Trump win could spark 'clash of civilisations': UAE general

A senior Arab Gulf security official warned that a “clash of civilisations” between the West and the Islamic State (IS) militant group would erupt if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election.

Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, who is Dubai’s deputy chairman of police and security, invoked political scientist Samuel Huntington's theory of a future war fought between opposite cultures when suggesting a Trump victory could fuel a battle of opposites against IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

"If Trump beats Hillary [Clinton] that means that the scenario of the clash of civilizations created by Samuel will come to light at the hands of the candidate and [IS leader] al-Baghdadi,” Tamim tweeted on Friday.

Tamim's comments came after the Republican presidential candidate refused to retract his comment that “Islam hates the West” during Thursday’s Republican debate in the state of Miami.

Some of the responses to Tamim's tweet said that it is Hillary Clinton, not Trump, who will win. Others wrote that it didn't matter which presidential candidate won the elections as the next president will always act upon the interests of the American people and the Zionist lobby.

Trump caused international outrage in December when he said that if he won the presidency he would call for the temporary ban of all Muslims from entering the US to stem terrorism.

His comments regarding Hispanic immigrants and black activist movements have also provoked minorities in the US, and his rally in Chicago, Ilinois was cancelled on Friday after thousands of protesters converged on the venue.

A Middle East company, the Dubai-based Landmark Group, said it would pull all Trump home decor products at its 180 Lifestyle stores in the region as it "values and respects the sentiments of its customers”. 

Last week, UK-based advocacy group the Islamic Human Rights Organisation (IHRO) named the Republican presidential hopeful "the world's worst Islamophobe" at an annual event in London.