UAE terror alert
So the sandlands are now on a "high risk" terror alert, but what does that really mean? Don't go to nightclubs? Avoid cinemas? Avoid fellow infidels? Don't go to church?
BBC Security correspondent Frank Gardner quotes British officials as saying the information comes from a number of sensitive sources and they are working hard with the Emirati authorities to address it.
"There is a high threat from terrorism," an official travel advice notice for the country said. "We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE."
The threat of terror has always been a large sinister bear in the woodshed for Dubai's growing tourism industry. The challenge faced by the Dishdashes-That-Be is how to keep up the safe image while not being seen to misinform the public or create disproportionate fear.
Traditionally terror threats in Dubai are met with media blackouts. Anyone remember the possible attempt on a church in Karama in 2005? It took place the same night this deadly bomb went off at a hall in Qatar, amid threats by some splinter terror group that they were targeting churches. We'll never know if there was a genuine attempt in Dubai: chances were it could have been a drunken driver careering badly onto the pavement nearby. Everything was cleared up, hushed up and blotted out.
We can only hope that these shadowy threats remain potential, and that the so far extremely effective UAE anti-terror authorities continue their good work. It is significant that there has been no major incident in the UAE in the past years, while regionally and internationally there have been continued Qaeda-inpsired murders of innocents.
Londoners got straight back on the tube after the attacks there. And that is what sandlanders must do, in their own fashion. The minute one starts living in fear and restricting ones own freedoms, then the extremists have already won.
Comments
BBC Security correspondent Frank Gardner quotes British officials as saying the information comes from a number of sensitive sources and they are working hard with the Emirati authorities to address it.
"There is a high threat from terrorism," an official travel advice notice for the country said. "We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE."
The threat of terror has always been a large sinister bear in the woodshed for Dubai's growing tourism industry. The challenge faced by the Dishdashes-That-Be is how to keep up the safe image while not being seen to misinform the public or create disproportionate fear.
Traditionally terror threats in Dubai are met with media blackouts. Anyone remember the possible attempt on a church in Karama in 2005? It took place the same night this deadly bomb went off at a hall in Qatar, amid threats by some splinter terror group that they were targeting churches. We'll never know if there was a genuine attempt in Dubai: chances were it could have been a drunken driver careering badly onto the pavement nearby. Everything was cleared up, hushed up and blotted out.
We can only hope that these shadowy threats remain potential, and that the so far extremely effective UAE anti-terror authorities continue their good work. It is significant that there has been no major incident in the UAE in the past years, while regionally and internationally there have been continued Qaeda-inpsired murders of innocents.
Londoners got straight back on the tube after the attacks there. And that is what sandlanders must do, in their own fashion. The minute one starts living in fear and restricting ones own freedoms, then the extremists have already won.
Comments
40 Comments:
funny how Gulf News has not even mentioned it.... while it copy and pastes everything else from the British media.
maybe it has something to do with iran?
how the west seems to be trying to pressure it in many different ways to let it drop its nuclear program...
Dubailand gets $3.5b Plantation
http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Development/10221543.html
"In past times it has been associated with slavery, indentured labour, and other economic models of high inequity" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation
Sorry a bit out of topic but I could not resist. We actually have people spending money on that scale on a project connected with slavery. Then again if one looks around it is everywhere and blatant. There you have it, official admission that slavery is acceptable in Dubai.
Dubai has been on alert for at least the past ten years. Just keep an eye on the bins in shopping centers. If they have been removed that is a sure sign that we are on high alert. You might also notice an increase in the presence of "sweepers" and other labourers that look a bit, how should we say, ... undercover.
If you are registered with your Embassy, you might be contacted by fax or e-mail. The US Embassy is a bit paranoid but good at what they are doing.
Dubai only managed to escape bombing because it was one of only two countries that recognized the Taliban Regime, and was traditionally used by extremist group as financial or logistical base. Rumours are that the DXB Govt. also pays "public peace" money or insurance to keep everyone happy. Anyhoo, if it can happen in London, it can happen here to. Not sure that the market will recover. Look at Jordan. The only thing that "saved" them was the Gulf War 2.
a sweeper was following me all through the Panda Hypermarket yesterday. if he was udercover, he was poorly trained.
anonymous 08:44,
These are not called sweepers, they are called 'tails'. The counter action is to 'shake a tail'.
