* Detainees are members of the banned Muslim
Brotherhood-paper
* State prosecutor has charged detained Islamists
* Group was highly organised, had own funds and investments
ABU DHABI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Islamists detained in the
United Arab Emirates have confessed to setting up a secret
organisation with an armed force whose aim was to take power and
establish an Islamic state, local media reported on Thursday.
The detainees, who number around 60, were all members of the
banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation, the privately owned al-
Khaleej newspaper reported. Two other newspapers, including the
state-owned al-Bayan, ran similar reports. None gave named
sources.
A UAE official declined to comment on the reports, saying
the matter was subject to legal proceedings.
The UAE, a significant oil exporter and Middle East business
hub, tolerates no organised political opposition.
Concerned about possible spillover from the Arab Spring, it
has acted fast to isolate dissidents, stripping seven Islamists
of their citizenship last year on national security grounds.
The UAE state prosecutor has charged those detained with
founding an organisation that violates state security, having
links to foreign organisations and insulting the political
leadership, al-Khaleej reported. Their case will be referred to
the relevant court soon, it said.
"Members of the organisation admitted that they exploited
the events of the Arab Spring and that their strategic aim was
to seize power and establish a religious state or caliphate,"
the newspaper said.
"In the course of the investigations it became clear that
the organisational structure of the organisation comprised
committees and branch offices in every emirate, as well as a
consultative council, an executive office and a military wing,"
the newspaper reported.
The group was coordinating with Brotherhood organisations in
three other Gulf Arab countries, the newspaper said. It had
recently received 10 million dirhams ($3.67 million) from a
counterpart in another Gulf Arab country "because the local
organisation was going through difficult times."
Al-Bayan said the group's military wing had existed since
1988 and had trained young recruits and sought to enlist
relatives of members of the armed forces.
Relatives rejected the charges, saying they were aimed at
whipping up public opposition to the detainees to paint them as
criminals. They said that defence lawyers have not been in
contact with them on the charges.
"These charges are not true, there is no military wing, no
foreign loyalty and no organisation at all," one relative told
Reuters.
They sources denied rumours that the detainees did not have
legal representation and that they have eight defence lawyers,
the newspaper said.
"The sources categorically denied recent rumours over claims
of torture of the detainees," the article said.
The charges are punishable by fines and prison sentences.
Islamists' demands in the UAE include more civil rights and
greater power for the Federal National Council, a
quasi-parliamentary body that advises the government but has no
legislative power.
(Reporting By Raissa Kasolowsky; Editing by Sami Aboudi and
Angus MacSwan)