Illicit tour guide charged with bribery, court told



DUBAI // A man tried to bribe an officer who caught him providing tourist services without a licence and permit, a court was told today.

ZD, 30, from China, charged with offering a bribe to a Dubai police officer in return for deleting a Dh5,000 fine issued against him.

According to records, ZD was spotted by AM, 23, a police officer with Dubai's CID Tourism Security Department, while giving a tour to two Chinese men and a woman on June 2.

AM testified that he saw him showing them around Jumeirah Souq in Um Suqeim, so he approached ZD and asked about his activity.

"I showed him my police ID because I was in my traditional clothes," said AM, adding that ZD told him the men and woman were his friends and only spoke Chinese.

AM contacted dispatch for a Chinese translator, who questioned the three people. They said they were tourists and that ZD was providing them with a tour around Dubai.

At that point AM wrote down ZD's car and driving licence details to issue him a fine, but ZD requested to talk to him privately, he said.

"He grabbed some money from his right pocket and tried to put it in my hand in return for deleting his details and canceling the fine," AM said.

ZD did not appear before the Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance this morning and is expected in court on October 10.

salamir@thenational.ae

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi

Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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A foster couple or family must:

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  • have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
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  • A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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