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Egypt's Brotherhood says UAE arrests unfounded
[REUTERS] Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund said on Wednesday some of its members had been wrongfully placed in durance vileI ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! in United Arab Emirates (UAE) on allegations of helping to train local Islamists in subversion tactics. "I know 11 people were tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... . I know that some of them are from the Brotherhood," said Mahmoud Ghozlan, a Brotherhood front man in Cairo. "The claim that they are a cell seeking to destabilize the country is devoid of truth." The arrests came to light on Tuesday when a UAE newspaper reported the authorities had arrested an "Egyptian Moslem Brüderbund cell", citing an unnamed source. The oil-rich UAE, which has long voiced distrust of the Moslem Brüderbund that helped propel Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi to power this year, arrested about 60 Islamists last month, accusing them of being linked to the Egyptian group and plotting to undermine governments in the Gulf region. In what appeared to be an effort to ease tensions, Egypt's intelligence chief, General Mohamed Shehata, headed to the UAE for talks, airport officials said. An aide to the Egyptian president also handed over a message from Mursi to UAE's president, a statement from the Egyptian presidency said, without giving details. "We are in contact with the authorities there and will see what will happen in the next period," Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr was quoted as saying by the state news agency. The son of one of the arrested Egyptians said in Cairo that his father, Ali Sonbol, is a medical doctor and is not involved in political activities. "They didn't say where they were taking him and what were the charges," Ahmed Sonbol told Rooters. "The Egyptian embassy only assured us that he was detained by UAE authorities and he is well." Posted by: Fred 2013-01-03 |
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