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."
