Top UAE security official calls for bombing of Al Jazeera
- Middle East
- Compiled from news agencies
- Published Date: 12:00 | 26 November 2017
- Modified Date: 11:54 | 26 November 2017
A top Emirati security official suggested Friday that Al Jazeera headquarters must be bombed, blaming the Qatari news network for Friday's terror attack in Egypt's Sinai peninsula that killed 305 people and injured 128 others.
In the comments he made on Twitter, Dhahi Khalfan, the often-outspoken head of security in Dubai, said: "The alliance must bomb the machine of terrorism ... the channel of Daesh, al-Qaeda and the al-Nusra front, Al Jazeera the terrorists."
Khalfan, who has 2.42 million followers on the social media site, tweeted: "For how long will they [Al Jazeera] continue to tamper with the security of Egypt and the Arab world?"
He also posted an images of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Daesh terror group, former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and 91-year-old prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi with the channel's logo.
It is hardly the first time Khalfan's remarks led to controversy. The senior Dubai police official previously announced "complete support" for U.S. President Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim countries.
"Every country has the right to protect its security ... Trump, what you're doing is right," he said
In March 2016, he called on Arabs to ally with Israel against "enemies of the Middle East," mentioning Iran without openly naming the country.
In October, Khalfan's comments caught controversy once again when he said the only way for "Qatar's crisis" to end is if Doha gave up hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.