Abu Dhabi: Investigations led by the UAE Public Prosecution have uncovered a clandestine organisation established abroad by fugitives from the UAE-based terrorist group Islah and Dawa Group (Muslim Brotherhood), dissolved in 2013.
The secret group aimed to resurrect the organisation and pursue similar objectives. The State Security Department tracked fugitives from various emirates who were sentenced in absentia in 2013.
Their efforts unveiled two factions of the organisation’s members meeting abroad. These individuals attracted and recruited others, forming a new group funded by the original UAE organisation and other international terrorist entities.
Alliances
Further investigations exposed that this new organisation has forged alliances with other terrorist groups, engaging through media, economic, and educational sectors. These groupings aim to solidify their relationships, secure funding, establish a stable presence, enhance their protective measures abroad, and fulfil their objectives.
Multiple fronts
One faction of the organisation, based in a specific country, is linked to multiple fronts of terrorist entities masquerading as charitable or intellectual organisations and television channels. A notable association is with the Cordoba Foundation (TCF), designated as a terrorist entity since 2014. It is styled as a Middle Eastern “Fikr” foundation and is led by Anas Al Tikriti, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure residing abroad, who organised numerous protests at embassies and international organisation headquarters.
Fugitive members
Fugitive members of the organisation held secret meetings through internet applications and mutual visits among the groups to coordinate their secretive activities.
The arrested members’ confessions described the organisation’s structure and activities, detailing their roles in destabilising efforts. These included smear campaigns, hate speech, undermining state achievements, creating discord, financing terrorism, money laundering, colluding with foreign intelligence to jeopardise state security, inciting against state institutions, attacking the state’s human rights record to undermine trust, and stirring public opinion through web pages and fake social media accounts.
Some members were tasked with liaising directly with international human rights bodies, supplying them with fabricated allegations against UAE authorities for inclusion in adverse reports.
Further investigation
A dedicated team from the Public Prosecution is intensively investigating to clarify further details revealed in the confessions of the arrested individuals and the State Security Department’s findings.
The Public Prosecution is expected to disclose detailed information about this terrorist organisation and its criminal activities upon concluding the investigations.
