Sunday 28 December 2014

Dhahi Khalfan

Brotherhood sows subversion in Gulf: Dubai police chief

Dubai, April 3, 2013

Sunni Muslim-ruled Gulf states are often wary of subversion from their powerful Shi'ite neighbour 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 Egyptian branch of the Sunni Islamist organisation, propelled to power in the most populous Arab country in elections since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising in 2011.





Khalfan complained that the West "sympathises, adopts and supports" the Brotherhood, saying he did not understand why.


His stance testifies to new tensions in the Arab world arising from two years of popular ferment that has unseated autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, although it has so far spared dynasties in the Gulf and elsewhere.

Khalfan, one of the Gulf's longest serving security officials, defended a trial of the 94 alleged Emirati plotters that human rights groups have criticised as unfair.







The Brotherhood in Egypt, one of whose members, Mohamed Mursi, was elected head of state in June, rejected Khalfan's accusations that the group was involved in subversion abroad.





Asked to describe threats to the UAE, Khalfan said at least two Emiratis had gone to Syria to fight for rebels trying to depose President Bashar al-Assad, but suggested al Qaeda-style militants were not widely supported in the Emirates.



On Iran, Khalfan, head of Dubai's police force for three decades, criticised what he called Tehran's interference in the affairs of Gulf Arab states and its threats to close the Straits of Hormuz in its standoff with the US.

However, his language on Iran was relatively restrained, describing it as a neighbour "that is very hard to please”. – Reuters

Tags: UAE | Iran | interview | Sunni | Muslim Brotherhood |

More Analysis, Interviews, Opinions Stories

calendarCalendar of Events