Egyptian Intelligence chief Mohamed Raafat Shehata flew to the United Arab Emirates Wednesday to meet with officials over the detention of 10 Egyptians by Emirati authorities.
Sources at Cairo International Airport said Shehata’s visit follows another visit by a presidential delegation to the UAE Wednesday to discuss the detentions. The Egyptians are charged with being members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in the UAE.
The Guidance Bureau of the Muslim Brotherhood had on Wednesday asked President Mohamed Morsy to intervene for their release.
Abdel Khaleq al-Sherif, a member of the Brotherhood’s Shura Council, said that being a Muslim Brotherhood member is not a crime, and that the group has members in all Gulf states and that they are not "anarchists."
President Morsy’s foreign affairs assistant Essam al-Haddad and presidential secretary Khaled al-Qazzaz traveled Wednesday to Abu Dhabi for a two-day visit with local officials.
German DPA news agency quoted informed sources earlier Wednesday as saying that the Egyptian officials will discuss the circumstances surrounding the recent arrest of the Egyptians, as well as strengthening bilateral relations.
Emirati authorities allege that the cell sought to draft Egyptians into a plot against the ruling Emirati regime, according to UAE news reports Tuesday. The Brotherhood has denied the allegations.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
