Foreign ministry following UAE detainee cases

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday that it is following the case of the doctors detained in the UAE through the Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi.

The ministry sent an official letter to Abdallah El-Karbony, deputy head of the Doctors’ Syndicate, assuring him that the ministry is in constant contact with the Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai, both of whom are following the case.

The letter stated the ministry’s assistant for consular affairs delivered a message to UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Ben Zeyad from Egyptian foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.

In the message, Kamel Amr asserted that representatives of the Egyptian foreign ministry should attend the investigative sessions along with the detained doctors, adding that the detainees should be treated well and in accordance with the law and be allowed to contact their families without being subjected to any sort of pressure.

Kamel Amr’s message to the UAE foreign minister also demanded the results of the investigations as soon as they are reached. He also mentioned that the Egyptian foreign ministry is looking forward to a cooperative and positive response from the Emirati side.

The ministry’s letter to El-Karbony mentioned that Ben Zeyad promised to do his best to solve the case, asserting that the sensitive nature of the case is what kept the investigations secret.

El-Karbony said the letter came after the Doctors’ Syndicate pressured the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make the detained doctors a top priority on its agenda.

A total of 11 Egyptian doctors were arrested by Emirati authorities on charges of threatening the national security of the UAE and attempting to overthrow its regime. The 11 turned out to be members of the Muslim Brotherhood, as Brotherhood spokesperson Mahmoud Ghozlan confirmed.

However, Ghozlan denied that the detained doctors have any plans that might threaten the national interests of the UAE.

A presidential delegation led by the President Mohamed Morsi’s foreign media advisor, Essam El-Hadad, travelled to the UAE on 2 January in an attempt to solve the case. However, UAE authorities rejected to release the detainees, asserting that the case will be subject to the rule of law rather than any political considerations.