Abu Dhabi: Tribal leaders across the UAE have been calling for open meetings for their male and female members without specifying the reasons.
Calls for such meetings have been made through newspaper advertisements in recent days.
Gulf News has learned that the tribal meetings mainly seek to express support for actions taken by the UAE government following the detention of five activists accused of endangering the country's security.
Ahmad Mansour Ali Abdullah Al Abd Al Shehi, Nasser Ahmad Khalfan Bin Gaith, Fahd Salem Mohammad Salem Dalk, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, all Emiratis; and Ahmad Abdul Khaleq Ahmad, who does not carry identification papers, were arrested recently on charges of endangering the country's security and undermining the public order.
Gulf News has also learned that the meetings are aimed at expressing strong condemnation and denouncement of actions of the detainees, especially Ahmad Mansour Al Shehi, who used to run a controversial website.
In a telephone interview, Ahmad Juma Al Za'abi, Deputy Minister of Presidential Affairs, who spoke in his personal capacity as one of the leaders of Al Za'ab tribe, said members of the tribe will meet on May 4, at the Abu Dhabi Intercontinental Hotel.
"The meeting is intended to express the tribe's emphatic loyalty to the country's leadership headed by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and to all Their Highnesses the Rulers, Members of the Supreme Council and Crown princes," he said.
Al Za'abi said the tribes meeting is to express displeasure with and condemn any action that may have been intended to instigate chaos and trouble, or to insult any of the UAE's political figures.
Al Za'abi pointed out that the meeting is also to show solidarity with other respected and key tribes in the nation who agree on the need for loyalty to the UAE leadership and to condemn any acts that may compromise the security of the emirates.
Abdullah Bin Leqios Al Shehi, one of the leaders of Al Shehi tribe in the UAE, told Gulf News that the fate of Ahmad Al Shehi is now in the hands of the authorities.
"They will investigate the accusation against him. We trust the impartiality of our authorities and security services and that of the public prosecution's office. They are there to be certain of the truth and to investigate whether the accusations are true or not," Bin Leqios Al Shehi said.
Loyalty reiterated
He said all members of Al Shehi tribe pledge full loyalty to the government and leadership of the country and reject outright any act that violates such a relationship.
"This message has been conveyed to the leaders and officials of the country. We refuse any form of insult to any member of our tribe via bloggers on the internet; we also refuse any generalisation on the entire tribe should one member be accused of misconduct. We still do not know the nature of the accusations directed against Ahmad Al Shehi as of yet, nor if he has been officially charged," he said.
"Thus, how are we expected to denounce him before any official accusation takes place," Bin Leqios Al Shehi asked.
Hundreds reject bid to stir trouble
Hundreds of Al Hammadi tribesmen gathered at the Officers Club on Wednesday in response to a call by the tribe's leader. The gathering was aimed at expressing the tribe's rejection of the actions of the five defendants in a case of endangering national security, particularly Ahmad Mansour Al Shehi.
The tribe's members expressed their loyalty to the UAE leadership and their rejection of any action that would undermine the confidence between the government and the people or compromise the country's security and stability.
Dawood Al Hammadi, chief of the Al Hammadi tribe in the UAE, told Gulf News that the tribe's meeting on Wednesday and yesterday in the Abu Dhabi Armed Forces Club was to express its absolute loyalty and support to the country's leaders, Rulers, and government, and to show the tribe's refusal of any form of insult to the leaders of the country.
He said: "We follow in the footsteps of the other tribes of the nation to show solidarity and support to the government and to file official complaints against the five individuals who insulted our national figures."
Al Hammadi said he was thrilled with the large number of participants at the meeting.
He said: "The tribe decided to collect signatures of the tribe's members and to urge the tribe's leader to file a lawsuit before the courts against Al Shehi for offending the state and leadership."
