Meriam Al-Khalifa

Meriam al-Khalifa is a relative of Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the King of Bahrain. She became famous after she met a US Marine and eloped with him to the United States. Her story was celebrated in the media – she was featured in highly popular TV shows such as Oprah, a movie about her aired on TV.
Family background
Meriam al-Khalifa is the daughter of Sheik Abdullah bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, a relative of King Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa of Bahrain.
Rise to fame
She acquired notoriety in 1999 after she met Jason Johnson, a United States Marine and a Mormon, in a shopping mall in Bahrain and fell in love with him. She escaped to the United States in November 1999 using forged documents and abandoned her life as a Bahraini royal, opting to marry Johnson and live as a housewife in Nevada. Johnson was court-martialed for his actions, and discharged from the Marine Corps.
Application for asylum in the US
Al-Khalifa faced charges of illegally entering the United States and deportation proceedings. The princess applied for political asylum, citing that she faced harm, which would have included death for her marriage to a non-Muslim and her exit from the country, which caused embarrassment to the royal family. Johnson and Al-Khalifa said in an interview with CBS News (see image at right) that if she returned to Bahrain, she would be "lashed, executed, stoned, killed, shot" [1]. He later also told the press that there was constant tension with her family, and at one point the FBI told him they had intercepted a Syrian national who said he'd been paid $500,000 to assassinate her.