Are you a female? chances are he was merely a guy harrasing you.
you mean get back into our white range rovers and speed around town?
off topic, but since someone mentioned slavery in UAE:
Videos show torture by member of UAE royal family:US trader
Washington, AP:
As a trusted adviser to a member of the United Arab Emirates royal family, Texas businessman Bassam Nabulsi says he safeguarded the sheik's most important documents: financial records, investment documents, and videotapes showing the sheik torturing people with a cattle prod and a spiked plank.
When the business relationship began to deteriorate, Nabulsi says, he also was imprisoned for months and tortured by jailers trying to get the tapes back.
Now, the tapes could become evidence in a federal lawsuit against Sheik Issa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a son of the late UAE president and brother of Abu Dhabi's crown prince.
The lawsuit and the tapes could prove embarrassing to the UAE, a US ally that promotes itself as a pro-Western nation catering to business travelers and tourists.
The tapes have not been made public but The Associated Press viewed 11 still frames from one of the videos. They showed a man who appeared to be Sheik Issa beating another man with lumber, firing an automatic weapon into the sand around him and forcing an apparent cattle prod into his anus. The victim also appeared to have been partly run over by a SUV and had salt poured on his wounds.
Lawyers said the video also showed the victim's genitals being lit on fire. They said the abuse began because the sheik felt he had been overcharged in a grain deal.
it is always known UAE pays protection money to taliban and al qaida. wonder why they fell out now. hope things dont go up.
I am not buying these idiotic suggestions that the UAE is paying protection money to Al Qaeda; it’s simply stupid to suggest so. Al Qaeda is not a bunch of mercenaries, they are ideological fanatics. They might have their own strategic considerations, but money wouldn’t be one of them.
This warning is the beginning of a low scale operation to scare people off to move their money to UK. 100,000 British expats and loads of lazy rich locals will move a big chunk of their cash to UK. In the mean time let's say 20% of Dubai will be destroyed and rebuilt again which generates even more money.
This methos has been tried by the west many times over, in Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Lebanon.....etc.
mr know it all, money would'nt be a consideration for fanatics is it? born yesterday? how do you think they find people for suicide missions? by giving immense wealth to the families so that they live better, instead of the poverty they live in. This money grows on trees? Do u know how many gangsters of the asian region handle their businesses through dubai? just becos of religious connection? definitely not, they fund half the businesses. u dont need to buy the argument that there is money needed for terrorists. fact is they operate and live on it.
Isn't it just because that's where Osama's bank account is?
this is a western conspiracy to bring down dubai.
Western conspiracy to bring down Dubai! This is a bit ethnocentric. Truth is that in the West Dubai is viewed as an oddity. People could not care less. Dubai is not New York, London or Tokyo. It WAS known as shopping paradise, but mostly reputed as a whoring boozing soon to be gambling capital of the Middle-East. Fact is that Qatar and others are now competing for the same USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
god what stupid statements, isnt it funny how Dubai HAS been on high alert since 1997, yet no embassy ever has issued a worning as high as this, yet when the British Embassy issues a warning, it goes all over the bloody Media, BBC, CNN etc...obviously Sheikh Mo has pissed someone off, and i dont mean a terrorist group.
Even if there was a terrorist attack in dubai, which i highly doubt there ever will be, its hardly likely the tourism industry will suffer that much. tourists wills stay away for 6 months, then they will be back, Morocco, Egypt, Thailand, they have all had terror attacks, for gods sake 60 people were murdered in a pyramid 10 years ago in egypt yet 1 million brits go to egypt each year! and also, thailand has the same terror threat as UAE, and has had for some time now. Bombings are part of our lives now in the 21st century, dont live your life in fear jus because of a \supoosedly high risk', and expats will not leave, the majority would stay
To anonymous 18 June, 2008 10:02:
No Embassy has issued a terror statement? Wrong I have seen the US fax 10 years ago, and other Embassy regularly mailed letters to their citizens over the year.
