Saudi writer Ahmed bin Othman Al-Tuwaijri launched a scathing attack on UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed and what he described as the ruling system in Abu Dhabi, stressing that the dispute is not with the Emirati people across all the Emirates whose independence was brokered by King Faisal, but rather with the leadership in Abu Dhabi.
In an article published in Al-Jazirah newspaper, Al-Tuwaijri stated that Abu Dhabi’s conduct stems from “old grudges and a deep sense of inferiority towards the Kingdom”, noting that they saw the shortest path to revenge as turning the UAE into Israel’s Trojan horse in the Arab world, hoping to use it as leverage against Saudi Arabia and the major Arab states. He described this as a betrayal of God, His Messenger, and the Ummah as a whole, and a display of grave shortsightedness, stressing that Israel is on a path to rapid decline while the Ummah remains by the will of God.
The writer accused the UAE of standing behind the “barbaric war” waged by the occupation against the Gaza Strip, asserting that the UAE, through its Red Crescent, spied on the resistance in Gaza and provided the occupation with information on rocket launch sites to enable their bombardment.
What follows is the full text of the article.
In light of the tensions currently affecting relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, particularly with regard to developments in southern Yemen, it is both necessary and essential to distinguish between the Kingdom’s relationship with the UAE in general and the Kingdom’s position on the practices of Abu Dhabi. It is equally necessary to distinguish between the Kingdom’s stance on Abu Dhabi’s policies and the bonds of brotherhood and solidarity that unite the people of Saudi Arabia with the people of the United Arab Emirates.
It goes without saying that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no issue whatsoever with the United Arab Emirates as a state. Its sole and fundamental problem lies with Abu Dhabi and with those whose hearts and minds have been blinded by grudges, envy, and resentment.
It is also beyond dispute that the Saudi people hold nothing but affection, brotherhood, and respect for the Emirati people, including the citizens of Abu Dhabi. The Emirati people occupy a place in the Saudi heart just as all Arab and Muslim peoples do.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was the originator of the idea of unifying the Emirates and was the largest supporter of their independence, politically, diplomatically, financially, and materially. Any student of modern Gulf history knows that King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, was the architect of Emirati independence and unity. He persuaded the British to withdraw from the Gulf Emirates and used his influence in Washington to convince the United States to pressure the British government to accelerate that withdrawal. He also exerted every effort to convince the rulers of the Emirates of the benefits of unity and how it would serve them all. He further convinced the Shah of Iran not to oppose Emirati independence, whether during the Shah’s visit to the Kingdom in 1968 or later when King Faisal sent his special adviser Dr Maarouf Al-Dawalibi, may God have mercy on him, to Tehran for that purpose.
These facts are neither fiction nor unfounded claims. They are documented in official records, including exchanged correspondence and meeting minutes between King Faisal and the rulers of the Gulf Emirates and the leaders of the states concerned with Gulf affairs. They are also recorded in books, studies, and academic theses, including, by way of example, the book by Professor Tancred Bradshaw titled The End of Empire in the Gulf: From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates, and the academic study prepared by Dr Fahd Abbas Al-Salman, professor at the University of Kirkuk, titled The Role of Saudi Arabia in the Independence of the Gulf Emirates During the Period 1968–1971.
It is deeply regrettable that the Kingdom’s long history of support, assistance, and care for the UAE over decades has been met by Abu Dhabi with nothing but ingratitude, denial, the revival of grudges, and conspiracies against the Kingdom and the Arab world.
To place matters in their proper context, it is necessary to clarify that three principal factors contributed to shaping Abu Dhabi’s position.
The first is Abu Dhabi’s deep-seated hostility and its fixation on reviving old historical events long consigned to the past. In a document leaked by WikiLeaks in November 2010, Mohammed bin Zayed, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, was quoted on 31 July 2006 as saying that the UAE had fought 57 battles against the Saudis and that the Saudis were not his close friends.
Other leaked conversations attributed to him indicate that “the long-standing disputes of the past continue to cast their shadow over present relations between the UAE and Saudi Arabia”. A WikiLeaks document dated April 2008 reported that Mohammed bin Zayed met with US naval operations commander General Gary Roughead, during which he said that “the world has changed and the UAE is optimistic despite being located in a region dominated by backwardness”, citing Saudi Arabia as an example.
Another document dated 25 June 2008 indicated that UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed was inciting the Americans against the Kingdom and held an extremely negative view of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him. He reportedly saw no promise in the younger Saudi princes. In addition, Mohammed bin Zayed came to believe that King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, had forced his father Sheikh Zayed, may God have mercy on him, to submit to the Kingdom’s demands regarding border demarcation and the political and economic consequences that followed. This is a baseless allegation refuted by all historical documents and preserved recordings and minutes of discussions between King Faisal and Sheikh Zayed, may God have mercy on them both.
The second factor is the intense envy and jealousy felt by Abu Dhabi, to the exclusion of the other Emirates, towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the blessings God has bestowed upon it. These include the presence of the Two Holy Mosques and the Sacred Kaaba, its elevated status not only among Muslims but among all nations, its vast natural resources and expansive territory, and the profound jealousy provoked by the Vision 2030 initiative of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This vision has driven unprecedented economic, administrative, and social transformations that diverted attention away from what Abu Dhabi once boasted of, and redirected significant investment and tourism from the UAE to the Kingdom.
