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A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 22 November 2018
UAE sentences British academic to life in prison for spying

By DANICA KIRKA athletics. Ties between no reason to believe Hedg-
AYA BATRAWY Britain and the seven emir- es "was conducting any-
Associated Press ates of the UAE run deep, thing other than legitimate
LONDON (AP) — A Brit- dating back more than academic research."
ish academic was sen- 200 years. The British were The UAE has come under
tenced to life in prison on among the first contracted criticism for its vast surveil-
Wednesday in the United to help build the UAE's infra- lance network. While it
Arab Emirates on charges structure after oil was dis- helps to track down crimi-
that he was spying for the covered there in the early nals quickly and keeps the
U.K. — a verdict that Britain 1960s and retain a multimil- country among the safest
described as shocking as it lion dollar arms trade. in the world, the network
urged its Mideast ally to re- The Muslim country on the has also been used to go
consider the decision. eastern coast of the Arabi- after critics and those con-
Matthew Hedges, a an Peninsula prides itself on ducting sensitive research.
31-year-old PhD student in being tolerant of foreign- Rights organizations and
Middle Eastern Studies at ers, and of being tourist- some academics have
Durham University, was ar- friendly. But British nation- been barred from the
rested at Dubai Airport on als have run afoul of local country and stopped from
May 5 and has been held customs and laws, which conducting research on
in detention since. prohibit public intoxication, the conditions of laborers
Foreign Secretary Jeremy kissing in public and cursing from countries such as In-
Hunt had travelled to the at someone — which can dia and Nepal who build
UAE last week and dis- all lead to arrest and de- high-rise towers and sprawl-
cussed the case with Abu portation. ing malls in Abu Dhabi and
Dhabi Crown Prince Mo- The Federal Appeals Court Dubai.
hammed bin Zayed and of Abu Dhabi said Hedges A number of faculty and
Foreign Minister Abdullah was found guilty of "spying students at New York Uni-
bin Zayed. He described on the UAE and providing versity have reportedly
the situation as "unaccept- sensitive security and intel- been barred from entering
able." ligence information to third the UAE for work deemed
Hedges can challenge the This undated family handout photo shows Matthew Hedges with parties." critical of the government,
ruling within 30 days. his wife Daniela Tejada. Local papers say police despite the university hav-
"Today's verdict is not what Associated Press secured evidence of his ing a campus in Abu Dhabi.
we expect from a friend his surprise at the decision. and Dubai are home to activities from Hedges' Human Rights Watch said
and trusted partner of the The harsh verdict is unusual large numbers of British na- electronic devices and sur- Hedges was detained at
United Kingdom and runs for a British national in the tionals who work in a range veillance by Emirati intelli- Dubai International Airport
contrary to earlier assur- UAE who is not accused of of positions, from top man- gence. as he was preparing to
ances," Hunt said in a state- a violent crime. agement jobs and public Durham University, mean- leave the country following
ment which underscored The emirates of Abu Dhabi relations to teaching and while, said that there was two weeks in the UAE. q

Kosovo sets tariffs on Serbia, Bosnia as ties strain

By LLAZAR SEMINI two neighboring countries.
Associated Press Haradinaj said that Serbia
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — and Bosnia had never re-
Kosovo’s government says spected the Central Euro-
it will put a 100-percent pean Free Trade Agree-
import tax on all goods ment, or CEFTA, rules in
imported from Serbia and trade relations with Kosovo,
Bosnia as diplomatic ten- causing significant finan-
sions rise. cial losses.
Wednesday’s decision Serbian President Aleksan-
appears to be retaliation dar Vucic called a meet-
against what Deputy Prime ing of the national security
Minister Enver Hoxhaj said council, Serbia’s top secu-
was Serbia’s “aggressive rity body, to address the is-
campaign against Kosovo sue. He said after the meet-
on the international stage.” ing that Kosovo’s move
A day earlier, Kosovo failed amounted to a de-facto
to join Interpol because of trade ban, but that Serbia
what it claimed was cam- won’t retaliate.
paigning by Serbia. “The consequences could
“That was a very aggressive be catastrophic and de-
stand from Serbia,” Prime structive for relations in the
Minister Ramush Haradinaj entire region,” said Vucic,
told a news conference. urging international pres-
The tariffs come into force sure on Kosovo to revoke
immediately. They don’t In this photo provided by the Kosovo government public affairs office, showing Kosovo Prime the decision. “This has
apply to international Minister Ramush Haradinaj, center back, with his cabinet voting during the government meeting to stop, there is no other
on Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2018, in Kosovo capital Pristina.
brands produced in the Associated Press option.”q