They were not publicized because these were different times. Nowadays, with Afghanistan, Irak and the situation in KSA there are more guns and explosive to go around. Hence the heightened terror warning level. As you said, Dubai will rebound in the short run but the Gulf is a tinderbox. There are more people to feed and some GCC locals are getting disgruntled.
As any ruler, Sheik Mo has to be ruthless (he had the throats of highjacker slit 20 or 30 years ago to teach them a lesson). If he were to relent there will be a bloody mess. That is the any Govt. rules. Eastern or Western.
lol...a small place like dubai will rebound in 6 months in tourism after any untoward terrorist attack? obviously not capable of thinking strategically. Egypt rebounds, because the tourism properties they have are genuine, and incomparable. Same with Thailand, people who go there are regular visitors, and will go back again. Morocco, and its architecture, culture and history are unbeatable. And people who go to these places look for that special experience, and they get it.
How could you be so stupid to even mention this in the same breath as Dubai, the sand land man made wonder of glass towers, 50 degrees heat, and whoring boozing capital with no taxis, and pretty much most expensive shopping in the region. This is the most easily replaceable tourism property in the world, if Dubai fades away, there are a hundred other man made dubai's around which will fulfill these demands, maybe not all in one. There is nothing unique here except the PR and exaggerated stories sold to the naive. And speak to people who do visit for tourism, most will never ever go back. Pleassse...
DUBAI PR BULLSHIT SPINNING PATTERN:
HEADLINE IN GULFNEWS:
UK's terror warning a 'routine' advice
By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor, Kevin Scott and Alice Johnson, Staff Reporters
Published: June 17, 2008, 23:53
NOWHERE IN THE WHOLE ARTICLE IS IT MENTIONED OR QUOTED WHERE THEY GOT THE WORD "ROUTINE" FROM. JUST PUT IN THERE TO MISLEAD PEOPLE INTO COMPLACENCY.
to the last anonymous, get a grip man, people who come to dubai are repeat visitors just as much as anywhere else, what have you got against dubai so much? stop talking so much crap, you sound like some jealous twat living in a shack in america who has no idea about anything in the real world, so tell me why do people go to thailand? to see what? lady boys, prostitutes, drugs, booze, except for some fat golden buddahs does anyone acctually go for culture? same with spain? brits who go to spain to sit buy the beach and get pissed, is there any culture there? or egypt? sharm el sheih? they want beach and booze nothing else, get of your high horse you imcompetent twat
18 June, 2008 11:46
50 degree heat, sorry you must have mistake dubai for baghdad, the whole of this week it has been a lovely 34-36 degrees, which forcasters say is set to continue.
Obviously you dont live in dubai, you have no idea about anything to do with it, get of the internet your embarissing yourself, jealous cos 8 million tourists a year would rather visit little dubai than your horrible town/city?
guys, stop worrying, i doubt there will ever be an attack, too much money laundering, al qaeda and bin ladens practiclly live in dubai.
But, i must admit, maybe this is karma for all the price hikes we have had and evictions of satwa, maybe things will go back to how they used to be 5 years ago, cos just the threat of terror will scare tourists away for a while, especially in the way its been hyped up.
Oh and to all the Dubai skeptics, it has survived two gulf wars, Iranian threat, September the 11th when hotel occupancy was at 5%!!! im sure it will rebound, people forget, easily
to the last two, no need to get abusive when faced with facts that you would like to wish away. problems with you guys there is, you are too used to everything controlled and written in a way that makes things look better. wake up and smell the roses. there is a world outside dubai.
as for thailand and spain and egypt, i dont think i need to explain to anyone who has any education and intellectual development what they have to offer, and what kind of people come there. spain had 60 mil, thailand had 15 mil and egypt had 10 mil visitors last year. do u now less than 1 mil of egypt tourists even see sharm beach? same with spain. if both of you guys put together above had a monkey's brain, you would know most dont go to these places just because there is a beach there. ever heard of history, architecture, museums, art, music etc..? wouldnt have, considering it is only 20 yrs since you got off the desert. wouldnt have probably been to any of those places above, and if you did, with your appreciation of culture you would have seen the casinos, whore houses beaches and hotels.
