United Arab Emirates telecommunications giant Etisalat intends to cut off any customers that abuse Internet services and violate the conservative Gulf Arab state’s order and clear laws, the official WAM news agency said. The development came after a rare public row between Etisalat and the Dubai police chief over the Internet which underlined concern in the Gulf over access to the Internet in the Middle East’s most conservative region where newspapers, magazines, books and films are censored; the police chief said the information ministry and the police, rather than Etisalat, should be authorized to issue Internet licenses. Etisalat should be authorized to connect lines only once applications have been cleared by ministry and police, he said.
