UAE foreign ministry shuts two western pro-democracy groups

The UAE has told two western government-funded pro-democracy organisations to leave the country, citing licensing issues. The US State Department-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Germany’s Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), also targeted in a recent crackdown in Egypt, were given three months to go, KAS said. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have criticised the move.