and for your info, dubai had close to 7mil tourists last year, of which if you would please look where they come from, most come from asia to visit the slaves who work there.
as for 50 deg, yes it is 34 this week, wait a while more. remember the white guy who was cooked black to death in the desert of dubai last year?
oh get a GRIP! 15 million tourists went to thailand and they all went to see golden buddahs and go on bangkok river boat? i have been to thailand numerous times, trust me, with the job im in i bet i have travelled a lot more than you, no one goes to bangkok to see the sites, its a mess, they stay in bangkok for two nights, then go two koh samui or phuket for 2 weeks, not much culture in those places, ok, lets take spain, 60 million tourists, imagine the millions of tourists who go to Malaga, Alicante, Benidorm etc, no culture there, ok you can go to some old fort, but majority of people who go are chavy english tourists who go to get pissed...what about greek islands, zante and mykinthos, what do people do when they go to these places? go to fucking greek tempeles with a tour guide? obviously you have no idea about the real world, not everyone wants to go to CULTRUE, and dubai isnt the only place lacking in culture! lets take another example, IBIZA? bomb blast there, what would happen? would ibiza die? i honestly highly doubt it, seriously go to sleep you incompetenet twat, and the 7 million tourists who visited dubai were all housemaids cousins yeah?i think that comments goes to show how ignorant you are of this country, and dubai in general
feeling upset you cant say " if you dont like it leave?" in true dubai hospitality fashion, as you do with your slaves?
illuminate me pls...since the sun rises from your back..is it true that the esteemed dubai tourism board has put out statistics that show average stay of all nationalities in dubai hotels is 2 nights? doesnt speak much of the tourist properties of dubai right? sounds more like business visitors who come in and get the hell out as soon as they can. care to compare it with statistics from real tourist countries...? and god forbid...dubai lacks culture? surprise surprise...didnt know so till you said!
as for culture you wouldnt recognize it it hit you on your face. well travelled maybe becos u work as a parcel courier guy? Get a grip. Question is where! could start by unblocking Secret Dubai, in UAE, if you arent scared of truth and debate. Maybe you only prefer ones where you can intimidate and win?
To anon above, Dubai is popular with "high-class" tourists, and thats why you see people like Brad Pitt, or Roger Federer or Tiger Woods praising Dubai. When was the last time they praised Egypt or Spain?
Dubai will continue to upset critics and will rise to be the best and most popular city in the world, heck at that point, they may even start barring Dubai critics like you from entering even though you may be on your knees wanting to enter !
wisam, some countries dont need to pay money to be praised, and some cannot afford to pay money to get praised, and some are too stupid or disorganised to have PR stunts like Dubai.
we all know how many of such global personalities are supposed ta own property and have moved to dubai, whereas in reality we all know these are just stunts by real estate companies, and no one really worth their salt would waste their time really living there.they might own the freebies. no point replying to me about beckham and brad pitt and all those guys, they have even come out saying some brand or other of alcohol is the best, and some brand of condom is the smoothest. does not mean you would be using both just becos they were paid to say so, would you. Money makes the world go round :-)
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from gulf news:
Arabic newspapers lash out at US, UK terror alerts
By Abbas Al Lawati, Staff Reporter
Published: June 19, 2008, 00:04
Dubai: Arabic newspaper editorials on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the British and American embassies for issuing terrorism warnings they considered to be lacking in justification.
TYPICAL EMOTIONAL REACTION YOU WOULD EXPECT FROM BRAINWASHED PEOPLE. I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT IS A COUNTRY'S RIGHT TO INFORM ITS CITIZENS WHATEVER IT FEELS LIKE. FORTUNATELY THESE ARE CITIZENS WHO ARE FREE INDIVIDUALS WHO CAN TAKE THEIR OWN DECISION AND ACT THE WAY THEY WANT, THEY ARE NOT BRAINWASHED OR CONTROLLED.
