A photograph released in the latest batch of US Justice Department files shows convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein placing a piece of the Kaaba shroud (kiswa), covered in holy inscriptions, on the floor during a meeting with Emirati billionaire Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.
According to the documents, the image was attached to a 2014 email with a description deemed inappropriate. Meanwhile, other emails from 2017 describe the shipment of three pieces of the kiswan from Mecca to the United States. The transfer was reportedly arranged through Emirati contacts and delivered to Epstein by Emirati businesswoman Aziza al Ahmadi.
The Kiswa is the black cloth with gold embroidery that surrounds the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site in Saudi Arabia — making the photography and transfer of these pieces particularly sensitive from a religious and diplomatic point of view.
