Dubai: An Emirati woman admitted working as a prostitute before retracting her confession and denying the accusation in court Sunday.

Prosecutors accused 25-year-old A.T. of working as a prostitute and having sex with men for money.

A.T. gave an audible answer of "yes" and nodded her head when the charge was put to her before the Dubai Court of First Instance.

"Are you confessing that you worked in prostitution?," Presiding Judge Al Saeed Mohammad Barghout said when he asked the defendant to confirm whether she pleaded innocent or guilty.

"No, I didn't," replied A.T., who was seen standing before the bench in a pink prison dress.

The Emirati confessed during prosecution questioning to posting naked picture of herself on the internet and charging sex clients between Dh1,500 and Dh3,000.

Informant

An Emirati first corporal told the court that an informant alerted Dubai Police about an Arabic-speaking woman who worked as a prostitute.

"The informant alerted us that the woman was named A., has an Arabic nationality and she speaks English and Arabic," the first corporal said.

"She posted naked photos of herself on the internet to men who were interested in having sex with her.

"The informant gave us her contact details. Ee obtained a prosecutor's consent, set up a sting operation and arrested the woman.

"An undercover policeman contacted the girl and agreed to have sex with her for Dh3,000 in a hotel in Dubai Media City.

"A police team monitored the hotel while the undercover policeman went up with the girl to the room which was booked previously.

"After she undressed and lay naked on the bed, the policewomen swooped into action from the adjacent room and arrested A.T."

According to court records the Emirati girl admitted that she worked as a prostitute because she desperately needed money.

Three men

In her prosecution statement, A.T. confessed to having sex with three men.

"I did not know that the fourth client turned out to be an undercover policeman," she said.

"I met him in a hotel in DMC at around 11pm. I walked along with him into the room and collected Dh3,000.

"However, police raided the room and arrested me shortly after I took off my clothes and slept on the bed."

Presiding Judge Barghout will hand out a verdict on Sunday.