Praise for Dubai officials who provided real-time tweets during bomb belt standoff

The deputy chief of Dubai Police praised officials for their efforts in providing real-time updates during the 13-hour standoff with the woman with an 'explosive belt' on Sunday.

DUBAI // The deputy chief of Dubai Police has commended officials for their actions during the 13-hour stand-off with a woman who claimed to be wearing an explosive belt at the Dubai Public Prosecution building on Sunday.
Maj Gen Khamis Al Muzaina said the social networks department was in direct communication with the negotiating team and provided real-time updates "with great transparency and outstanding accuracy" when a mother threatened to detonate an explosive belt she said she was wearing.
The department was responsible for keeping the followers of the Dubai Police Twitter account updated during the stand-off. The department is the official "spokesman" for Dubai Police, and it provided an "insider's view of the incident", Maj Gen Al Muzaina said.
The Dubai Police Twitter account managing team "has, within hours, reached out to some 1,700 followers at the same time and has been able to answer huge amounts of questions and enquiries", he said.
"The team's compelling and solid responses were greatly appreciated by Twitter followers with the tweets receiving 500 retweets."
Maj Gen Al Muzaina also said the department received 180 thank-you letters "in recognition of its efforts and great professionalism".
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