UAE embassy compound attacked in Libyan capital

TRIPOLI: Unidentified assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the United Arab Emirates embassy compound in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks on foreign targets in the North African country.

Security sources said the attackers drove up to the compound, which houses both the embassy and ambassador's residence, in the Siahia neighbourhood in Western Tripoli before fleeing immediately.

Dozens convicted, jailed over coup plot in United Arab Emirates

ABU DHABI - A United Arab Emirates court on Tuesday jailed scores of Emiratis convicted of plotting a coup, after a trial that reflected the Gulf state's mistrust of Islamist groups following the Arab uprisings.

Among the 68 men convicted were academics and members of some prominent families in the UAE, including a cousin of the ruler of one of the seven emirates in the oil-rich federation.

Judge Falah al-Hajiri read out the names of 26 acquitted defendants, then announced jail terms for the remaining 68, eight of whom he sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison.

United Arab Immoralates: Saudi Sheikh slaps travelers to Dubai with fatwa

A Saudi cleric has sparked controversy when he issued a fatwa (religious edict) this week barring travel to Dubai because of the spread of “immoralities” there.

Sheikh Mohamed al-Shanar used his Twitter account to answer a question by a woman on whether a woman can visit Dubai without a male guardian.

“A woman asks me if it she may go to Dubai without a guardian. I answer her saying: going to Dubai is forbidden, whether she was accompanied by a guardian or not [because of the spread of immoralities], and sins increase if traveling without a guardian was not a necessity,” the cleric said on his Twitter account.