German, US institutes in UAE closed

[Al Bhatti]

Foreign institutions shut down for operating without licences


Authorities said they ordered the closure of some organisations because they did not have licences or had breached the terms of their permits.

“Some foreign institutions that were operating in the UAE have violated the terms of the licence,” Dr Abdul Rahim Al Awadhi, the Assistant Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, told the state news agency Wam.

“Some have been operating without a licence. This obliged the legal authorities to issue instructions that they should cease their work in the UAE,” Dr Al Awadhi said. He could not be reached for further comment.

The ministry’s comments come after the Abu Dhabi offices of the German think tank Konrad Adenauer Foundation closed last month. The American non-profit organisation National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Dubai also shut its doors.

NDI said its licence was due for renewal in September while the Konrad Adenauer Foundation shut at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign institutions shut down for operating without licences - The National

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April 5, 2012

German, US institutes in UAE closed

Some 'foreign institutions operating in UAE have violated the terms of licence'

The UAE has ordered a number of foreign institutions to shut down for either violating the terms of their licences or having obtained no licence at all, a senior official said on Thursday.

“Some foreign institutions that were operating in the UAE have violated the terms of the licence; some have been operating without a licence. This obliged the legal authorities to issue instructions that they should cease their work in the UAE,” Dr Abdul Rahim Al Awadhi, Assistant UAE Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs, was quoted by WAM as saying.

Dr Al Awadhi did not name these institutions, but Gulf News learnt the German think tank Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which has been operating in Abu Dhabi since 2009, was ordered to close down because it never obtained a licence and the Dubai-based National Democratic Institute, an organisation affiliated with the American Democratic Party, was shut for violating the terms of its licence.

German government representative told Gulf News it was trying to work with the UAE for the reopening of a think-tank in Abu Dhabi.

Article continues below

“The German Government regrets the decision of the UAE to shut down the office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Abu Dhabi. We are in close contact with the UAE Government in order to find a solution in this matter,“ a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told Gulf News.

The spokesman did not confirm or deny whether the German think tank has ever obtained or applied for a licence ever since it was opened in the Abu Dhabi.

“Both German Government and German Parliament attach great importance to the precious international work of the German political foundations,” the spokesman said.
The Konrad Adenauer Foundation has close ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, Union of Christian Democrats.

Merkel said last Thursday that Germany would “attempt to maintain close cooperation with the UAE”. “However, we of course wished that the Konrad Adenauer Foundation could continue its work there,” she told reporters.

The UAE also closed down the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), an organisation affiliated with the American Democratic Party that claims to “work to promote and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide” for working on a general training licence, sources told Gulf News.

“On Wednesday, March 28, authorities [not sure from where] visited the office and told us our licence was cancelled, effective immediately — no reason given,” Leslie Campbell, NDI regional director of Middle East and North Africa, told Gulf News via e-mail.

Having operated in Dubai for almost four years, Campbell said the NDI office’s operations were geared outside the emirate.

“We do not have any programmes in the UAE and never had. Our office was simply a regional hub, which supported programmes in places like Qatar and Kuwait. The Gulf countries are too small to support a lot of separate offices so a central, easy-to-access location made sense and Dubai has been a good place to work from,” Campbell said.

An analyst based in Dubai, who requested anonymity, told Gulf News these sort of organisations cannot be considered non-governmental organisations (NGOs) because they are funded by western governments and major parties in the US and Europe. “For me, they have suspicious goals,” he added.

gulfnews : German, US institutes in UAE closed

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Apr 6, 2012

UAE offices of foreign agencies shut down

The Foreign Ministry of the UAE has shut down offices of some foreign organizations because they have violated the country’s rules.

In a statement, Dr. Abdul Rahim Al Awadhi, assistant UAE foreign minister for legal affairs, said these institutions violated the terms of their licenses.

“Some foreign institutions were operating without licenses. This obliged the legal authorities to issue instructions that they should cease their work in the UAE,” WAM quoted Al-Awadhi as saying. He did not name the affected institutions.

There were media reports that the Dubai office of the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Abu Dhabi office of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, an organization based in Germany, were shut down last week.

The NDI is a US-funded pro-democracy group and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation has close ties with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, Union of Christian Democrats.

UAE offices of foreign agencies shut down - Yahoo! News UK

 

[Al Bhatti]

Mar 29, 2012

UAE shuts German pro-democracy office in Abu Dhabi

The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

(KAS), a German think-tank which promotes democracy abroad and is close to Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, said on Thursday authorities in Abu Dhabi had ordered it to shut its office there without giving a reason.

