German Think-Tank Says It's Forced out of UAE A think tank with links to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party said Thursday it is shutting its office in Abu Dhabi after officials there ordered that it end its activities in the United Arab Emirates. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation's chairman, Hans-Gert Poettering, said no "comprehensible reasons" were given for the decision, which he described as unexpected and sudden. The organization was one of several pro-democracy and human rights groups targeted in a separate recent crackdown by the Egyptian government, an episode that strained relations with Berlin. "After our experiences in Egypt, we not only regret this decision, but consider it an alarm signal if non-governmental organizations and political foundations are increasingly unwanted in the Arab world," Poettering said in a statement. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle twice pressed his UAE counterpart to reconsider the decision over the past week, according to Westerwelle's ministry. Merkel herself said she regrets the closure - but added that it apparently was part of a wider move by UAE authorities. Officials there say the decision "is not directed against the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, but involves the overall closure of foundations," Merkel told reporters in Berlin. She added that Germany would try to "continue close cooperation" with the UAE. The foundation said that it started working in the UAE on the basis of an invitation issued by the Emirates in 2008 and has been working to get a legal registration since. Its office in Abu Dhabi was opened in June 2009.