Thirty Emiratis and Egyptians were convicted of setting up an illegal branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and sentenced to up to five years in jail in the UAE on Tuesday.

The UAE was rattled by the rise of Islamists in the aftermath of the uprisings that rocked the Arab world from 2011.

It watched with relief as Egypt's army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Mursi, who is from the Brotherhood, in July after mass protests against his rule and has poured in billions of dollars to support the army chief who deposed him.

The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi handed the men sentences ranging from three months to five years in prison, state news agency Wam said on Tuesday, without elaborating.

Twenty Egyptians, six of them tried in absentia, and 10 Emiratis, had been charged with setting up an illegal branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE, stealing and airing state security secrets and collecting funds illegally.

The defendants had denied all the charges, a family member of one of the detainees told Reuters after the opening of the trial in November.

A source close to the UAE government told Reuters: "The trial took place in a transparent manner. The proceedings went according to the legal and juridical laws and regulations in the UAE." - Reuters