DUBAI: Worries about spying by the US and Israel spurred plans to sharply limit BlackBerry services in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai’s police chief Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said in comments.

“The US is the primary beneficiary of having no controls over the BlackBerry, as it has an interest to spy on the UAE,” Dhahi Khalfan Tamim said.

“The West has accused us of curbing the liberties of BlackBerry users, while America, Israel, Britain and other countries are allowed access to all transferred data,” Tamim added.

The UAE says it will block BlackBerry e-mail, messaging and Web services Oct. 11 unless authorities can gain access to the encrypted data traffic — a demand by other countries warning of possible bans including India.

The proposed UAE action threatens BlackBerry service for an estimated 500,000 local subscribers and could tarnish reputation with potentially millions of visitors left without key BlackBerry services.

Dahi Khalfan Tamim said that fears of espionage and information sharing by Israel as well as United States and Britain helped prompt the possible limits on the popular BlackBerry.

Tamim told a conference on information technology that the proposed BlackBerry curbs are also “meant to control false rumours and defamation of public figures due to the absence of surveillance,” according to a report posted on Friday on the website of the UAE newspaper Al Khaleej.

UAE officials reportedly are still in talks with BlackBerry maker, Canada-based Research in Motion Ltd.