Emirati Hizb Al Umma
Other names: حزب الأمّة الإماراتي
Type: Political Party
Founded: August 2012
Location: Turkey (formerly UAE)
Organisation Ideology: Political Islam/Muslim Brotherhood
Leadership:
Nasser bin Ghaith (Leader)
Hassan Ahmed Al Diqqi (General Secretary)
Online Resources
None
220 subscribers
None
28.6k followers
Overview
The organization aims to establish the Islamic caliphate state through its alliance with terrorist organizations such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda and the Syria-based Hay'at Tahrir Al Sham (HTS), formerly linked to Al Qaeda, and formerly known as Al-Nusra Front. The organization, which defected from the Reform and Social Guidance Association, was founded in 2008 under the name of the Nation Conference, headed by Kuwaiti Hakim Al-Mutairi. Nine parties fall under the organization, including the “Emirati Umma Party” and The “Saudi Islamic Umma Party” and the “Kuwaiti Umma Party” - the three main parties that form the backbone of the organisation.
The UAE government designated the Umma Party as a terrorist organization in November 2014, accusing its members of seeking to establish a military academy and planning terrorist operations in Gulf countries. Two defendants were sentenced: Nasser bin Ghaith and Hassan al-Diqqi in absentia to 10 years in prison.
Nasser bin Ghaith was charged with verbally insulting the leadership of Egypt, its symbols and its policy through his account on Twitter. As a result, his comments and tweets, the Emirati authorities argued, would have threatened foreign relations with Egypt and exposed its interests to the risk of reprisals.
Hassan Al Dikki established the Emirati Al Umma party following his escape to Turkey in July 2012, while Nasser bin Ghaith established the "Nation of Arab Cooperation" organization as a headquarters in Istanbul in 2013 in order to attract the largest number of people to the party. Furthermore, Bin Ghaith organized meetings with members of the Jabhat al-Nusra (Now known as HTS), Ahrar al-Sham and Daesh. The aim of these meetings was to carry out terrorist attacks in the UAE.
The Emirati Al Umma Party described the arrests in the UAE as repression and a violation of the rights of Emirati citizens from expressing their opinions.
Ties to Extremism
The Emirati Umma Party was associated with the formation of a military brigade called “The Umma Brigade” in the Syrian countryside of Idlib in 2012. Its aim was to train fighters in Syria and Libya to fight alongside terrorist organizations in Syria, and later to carry out attacks in Gulf states.
In addition to the party's support for Syrian radical Islamist factions, the party adopts hate speech against other religions and creeds. The Umma party posted a tweet accusing Al-Jazeera of promoting paganism and atheism for airing documentaries on Zoroastrianism, and calling the Zorostrian faith a monotheistic faith.
