UAE detains 6 Islamists stripped of citizenship: lawyer - Chicago Tribune

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DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates on Monday detained six Islamist activists whose citizenship was revoked last year after they demanded political reform in the Gulf Arab state, their lawyer said.

The UAE, a top oil exporter, has weathered popular uprisings that have toppled four Arab heads of state since last year, thanks in part to its cradle-to-grave welfare system, but it has shown little tolerance towards dissent at home.

Jail terms have been imposed on activists who sought greater power for an elected body. In December, the UAE revoked the citizenship of six nationals it had described as posing a threat to national security.

A daughter of one of the six said her father, Muhammed Abdel Razzaq al-Siddiq, was detained by police on Monday after refusing to sign a declaration to seek a new nationality within two weeks or face imprisonment.

"My father called us... He refused to sign the declaration as now he is stateless, so he was detained along with the other five men," Alaa al-Siddiq told Reuters.

Mohammed al-Roken, a lawyer defending the six, confirmed the six had been detained for refusing to seek an alternative citizenship and said they have been transferred to prison. He also described stripping the six off their nationality as "unconstitutional."

A seventh Emirati, Ahmed al-Suwaidi, whose citizenship was also revoked last year, has been held for weeks, he said.

A UAE official said he was checking the report.

The case has set a precedent in the UAE, raising questions about rights and political reform in the oil producing Gulf Arab state.

Siddiq told Reuters last week he believed his citizenship was revoked because he had signed a petition sent to UAE leaders demanding the country's Federal National Council, an advisory body, be given more powers.

He also said he believed the men have been targeted for their Islamist political orientation. He and the other five men whose citizenship was revoked in December were members of Islamist organization al-Islah (Reform).

The UAE is concerned the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt after the ouster of President Hosni Mubara, once a close ally of the Gulf Arab state, could embolden its own Islamist community.

Egypt's Brotherhood group has been embroiled in a spat with the UAE over the expulsion of a group of Syrians who refused to disperse after a protest outside their consulate in Dubai. The Dubai police chief accused the Brotherhood of fomenting unrest.

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)

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Young lawyer inspires hope among Egypt activists - Chicago Tribune

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demonstrator waves an Egyptian flag during a protest marking the first anniversary of Egypt's uprising at Tahrir square during in Cairo (Mohamed Abd El Ghany Reuters, REUTERS / January 25, 2012)

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian revolutionaries who forced Hosni Mubarak out of office last year are struggling to find a voice to represent them in the presidential race that will name his successor. But a young labor activist and rights lawyer hopes he may fit the bill.

Khaled Ali, 40, has attracted a dedicated youth following, buzzing media coverage and consideration as a serious contender, less than 10 days after announcing he would run for Egypt's first real presidential election that starts on May 23.

It is still far from certain that the new entrant stands a chance. And with little financing and a requirement to register the support of 30,000 citizens, it is unsure he will even be able to run. But he says his bid is about showing that a new generation deserves a chance in power.

"My decision to run is not about filling a gap. It's about being a different voice, from a different generation, presenting a different political discourse," he told Reuters in an interview this week at his downtown Cairo campaign headquarters.

"Throughout these past years, I wasn't talking, I was working, work that challenged the repressive authorities, work that defended the simple and the poor," he said, speaking passionately of social justice and labor rights.

Ali said he would run in late February, much later than heavyweight politicians like former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, 75, or former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abol Fotoh, 60.

In a nation, a quarter of whose 80 million people are aged between 18 and 29 and steeped in poverty, Ali's populist touch, humble roots and legacy of activism is causing ripples.

He is the youngest presidential hopeful -- 40 is the minimum age for a candidate -- and the volunteers around him say the "nation of the aged" must go. Mubarak was 82 when he lost power, the head of the army is 76 and the interim prime minister 79.

Critical of how the military has handled the transition, Ali says the generals have squandered much of the goodwill they enjoyed when Mubarak was toppled. Friends and supporters convinced him to run and he only agreed after deciding that the revolution they started had to be continued.

EGYPT IS NOT POOR

Ali is a former head of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights who turned down a ministerial post in a post-Mubarak cabinet because he didn't want to work under the generals and in what he described as a government that was biased towards the rich. He has a different vision for Egypt.

He says he wants to revive the public sector, which he believes has untapped potential. He also says he wants a competitive playing field for the private sector, departing from Mubarak-era crony capitalism. He eschews traditional left or right political labels.

He blames an unproductive economy that is too heavily reliant on tourism and remittances from Egyptians living abroad for not shielding the poor during a year of unrest.

"Egypt is not poor. Egypt has great resources. What we do have, however, is policies that create poverty," Ali said.

"We need real education, we need healthcare and hospitals, we need homes, we need employment. Those will not be achieved except by a society moved by a national goal and that national goal should be to rebuild an economy."

In a modest apartment, the dozens of volunteers working on Ali's campaign agree with him and are racing against time to spread the word about a man little known to the majority of Egyptians, a man they see as emerging straight from the Tahrir Square protests.

Ali was behind a landmark court victory during Mubarak's era that forced the government to acknowledge the need for a minimum wage. Labor unions know him well for his role in defending their cause when they were fighting against lay-off plans and protesting for higher wages.

But registering 30,000 supporters in a month is no easy task, especially for a man with little national profile.

"We are swimming against the current. All we have been able to do is produce a few posters," he said, laughing as he recalled the excitement of the campaign when they printed brochures in color. "We are fighting against dinosaurs."

(Edited by Richard Meares)

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