UAE detains third Emirati democracy advocate

UPDATED (see addendum to #3 below).

Not cool, UAE.

1. WaPo: Ahmed Mansour was detained Friday at his home in Dubai, his wife and a colleague told The Associated Press. Mansour’s wife, Nadia, said 10 policemen — some wearing civilian clothes — searched their house for three hours before taking her husband into custody and seizing two laptops and several documents. ... [He is] a blogger and rights activist who had said he’s gotten death threats for calling for political freedoms and an elected parliament in the Gulf nation. ... Another political activist and a prominent Emirati lawyer, Mohammed al-Mansouri, also reported the arrest.

The National (Sunday): Blogger Ahmed Mansour has been arrested in connection with a criminal case, police confirmed today. Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai Police chief, said the arrest was made in the emirate based on a request from the UAE attorney general.

2. AP: Fahad Salem al-Shehhy was detained late Saturday in Ajman, an emirate north of Dubai, after participating in an online forum calling for democratic reforms in the UAE, said Mohammed al-Mansouri, an activist. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates detained a second pro-democracy advocate just two days after they took a leading reformist blogger into custody, [the] prominent lawyer and political activist said Sunday.

3. On Twitter, Sunday:

localnewsuae localnewsuae.com

Authorities in UAE detained Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith a prominent emirati economist

1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Addendum.

Al Jazeera English: ...The pair include Nasser bin Ghaith, one of the country's most outspoken academics, who is a financial analyst and an economics professor at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris' Sorbonne university. He was detained on Sunday in Dubai, according to Mohammed al-Mansouri, the lawyer and a fellow activist.

Reuters:

In a recent article on a UAE website, bin Ghaith voiced unusually bold criticism of the Western-allied Gulf Arab states' political system and their moves to create jobs and raise social spending in a bid to prevent the eruption of popular unrest.

"They have announced 'benefits and handouts' assuming their citizens are not like other Arabs or other human beings, who see freedom as a need no less significant than other physical needs. So they use the carrot, offering abundance. But this only delays change and reform, which will still come sooner or later," he wrote.

"No amount of security -- or rather intimidation by security forces -- or wealth, handouts, or foreign support is capable of ensuring the stability of an unjust ruler."

3 UAE activists detained since Friday - CNN

Nasser bin Ghaith participated in a Doha debate on Dubai in late 2010.