Hezbollah cell in United Arab Emirates allegedly uses sexual blackmail as recruitment tool

Trial is another affront to Hezbollah's legitimacy in the Arab world.

By MAAYAN GROISMAN
AN AERIAL VIEW of Dubai from Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. (photo credit: REUTERS)
AN AERIAL VIEW of Dubai from Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
A trial against five suspects in a Hezbollah-linked terror cell in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began Monday in the State Security Court.
According to the suspects, the cell provided Hezbollah with sensitive information about UAE's vital facilities, including details about Abu Dhabi's oil output and the major oil and gas fields in the country.
During the trial, one of the suspects revealed that the Hezbollah cell used sexual blackmail in order to recruit new UAE citizens, documenting the people it targeted in intimate situations to coerce them to collect vital information about the state.
In addition, the cell's coordinator married a local woman working in one of the oil facilities in the UAE in order to attain information about the state's oil output.
The court decided to adjourn the trial against the cell members until May 23, when it will hear the defense's claims.
This trial is another affront to Hezbollah's legitimacy in the Arab world, after it was designated on Sunday as a terrorist organization by the Arab Parliament. During the Parliament's fourth session in Cairo, it condemned "Hezbollah practices, which are aimed at
undermining the security of many countries in the region."