UAE: New head of Hedeyah

A new chairman was appointed to the Hedeyah Countering Violent Extremism Centre in Abu Dhabi in late February, Abu Dhabi Educational Council (Adec) director general and executive council member for Abu Dhabi Dr Ali Rashid Al-Noaimi. Hedeyah was created out of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) and inaugurated in December 2012. Among Hedeyah’s recent initiatives was a 27-28 January meeting organised with the International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law (IIJ) in Valetta, Malta, on the Rehabilitation of Returning Foreign Terrorist Fighters (RFTF) Program. Coping with returnees from jihad is a focus issue for Hedeyah.