Posts from multiple users on social media platform X since Tuesday shared an alleged letter from the United Arab Emirates embassy requesting the government to take action on propaganda against the UAE president and his interaction with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. However, the letter is fake as confirmed by the UAE embassy’s spokesperson.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrived at Rahim Yar Khan Airport on Sunday where Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif welcomed him. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was also present and greeted the visiting dignitary with a handshake.

She faced criticism from PTI supporters who labelled her handshake inappropriate. AI-generated videos of her interaction with the UAE president were also widely circulated online in propaganda against her.

On Tuesday, an X user, who appeared to be anti-PTI based on their past posts, shared a letter or circular from the UAE embassy in Islamabad to the Foreign Office (FO).

The post was captioned: “A letter from the United Arab Emirates embassy has surfaced, in which they have lodged an official complaint with Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The complaint alleges that an account named ‘Joker’, linked to Salman Akram Raja, is making indecent and defamatory remarks about the honourable Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. Individuals associated with the disruptive group, including Adil Raja, Azhar Mashwani, and Jibran Ilyas, have also started spreading such remarks about Sheikh Zayed. The government should collaborate with the UAE to issue red warrants against all these individuals and ensure they face the strictest possible punishment.”

The post gained 61,000 views.

The text of the alleged letter is reproduced below:

“The embassy of the United Arab Emirates presents its compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and wishes to bring to your attention a matter of grave concern.

An X account with the handle @jokkeerrr2 has been observed posting malicious and derogatory content regarding his highness Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is currently on a private visit to Pakistan. The account has used a manipulated image with his highness greeting the honourable chief minister of Punjab, Ms Maryam Nawaz, while spreading false and defamatory narratives.

Upon investigation, it has been ascertained that this account is linked with Mr Salman Akram Raja, son of [redacted] having CNIC number [redacted] who is presently serving as secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

Such actions are deeply regrettable and carry potential to harm the longstanding and brotherly relations between UAE and Pakistan. While this embassy strongly condemns these attempts, it respectfully requests the esteemed Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), specifically its Cybercrime Wing, to investigate and take appropriate action against the individuals responsible for these malicious activities while sharing outcome with this embassy at the earliest.

The embassy remains confident in Pakistan’s commitment to preserving the strong and historic ties between our two nations and appreciates the Ministry’s cooperation on this urgent matter.

The embassy avails itself of this opportunity to renew to the Ministry of the assurances of its highest cooperation.“

The letter with similar claims was widely shared by PML-N supporters and anti-PTI users as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality, keen public interest in affairs between the UAE and Pakistan, and also because of the rampant misinformation surrounding the UAE president’s visit to Pakistan.

A detailed examination of the letter, scrutinising elements such as the font, grammatical accuracy and overall formatting, showed that it did not seem out of line with prior circulars from the embassy.

Upon closer inspection, a significant anomaly was identified: the serial number (No. 7/8/6-1334) in the upper right corner of the letter matched the serial number found in a [press release]
(https://gnnhd.tv/news/4684/uae-allows-pakistanis-to-travel-with-attested-covid-immunization-certificate) issued by the UAE embassy on July 14, 2021, regarding Covid-19 restrictions.

It is important to note that serial numbers in official documents, including press releases, are designed to be unique to each correspondence. This can be observed in the following two notifications from the UAE embassy on July 14 and 15 in 2021 regarding Covid-19 protocols with serial numbers ending in 1334 and 1336.

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A keyword search for “UAE embassy letter” to corroborate if the alleged letter was covered in reporting by mainstream media and news outlets yielded no results, even on sources or condition of anonymity.

Given that the alleged letter was a day old, it could reasonably be expected for major news organisations to have covered it if it was legitimate.

Dawn correspondent Abdullah Momand reached out to Khalid Awan, spokesperson for the UAE embassy in Islamabad, who termed the letter a “fake”.

Meanwhile, newly appointed FO Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan told the correspondent: “MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) has not received any such note.”

Finally, a thorough review of PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja’s timeline on X revealed no participation, comments, or remarks related to the controversy around the Punjab chief minister and the UAE president’s interaction.

On the contrary, Raja took to his profile to address the rumours by quoting a video in which he expressed positive sentiments about the arrival of the UAE president.

“This is the only statement I have made about the respected president of the UAE, who is our honoured guest. I have nothing whatsoever to do with any X handle that has carried derogatory content, and I condemn such content,” he said.

In a separate post, Raja reiterated his stance, stating: “Thank you. I will pursue this matter and seek action against those spreading fake letters and making false accusations.”

Furthermore, in a different X post, he distanced himself from any smear campaign involving CM Maryam, writing: “All acts of vulgarity, of demeaning women of any political affiliation, and spreading fake images and texts for any purpose, including political point scoring, are despicable. All such acts sadden me, especially when carried out by those who seek a politics of dignity & freedom.”

Therefore, the fact-check determined that the claim that an alleged letter from the UAE embassy to the Pakistani government requesting action against propaganda around the UAE president’s visit is false.

The letter is fake as confirmed by the UAE embassy and its use of a prior circular’s serial number.

This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ and UNDP.