Biden apologises to UAE over terrorism comments

US Vice President Joe Biden has apologised for his comments, made last week, alleging that the UAE funds terrorist organisations.

According to the UAE’s The National newspaper, Biden telephoned Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on Sunday night to apologise for his statements made earlier in the week at a US university.

During Sunday's call, Biden reportedly praised the UAE for its support in the fight against IS, as well as the UAE’s historic role in tackling extremism and terrorism, WAM the official news agency reported. He also thanked the UAE for working toward regional stability and said that he was looking forward to enhancing bilateral relations with the Emirates.

The UAE is one of the five Arab states that have joined the US-led anti-IS coalition that began launching strikes over Syria in late September.  

On Thursday, Biden slammed the UAE alongside fellow coalition member’s Saudi Arabia and Turkey, who voted to join the anti-IS alliance on Thursday.

"Our biggest problem is our allies," Biden told an audience at Harvard University, while specifically naming the three states and accusing them of exploiting the war in Syria to launch a “proxy Sunni-Shia war”.

"What did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad - except that the people who were being supplied were the al-Nusra [Front] and al-Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world," he said.

Earlier on Sunday, Anwar Gargash, UAE’s foreign minister, expressed “astonishment” at accusation.

Biden’s comment also swiftly sparked condemnation from Turkey, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, questioning Biden’s remarks in which the US vice president claimed that Erdogan had admitted to letting “too many people through” in a reference to the thousands of militants who are suspected of having crossed from Turkey to Syria.

Erdogan said: "I have never said to him that we had made a mistake, never. If he did say this at Harvard then he has to apologise to us."

Biden quickly issued an apology to Turkey on Sunday over the comments.

"The vice president apologised for any implication that Turkey or other allies and partners in the region had intentionally supplied or facilitated the growth of [Islamic State] or other violent extremists in Syria," Biden's office said on Saturday in a statement.