Bani Yas cop-shooters question police video

Two men who have been sentenced to death for shooting undercover policemen during a drugs sting in Bani Yas are questioning the authenticity of a video purported to show the drug deal.

ABU DHABI // Lawyers for two men sentenced to death for shooting two police officers during a drugs sting in Bani Yas yesterday questioned the authenticity of a police video of the deal.

The Appeals Court was played the footage, which police said showed a drug deal between MK, an Emirati, FA, a Yemeni, and the two officers in February.

But defence lawyers asked for the tape to be sent to a forensics laboratory in Dubai to check whether it was genuine. They also requested the mobile phone records of the two men.

An officer involved in the sting operation told how he had demanded to examine the bag containing the drugs before handing money to the two men.

"I counted the contents and there were 19 wraps," he said. "[One of the men] kept saying 'get it over with' but I wanted to examine them one by one."

The case was adjourned until November 28.

The two men were convicted at the Criminal Court of trying to sell 20 kilograms of hashish to the two undercover officers in February.

FA was arrested at the scene. MK escaped but was arrested two hours later as he tried to flee to Yemen.