Alwaght- The United Arab Emirates is planning to establish a new intelligence service and has asked former agents at the US Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, to assist in the project.
According to a recent report published by the US Foreign Policy (FP) magazine, the UAE has gone about recruiting former CIA spies in a bid to create its own "spy empire". Training is ongoing at two locations in and around Abu Dhabi. One is a villa near the northeastern Zayed Port, and the second at a location known as "The Academy", roughly a 30-minute drive from the city's downtown, FP writes in the report.
At these locations, recruits are taught a range of skills. While the training begins with courses like "What is intelligence?", FP notes, later weeks move on to considerably more advanced topics. Prospective spooks go on to study topics such as the creation of cover identities, for instance while at a gala attended by diplomats, or how to groom intelligence assets, etc. "The Academy" has most of the characteristics of the CIA's very own "Farm" in southeastern Virginia, where training facilities include gun ranges, barracks, as well as driving courses.
The key figure behind the intelligence training operation is Larry Sanchez, a veteran of the CIA clandestine services who has been assisting the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to build Emirati intelligence for the past six years, FP said, citing multiple sources.
Sanchez is the same former intelligence officer who helped launch a controversial partnership between the CIA and the New York Police Department to monitor Muslims in New York.
But Sanchez is just one of many security professionals who have traveled to the UAE to provide intelligence and security training. They said they were drawn to the Persian Gulf country by the promise of interesting work and good pay.
Mid this year, another report revealed that the UAE army has been working for years to strengthen its military capability, yet only a small percentage of its operational staff actually hold UAE passports.
Reports first emerged in 2015 that the UAE was sending mercenaries to fight in Yemen, choosing not to send its own citizens to fight in the chaos.
