Archive for Dubai police

Egyptian syndicates call for government intervention in UAE detentions

by admin
December 31st, 2012

A number of professional syndicates are calling on Egyptian authorities to investigate why syndicate members–including doctors, engineeers, and journalists–have been detained in the United Arab Emirates.

Relatives of Ahmed Gaafar, a journalist who runs a private media center in Dubai, said he disappeared two weeks ago while on his way home from work in Dubai. His family said that all of his personal belongings disappeared. Dubai police revelated that they had detained Gaafar six days ago. The family then called on the Journalists Syndicate and the Arab Journalists’ Union to intervene and demand information about the reasons for his detention.

Karem Mahmoud, the sydicate’s secretary, said the board received a complaint from the family on Saturday and that the syndicate contacted the foreign ministry regarding the circumstances of his detention.

Professional syndicates of doctors and physical therapists are likewise calling on the presidency and the foreign ministry to intervene in order to determine why three Egyptian doctors were detained by Emirati authorities. It also called on the physical therapists association in the UAE to form a fact-finding committee to investigate detentions by what they called an "unknown authority" and to investigate why detainees' families have been prevented from traveling home from the UAE without legal justification.

The Doctors’ Syndicate Freedom Committee said that three detainees were getting ready to return home to Egypt along with their families when their houses were attacked and their personal computers were seized. The committee threatened to stage protests outside the Emirati embassy in Cairo, saying there are “other steps for escalation if the detainees are not released and their families allowed to return back to their homeland.”

Meanwhile, the Engineers Syndicate’s branch in Daqahliya said Emirati authorities had arrested two members in the Dubai airport. They were taken to an unknown location 20 days ago. One of the detainees’ wives said her husband had decided to close the contracting company he owns in Dubai and that he was planning his return to Egypt when he was arrested.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Dubai police chief likens Brotherhood to ‘Mafia’

by admin
November 6th, 2012

Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan slammed the Muslim Brotherhood at a seminar in Dubai, comparing the group's organizational structure to "the Mafia."

At a seminar held in Dubai on Monday, he claimed that the Muslim Brotherhood used to seize the money allocated to charity and are currently planning to control the treasuries of the states where they operate.

"What we hear about the Brotherhood reminds us of the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves," he said, alleging that like the Mafia, the group has a small decision-making core that controls everything.

Former Brotherhood leader Sayyed al-Meligui also attended the seminar, organized by al-Misbar Center for Studies and Research, an organization that specializes in studying Islamic movements. "Hatred for the Brotherhood increased after they reached power in Egypt — their negative nature became obvious to everyone,” he said during the seminar.

Meligui, who was a member of the group for 40 years and became a member of its Shura Council, said, "Members of the group in Egypt do not exceed 200,000. The Egyptian opposition is much bigger than the group but they are disorganized."

"The Brotherhood are acting as God's chosen people and consider themselves to be better-thinking and are full of themselves," he claimed, also alleging that the Brotherhood has a secret organization whose men are the most powerful in the group.

"The Brotherhood is ignorant about religion and politics, though it claims otherwise. The group refuses to uncover how much money it has and how it got it. Any of its members who attempts to find answers to those questions are expelled," he said.

The UAE arrested 60 Emiratis who belong to the Brotherhood, which remains an outlawed group in the country, in July. They are still being questioned.

A local Emirati paper said the suspects said they belong to a secret organization with a military wing whose goal is to seize power and establish a religious government using illegal means.

Edited translation from DPA

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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The Brotherhood seeks to rule the Gulf, says Dubai police chief

by admin
March 25th, 2012

The Muslim Brotherhood is conspiring to rule the Gulf states, beginning with Kuwait next year as it is the most vulnerable, the Dubai police chief told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas on Sunday.

“I have sources that say the Brotherhood wants the Gulf regimes to reign but not govern,” he said, adding that the Islamist group will move on to the rest of the Gulf by 2016.

Khalfan said his information was not leaked from the Brotherhood, but from Western intelligence services.

“The Americans helped them come to power in the countries that saw uprisings,” he said. “It all started when President Obama said he was willing to deal with them.”

“I warn of this organization,” he added. “They have cells in the Gulf states and others.”

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Arab League intervenes in conflict between Brotherhood and UAE

by admin
March 12th, 2012

Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby on Monday expressed his regret for the comments of Mahmoud Ghazlan, spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, against the United Arab Emirates, which he called "hostile."

Ghazlan criticized the Dubai Police for intending to ask Interpol to arrest the head of the International Union for Muslim Scholars, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was also a member of the Brotherhood, for condemning Emirati authorities for deporting Syrian nationals demonstrating against Bashar al-Assad in violation of UAE laws.

Ghazlan said the UAE would not dare arrest Qaradawi, and threatened to move the whole world to defend him. The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) has denounced Ghazlan’s statements, and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan requested the Egyptian government clarify its position on these statements.

In a statement issued by his office on Monday, Araby said: "I call on all political forces to resort to wisdom and prudence and to avoid hostile attitudes and irresponsible statements that can be detrimental to relations between Arab countries, and that cause dissension and division."

The statement added: "We are about to prepare for the coming Arab summit in Baghdad, which we hope would restore the spirit of Arab solidarity and unify Arab positions on the challenges and major variables facing the region."

Egyptian state-run news service MENA quoted anonymous Egyptian diplomatic sources as saying that there is no problem between Egypt and the UAE, and that Ghazlan’s statements reflect the opinion of his group and not the Egyptian government.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Egypt ambassador in UAE says not involved in talks after Brotherhood criticism

by admin
March 12th, 2012

Egyptian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Tamer Mansour has denied reports that the Emirati Foreign Ministry contacted embassy officials regarding criticism by Mahmoud Ghozlan, the official spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, of the UAE.

An Egyptian consular delegation will arrive in the UAE on Monday to discuss bilateral relations and look at ways to maximize cooperation in all realms, Mansour told Al-Ahram on Monday. The visit will likely address the diplomatic spat that has chilled relations between the two countries in recent days.

Ghozlan had condemned calls by the Dubai police leader to issue an arrest warrant against prominent Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union for Muslim Scholars.

Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim had said Dubai would issue an arrest warrant against Qaradawi after he attacked the UAE on Al Jazeera satellite channel and criticized its regime for deporting Syrian families that were protesting against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in front of their consulate in Dubai.

On Twitter, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan said on Saturday that he hopes the Egyptian government will provide clarifications for what Ghozlan said.

“What Ghozlan has said, sadly, reveals bad intentions …” he wrote.

In his comments on television, Ghozlan slammed UAE officials, saying their threats were bluffs meant to intimidate.

“The UAE will not dare arrest Sheikh Qaradawi,” he said. “These threats constitute a psychological war and demagogic talk. Qaradawi cannot be arrested.”

“The entire Muslim world, and not only the Muslim Brotherhood, would take action against the UAE if this happens.”

On Sunday, AFP reported that Emirati authorities have demanded an “explanation” from Egypt over criticism of the UAE by Qaradawi.

The foreign affairs minister of state, Anwar Mohammed Gargash, “met Egypt’s foreign minister and demanded an explanation on comments” by Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan, an Emirati spokesperson told AFP.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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