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UAE strips 6 of citizenship

Abu Dhabi, December 22, 2011

The United Arab Emirates has revoked the citizenship of six nationals whom it said posed a threat to national security.

A statement from the official news agency said the six men originally carried other nationalities and had committed 'acts threatening the national security of the UAE'.

It said some of the men 'had connections with suspicious terrorism financing organisations', without elaborating.     

Some of the men had signed a petition sent to the leaders of the UAE demanding that the country's Federal National Council, an advisory body, be endowed with greater powers.

Earlier this year UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan pardoned five activists who had been convicted and jailed for insulting the UAE leadership, after they criticised UAE policies and called for reforms.

One of the six men stripped of his citizenship - all were affiliated with an Islamist organisation - said UAE officials had contacted him last week and demanded he hand over his identity papers.

'The passport office called us and said there was a decree saying that our citizenship should be revoked. They said they want all of our documentation, so we gave it to them,' said Muhammed Abdel Razzaq Al-Siddiq. - Reuters




Tags: UAE | Security | citizenship |

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