Khalifa orders release of two Qatari nationals

Abu Dhabi — The President, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has ordered the release of the two Qatari citizens sentenced by the UAE State Security Court, to emphasise the UAE’s keenness to strengthen the close fraternal relations between the leaderships and peoples of the two brotherly countries. On Tuesday, Ittihad newspaper reported that an Emirati court has jailed five Qatari intelligence officers for insulting the leadership of the UAE. The State Security Court sentenced Ali Al Hammadi to 10 years in jail, and fined him one million dirhams, Ittihad reported. Four others who remain at large were sentenced in absentia to life in prison. The Qataris were convicted of organising an online campaign to insult UAE leaders, according to the paper. The federal court, which ordered that Al Hammadi be deported after serving his sentence, also confiscated all electronic devices that were found in the accused’s possession. — Agencies