Merkel said the emirate had informed Berlin that all foreign foundations there had been shut down, not only the KAS.

"We can only react with complete incomprehension at this unexpected and sudden development in Abu Dhabi," foundation head Hans-Gert Poettering said in a statement.

No reason for the closure had been given, he said. The foundation opened its office in the capital of the United Arab Emirates in 2009.

There was no immediate word from officials in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE, cushioned by its huge oil wealth, has escaped the upheaval shaking much of the Arab world, but allows no political parties and keeps a wary eye on signs of political dissent.

"After our experience in Egypt, not only do we regret this decision but it rings alarm bells if non-governmental organisations and political foundations are not desired in the Arab world," said Poettering.

Egyptian prosecutors and police raided the foundation's offices in Cairo last year, along with those of several other foreign pro-democracy and human rights groups.

"The UAE has said that the closing of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is... part of a move to close all foundations. We will of course try to continue our close cooperation with the UAE. However we would naturally have wished that the KAS could continue its work there," Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle regretted the decision, his spokesman said.

"Foreign Minister Westerwelle has personally pushed for a rethink of this decision with the UAE's foreign minister ... in the last few weeks and again on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Seoul," the spokesman said.

Germany has strengthened its economic ties with Abu Dhabi in the last few years with sovereign wealth fund Aabar Investments buying stakes in German companies, notably in carmaker Daimler.

UPDATE 1-UAE shuts German pro-democracy office in Abu Dhabi - Yahoo! News UK

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Mar 31, 2012

UAE closes Dubai office of U.S. pro-democracy group

The United Arab Emirates has closed the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-funded pro-democracy group that was the subject of a crackdown in Egypt, the U.S. State Department said on Friday.

"We understand that the UAE government has closed the NDI office in Dubai," said State Department spokesman Noel Clay, offering no further details but defending the group's work.

"NDI is a respected organization that has been working across the region and beyond to promote civil society, development and democratic values. The State Department is a firm supporter of NDI's activities," he said.

The UAE, one of the world's top five oil exporters, has escaped the upheaval that has shaken the Arab world, but the case of five activists convicted late last year of insulting the country's rulers suggests it is not immune to calls for reform.

UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan in December pardoned the activists a day after they were sentenced to prison terms of two to three years.

That case had been seen as a gauge of how the Gulf Arab state, which allows no political parties, responds to hints of dissent after the uprisings that have toppled four Arab heads of state, including former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

A U.S. official said the United States had been in contact with UAE authorities about the closure of the NDI office and argued in favor of allowing such groups to operate.

"We made clear that allowing NGOs to operate openly and freely is important to support political and economic development," said the official, who asked not to be named.

The UAE embassy did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

NDI and the International Republican Institute, U.S.-funded groups loosely affiliated with the two main political parties in the United States, are among a number of foreign and domestic civil society groups that have been prosecuted in Egypt.

The authorities accused campaigners for the nongovernmental organizations, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, of working for groups receiving illegal foreign funding and had prevented them from leaving Egypt.

The United States warned Egypt the case could imperil $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, but tensions abated earlier this month when Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban on some of the foreigners targeted and most of them left the country.

The case against the 43 Egyptian and foreign NGO workers remains, however, and a judge has delayed the trial of the civil society activists on charges of receiving illegal foreign funds and pursuing their work without a license until April 10.

UAE closes Dubai office of U.S. pro-democracy group - Yahoo! News UK

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Apr 1, 2012

Clinton: "regret" over closure of US-backed group in Dubai

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday raised concerns over a move by the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. ally in the Gulf, to shut down a U.S.-funded pro-democracy group.

"We very much regret it," Clinton said after a meeting in Riyadh with foreign ministers from Gulf States, referring to the closure of the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), which was also the subject of a crackdown in Egypt.

Clinton said she discussed the issue with Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

"We are as you know, as anyone who has visited the United States, strong believers in a vibrant civil society ... I expect our discussions on this issue to continue," Clinton told reporters.

NDI and the International Republican Institute, U.S.-funded groups loosely affiliated with the two main political parties in the United States, are among a number of foreign and domestic civil society groups that have been prosecuted in Egypt.

In Egypt, the authorities accused campaigners for the non-governmental organisations, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, of working for groups receiving illegal foreign funding and had prevented them from
leaving Egypt.

The United States warned Egypt the case could imperil $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, but tensions abated this month when Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban on some of the foreigners targeted and most of them left the country.

