Runaway princess can stay in US

The Bahraini princess whose elopement disguised as an American marine caused a diplomatic incident and inspired a television film has won the right to remain in the US.

The ruling will prompt other would-be immigrants to allege double standards.

Meriam al-Khalifa was given a green card, which allows her to stay with her husband, Jason Johnson, a former marine. They meet when he was stationed in Bahrain, and her family insisted the relationship must end.

So, wearing baggy clothes and a baseball cap and carrying a bogus marine identity card to get past Bahraini officals, she left the country in November 1999 and flew with Mr Johnson via London to Chicago, where she was held by immigration officials.

There was a long campaign, backed by US senators, to establish that she faced persecution and even death if she returned to Bahrain: a claim which Bahraini officials reject.

Mr Johnson was given an honourable discharge from the marines and the couple married in Las Vegas, where they now live. They are working on a book about their experiences and Mrs Johnson says she hopes to study accounting at the University of Nevada.

The immigration and naturalisation service said she had not had preferential treatment.

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