Man jailed for terror attack plot

Federal Supreme Court hands prison terms to two others

ABU DHABI // Two men who plotted an attack on a beach bar in Umm Al Quwain have been jailed by the Federal Supreme Court.

A 25-year-old Emirati was sentenced to five years in prison and fined Dh1 million for planning a terrorist attack.

He was also found guilty of seeking to join the terrorist group Al Nusra Front.

A 24-year-old Palestinian was handed a three-year jail sentence for planning the attack with the Emirati. Both men were also found guilty of propagating ideas about ISIL and Al Qaeda.

The court also jailed a 30-yearold Emirati for failing to report the plot. The Palestinian will be deported after serving his sentence. The court ordered the confiscation and destruction of computers seized during the investigation.

In another case, a 29-year-old Emirati denied a charge of joining the terrorist group Ahrar Al Sham.

His lawyer argued that while the defendant travelled to Syria through Saudi Arabia, he did so to join the Free Syrian Army, not the terrorist group.

“My client travelled to Syria and joined the FSA in 2012 and fought with them, but this was before it was listed as a terror- ist organisation by the Government of the UAE in 2014,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer explained that the FSA had fought alongside Ahrar Al Sham, but his client had never joined them. “The UAE Cabinet listed the group as a terrorist group after my client had returned to the UAE.” A verdict is due on February 8. In another case, a 36-year-old Pakistani was charged with joining Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Ahrar Al Sham in Syria before moving to the UAE. His friend, 25, was also charged with aiding and abetting by not reporting his friend’s terrorist links. Both men denied the charges.

The case was adjourned until March 1.