Caller who threatened to bomb Dubai landmarks jailed

Man who threatened to blow up some of Dubai's landmarks claimed he telephoned a random number but did not realise he was speaking to the police.

DUBAI // A man who confessed in court this month to threatening to bomb some of Dubai's landmarks was sentenced yesterday to three years in prison followed by deportation.

HA, a driver from Pakistan, told the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance that he did not realise he was talking to police officers at Dubai International Airport when he asked for Dh1 million.

He said he had dialled a number at random and made the threat because he needed money. He also told the court that he mentioned in his threats brands of explosives he had heard named in Indian films.

Officers MA and AA told prosecutors that about 9am on August 22, 2010, they received a phone call from the man while they were on duty at the airport.

MA said the man threatened to kill him and also to destroy landmarks in Dubai if he did not give him the money and also help three of his friends to escape from detention.

MA said he asked which landmarks the caller was targeting, and the man said trade centres and skyscrapers, records show.

HA told the police officers that his friends, all Bangladeshis, were being held in Sharjah for killing an Emirati man.

The officers told prosecutors they tried to persuade him to tell them specifically what he was planning to blow up, but he would not.

Dubai and Sharjah police traced the man's telephone number, and he was located and arrested.