Fateh leader Mohammed Dahlan has decided to withdraw his case against the site, which he accused of involvement in the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, after confirming the loss, which would cost him half a million pounds in fees to lawyers.
Two weeks after the failed coup attempt in Turkey in July 2016, journalist David Hurst published a Middle East Eye report confirming Dahlan and the UAE's involvement in the attempt, citing Turkish security sources.
Dahlan began the lawsuit almost a year later, and his lawyers claimed that their client had "a perfectly normal relationship with the UAE" and the trial was due to be held in November.
According to the Middle East Eye website, Dahlan's lawyers filed a notice to stop the trial, accepting full responsibility for the legal costs, which means that Dahlan will pay at least 500,000 pounds for his lawyers and defense lawyers.
Hirst commented on Dahlan's retreat as proof of the authenticity of the report, which is still published on the site, saying that the prosecution was aimed at silencing him, and that Dahlan retreated when he saw that they were ready to defend the report.
The report said Dahlan sent money and contacted the US-based Turkish dissident Fethullah Gulen, the main suspect in the coup plot, weeks before the failed coup attempt.