UNLIKE THESE PRESS PEOPLE WHOSE OWN WIFE OR DAUGHTER IS NOT ABLE TO TRAVEL ABROAD UNLESS THERE IS WRITTEN APPROVAL FROM MALES. TALK ABOUT HYPOCRACY! and how do you actually know if there is a genuine issue for the alert. no one cared abt the london or 9-11 alerts before what happened. let us wait.
Oh how I love Dubai, everything is turned into my town is better than yours or i am better that u.
I have lived in Dubai for 20 years and travelled in all the continents during the past 25 years. Also lived in the U.S. for some years and left in disgust..of the so called quality of life, food, entertainment. However, the world is evolving.. times are changing..economies are shifting. All of the comments I have read have quite a narrow perspective. In the larger scale of things.. every person has their own priorities and needs in life, and if it suits them to give up certain freedoms to live in a place like Dubai that has so much to offer..mostly in a superficial quality level..so be it. There are so many "nicer" places than Dubai to live in, that will give you a "deeper" satisfaction in life. However, currently all of the excitement is happening in Dubai. Most exciting is that you can have a "western type" lifestyle minus the taxation and other ancient issues plagueing the western world. Many parents think Dubai is a safe place to raise children.. I think otherwise. I raised 2 children in Dubai and know for a fact it is a horrible place for kids. They are now happily settled in the U.S. I'm tired of the excitement as well and will move myself out quite soon and leave the rest of you to enjoy the gleaming towers, the night life, exorbitant golf, the whores and booze along with the security threats. Please don't think I'm a sore loser in Dubai 'cos I have a lot going in Dubai which is one of the reasons my departure is taking so long.
it is really funny to see that after EVERY BLOG post by secretdubai, people still talk about how 'bad' dubai is, regardless of the topic...
it is not by accident. consider it as a response to all the official PR brainwashing and lies, about which you dont seem to be complaining. truth will prevail, if through internet, so be it.
Artifical country, artificial people, artificial parks and trees, artificial islands, artificial culture.
ALL made by westerners for their own benefit and pleasure while throwing a few German cars at the locals to be happy.
Smoke your shisha, have sex with the desperate whores and pretend to be moslems. sad.....
There's no 'terror threat'. The Yank Neocon gang aided by their Brit
lackeys need to keep their populations in a perpetual state of fear and panic. The UAE is a new grazing ground for their fear mongering. If there is a bomb attack it will probably be setup by CIA/MI6 & Co and carried out by their proxies.
to the anon who said this:
"it is not by accident. consider it as a response to all the official PR brainwashing and lies, about which you dont seem to be complaining. truth will prevail, if through internet, so be it."
Seems to me the only one who is really brainwashed is none other than yourself. the truth? do not make me laugh, since when there was a universal all encompassing 'truth' anyway? its always subject and biased by perception. everyone looks at the world with their own kaleidoscope of subjectivity. If by 'truth' you mean empiricism, then i suggest you work as a statistician. but even they encounter unknowns they cannot comprehend. and the harder they try the more they discover they do not know.
And to say that you are that you are actively trying to spread your version of your subjective reality through this blog is nothing more than an exercise of futility. for all the reader cares to know, all of these anonymous people are the same schizophrenic person. or a clique of bitter, obstinate and cynical demographic. each presenting 'facts' and 'truths' with a spin and claiming it to be the most genuine version of your pathetic temporary existence.
And here is the paradox: You are just as delusional as the Public Relations branch of the biggest corporate conglomerate out there. you are not - in any way - better than them, you are just a tool, a mere means to an end, very much like the mouthpieces that you attack. And thus you become your own enemy.
God bless UAE , and Protect all. This just a bluff from an envy sources , UAE had never had enemies and always are a Peace Heaven for all residents on its land.
WOW, all anon comments!
Agree with most of what you say SD - we've got to vigilant and am sure, the authorities are, in fact working over time to keep the place as safe as safe can possibly be in today's world. That said - we must be vigilant, yet go about our lives as normal as always.
The British are so bloody miserable!!,
Cabinet minister: Brits are 'bloody miserable',
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/politics/20080620/tpl-cabinet-minister-brits-are-bloody-mi-81c5b50.html
LOL
Has there been any update on the Terror Alert in Dubai ???
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