UAE jails two Lebanese, one Canadian for Hezbollah links

The United Arab Emirates has sentenced three men including two Lebanese and one Canadian Lebanese to jail, followed by deportation, for allegedly having links with Hezbollah, official news agency WAM reported.

The State Security Department at the Federal Supreme Court sentenced the accused to six months imprisonment, the report said.

The defendants, aged 66, 62 and 30, according to Gulf News, were accused of establishing links with the Lebanese Shia Islamic group Hezbollah – which is deemed a terrorist organisation in the UAE.

They were also found guilty of setting up and managing an international group in the country, without obtaining a licence from the government. The charges date before October 12, 2014.

The Gulf Cooperation officially declared Hezbollah a terrorist organisation in February, amidst strained ties with Lebanon.

All Hezbollah militias, leaders, factions and organisations affiliated with them are included in the declaration.

GCC secretary general Dr Abdullatif bin Rashid Al- Zayani said the ruling was made following “hostile acts” carried out by the militia including the recruitment of young people from the GCC for terrorism, the smuggling of weapons and “inciting sedition, disorder and violence”.

“The GCC states consider Hezbollah militias’ practices in the council’s states and their terrorist and subversive acts being carried out in Syria, Yemen and Iraq to contradict moral and humanitarian values and principles and the international law and pose a threat to Arab national security,” he added.