President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (Photo: Ahram)
United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan on Monday ordered the release of 103 Egyptian prisoners detained by UAE authorities on various charges.
The decision also included the paying off of all financial obligations incurred by the detainees as a result of their detention.
Egyptian ambassador to the UAE Tamer Mansour told Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website that Al-Nahyan's decision was illustrative of "the depth of the historical relationship between [the two countries]."
Mansour said the initiative would "open prospects for mutual benefits between Egypt and the UAE and remove the obstacles they suffered from previously."
In January, local media reported that UAE authorities had arrested 11 Egyptians residing in the country on suspicions of having links to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group.
The men were accused of collecting sensitive information and of having links to Emarati nationals who had been detained on suspicions of plotting against the country's national security.
President Mohamed Morsi had dispatched top officials in his administration in February to negotiate with Emirati officials over the release of Egyptian prisoners in the Gulf country and ease tense relations between the two nations.
It remains unclear, however, whether any of these detainees were among those released on Monday.
Roughly 400,000 Egyptians work in the UAE.
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