The source told DPA on condition of anonymity that another man was sentenced to one year in jail for obscenity and other 14 were acquitted in the same case.

The source said the sentence is not final and it will go to appeal. Legal observes in the UAE said they expect a more lenient sentence when the case goes to appeal.

Police arrested the 26 men in November last year in a hotel in Ghantout, a desert region on the Dubai-Abu Dhabi highway.

Half of the men - including UAE nationals, Arabs and Asians - were dressed as women, with make-up and hairstyles, and the others were dressed in Arab attire.

Both homosexuality and cross-dressing are illegal in the UAE.