Subscribe to Print Edition | Sat., October 03, 2009 Tishrei 15, 5770 | | Israel Time: 02:43 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Real Estate Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 19:53 01/10/2009
Lebanese man says deported by UAE for refusing to spy on Hezbollah
By The Associated Press
Tags: UAE, Hezbollah, Israel news 

A Lebanese businessman alleged Thursday that he and several hundred compatriots were expelled from the United Arab Emirates because they refused to spy on the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and other
fellow citizens.

Hassan Alayan said more than 300 Lebanese - mostly Shiites - have been forced to leave the Emirates over the past three months. He said most of those deported said UAE authorities asked them to inform on fellow Lebanese Shiites living in the country and on Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
Advertisement
Authorities told the Lebanese they were being deported for security reasons, but they believe their refusal to spy was the real reason, Alayan told a news conference in Beirut. The Emirates refused to comment on the allegations, and Lebanese officials said they were contacting authorities there over the matter.

One of those deported, Zuhair Hamdan, said his residency permit was rejected after he refused to give authorities information about fellow Lebanese or possible Hezbollah sleeper cells in the UAE.

"I told them I have been living in the UAE for 33 years. How can I have
information about Hezbollah," said Hamdan, who lived in the Emirates since he was 2 years old and worked as a traffic policeman.

The UAE is among several predominantly Sunni Arab nations wary of Shiite
Iran's growing regional clout - which Iran partly maintains by supplying
weapons and cash to the powerful Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A statement by a committee set up to represent the deportees suggested the decision by the Emirates could be the result of U.S. pressure to try to choke off routes of funding for the anti-American and anti-Israel Hezbollah. The U.S. considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

The Emirates is close to the United States and has cooperated with Washington in trying to shut down networks smuggling weapons to Iran, U.S. officials have said.

Alayan said some of those deported were forced to leave even after Lebanese President Michel Suleiman sent a military delegation five weeks ago to the UAE to try resolve the matter without success. More than 100 people who said they were deportees, as well as two Hezbollah legislators, attended the news conference in Beirut.

In whose interest is it to ask Lebanese to spy on one another and on the
resistance of Lebanon and Palestine? said the committee's statement.

Alayan alleged UAE authorities have also deported Palestinians who refused to spy on the militant Hamas group, which rules the Gaza Strip. He said the Palestinians recounted similar pressures by authorities to inform on Hamas.

Some Arab media have reported that those who were deported were sending money to Hezbollah, a claim denied by Alayan and Ali Faour, another member of a committee representing the deportees.

Faour told reporters that most of those deported have been living in the UAE for decades and most were business owners.

Hezbollah, the largest and most powerful Shiite group in Lebanon, came to the defense of the deportees because most of them are Shiite. The deportees had been silent for a few months but last week started meeting with Lebanese officials to complain about their treatment.

Lebanon's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, urged UAE President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to take a quick initiative to rescue hundreds of Lebanese families.

Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassem, described the deportations as clear injustice and called on the UAE to be fair with people who are not suspected of working against their host country.

Related Articles:
  • Hezbollah chief vows never to recognize Israel
  • Top IDF officer: Iran has taken over Hezbollah
  • `Hezbollah`s Madoff` charged in Lebanon fraud case
    • PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
    Bookmark to del.icio.us  
     
    He did Israel a favor
    It's a pity Israel waited for Goldstone to probe Gaza war rather than look hard at itself
    Iran faces West
    Talks on Iran's nuclear program were 'significant' - but hard work lies ahead
      1.   DONT BE FOOLED 19:26  |  Marco 01/10/09
      2.   UAE playing with fire they cannot handle 19:32  |  tea man 01/10/09
      3.   To No.1 - what???????????? 19:42  |  richelle 01/10/09
      4.   Too Bad for the Families 19:53  |  Jane 01/10/09
      5.   to#3 c`mon get smart who else is behind it 19:56  |  tea man 01/10/09
      6.   welcome to Mid East politics 20:01  |  Austin Powers 01/10/09
      7.   to jane time to feel bad for the palestinian who got expelled 20:03  |  tea man 01/10/09
      8.   #1 20:04  |  syrian opinion 01/10/09
      9.   Palestinians NOT Expelled 22:46  |  Jane 01/10/09
      10.   tea man you wanted the war against Israel 02:28  |  Meo 02/10/09
      11.   To No 1 - ja, ja, ja. I know now why Brazil is a poor country-YOU 04:20  |  Alfredo 02/10/09
      12.   Too bad for the families - Jane 14:46  |  Mark Lincoln 02/10/09
    Special Offers
    Advertisement
    Eldan Rent a Car
    Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
    Holiday Greetings from the Heart
    LIBI-Caring for Israeli Soldiers
    JGooders Special Rosh Hashanah Gift Cards
    Send Gift Cards to you Friends and Family and Taste the Sweetness of Giving
    Date Local Jewish Singles
    Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
    Junkyard
    Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
    Amazing Jewelry
    Visit SoKoBe.com for the best priced fine jewelry in the world
    More Headlines
    20:51 Noam Shalit: Gilad is suffering and rotting in Hamas captivity
    21:39 Hamas vows to try to kidnap more IDF soldiers
    23:31 Gilad Shalit in video: I've been longing for my freedom for a long time
    23:32 Gilad Shalit video / Footage with full English transcript
    18:04 ANALYSIS / Shalit video means a deal with Hamas is a question of when, not if
    23:03 Families of Palestinian prisoners celebrate their return following Shalit video deal
    12:46 WATCH / Only existing film footage of Anne Frank
    01:40 TV ROUND-UP: Israel awaits Shalit video, first Palestinian prisoner freed
    00:45 Warsaw Ghetto uprising hero Mark Edelman dies aged 86
    15:44 IN PICTURES / Israel trades prisoners for Gilad Shalit video
    19:05 Amos Oz named a favorite to win Nobel prize for literature
    12:22 U.S.: We won't let Iran stall long enough to develop nuclear program
    05:06 Anshel Pfeffer / It's time for a Jewish boycott of the Ukraine
    Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
    | Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
    | Search engine marketing
    Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
    © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved