Designated Terrorist Organizations - UAE

On 15 November 2014 the UAE Cabinet approved a list of designated terrorist organisations and groups in implementation of Federal Law No. 7 for 2014 on combating terrorist crimes, issued by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the Cabinet's own resolution on the designation of terrorist organisations that provided for the publication of the lists in the media for the purposes of transparency and to raise awareness in society about these organisations.

On 18 November 2014 the US State Department has confirmed it does not consider two prominent Muslim American groups as terrorist organizations, after they turned up on a terror list issued by the United Arab Emirates. A State Department spokesman said officials are following up on the designation made by the UAE.

The UAE named the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based group known as CAIR, as well as the Muslim American Society, on a list of more than 80 movements that also included al-Qaida, Islamic State, the Muslim Brotherhood and Boko Haram.

Their inclusion drew swift protests from the American groups. CAIR put out a statement that said it is seeking clarification on its "shocking and bizarre" inclusion on the list, while the Muslim American Society said it has "no dealings with the United Arab Emirates" and is "perplexed by this news."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) was founded in 1994 by three leaders of the Islamic Association of Palestine (IAP), a Hamas front in the United States at the time. According to its charter (article 2), Hamas is the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza. Evidence in the 2007 trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development linked CAIR leaders to Hamas. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the HLF case. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders were convicted by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. The sentences ranged from 15 years to 65 years in prison.

Since the summer of 2008, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has had in place policy for its field offices that was intended to significantly restrict non-investigative interactions with CAIR to "ensure that the FBI is not supporting individuals who support extremist or terrorist ideologies". In April 2009, the FBI Office of Congressional Affairs wrote in response to questions from members of Congress that "until we can resolve whether there continues to be a relationship between CAIR or its executives with HAMAS, the FBI does not view CAIR as an appropriate liaison partner."

In April 2011 Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to prosecute the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), its co-founder Omar Ahmad, and other named unindicted co-conspirators in the Hamas terror finance case, United States v. Holy Land Foundation. The other unindicted co-conspirators include the Islamic Society of North America and the North American Islamic Trust.