The UAE, one of the world's top five oil exporters, has meanwhile escaped the kind of political upheaval that has reshaped much of the Arab world over the past year.

Clinton: "regret" over closure of US-backed group in Dubai - Yahoo! News UK

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Apr 1, 2012

Concerns as UAE shuts down rights groups

..Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has raised concerns over a move by the United Arab Emirates, a key US ally in the Gulf, to shut down a US-funded rights advocacy group.

"We very much regret it," Clinton said after a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday with foreign ministers from Gulf States, referring to the closure of the Dubai office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Clinton said she had discussed the issue with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, the UAE's foreign minister.

"We are as you know, as anyone who has visited the United States, strong believers in a vibrant civil society ... I expect our discussions on this issue to continue," Clinton told reporters.

The closure of the NDI's office in Dubai came in the same week that a German pro-democracy think tank, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was ordered to close in Abu Dhabi.

It said it had received "no understandable explanation" for the move, and it was the second time in three months that the foundation saw one of its foreign offices shuttered, after it was one of the offices closed in Egypt in late December.

'Alarm bell'

The think tank termed the decision an "alarm bell for democratic development in the Arab world".

A spokesman said Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, had personally pressed al-Nahayan to rethink the decision.

The spokesman, said the UAE's ambassador to Berlin was invited for talks on Friday at the ministry to underline the "positive work of the foundation" and seek a "common solution" to reopen the office.

"It is our goal to find a way together with the United Arab Emirates for this to happen," Peschke told a regular government news conference. "But whether and how this could happen I cannot say at this time."

The US-based NDI is among a number of foreign and domestic civil society groups that have been prosecuted in Egypt over their activities.

In Egypt, the authorities accused campaigners for the non-governmental organisations, including the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, of working for groups receiving illegal foreign funding and initially prevented them from leaving Egypt.

The UAE, one of the world's top five oil exporters, has escaped the kind of political upheaval that has reshaped much of the Arab world over the past year.

Concerns as UAE shuts down rights groups - Yahoo! News UK

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Apr 6, 2012

UAE investigating U.S. pro-democracy group staffer

United Arab Emirates authorities said on Friday they were investigating an employee of a U.S. pro-democracy group after briefly detaining him as he tried to leave the Gulf state.

Slobodan Milic works for the National Democratic Institute which was last week ordered to close its UAE offices. The Serb was detained at Dubai airport on Thursday evening, questioned and then allowed to return to his apartment in Dubai, NDI said.

A UAE official said Milic had been questioned about NDI's activities and the investigation was continuing.

"We are waiting for the results of the investigation," the official said, when asked if Milic could leave the UAE. He did not elaborate about the nature of the probe.

The UAE said on Thursday licensing irregularities were behind the closure of "some foreign institutions" in the Gulf state, a week after NDI and German democracy group Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) were told to shut their offices there.

Western-allied UAE, cushioned by its huge oil wealth, has escaped the upheaval shaking much of the Arab world, but allows no political parties and keeps a wary eye on signs of political dissent.

In Egypt, NDI was one of a number of civil society groups raided by police last year. Washington hinted at the time it could review its $1.3 billion in annual military aid to Cairo.

That row was defused when Egypt lifted a travel ban it had placed on the groups' American staff, whom it accused of carrying out political activities unrelated to their work, failing to obtain proper licenses and receiving foreign funds without Cairo's approval.

NDI is loosely affiliated with the U.S. Democratic party, while KAS has links with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union of Germany.

Another NDI employee, Pat Davis, an American, flew out of the UAE on Thursday, said NDI regional director Les Campbell.

UAE investigating U.S. pro-democracy group staffer - Yahoo! News UK

 

[BLACKEAGLE]

Good riddance.

 

[King Solomon]

These human rights offices are in reality CIA breeding grounds.

 

[Pakistanisage]

In the old days US and the West conducted most of their Intelligence projects run through the Embassies and consulates. for the last 15 to 20 years they have developed a model of conducting these kind of activities through NGO's , Think Tanks and even Media companies like FOX, CNN and BBC. This involves using these organizations to funnel funds to traitors who would do their bidding for a monetary reward. We are seeing involvement of some from Pakistani Media getting paid for writing Anti-Pakistan articles etc.

 

[Pak_Sher]

Any institution operating in a foreign land should follow the laws. I am not sure what prompted the UAE Govt. to cancel the licenses, but there must be a valid reason?

