most of the time, the monarchy will be transformed into an electoral system.
What's more, Alia is a woman, which makes it even more impossible.
The only thing is that it makes her status more honorable.
"You know, I'm not interested in your plan against Sahara Company."
Not to mention that although Sahara Company started out as a "Ponzi scheme", its boss Subrata is not stupid. On the contrary, the other party's investments are relatively wise. It is probably not so easy to defraud his money with all your efforts.
Besides, it is not that difficult for Barron to make money from the financial market. He can earn hundreds of millions of dollars by spending the same amount of time and effort. Why bother to commit fraud?
"The key is us... My adoptive father has already made arrangements with Subrata. Even if you let me go and don't get involved in this matter, he will still suspect that I revealed these to you, especially those related to his arrangements..."