File Photo/Somali Times
Leaked documents reveal that a private Swiss-based intelligence firm, acting on behalf of the United Arab Emirates, commissioned an investigation to gather data on American Muslim organizations and individuals in an effort to link them to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The report, prepared in 2018, was authored by Lorenzo Vidino—currently the director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University—according to *Drop Site News*, the outlet that obtained the confidential documents.
Titled “The MB in the US,” the report listed dozens of American Muslim individuals and organizations, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Islamic Society of North America, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Muslim American Society, and Islamic Relief USA.
However, *Drop Site News* reported that the document failed to provide evidence substantiating the allegations that these organizations were part of a covert Muslim Brotherhood network.
Neither Vidino nor the Geneva-based firm Alp Services responded to requests for comment from the media. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs also did not respond. A major intelligence operation.
Documents reveal that Alp Services commissioned Vidino to investigate what it termed Muslim Brotherhood networks in the United States, while preparing a “map” compiling organizations, charities, academics, businesspeople, and politicians suspected of having ties to the group.
Vidino sent the U.S. report and other research to the company in May 2018; documents indicate that a fee of 2,000 euros was allocated for the report, according to Drop Site News.
In July of that same year, Alp prepared the data for an Abu Dhabi-based firm named ARIAF Studies and Research LLC, which documents identify as Alp’s Emirati client.
A comprehensive plan devised by Alp also involved the use of negative media coverage, leaking confidential information to journalists, altering Wikipedia pages, providing data to financial risk assessment firms, and campaigning against targeted individuals and organizations.
This initiative is part of a previously revealed European operation known as “Abu Dhabi Secrets.” An investigation conducted by Mediapart and the European Investigative Collaborations network previously revealed that Alp provided Emirati intelligence with the names of over 1,000 individuals and 400 organizations across 18 European countries between 2017 and 2020, all accused of having ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The documents obtained also indicated that, during that period, Alp received at least 5.7 million euros from an Emirati entity.
Salam Al-Marayati, head of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, rejected the allegations contained in the U.S. report.
“These tactics have been used against us all these years to marginalize us and exclude us from politics,” he told Drop Site News.
Increased U.S. pressure
The disclosure of these documents comes at a time when the United States has intensified pressure on certain branches of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In November 2025, President Donald Trump ordered his administration to assess the possibility of designating some of the organization’s branches as terrorist groups.
In January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury added the Egyptian and Jordanian branches of the Muslim Brotherhood to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists, accusing them of providing material support to Hamas. The U.S. State Department also designated the Lebanese branch, known as al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah, as a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist entity.
The U.S. measures applied to specific branches and did not constitute a blanket designation of the entire Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.
The United Arab Emirates, which had added the Muslim Brotherhood to its own terrorist list in 2014, welcomed the U.S. move.
Meanwhile, the dispute regarding the relationship between Alp and Vidino reached U.S. courts.
In 2024, a businessman named Hazim Nada filed a lawsuit against the UAE, Alp, Vidino, and other parties, alleging their involvement in a campaign to destroy his company and disseminate terrorism-related accusations.
In September 2026, a federal judge dismissed most of the lawsuit on legal grounds and also rejected a RICO claim against Vidino, stating that the complaint failed to sufficiently demonstrate his knowing participation in the alleged conspiracy.
The court, however, did not rule on whether the broader allegations regarding the smear campaign were true or…