The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain have warned citizens traveling in the United States to be careful around protests over police shootings. A "special alert" issued by the United Arab Emirates Embassy to Washington on Saturday urged citizens to stay away from demonstrations in US cities. State news agency WAM said the warning followed a protest by supporters of the "Black Lives Matter" movement in Washington on Friday. Bahrain issued its own advisory on Twitter, telling nationals to be "cautious of protests or crowded areas." The US State Department routinely issues travel advisories for Americans abroad. On Friday, the Bahamas put out its own advisory about US travel, saying young men especially should "exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police." Earlier this month, the UAE had urged men to avoid wearing the white robes, head scarf and headband of the national dress when traveling abroad, after a businessman visiting the US was wrestled to the ground and held as a Daesh (the so-called IS) suspect. The Emirati man, Ahmed Al-Menhali, was detained in Avon, Ohio, after a female clerk at a local hotel called 911 to report what she had described as a man affiliated to Daesh. Outraged over the incident, the UAE had summoned a senior US diplomat to protest the "abusive treatment" of its citizen. The US ambassador to the UAE Barbara Leaf later expressed her regret, terming it as an "unfortunate incident." Meanwhile, demonstrations across the US continued into the early hours of Sunday, five days after Alton Sterling — a 37-year-old black man and father of five — was killed by white police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His death was followed by the police killing in Minnesota of Philando Castile, a young, black man who worked at a local school serving food to children. — Agencies (Related report on page 6)
