Cast-wife-Saudi-king-begs-Obama-help-free-four-starving-daughters-whove-locked-away-palace-13-years

A cast-off wife of Saudi Arabia's billionaire king has appealed to Barack Obama for help freeing the four adult daughters she says have been held in a Saudi royal palace against their will for over a decade.
Alanoud AlFayez, 57, made her public plea to the president on Thursday, just a day before he is scheduled to visit King Abdullah for just the second time.
'Mr Obama should take this opportunity to address these grave violations committed against my daughters,' said AlFayez.

AlFayez, who has lived in London since Abdullah divorced her in 2003, said her ex-husband's treatment of their daughters has worsened lately after 13 years in confinement.
She told AFP that their already rare trips outside to buy food and medicine for themselves and their pets have now stopped.
'Since 13 years, my daughters Sahar, Maha, Hala and Jawaher are being held captive,' AlFayez said. 'They need to be saved and released immediately.'
AlFayez has written to the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to say that her daughters are 'imprisoned, held against their will, cut off from the world'.