UAE to open counselling centres for citizens lured by terror cells

Dubai: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will establish centres to counsel and rehabilitate people “lured and misled” into terrorism, a media report said on Monday. Some “precautionary measures” will be taken against the people detained here, based on final judicial judgments, Khaleej Times reported citing Sultan Juma Al Shamsi, rapporteur of the Legislative and Legal Committee at the Federal National Council (FNC). Al Shamsi said the move came in the wake of the recently promulgated anti-terror law and added that such centres would come up across the Gulf nation. [caption id=“attachment_1680447” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Reuters[/caption] UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on August 20 proclaimed the country’s anti-terrorism law, as prior to this, no law in the Gulf nation existed that defined the consequences for planning or committing terrorism in the country. According to the announcement, terror convicts would be sent to these centres after or while serving their jail sentences. These centres would help protect the local citizens, restore them and help them get rid of any “poisonous views and malicious thoughts”, the official added. The centres’ staff would comprise psychiatrists, social workers and preachers who will help rehabilitate people getting lured to international terror groups and cells. Al Shamsi told Khaleej Times that Article 68 of the anti-terror law stipulates that the centre would guide and rehabilitate the convicts of terror cases. Since the outbreak of the Arab turmoil in some Middle Eastern countries, the UAE has arrested over 200 locals and foreigners accused of planning terrorist activities. The state security court in capital Abu Dhabi also sentenced dozens of members of the Muslim brotherhood which is forbidden in Egypt since the ouster of former president and brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi. IANS