One is a former judge. Another is a past president of the lawyers’ association in the United Arab Emirates. Among the more than 90 suspects are also teachers, civil servants, business owners and even a cousin of one of the UAE‘s ruling sheiks.

Prosecutors describe them as members of an Islamist network seeking to topple the leadership in one of the wealthiest and most stable corners of the Middle East.

Their defenders portray the group as victims of an Arab Spring-induced panic among Gulf Arab rulers who perceive threats from many directions, including Egypt‘s ruling Muslim Brotherhood and reformist chatter on social media.

But whatever emerges from the mass trial that began last month in Abu Dhabi also speaks to issues that reach well beyond the allegations and sullied reputations in the UAE‘s tight-knit professional communities. The case — from the arrests to the court sessions to the media controls on coverage — reflects a fundamental retooling of how the Western-allied Gulf states approach the business of using and keeping their power.

Once desperate to keep political crackdowns out of sight, Gulf authorities have increasingly used high-profile tactics to try to keep a lid on calls for reforms. Hardly a day goes by without some backlash in the Gulf Arab states, an arc of ruling families from Kuwait to Oman.

Dozens of online activists and social media contributors have been jailed for posts deemed offensive to rulers. Espionage allegations have been trumpeted, including Saudi Arabia‘s claims last month that officials broke up a suspected Iranian-linked spy ring.

Saudi officials, meanwhile, are considering linking social media accounts to national IDs in a move that critics fear could increase monitoring. The country’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al-Sheik, denounced Twitter users last month as being part of “a council of clowns.”

“There is a paradox in all this,” said Christopher Davidson, an expert on Gulf affairs at Britain’s Durham University. “There is nothing at the moment to suggest the Gulf regimes are in any immediate danger, but they are definitely acting like they are. This might even have the effect of accelerating dissent.”

Caught in between is Washington.

U.S. interests are deeply intertwined with the Gulf’s Sunni sheiks and kings, who allow American military bases, make major arms purchases and share …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News