This announcement has been pretty much a non-event here. Seems the the UK was the only country to issue this warning and there doesn't seem to be much by way of credible evidence to justify the upgrade at this time. So all is well in the UAE ... for now.
The Gulf News interviews UK expats.
The Gulf News interviews UAE officials
And in other news (which I'm sure is completely unrelated to the recent warnings of terrorism), President George W. Bush is visiting the UK this week on his 'farewell tour'.
The Times Online
My original post:
This warning was issued by the UK and seems to be echoed by the Australians, at least that's what my preliminary research tells me. It is in the media here as well but not as much as you'd think.
'Terrorism' threat in UAE high, UK says
by Sean Cronin on Monday, 16 June 2008
From ArabianBusiness.com
The threat of terrorism in the UAE has been upgraded to "high" by the UK in guidance to citizens travelling and living abroad.
The guidance, last updated on Saturday, previously stated that there was a “general” threat.
"We believe terrorists may be planning to carry out attacks in the UAE," the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said on its website.
The FCO warned that terrorists could target places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers such as residential compounds, military, oil, transport and aviation interests.
"Attacks could be indiscriminate and could happen at any time," it said.
The FCO said people should "maintain a high level of security awareness, particularly in public places".
However, the FCO said the "vast majority" of visits to the UAE were "trouble-free", adding that the main type of incidents involving British nationals were arrests or detentions related to alcohol or drugs.
A British Embassy spokesperson told Arabian Business the UK was not advising people to change their travel plans.
“We issue travel guidance for every country and it is constantly updated,” Simon Goldsmith said in a telephone interview on Monday.
“Threat levels tend to go up and down and essentially what we are doing is advising British travellers and residents to maintain their level of security awareness.
"What we are not doing and I underline ‘not’, is advising people to change their travel plans.”
The FCO said there was "general" threat of terrorism in the other five Gulf states, except Saudi Arabia which also has a "high" terrorism threat level.
Excluding Saudi Arabia, terrorist attacks in the Gulf are rare. According to the FCO, the only incident of note was a suicide-bomb attack on March 19, 2005 outside the Doha Players’ Theatre in Qatar. One British national was killed and at least 12 other people were injured.
The Government of Canada website says there is "no official warning" for the UAE however it is rated as "Exercise High Degree of Caution" and goes on to say,
There have been credible reports that terrorists may be planning attacks in the UAE, possibly against Westerners and/or Western interests.
Canadians are advised to maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times, particularly in areas frequented by foreigners, or at events or locations in which large numbers of foreigners may gather.
I'll admit, I'm a bit naive about these things (I bought the 9/11 report but never actually read it.) With the exception of September 11th, 'terrorism' is something that happens in far-away places. I guess it's a different story when that far-away place is home.
The term "terrorist" is just a bit too vague for me. One of the articles mentioned Al Qaeda specifically but I generally tune out when I hear non-specific labels like "terrorists" and "the enemy" and dismiss it as scare-mongering by Dub-ya and company.
On the one hand I am surprised that Islamic 'terrorists' (whoever they are) would target Muslim nations; Saudi Arabia is also on high alert, THE most stringent Islamic nation anywhere hands down! I don't get it. However, I can conceive of Dubai as a target. It is the most liberal society in the region and that could attract the ire of the less tolerant for pandering to the West (and therefore less 'Muslim'). Dubai was described as the "lost sibling of the Emirates family" so apparently even the other Emirates are a little put off by Dubai's ambitions of wealth and notoriety.
This is a little disconcerting, I must say but all I can really do is heed the advice of the experts and be more aware of what's going on. Part of the reason I came to this part of the world was to understand other ways of thinking. One can try to understand the 'terrorists' without condoning terrorism.
A few more articles on the web ...
ABC News Australia website
Travelbite.co.uk
The Telegraph (another UK newspaper)
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