No terrorism threat in the UAE

Dubai: A senior Dubai Police official has said that there is no terrorism threat in the UAE.

On Thursday the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, amended its travel advice for the UAE, warning of terrorist activity on or around October 1.

Brigadier Abdul Jalil Mahdi, Deputy Director of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department for Preventive Security, told Gulf News that there are no terror threats in the UAE.

“Our country is safe and everything is as normal and we have not been alerted of a terror attack or any unusual activity,'' said Mahdi adding that there is no need for residents or tourists to panic.

The Australian Government statement reads: ‘Information suggests that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, possibly on the Arabian Peninsula and in Jordan, to coincide with Eid Al Fitr on or around October 1 2008.'

The Australian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consul General in Dubai were not immediately available for comment.

On June 16, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office raised its travel advice terrorism alert from ‘general' to ‘high', although British residents were not phased by the announcement, Gulf News reported.

The US Embassy also reiterated its travel advisory to Americans in the UAE, stressing the need to ‘maintain a high level of personal security awareness'.

At the time, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police, assured residents in the UAE that the country is safe and will remain safe.

He continued that there was no reason to think that terrorists would strike the UAE.