Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar said Thursday it is looking into the fate of two of its citizens reportedly detained in the United Arab Emirates, a day after Emirati media reported that Qatari intelligence agents were being held by the federation.
The arrests are likely to further strain fraught relations between the two energy-rich and Western-allied Gulf nations. The Emirates joined neighbors Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in pulling its ambassador from Qatar earlier this year in a move based in part on Qatar's support for the Muslim Brotherhood.
A statement posted on the official Qatar News Agency, quoting the Foreign Ministry, said Qatar's ambassador to the UAE was tasked with inquiring about the status of citizens Hamad Ali al-Hammadi and Yousuf Abdul-Samad al-Mulla after their families complained they had been detained at the Emirati border crossing of al-Ghuwaifat.
"Qatar has not been officially informed of what had happened to the two citizens," the brief statement added.
The Emirati daily Al-Khaleej, citing an unnamed Emirati source, reported Wednesday that alleged Qatari intelligence operatives had been detained by the UAE.
Another Emirati newspaper, the English-language Gulf News, carried a similar report. It alleged that the men were trying to re-establish al-Islah, an Islamist group suspected of ideological ties to the Brotherhood.
The Emirates, a seven-state federation that includes the capital Abu Dhabi and the commercial hub of Dubai, is firmly opposed to the Brotherhood and backed a March decision by Saudi Arabia to brand the organization a terrorist group. Egypt has also labeled the Brotherhood a terrorist organization.
Emirati courts have jailed dozens of people allegedly linked to Brotherhood-affiliated groups on state security charges, including a Qatari doctor sentenced to seven years behind bars in March.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
