UAE slams US for comment on BlackBerry ban

Washington, Aug 3: United Arab Emirates (UAE) described the US State Department"s comments on UAE"s announcement to suspend certain BlackBerry services as disappointing and contradicted the US government"s own approach to telecommunications regulation.

The UAE Ambassador to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba told this on Monday, Aug 2.

On Sunday, Aug 1 UAE announced that it will suspend BlackBerry services from Oct 11, 2010 due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations.

Philip J Crowley, spokesman for the State Department on Monday, Aug 2 told that US was disappointed at the decision by the UAE to halt key BlackBerry messaging services because of security concerns.

“In fact, the UAE is exercising its sovereign right and is asking for exactly the same regulatory compliance, and with the same principles of judicial and regulatory oversight, that BlackBerry grants the US and other governments and nothing more." said Yousef Al Otaiba.

“Importantly, the UAE requires the same compliance as the US for the very same reasons to protect national security and to assist in law enforcement. It is regrettable that after several years of discussions, BlackBerry is still not compliant with UAE regulatory requirements even as it complies with similar policies in other countries." he added.

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