Britain asks UAE to clarify its new terrorism watch list

Britain asked the United Arab Emirates on Monday to clarify why it has placed three UK-based Islamic organisations on its list of terrorist groups without any further explanation.

The three organisations were among a total of 83 organisations, community groups and movements, which it classified as “terrorist organisations” including: Islamic Relief, British Muslim Network and the Cordoba Foundation. These organisations were placed on the list due to their alleged affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation that the UAE considers a threat to its security and interests.

While the UAE has categorised Islamic Relief as a terrorist organisation, it has received funding from the British government for its continued contributions to humanitarian work in cooperation with other prominent UK organisations such as the British Red Cross and Oxfam. Islamic Relief has worked in conjunction with these organisations to help fight Ebola and educate Syrian children among other things.

Islamic Relief responded to the Emirati decision by saying: “We abhor terrorism in all its forms, and we categorically refute any allegation of links to terrorism and any such accusations that have been made by the UAE.”

The charity said that its inclusion on the UAE list was a mistake and that it would be “seeking clarification from the UAE embassy on this matter, with a view to having this wrongful listing removed”.

Similarly, the British Muslim Network responded to the UAE’s categorisation by saying: “Our organisation has nothing at all to do with terrorist activity.” Before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, BMN worked to counter terrorism.

This article was updated at 10am on November 20, 2014, to include Islamic Relief’s statement.