ABU DHABI // An extended version of a recent television interview with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will air on CNN tomorrow morning.
The cable television news station has said it will release a portion of the interview that was not aired, including extra comments Sheikh Mohammed made about the Arab Spring.
In the interview excerpts, Sheikh Mohammed is asked if the reason behind the recent increase in salaries for Government workers was because he is worried about the unrest from the Arab Spring.
"No, it's not because of the Arab Spring; we did it before the Arab Spring started," Sheikh Mohammed told the interviewer Erin Burnett.
Parts of the interview were filmed as the two walked through the Mall of the Emirates on UAE National Day earlier this month.
"If you look at the last 10 years, you see that we have doubled [the salaries] a few times," said Sheikh Mohammed.
In a previous interview that CNN aired on December 6, Sheikh Mohammed said of the Arab Spring: "The people want jobs, they want opportunities, and they are asking for it."
Sheikh Mohammed said there was no current threat of political unrest in Gulf countries.
"I think this period of time, you know, every 100 years this might happen again, you know?" he said.
"You have to be careful: you don't know what is happening, you know, here or there. But I think the Gulf states are safe for the time being."
The Erin Burnett OutFront show will air tomorrow at 8am on CNN.
