(Illustration): Dubai skyline
(Illustration): Dubai skylineReuters

Authorities in Dubai have said that an Uzbek woman who threatened to blow herself up at a Dubai public prosecutor's office on Sunday, was wearing a fake explosives belt, AFP reported Monday.

The woman entered the office with her child on Sunday afternoon and demanded the authorities help end a personal dispute she was having with an Emirati man who dismissed her allegations that he was her son's legal father.

When she was denied a meeting with senior officials, she caught their attention by threatening to detonate explosives strapped to her body. 

Authorities evacuated the building as they negotiated with the woman. A Dubai government statement said negotiations with the woman lasted from midday on Sunday until around 1:30 am on Monday.

"The woman was arrested at the public prosecutor's office after negotiations without the use of weapons,"  a statement from Dubai police statement said. "The matter was successfully resolved and it turned out that the Uzbek woman was wearing a fake explosive belt," Dubai police tweeted. 

The woman had previously visited this prosecution headquarters on several other occasions, but growing problems with her husband apparently drove her to this desperate act.

"Preliminary assessment of the incident shows that the woman resorted to this extreme action in an attempt to attract attention and win sympathy that may help her put an end to this family dispute," the statement said. 

It was the first such incident in the Gulf emirate, home to hundreds of thousands of expats, many of whom are from Russia and ex-Soviet states.