UAE holds Britons on bugging claims

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Eight Britons are among 19 mostly foreign workers arrested in the United Arab Emirates for allegedly using illegal surveillance equipment.

Reuters said staff at three companies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were arrested last week after a series of police raids on companies involved in corporate research and commercial investigation.

Those detained include eight Britons -- seven men and a woman -- and nationals from the Philippines, Morocco, Jordan and Yemen.

The Dubai prosecutor's office, which is handling the investigation, has refused to comment on the case.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman in London said: "Dubai police have said they are being held in connection with illegal surveillance equipment."

A spokeswoman at the British embassy in Dubai said consular staff would visit the seven British men and one woman on Sunday.

She said one of the British suspects had issued a statement saying all those arrested were being treated well and "in a highly professional way."

"Without exception we have been treated with the utmost respect and courtesy at all times," the statement said.

"We have been in touch with our lawyers who have also been in contact with the public prosecutors. There are considerable efforts to expedite the matter quickly."

No charges have been made, the embassy spokeswoman told Reuters.

She listed the companies involved as SSS Corporate Research, Middle East Research Group (MERG) and Vision and Leisure International.

SSS Corporate Research has been in the UAE since 1994 and works closely with economic departments to coordinate raids on rogue traders selling counterfeit goods, according to local papers.

Dubai-based MERG provides corporate intelligence and fraud investigation. Abu Dhabi-based Leisure International is a consultancy firm specialising in market research and fraud.