UAE Sentences 7 Over Alleged Al-Qaeda Ties

Gulf federation's official news agency reported that security court in the United Arab Emirates has found seven people guilty of participation in a group linked to al-Qaeda.
The defendants were sentenced by the State Security Circuit at the Federal Supreme Court in the capital Abu Dhabi on Monday. Among the charges they faced were participating in an al-Qaeda cell, recruiting people to join the terrorist group's Nusra Front affiliate in Syria, and collecting money to finance terrorism abroad.
a life sentence was given to one of the defendants, while the other six were each ordered to serve seven years behind bars. Two of those receiving lesser sentences were also fined the equivalent of $272,000 each. One of the defendants was convicted in absentia, while two other defendants charged in the same case were acquitted because of a lack of evidence.
Nationalities of the defendants', were not identified, but they were ordered to be deported after serving their sentences.

The verdict is the latest in a series of convictions involving Islamist sympathizers in the country, which includes the oil-rich capital Abu Dhabi and the cosmopolitan commercial hub of Dubai.
Emirates has taken a tough stance against perceived Islamist threats, and has jailed dozens of people allegedly linked to Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups on state security charges since last year.