A WESTERN academic has been banned from entering the UAE to attend a conference on the Arab Spring, based on his criticisms of Bahrain.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) research fellow Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen was supposed to speak at a conference, organised by the American University of Sharjah (AUS) and the LSE, on the situation in Bahrain.
The official UAE news agency WAM confirmed he was prevented from entering the country because he consistently propagated views delegitimising the Bahraini monarchy.
"The UAE took the view that at this extremely sensitive juncture in Bahrain's national dialogue, it would be unhelpful to allow non-constructive views on the situation in Bahrain to be expressed from within another GCC state," it said.
"This decision in no way reflects the strong ties with both the AUS and LSE and their academic excellence, however, in this very specific case, it was important to avoid disruption at a difficult point in Bahrain's national dialogue process which we fully support."
Meanwhile, the LSE announced it was pulling out of the conference since it was concerned about restrictions that "threatened academic freedom".
The conference examined the causes of the Arab Spring and its ongoing impact in the region and beyond.
"The London School of Economics and Political Science has cancelled a conference it was co-hosting with the American University of Sharjah on The Middle East: Transition in the Arab World," it said in a statement.
"The decision was made in response to restrictions imposed on the intellectual content of the event that threatened academic freedom."