Egypt summons UAE charge d’affaires over detained nationals

On Wednesday, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Ali el-Ashiry called on UAE diplomat Ahmed al-Menhaly “to convey to the UAE authorities Egypt's concern with completing the investigation of the Egyptian detainees in the security case swiftly.”
 
Ashiry further urged Abu Dhabi to allow families of the Egyptian detainees to visit them.
 
On January 1, Emirati media reported that UAE security forces had arrested more than ten Egyptians, including three doctors, who allegedly held “secret meetings” across the country and “recruited Egyptian expats in the UAE to join their ranks.”
 
In addition, reports said the detained group had gathered secret defense information on the UAE and collected “large amounts of money that they sent illegally to the mother organization in Egypt.”
 
The UAE officials also said the Egyptian detainees were linked to the Muslim Brotherhood in the North African country.
 
On January 3, Egypt sent a delegation of senior officials to the UAE to discuss the release of its nationals with Emirati officials. However, Abu Dhabi rejected Cairo’s call to free them.
 
Dozens of Egyptians also held a demonstration near the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Cairo following the detentions, calling for the immediate release of those arrested in the Persian Gulf state.
 
Relations between Cairo and Abu Dhabi soured after former dictator Hosni Mubarak, a longtime ally of the UAE, was toppled in 2011.