UAE court convicts 11 on terror charges

A court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Tuesday convicted 11 members of an Al Qaeda-linked group on terror related charges.

The state security division of the UAE Federal Supreme Court found the 11 men guilty of joining the Nusra Front and Ahrar Al Sham, subsidiaries of the Al Qaeda fighting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, The National reported.

Of the 15 men accused of collecting finances and equipment to send to Syria, as well as recruiting fighters to participate in terrorist acts in Syria, nine are Emiratis, four holding passports of Comoros Island and two Syrians.

The two Syrians were sentenced to 15 and three years in prison, while one of the defendants from Comoros Island will serve 15 years in prison.

A Comoros Island passport holder and an Emirati were given seven years in prison on charges of manufacturing explosives and polluting the environment.

Two Emirati suspects were found guilty of belonging to the Nusra Front and the Free Men of the Levant organisations. They will each serve 10 years in prison.

Four were tried in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment, while four others were acquitted of all charges.

Presiding judge Mohammad Al Tunaiji ruled that all equipment seized from the defendants would be confiscated by the court and the foreign offenders will be deported after completion of their sentences.