UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al- Otaiba - photo courtesy of the ambassador’s blog
CAIRO – 4 June 2017: A media group in the United Arab Emirates has published a video in response to leaked emails which supposedly show a connection between the UAE and Israel.
In response to allegedly leaked emails between Yousef Al-Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador to the United States, and Washington-based pro-Israel, neo-conservative think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Forsan UAE, a volunteer media group, published a video commenting on the leaks early Sunday morning.
The video, titled “Thanks are due to the leaks,” said, “the policies and standpoints of the UAE are clear and publicly stated, away from lies and deceit.”
The video illustrated the “critical secrets” revealed in the leaks, including the fact that the UAE supports Saudi Arabia and its leadership, opposes the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar and Turkey’s schemes and stands by the Egyptian people and government and its June 30 Revolution, which are all already public and acknowledged policies by the UAE’s government and officials.
“This is a message to those who want to overstate the leaks to cover up their own scandals,” the Forsan video concluded.
The circulated emails demonstrated growing relations and backchannel cooperation between Otaiba and FDD senior counselor John Hannah, exchanging jokes and facilitating visits from think tank delegations to the UAE.
One of the emails listed a proposed agenda for an FDD conference, entitled “Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Global Affiliates: A new U.S. Administration Considers New Policies,” which the UAE ambassador allegedly agreed to attend.
The agenda addressed several issues including Al Jazeera and how it is linked to regional instability, Turkish President Erdogan’s role and ambitions and “possible U.S./UAE policies to positively impact Iranian internal situation," using military, cyber, economic and political tools.
In another email, Hannah, a former deputy national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, said, “Our primary goal is to establish an ongoing professional relationship with UAE’s top governmental experts on various aspects of the Middle East.”
In August 2016, Hannah allegedly sent Otaiba an article claiming that UAE and Qtara were responsible for the military coup in Turkey, saying, “Honored that we’re in your company.”
The leaked emails, making up a 55-page document, were reportedly sent earlier this week to several media outlets, including The Intercept, Huffington Post and The Daily Beast.
The hackers referred to themselves as “GlobalLeaks” and used a .ru email address, associated with Russia, the Daily Beast reported.
The spokeswoman for the UAE Embassy in the U.S., Lamiyae Jbari, confirmed to the Daily Beast Saturday that the Hotmail address used in the emails indeed belonged to Otaiba.
There has been no official response from the UAE to the allegedly leaked emails.
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