WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi who was captured on videotape torturing an Afghan grain dealer has reportedly been detained , a senior U.S. State Department official told CNN Saturday . Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan , pictured here , allegedly tortured a business associate on videotape . The official said the government of the United Arab Emirates , which includes Abu Dhabi as one of its seven emirates , told the State Department that Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan is under house arrest pending an investigation , but that the United States has not independently confirmed the development . The videotape emerged last month in a federal civil lawsuit filed in Houston , Texas , by Bassam Nabulsi , a U.S. citizen , against the sheikh . Former business partners , the men had a falling out , in part over the tape . In a statement to CNN , the sheikh 's U.S. attorney said Nabulsi is using the videotape to influence the court over a business dispute . The tape of the heinous torture session is delaying the ratification of a civil nuclear deal between the United Arab Emirates and the United States , senior U.S. officials familiar with the case have said . The senior U.S. officials said the administration has held off on the ratification process because it believes sensitivities over the story can hurt its passage . On Saturday , Human Rights Watch called the sheikh 's reported detention `` a significant development '' but said the UAE government needs to do more to restore confidence in its judicial system . `` The videotape of this episode shocked the world , '' said Sarah Leah Whitson , Middle East director at Human Rights Watch . `` The report of the arrest was reassuring , but now the government needs to make the details public . Secretive prosecutions will not deter further abuses and torture . '' On the tape , Sheikh Issa appears to burn with rage . Apparently believing he was cheated in a business deal , the sheikh was trying to extract a confession from the Afghan grain dealer . With a private security officer assisting , Sheikh Issa is seen stuffing sand in the Afghan 's mouth . As the grain dealer pleads and whimpers , he is beaten with a nailed board , burned in the genitals with a cigarette lighter , shocked with a cattle prod and led to believe he would be shot . Salt is literally poured on his wounds . The 45 minutes of torture appears on a nearly three-hour-long videotape shot in late 2004 in the desert outside Abu Dhabi . It was made at the direction of the sheikh himself . The tape has been viewed by CNN . Watch portions of the tape and Nabulsi tell his story » . After international concerns over the tape mounted in late April , Abu Dhabi 's government issued a statement saying it deplored the contents of the video and planned an immediate and comprehensive review of it . The sheikh , who holds no official government position , is the half-brother of the UAE 's ruler , President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan . Human Rights Watch sent a April 28 letter to the president imploring him to form `` an independent body '' to probe both the torture and and the `` failure '' of the UAE 's Interior Ministry `` to bring those involved to justice . '' The group reiterated that call Saturday . As for the grain dealer , UAE officials say he survived the ordeal , and said the sheikh and the grain dealer settled the matter privately by agreeing not to bring formal charges against each other . However , Nabulsi 's attorney , Anthony Buzbee , said the grain dealer ca n't be located and it is not known whether he is alive .
State Department official says member of UAE royal family reportedly detained . Investigation continuing after videotape shows sheikh torturing grain merchant . U.S. emerged Saturday in federal civil lawsuit filed in the United States . the United States senior officials say case is holding up a U.S. nuclear deal with the Abu Dhabi .