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Self-styled 'Al Qaeda member' in custody

DUBAI — A detainee at the Muraqqabat Police Station claims he is a member of Al Qaeda and was arrested at the Dubai International Airport on arrival from Ethiopia to allegedly hold secret meetings with German Intelligence.

Dr Mohammed Omar, who claimed to be a member of Al Qaeda responsible for hiring of people for the Al Qaeda organisation in the Middle East, said he visited the UAE several times before, entering the country by using different passports.

Speaking to Khaleej Times from the detention cell, Ethiopian national and permanent resident of the US, Dr Omar said that he was arrested upon landing here by an Emirates Airlines flight.

However, a lawyer he met felt the man might be telling a lot of lies.

"During an earlier visit to the UAE," claims Dr Omar, "I met two German nationals named Peter and Reyes at Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai. This time they had also promised to meet me and agreed to pay me $170 million if I gave them information on Al Qaeda's plans to attack Munich, Germany during the World Cup," he alleged.

"Upon arrival, my laptop and Dh139,000 were confiscated at the airport by the CID," claimed Dr Omar saying that initially the police suspected him because he was carrying a huge amount, and later took him to the police station for questioning. Dr Omar said that he denied all accusations.

"The police later came to know that an amount of Dh55,000 had been transferred from a foreign account to Dubai in my name," claimed Dr Omar while being sketchy about the details.

Dr Omar claimed that the UAE lawyer Sameera Gargash would be his lawyer "though he had never met her".

When contacted, Sameera told Khaleej Times that an Ethiopian who identified himself as Dr Mohammed Omar, visited her office three weeks ago to discuss a case he wants to file against another Ethiopian whom he claimed owes him $ 9.5 million. "But when I asked about the documents supporting his claims, he said he had none and I told him that it was not possible to file a case without documents.

"Then he told me he has some serious information about possible Al Qaeda attacks, claiming that he met German intelligence personnel who gave him a big amount of money in return for the information he provided them on Al Qaeda in Germany."

He also claimed that he met some men at a hotel later and they took the money from him after stabbing him in the stomach, Sameera recounts, noting that she felt that the man was exaggerating and she advised him to approach the security authorities with such information. "I told him that lawyers cannot help you in this regard and you have to inform the authorities concerned," she said, observing that the man was probably telling this story to cover up for a fraud case he might be involved in.

Sameera also received a call two days ago from Dr Omar informing her that he had been arrested at the Muraqqabat Police station.

A source at the police station confirmed the arrest of an Ethiopian by the name of Mohammed Omar Dari who was apprehended on the charges of providing false information to police.

The man also said that the police took him to the public prosecution but did not refer him to the court even though he was under arrest for the past one month. "They have asked me to confess and pass all the information about Al Qaeda," he claimed.