The United Arab Emirates' top diplomat on Wednesday came out in defense of President Donald Trump's order temporarily barring citizens from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the US.
The comments by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Gulf federation's foreign minister, could help bolster the administration's assertion that the directive was not intended as a ban targeting Muslims.
The UAE minister said the US was within its rights to take what he said was a "sovereign decision" concerning immigration — the first such remarks in support of Trump's move from the Gulf Arab region.
Sheikh Abdullah also voiced faith in the American administration's assurances that the move, which temporarily bans most travel to the US from Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Libya, was not based on religion and noted that most of the world's majority-Muslim countries were not covered by the order.
"The is a temporary ban and it will revised in three months, so it is important that we put into consideration this point," he said following talks with his Russian counterpart in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
"Some of these countries that were on this list are countries that face structural problems," he continued. "These countries should try to solve these issues ... and these circumstances before trying to solve this issue with the United States."
The Emirates is one of the US's closest Arab allies. It is part of the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group and hosts American troops and warplanes taking part in the campaign against the Islamic State. It is also home to a center backed by the US that aims to counter extremist propaganda online.
The seven-state federation prides itself on being a tolerant, forward-looking nation that nonetheless embraces its traditional Arab and Islamic heritage. The local population is dwarfed some four-to-one by foreign residents, many of whom are not Muslim.
America's largest Arab export market, the Emirates also has commercial connections to the new US president.
Trump has lent his name to a soon-to-open golf course and real-estate project being developed in the Emirati city of Dubai, the Middle East's commercial hub. The Abu Dhabi tourism office is a tenant of Trump Tower in New York.
Sheikh Abdullah and Sergey Lavrov discussed a range of regional issues including the war in Syria during their meeting, which included Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Lavrov expressed a willingness to engage with the new US administration on the establishment of safe zones in Syria but suggested more details were needed.
"As I understand it, when the Americans are talking about safety zones, first of all they are interested to reducing the number of immigrants especially through Syria from going to the West," he said.
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