UAE shuts down anti-state 'militant cell'

The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday it has dismantled a group plotting against state security without identifying their affiliation or the number of arrests. The prosecutor general, Salem Said Kabish, said an unspecified number of people were being questioned for having formed “a group aimed at damaging the security of the state,” the official news agency WAM reported. The group “aims to commit crimes against state security and challenge the constitution and basic principles that government in the state is based on,” WAM said, adding the group is “subordinate to foreign organisations and agendas”. “Prosecutors ordered the group’s arrest and issued orders for their arrest pending investigations,” WAM said. “Investigations are continuing to uncover the extent of the conspiracy this group and its members were planning.” The report did not give more details.