The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has detained prominent Egyptian poet and political dissident Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi following his extradition from Lebanon, Middle East Eye reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the UAE’s official news agency, WAM, confirmed that Abdul Rahman was taken into custody upon his arrival from Lebanon.
This development follows heightened anxiety on Wednesday when a private jet operated by RoyalJet, an Emirati company previously implicated in controversial extraditions, landed in Beirut.
Sources indicate that Abdul Rahman’s legal team in Lebanon has lost contact with him, further intensifying fears over his fate.
Abdul Rahman, a 55-year-old dual Egyptian-Turkish citizen, is a well-known poet and activist who had been residing in Turkey. He rose to prominence during Egypt’s 2011 revolution, which toppled the decades-long regime of President Hosni Mubarak. Additionally, he played a key role in supporting Mohammed el-Baradei’s presidential campaign after Mubarak’s fall.
The poet-activist was arrested in Lebanon on December 28, shortly after returning from Syria, where he participated in celebrations marking the end of Bashar Al-Assad's rule.
Days before his arrest, Abdul Rahman shared a three-minute video on the social media platform X, expressing hopes for Syria's future while criticizing the influence of Arab states such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Following his detention, both Egypt and the UAE submitted extradition requests.
According to Middle East Eye, human rights organizations and advocates are now urging the international community to intervene in Abdul Rahman’s case, warning that the extradition could place him at grave risk, given the Gulf states’ track record on human rights and dissent suppression.
Abdul Rahman is the son of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a renowned Islamic scholar who passed away in Qatar in 2022. The elder Qaradawi was closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The Muslim Brotherhood was outlawed and designated a terrorist organization in Egypt in December 2013, several months after the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, following mass protests against his rule.
Since Morsi’s ouster, Egyptian authorities have launched a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters. As part of the crackdown, thousands of Brotherhood supporters have been jailed.