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UAE ‘paid over €5m to Swiss company’ for alleged ‘Muslim Brotherhood smear campaign’ in Europe
A new report details how the UAE used a Swiss private intelligence firm to run a massive, multifaceted defamation campaign targeting individuals and organizations across Europe.
UAE steps up crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood during Arab Spring [Getty]
The UAE has reportedly paid at least €5.7m (£4.9m) to a Swiss company to discredit individuals and organizations across Europe as members or affiliates of the organisation. Muslim Brotherhoodaccording to a report European investigative cooperation (EIC) network.
UAE allegedly targeted at least 1,100 people as part of campaign to turn public opinion QatarThe report found that the group is believed to have supported Brotherhood-affiliated groups during the 2017 diplomatic crisis.
According to the EIC report, from 2017 to 2020, the UAE allegedly recruited the Swiss private intelligence firm Alp Services, creating an extensive database of people from 18 different European countries and 400 organizations, all of which will be used by Used by UAE intelligence services.
The report is based on 78,000 classified documents obtained by French media media section And share with EIC.
The EIC alleges that the UAE used Geveva-based Alp Services to compile intelligence, modify Wikipedia pages, launch media campaigns and pressure banks to close the accounts of targeted individuals and organizations.
Voices Against Progressive Muslims
The aim of the UAE operation was to link each named individual to extremism, with a particular focus on individuals in Belgium and France, the report said.
The alleged smear campaign in the UAE lists 80 organizations and 160 individuals from Belgium, including the country’s climate minister, Zakia Khattabi, who is of Moroccan descent and was the co-chairman of the left-wing Ecology party.
Hattabi be rejected any involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood, and said the UAE’s attempts to link her to the group were “all bogus”.
Another target on the UAE list is Belgian centre-left political scientist Fouad Gandoul, who likewise says he has never had any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and was added to the list because he Is a member of an organization associated with progressive Muslim politics.
The list of targets included politicians, including a French presidential candidate, as well as numerous Islam-oriented charities and humanitarian organizations.
Abu Dhabi Support brutal military coup late egyptian president who opposed democratic elections Mohamed Morsihe was a member of the fraternity.
The UAE lists the Muslim Brotherhood and any groups it deems affiliated with as “terrorist organization”Although the group has renounced violence.
The UAE did not respond to the report in any way, while Alp Services told the EIC it was based on “stolen documents” and claimed some of them were “partially forged”.
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