Is Barack Obama buying this Dubai mansion?
Right wing American sites and Twitter were both abuzz yesterday with news that Barack Obama is in the process of buying a Palm Jumeirah mansion.
It's all very unsubstantiated, and has since been widely discredited, but they claimed that a report circulating in the Kremlin today (the Russian parliament) states that one of the US Navy's top commanders, Rear Admiral Rick Williams, was relieved of his post after he queried why Navy forces had been sent to Dubai on a "Obama house hunting mission".
Official sources say the Admiral was fired due to misuse of his work computer.
Anyway, those who believe the Admiral's dismissal was due to his comment on Barack Obama's househunting say the President has purchased a Dhs18 million seaside luxury villa in the UAE. Again, this is not at all confirmed, but they even go so far as linking to the particular house.
They say it's the below yellow mansion on the Palm Jumeirah that Obama is buying (although the house's listing says it's still for sale).
We spoke to Shaun Garratt of Ocean View Real Estate, the agent on the house's listing. He wouldn't confirm or deny whether Barack Obama was interested in, or indeed purchasing, the house.
