British family of man 'abducted and tortured by Saudi officials' condemn Andy Burnham's 'moral misstep' after UK offered the kingdom military assistance

The British family of a man who was allegedly abducted and brutally tortured by Saudi Arabian authorities has condemned Andy Burnham over his decision to provide military assistance to the kingdom. The Prime Minister has approved a request from Riyadh for military help in fending off attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, which are pushing up global oil prices. Burnham said the RAF will provide air-to-air refuelling support for jets shooting down drones and missiles fired by the Houthis.But the move has been condemned by the British family of detained businessman Rami Naimi, who say the Government has missed a major opportunity to use Britain's assistance as leverage for his freedom. The Naimi family was ripped apart nine years ago after Saudi authorities detained Mr Naimi during a purge of political, royal and business figures at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh in November 2017. Since then, the family say he has been tortured and abused, while they have gone long periods of time without knowing Mr Naimi's whereabouts. 'I am absolutely horrified by the Prime Minister's decision,' Mr Naimi's wife, Mira Lozi, said. 'It is extremely painful to see Britain agreeing to provide military assistance to Saudi Arabia when my husband Rami has been tortured, detained against his will, treated utterly inhumanely by the Saudi authorities and has still not been allowed to return home to his family in the UK.' Prime Minister Andy Burnham has approved a request from Riyadh for military help in fending off attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen The British family of Rami Naimi (pictured) have condemned the Prime Minister's decision Pictured: Naimi pictured with his wife and children before his detention in 2017 The Naimi family launched a campaign earlier this month to bring the father-of-three home, and Mrs Lozi appealed directly to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to intervene in her husband's case.They are now calling on the Government to make Mr Naimi's freedom a priority in its discussions with Saudi Arabia.'We have asked the Prime Minister for a meeting, which has not yet been agreed. Instead, he makes a deal with Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Office should think very carefully about exactly who Britain is helping, and why. If Saudi Arabia is asking Britain for help, then Britain has every right to ask Saudi Arabia to help a British family in return,' Mrs Lozi added. 'Rami has suffered terribly. Nine years after he was taken from us, he is still not free to come home. If the Saudi government wants British assistance, Andy Burnham should tell them clearly that now is the time to resolve this injustice and let my husband leave Saudi Arabia and return to his family.'Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, international legal counsel for the family, said: 'The United Kingdom has now agreed to provide direct military assistance to Saudi Arabia at the Kingdom's request. This gives the British Government both an opportunity and a responsibility to raise Rami's case at the very highest level. However, it appears that this has not happened - a huge, missed opportunity and a moral misstep.'Saudi Arabia is holding Rami - a Londoner - hostage, and the Saudi authorities have subjected him to kidnap, torture and arbitrary detention over the past nine long years. It beggars belief that the British Government would ignore the treatment Rami and his family have endured when deciding the terms on which British assistance is provided.''Saudi Arabia is asking something important of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom should ask something important in return: allow Rami to leave Saudi Arabia and finally reunite with his wife and children,' she added. The decision is the first new military deployment signed off by Burnham since becoming PM in July. Rami Naimi poses with his wife Mira Lozi in this undated photograph. The couple's world was turned upside down when Naimi was detained by Saudi Arabian authoritiesSaudi Arabia has requested Western support after Houthi attacks knocked out a vital pipeline exporting oil to the country's Red Sea coast, where it could be exported without having to pass through the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz.The attack triggered a spike in oil prices and has led to a surge in petrol and diesel prices in the UK.Speaking to reporters while travelling to New York, the PM said: 'We have received a request from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for military support, and on the advice of the defence secretary and the foreign secretary, I agreed to that request for defensive air-to-air refuelling.'And I go back to the point I made about cost of living pressures [on entering Downing Street] and acting to secure the interests of Britain and the wider region, because of course Saudi Arabia has been experiencing attacks, is looking at potential further disruption, and we need to keep those pathways open, and hence our agreement to the request.'The deployment is set to begin within days.Mrs Lozi, who is battling cancer, revealed earlier this month that her husband has suffered from horrific forms of torture, including waterboarding and psychological abuse. She also described the last nine years as a 'nightmare', detailing how, following his 2017 arrest at Dubai Airport, her husband was blindfolded and forcibly taken by car to Abu Dhabi and then by private jet to Saudi Arabia, where he was held at the Ritz-Carlton and tortured for three months.In a previous interview with the Daily Mail, she said she feared for her life after her husband was detained, saying: 'I lived my life [feeling] terrified, looking over my shoulder. What's going to happen next? Who's behind me? You know, am I going to be taken? And for what? Absolutely nothing. We had no idea what was happening. We were just walking like ghosts.'Such was the family's fear that when Mr Naimi was released three months later and placed under house arrest - after being forced to sign a 'settlement agreement' pledging to surrender £200million - that they felt too unsafe to visit him.'We were terrified. We were very scared for our own safety. So we had to decide if it was safe enough to visit him', Mr Naimi's son, Ali, told the Daily Mail. He was just 12 years old at the time of his father's detention.'It was...like my dad was still abducted,' the now-21-year-old added. Ali also spoke about the emotional toll his father's detention had on him at such a young age, describing how the ordeal forced him to grow up early.'I'm sure you can imagine how difficult it is for a 12-year-old to know these details about his family,' he says.'I've been traumatised for my whole childhood. I basically lived a life without my father. I know more of my life without my father than I do with.'The family were eventually able to visit Mr Naimi, but they say contact with him was limited after he was placed under electronic surveillance and banned from leaving Saudi Arabia.They added that Mr Naimi was left with emotional scars from his experience.'He doesn't want me to know these horrific details,' Ali said. 'And of course, he's very traumatised.'He's a different man from who he was before he was taken. So at some points, he would share details out of anger... he's a very damaged person after what happened to him,' he added. The family were forced to relive their nightmare in 2022, when Naimi disappeared once again for nearly two years.'He got a phone call, and they told him that there's a problem with his ankle bracelet and that they're going to come and fix it. And he disappeared,' Mrs Lozi said. During this time, he was subjected to further torture and emotional and psychological abuse.Meanwhile, his family went through the agonising pain of not knowing if he was alive or dead.Recalling those two difficult years, Ali said: '[It was] much worse, because I wasn't 12 anymore. I was 17. I knew what was going on.'I knew the possibilities of his ill treatment. And I knew that this was going to be tough, and it was going to be a lot harder than it was when I was younger. And I was right.'The family learned in 2024 that he was being held in Saudi's notorious Al Ha'ir prison. He was released in March last year but has remained under house arrest, while his family continued to feel his absence. Naimi has been subjected to emotional and physical torture, his family claim'I was traumatised, and I had to go through a lot without my father. And it wasn't just me. My sisters had to go through the same,' Ali said. 'My sister graduated from university. I graduated from high school. All my friends were getting career help from their dads.'They were asking their dads. They looked up to their fathers, and they wanted to ask them about career advice and what [universities] to go to. So I was deprived of that.'And my eldest sister was deprived of her father at her wedding. She's now having a baby.'It was after his release in March 2025 that he learned of charges against him claiming he had 'exploited' his father's official influence.Mr Naimi also faced allegations that he acted as an agent for a US company in Saudi Arabia and was sentenced to six years' imprisonment after a secret trial.He is now facing a second trial over his internet activity after he was held at the Ritz-Carlton in 2017.Mr Naimi has been accused of following social media accounts that are critical of Saudi Arabia, for which, if convicted, he faces up to 20 years behind bars.He and his family deny the allegations and say the claims are unfair.They are now calling for action from the UK, US and EU governments to ensure his release.The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.