Trial of Al Qaida-linked terrorist group postponed

Abu Dhabi: The trial of a nine-member cell linked to Al Qaida that was planning attacks on the UAE has been adjourned, Dr Abdul Wahab Abdul, Chief Justice of the Federal Supreme Court, told Gulf News on Monday.

“The hearing of a nine-member group linked to Al Qaida was opened on Monday at the Federal Supreme Court behind closed doors. It was postponed to May 19, until the court hires lawyers to defend them,” Dr Wahab Abdul said.

The Arab defendants are charged with helping Al Qaida with recruitment, financing and logistical support.

The cell, arrested in April last year, was reportedly planning action to target the country’s security and the safety of its citizens and residents, and was carrying out recruitment and promoting the actions of Al Qaida, police said.

Police added the cell was also supplying Al Qaida with money and providing logistical support and seeking to expand its activities to other countries in the region.

In December last year, the UAE said it had arrested a cell comprising Emirati and Saudi Arabian members of a “deviant group” that was planning to carry out militant attacks in both countries and other states. Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Police and General Security in Dubai, had said last year that some in the group had links to Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, which uses Yemen as a base for international operations.

In another hearing at the Federal Supreme Court, the trial of Essam Al Erian, the seasoned member of the outlaw Muslim Brotherhood and former deputy chairman of its defunct Freedom and Justice Party, was put off to August 11, pending his extradition to the UAE, Al Abdul said.

Al Erian is charged with recruiting and financing terrorist cells in the UAE and providing these cells with logistical support.