Middle East Monitor - UAE launches campaign against Libyans
Saturday, 30 August 2014

Several days ago the authorities in the United Arab Emirates began an extensive campaign targeting Libyan nationals living in its territories. The aim of the campaign is to obtain information which might help finish off “Fajr Libya”, the armed group that inflicted heavy defeat on Haftar’s forces and held fast in the face of air raids waged by the Egyptian and UAE air forces against its positions within Tripoli.

It would seem that the campaign is also aimed at exacting revenge against Libyans who support the revolutionaries inside their country or those who support the “Fajr Libya” group, who managed to inflict defeat on the troops of dissident Brig. Gen. Khalifah Haftar who is funded by Abu Dhabi.

According to information received by Asrararabiya.com, the campaign primarily targeted Libyan businessmen who are residents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Asrararabiya.com has been able to identify a number of Libyans who were summoned for questioning or who have been asked to leave the country immediately. These include: Bashir Al-Shabbah, Kamal Al-Drarat, Muhammad Al-Fiqi, Al-Sadiq Al-Kakli, Mahmoud bin Gharbiyah in addition to two people from the Al-Aradi family.

It is widely expected that the UAE will witness an extensive deportation campaign against Libyan residents in the UAE because of the events unfolding in their country and in an attempt to blackmail them. This is exactly what happened to the Palestinians in the UAE when the Abu Dhabi state security apparatus launched a deportation campaign against them in 2009 in the wake of the failure of the Israeli war on Gaza at the time to bring down the Hamas movement inside the Gaza Strip. Palestinians were summoned for questioning and would then be blackmailed to obtain information on Hamas.