Gulf Arab states are often wary of subversion from their Shi'ite neighbor Iran, but Dubai's veteran police chief reserves most of his wrath for the "dictators" of the Muslim Brotherhood. Dhahi Khalfan's suspicions focus mostly on the Brotherhood's Egyptian branch.Khalfan said, "The Brotherhood as a ruling party in Egypt has no right to interfere with other countries. They are no longer a political party and should respect the independence of other countries."
He repeated charges that Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood was linked to an alleged plot to topple the UAE government, saying the group's ultimate goal was Islamist rule throughout the Gulf.
Khalfan has complained on Twitter that the West "sympathies, adopts and supports" the Brotherhood, and said he did not understand why.
Khalfan, one of the Gulf's longest serving security officials, defended a trial of the 94 alleged Emirati plotters that have been criticized as unfair.
Of the Brotherhood, banned in the UAE, he said, "These are dictators. They want to change regimes that have been ruling for a long time, but they also want to rule forever...We have evidence this group was planning to overthrow rulers in the Gulf region."
Local newspapers have said the defendants belong to al-Islah, a local Islamist organization. Al-Islah says it wants peaceful reforms and has no direct links to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, although it acknowledges that its views are similar.
Asked to describe threats to the UAE, Khalfan said at least two Emiratis had gone to Syria to fight for militants trying to overthrow Assad, but suggested al-Qaeda-style militants did not have much popular support in the Emirates.
When asked about Qatar's close ties to the Brotherhood, Khalfan said the UAE respected the Qatari leadership, even if the two countries have differences on this issue.
Khalfan criticized Iran's interference in the affairs of Gulf Arab states and its threats to close the Straits of Hormuz. However, his comments on Iran were relatively restrained. He described it as a neighbor "that is very hard to please."