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UAE rounds up 41 suspects of "terrorist" group

Xinhua, August 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has charged 41 men of various nationalities of establishing a "terrorist organization" to destabilize the country, local daily Gulf news reported on Sunday.

The 41 defendants were charged with setting up and running a local terrorist organization named Shabab Al-Manarah, or Arabic for the Minaret Youths, in the UAE, the UAE's attorney general, Salem Saeed Kubaish, said on Sunday. The report did not reveal the nationalities of the non-Emiratis.

Kubaish added that the suspects were also charged with intending to inflict damages to private and public properties to eventually take over authority to set up a so-called "Caliphate State."

In northern Iraq and parts of Syria, the extremist Islamic State (IS) group has already set up a Caliphate in June 2014. The report did not mention if Shabab Al-Manarah has established links with the IS in particular.

If convicted, the suspects will face capital punishment, life imprisonment and fines of up to 100 million dirham (about 27.2 million U.S. dollars), according to local laws.

Kubaish said the suspects set up an organizational structure including committees to recruit young Emiratis, instill extremist thoughts into them and train them for militant acts and manufacturing of explosives at certain camping sites. The suspects also disseminated audio and video materials on the Internet for propaganda purposes.

Since the 2011 political turmoil across the Arab world, the UAE has sentenced scores of people on terror-related charges. Endit