Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The United Arab Emirates has reported a plot to
destabilize the Gulf Cooperation Council state.

Officials said the UAE captured a cell linked to Al Qaida in
December. They said the cell consisted of nationals from Saudi Arabia
assigned to conduct a destabilization campaign in the region.

“The security authorities in the UAE, in coordination with the related
security parties in Saudi Arabia, announced the arrest of an organized cell from the deviant group that was planning to carry out actions against national security of both countries and some brotherly states,” the UAE news agency, Wam, said.

In a statement on Dec. 26, Wam said the plot called for attacks in both
Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Wam said the alleged members of what was termed a “deviant group” acquired material for the attacks.

This marked the first time that Abu Dhabi reported an Al Qaida plot.
Officials said the plot appeared to represent a regional effort by Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

Officials said Abu Dhabi and Riyad cooperated in the counter-insurgency investigation. They did not elaborate.

On Jan. 1, the UAE daily Al Khaleej reported the capture of an Islamist
cell that consisted of more than 10 members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.
The newspaper said the detainees, linked to the banned Al Islah Society,
marked the leadership of the Brotherhood in the UAE.

“The investigation confirmed that they ran the group’s activities on the
UAE soil with a defined organizational structure,” Al Khaleej, quoting
security sources, said. “The members held secret meetings in different areas
of the UAE through their so-called ‘administrative offices’ and were
recruiting Egyptians residing in the UAE to join the group.”

The sources said the Brotherhood cell collected information on the UAE
military. They asserted that the cell established companies to channel funds
to the Brotherhood in Egypt.

“There was a regular coordination between the two groups and they held
secret meetings,” the newspaper said. “The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group
in the UAE also conducted training sessions for the [UAE members currently
in detention] on holding elections and means to overthrow regimes in the
Arab states.”

  Abu Dhabi, Al Islah Society, Al Qaida, Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim Brotherhood, Saudi Arabia, Terror cell in UAE tied to Al Qaida