UAE Arrests Leadership Of Local Muslim Brotherhood

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Gulf media is reporting that the UAE has arrested 10 people described as the leadership of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in that country. According to a Gulf News report:

January 1, 2013 Dubai: UAE authorities have uncovered an Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cell and arrested its members who were active in the country, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday. Citing unnamed sources, the daily Al Khaleej reported:’more than 10 people have been arrested’ describing them as ‘the leadership’ of the Egyptian Islamist group in the UAE. The sources told the newspaper that the cell’s activities were being monitored and investigated for years. ‘The investigation confirmed that (the suspects) ran the group’s activities on the UAE soil with a defined organisational structure. The members held secret meetings in different areas of the UAE through their so-called ‘administrative offices’ and were recruiting Egyptians residing in the UAE to join the [Muslim Brotherhood] group,’ the sources told Al Khaleej. The members of the cell, the sources added, had established commercial firms to support their activities in the UAE and were illegally channeling significant amounts to the mother group in Egypt. They said that the investigations revealed that the leaders and members of the group ‘were involved in collecting confidential military information about the UAE military.’ ‘The investigation also revealed strong ties between this group and the leaders of the secret organisation’, in reference to dozens of UAE Islamists, affiliated with the banned Al Islah Society, who are currently in detention and under investigation on charges of jeopardizing national security. ‘There was a regular coordination between the two groups and they held secret meetings. The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group in the UAE also conducted training sessions for the [UAE members currently in detention] on holding elections and means to overthrow regimes in the Arab states,’ the sources explained. They added that the investigation is expected to uncover ‘serious plots against the national security of the UAE,’ stressing that the list may include ‘hundreds’ of names involved in the Muslim Brotherhood network. ‘Some of those names have already been put on the list of travel ban [and they]will be summoned for questioning.'”

A post from November 2012 reported on further comments by the Dubai police chief accusing the Muslim Brotherhood of creating unrest in the UAE. As noted in that post,  Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan also said that UAE Muslim Brotherhood members who had been arrested had met with Kuwaiti Brotherhood “mentors”  including Kuwaiti Brotherhood leader Tariq Al-Suwaidan. In March, a post reported that that Tariq Al-Suwaidan had added his voice to the conflict between the UAE and the Global Muslim Brotherhood by warning that if the UAE followed through on its threat to arrest Global Muslim Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi, “it would be a disaster” for the UAE.

A post from October reported on comments by the United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister in which he said that Gulf Arab countries should work together to stop the Muslim Brotherhood from undermining governments in the area. A post from late September reported that the Muslim Brotherhood in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had denied setting up an armed wing with the goal of seizing power. A post from late September reported on the trial in Abu Dhabi of what are described as “activists belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood” and who reportedly admitted that they have engaged in financial actives and communicated with “the international organisation of the Muslim Brotherhood and other bodies.” A post from April reported that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had detained six members of the local Muslim Brotherhood whose citizenship had been revoked on the basis of belonging to groups that fund terrorists. Earlier posts reported on allegations by the Dubai police chief that the Muslim Brotherhood is using social media to attack the UAE and his threat to arrest Qaradawi who criticized the UAE for revoking the visas of Syrians demonstrating against the regime in Damascus. Other posts have discussed comments by Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood leader Tariq Al-Suwaidan who appeared to threaten the UAE with “disaster” if Qaradawi was arrested.

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