The third factor is Abu Dhabi’s false illusion that the quickest path to avenging past grudges and alleviating envy and feelings of inferiority towards the Kingdom lies in throwing itself into the arms of Zionism and accepting the role of Israel’s Trojan horse in the Arab world, in the hope of using it as leverage against the Kingdom and the major Arab states. This represents a betrayal of God, His Messenger, and the Ummah as a whole, and an extraordinary display of shortsightedness. Israel is on a path to rapid decline, while the Ummah endures by the will of God.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has never been oblivious to the reality of Abu Dhabi’s positions towards it, nor to its conspiratorial steps against the Arab Ummah in general and the Kingdom in particular. It responded to harm with kindness, exercised patience, and repelled wrongdoing with what is better, in consideration of the interests of the region and the wider Ummah, hoping that the deluded would awaken and the misguided would return. Instead, they persisted in their transgression and error, to great regret.
In Yemen, Abu Dhabi carried out acts of sabotage rarely seen in modern Arab history, striving by every means to undermine the Kingdom’s efforts to achieve political unity, stability, and development for the Yemeni people. In Libya, it supported a separatist minority, supplied them with funds, equipment, and ammunition, and backed them with airstrikes against areas held by the internationally recognised legitimate government, deepening Libya’s wounds and obstructing national and international efforts to achieve unity and stability. In Sudan, in full coordination with the Zionist entity, it provided all forms of support to the Rapid Support Forces militia, which spread chaos, committed looting, rape, and ethnic cleansing, and destroyed any hope of a return to unity, security, and stability.
A report prepared by five United Nations experts and submitted in November to the Sudan Sanctions Committee of the Security Council stated that an air bridge between Emirati airports and an airport in Chad was transporting weapons and ammunition to rebels in Sudan, and that Ilyushin aircraft involved in these flights disabled tracking systems for extended periods. Multiple reports have also documented Abu Dhabi’s recruitment of mercenaries from around the world to support rebels in Sudan, Yemen, and Libya. In Tunisia, they infiltrated like a creeping disease, buying the loyalties of traitors and agents of Israel and Francophonie to squander the Tunisian people’s hopes of living in freedom, dignity, and honour.
In Egypt, Abu Dhabi exploited the country’s severe economic difficulties to penetrate key sectors of the Egyptian economy, foremost among them ports. It sought to acquire substantial stakes in major financial, industrial, and agricultural institutions and companies, including the Commercial International Bank, Beltone Financial Holding, Fawry for Banking Technology, Abu Qir Fertilizers, Mopco, and Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling. This is in addition to massive real estate investments worth tens of billions of dollars, such as Ain Sokhna and others, all aimed at controlling the Egyptian economy and its key levers as a prelude to controlling Egypt and its decisions. Beyond this, it conspired with Ethiopia and provided it with financial support to implement the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which constitutes Egypt’s greatest strategic threat, all in service of Israel’s grand ambitions.
In Somalia, Abu Dhabi sought by every means to separate the north from the south and to establish a foothold for the Zionist entity in the Horn of Africa, thereby realising a long-standing Zionist ambition to control the Bab al-Mandab Strait and complete the encirclement of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which remains the primary target of these interventions and conspiracies.
Once again, these facts are neither fabrications nor the claims of adversaries. They are documented in academic studies and official reports, including the study titled The Emerging Sub-Imperial Role of the United Arab Emirates in Africa, published by the Dutch Transnational Institute, renowned for its independence, depth, and professional rigour.
Before and after this, it has been established beyond doubt that Abu Dhabi was the principal instigator urging the Zionist entity to carry out aggression against the Gaza Strip. It went further by participating in the barbaric war through spying on resistance forces via the UAE Red Crescent and by providing the Zionists with the locations of resistance rocket launches and gatherings. More serious still, Euronews reported on its website on 13 January 2023 that a leaked Emirati document dated 1 October 2023 revealed explicit directives from the highest Emirati leadership to prepare several UAE military bases to support Israeli operations in Gaza. The document indicated Abu Dhabi’s intention to use military sites in Yemen, Eritrea, and Somalia, including Mokha, Assab, Berbera, and Bosaso, as primary platforms to supply Israel with weapons, ammunition, and intelligence. These facts were confirmed by The Jerusalem Post in a report published on 13 January 2026 by Israeli writer Mathilda Heller, titled: “The United Arab Emirates used military bases in the Red Sea region to help Israel in its war against Hamas”.
Abu Dhabi’s actions did not stop at conspiring against Arab states and undermining their stability. They extended to targeting Muslim minorities in the West. The New Yorker published a detailed article in March 2023 on the UAE’s targeting of Islamic centres, institutions, and figures in the West, seeking to tarnish their reputations. It cited the UAE’s contract with the Swiss company Alp Services, which recruited academics, journalists, and writers to disseminate false and misleading allegations against numerous Muslim organisations and figures in the West, all in service of Zionism and Israel.
Despite the severity and ugliness of Abu Dhabi’s conspiracies, they will not alter our view of the UAE and its noble people. The Emirates will always remain in our hearts, embodied in the wisdom of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan, may God have mercy on him, the insight and integrity of Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi, may God preserve him, the charitable works and generosity of the rulers of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, and Ajman, and in the thinkers and intellectuals of the UAE who hold fast despite adversity. They are also reflected in the authenticity and kindness of the Emirati people. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will remain a loyal sister to the UAE, the Saudi people will remain brothers to the Emirati people, and disgrace and shame will befall those who have strayed from the straight path. And God prevails over His affair, but most people do not know.
Thank you for sharing this insightful article. Aameen 🤲🏼