 

[WS-10 Engine]

western NGOs are CIA/MI6 organisations.
this is a well known fact.

there was a recent report done a week ago by the chinese government that there were 1000 non registered US NGOs in china.
the chinese government is absolutely clueless about the real motives of NGOs.

i hope all countries shut down these western NGOs, western think tanks, and western media networks operating in their countries.

good on the UAE.

 

[Hussein]

western NGOs are CIA/MI6 organisations.
this is a well known fact.

there was a recent report done a week ago by the chinese government that there were 1000 non registered US NGOs in china.
the chinese government is absolutely clueless about the real motives of NGOs.

i hope all countries shut down these western NGOs, western think tanks, and western media networks operating in their countries.

good on the UAE.

ALL NGOs?
They are million members of CIA???

 

[longyi]

western NGOs are CIA/MI6 organisations.
this is a well known fact.

there was a recent report done a week ago by the chinese government that there were 1000 non registered US NGOs in china.
the chinese government is absolutely clueless about the real motives of NGOs.

i hope all countries shut down these western NGOs, western think tanks, and western media networks operating in their countries.

good on the UAE.

These NGOs as Colin Powell disgustingly coined them 'Force Extenders' of the powerful CIA. Our lazy Congress also fund NDI and IRI to spread democracies (regime changes) around the world.

Sadly one by one they are being boot out. The world is getting smart on them.

ALL NGOs?
They are million members of CIA???

CIA is legitimate part of the US Government. NGOs are under the table.

 

[Holmes]

Hope of democracy lost... from UAE...

 

[Al Bhatti]

Hope of democracy lost... from UAE...

April 8, 2012

Citizens' happiness at centre of our policies: Mohammad

UN Survey finds UAE people happiest in Arab world

The UAE's founding fathers had always accorded the highest importance to providing means of prosperity and happiness for all citizens, said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Commenting on the result of the UN's first ever world happiness and satisfaction survey in which the UAE ranked 17 worldwide and topped the list of Arab countries, Shaikh Mohammad said yesterday that the founding fathers' approach had become a vision blueprint for the government and an action plan that impacted its policies and decision.

"At the beginning, I would like to congratulate President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the results of the survey which showed how happy and satisfied the people of the UAE are, ranking first at the Arab level and 17th worldwide."

Tribute to people

Shaikh Mohammad said the achievement owed itself to the loyalty, dedication and spirit of teamwork displayed by the people of the UAE and the excellent cooperation and coordination across all levels of federal and local government.

"The development plans we approved, the initiatives we launched and the policies and laws enforced, have all but one goal; to bring about happiness to the citizens, their families and their children. What we have achieved so far is just an initial milestone that will be followed by harder work and more accomplishments so we can become the world's best," he added.

"When I launched the government's first strategy in 2007, I announced during the ceremony that the purpose of the strategy was to create happiness for the community and for the citizens. The international report is yet another confirmation that we are on the right track and that the future will, by the grace of Allah, be happier."

Shaikh Mohammad indicated that although the feeling of happiness and satisfaction differs from one person to another, the government saw it as it's duty to provide decent living standards and assure the prosperity of all citizens.

Shaikh Mohammad urged the citizens in government sectors to maintain excellent performance standards. "We are pressing ahead with our plans to invest in our resources to achieve comfort and happiness for all. We have a glorious past and a happy present and we will have, by the grace of Allah, a bright future. I call on all citizens of the UAE to be optimistic, to work hard, to live happily, to always seek the blessings of Allah the Almighty in everything they do and to provide happiness to their families and children."

gulfnews : Citizens' happiness at centre of our policies: Mohammad

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Hope of democracy lost... from UAE...

Oil will keep them happy.

 

[K-Xeroid]

Hope of democracy lost... from UAE...

Democracy? Real democracy isn't even in india too.. democracy don't need paper work, you can enjoy it under any type of establishment. if your establishment is sincere. U.A.E got sincere establishment that why there state is moving forward in positive direction.

Oil will keep them happy.

Just as alcohol makes you happy..

 

[Al Bhatti]

Oil will keep them happy.

The U.N. Happiness Summit – Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs

Just as alcohol makes you happy..

good reply

 

[NeutralCitizen]

Democracy? Real democracy isn't even in india too.. democracy don't need paper work, you can enjoy it under any type of establishment. if your establishment is sincere. U.A.E got sincere establishment that why there state is moving forward in positive direction.


Just as alcohol makes you happy..

I'm Muslim I don't drink.