ABU DHABI // The Palestinian leader of an Al Qaeda terror cell in the UAE was still in hiding abroad on Monday after his gang was jailed.
Ra’afat Abu Sabha, 44, was convicted in his absence at the state security division of the Federal Supreme Court, and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Six other men in the terrorist cell – Wade’a Abdulqader, 33, Rabe’a Abdulqader, 30, and Ramzi Al Tawati, 36, from Tunisia, Ibrahim Dagher, 29 from Lebanon, Bader Ghazawi, 22, from Jordan, and Yousif Qadoora, 25, from Palestine – were jailed for seven years.
In addition, Ghazawi and Wade’a Abdulqader were each fined Dh1 million for creating and running an information website about Al Qaeda with the purpose of promoting its ideas and attracting members to carry out terrorist acts outside the country.
All seven were convicted of joining an Al Qaeda terror cell and forming a subsidiary cell of the Islamist group Jabhat Al Nusra in the UAE to promote its purpose and goals.
The men also collected money with the purpose of using it to finance terrorist acts outside the state.
The court had previously heard that the group was also intending to bomb several landmarks within the country.
Investigations showed the defendants were in possession of more than 2,000 images detailing step-by-step instructions on how to build bombs, rockets and other weapons.
They were also found to have documents relating to cyber sabotage and how to form military camps.
Charges of trying to recruit people to join the fight against Bashar Al Assad’s regime in Syria were dropped because of insufficient evidence.
The men were tried under federal laws to combat terrorism and cyber crimes.
Judge Falah Al Hajeri ordered the confiscation of all electronic devices used as evidence in the investigation process.
He also ordered the closure of websites that were created with the purpose of promoting terrorism ideas.
The six men convicted will be deported after they have served their sentences.
Two others, Rushdi Al Farjani, 31, and Mohamed Suhaib, 31, both Tunisian, were acquitted.
Al Farjani claimed he had been ill-treated during investigations and his stay in prison. A psychiatrist at the State Security prison said he had suffered from “severe depression” but refused treatment.
Four family members and a representative of the Tunisian Embassy attended court for the verdict.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae
