Spanish court drop rape probe against HRH Prince Alwaleed

MADRID - A Spanish court has dismissed an allegation that Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, one of the world's richest men, drugged and raped a young Spanish model on a yacht on the island of Ibiza in 2008.

The court in Palma, Majorca, dropped the rape probe, saying the woman's allegations are inconsistent. The 57-year-old prince, who is listed 29th on the latest Forbes list of the world's richest people with a net worth of $18 billion, has always maintained that he was innocent and that others had tried to impersonate him. He has claimed that he was not in Ibiza at that time, but holidaying in France with his family.His legal team released a statement Wednesday saying the ruling vindicates the prince.

"These reports confirm what we have said all along, which is that the allegations against HRH Prince Alwaleed were not only false and outrageous but also impossible as His Royal Highness was not in Spain at the time but was in France with his wife, children, grandchildren and in the presence of dozens of witnesses, as the documentation shows," Prince Alwaleed's legal team said in a statement.