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The United Arab Emirates, across the Gulf from Iran, signed military deals worth 18.4 billion dirhams ($5 billion) during an arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi this week, a senior officer said on Thursday. Major-General Obaid al-Ketbi said the deals awarded at the five-day International Defence Exhibition were a five-fold rise over those signed at the last show in 2007, but denied that the Gulf Arab state was in the middle of an arms race. "There is no arms race in the region," Ketbi said. "We have a strategic plan ... Each country focuses on its plans." Iran has been locked...

SHARJAH // A gang that allegedly kidnapped the young sons of several wealthy Indian businessmen and gold merchants, beat them and burnt them with cigarettes, then extorted money by threatening to post videos of them crying on the internet, was arrested by police yesterday. Police said the five gang members, who called themselves “Death Room”, kidnapped at least five schoolchildren, most of them Indian, aged between 12 and 15. The men allegedly blackmailed the children’s parents with videos of the boys being tortured. The five are accused of snatching boys as young as 12 in Sharjah and filming them being...

Dubai: Washington-based Democrats Abroad, the official arm of the Democratic Party for Americans living abroad, formally approved a new chapter for the UAE on Wednesday. Democrats Abroad UAE (DA UAE) was launched last summer and has been active in discussions, debates and election-related events since. The UAE chapter is chaired by energy consultant Chris Hansen and its vice chair is Buffalo, New York, native Elizabeth Katkin. "We are so pleased to welcome Democrats Abroad UAE. We know that under Chris and Elizabeth's leadership, they will bring energy and enthusiasm to the entire organisation, and work hard to maintain our democratic...

F-16s, IDEXes Past, And The General Posted by Bill Sweetman at 2/25/2009 7:42 AM CST The F-16 is still selling, as Graham's post below reminds us. But I read that post on the same day that I was at IDEX - a show that I last visited in 1995, because when I worked for Another Company, the London office usually did that - and also remembered that retired Major General Khalid al Buainnain, now a very big wheel in UAE defense, was then Colonel Khalid. Even then he was clearly a rising star, with ambitions to see the UAE with...

Dubai’s Dramatic Drop   By Daniel PipesFrontPageMagazine.com | Wednesday, February 25, 2009 As the Muslim world settled into ever-deeper decline over the past decade, mired in political extremism, religious sickness, economic irrelevance, WMD, anarchy, dictatorship, and civil wars, Dubai stood out as a happy anomaly. Under the leadership of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai (one of seven polities within the United Arab Emirates) invited peoples from around the world to come make money and they did; about 83 percent of its population of 1.4 million is foreign. The emirate intelligently exploited the energy boom surrounding it...

UAE orders 48 trainer military aircraft 27 minutes ago ABU DHABI (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates announced on Wednesday it is ordering 48 military M346 trainer aircraft from Italian manufacturer Alenia Aermacchi, the IDEX defence show spokesman said. "Alenia Aermacchi will supply the UAE armed forces with 48 aircraft to cover its need for trainer planes," General Obeid al-Ketbi told reporters on the fourth day of the largest defence fair in the Middle East. He said the total value of the deal is still to be decided. "We still need some time to decide on the total value of...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Venus Williams won her 40th singles title Saturday, defeating Virginie Razzano of France 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championship. During the trophy presentation, Williams spoke about Shahar Peer, the Israeli player who was denied entry into the United Arab Emirates for the tournament because of what organizers called security concerns. "I felt like I had to talk about her," Williams said. "I thought it was brave of her to come here and try and play despite knowing that it is not going to be easy for her. My dad grew...

Bret Stephens on http://www.foxnews.com/journal/ "hits & misses", The Fining of UAE's denial of visa to Israeli tennis player is a "defeat for bigotry" WTA fines Dubai Open organisers after Israeli Shahar Peer denied visa - Feb 20, 2009 The Women's Tennis Association has fined the Dubai Open organisers $US300,000 ($A465,000) after the United Arab Emirates refused to grant a visa to Israeli ... http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,25086276-23209,00.html United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has no diplomatic links with Israel, denied her an entry visa into the country. "To discriminate as the UAE did against one player in this way smacks of bigotry and racism,"...

On Sunday I reported those Moderate Muslims in Dubai had refused Israeli Tennis Player Shahar Peer a Dubai visa. First let me congratulate The Tennis Channel for doing the right thing, the righteous thing, by refusing to air the matches. Human rights, not racism! Organizers of a women's tennis tournament said Tuesday that security fears were behind the decision to bar an Israeli player -- a move that could force another showdown when the men's play begins next week.

This is a follow up to yesterday's story about a Jewish tennis not being allowed into Dubai to play in the Dubai Tennis Championship. New Showdown After Dubai Blocks Israeli Player

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Wall Street Journal's European edition withdrew its sponsorship of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday after the United Arab Emirates denied a visa to Israeli player Shahar Peer. "The Wall Street Journal's editorial philosophy is free markets and free people, and this action runs counter to the Journal's editorial direction," the paper said in a statement.

Foreigners are fleeing Dubai in droves, abandoning their previously glitzy lives as the city feels the crunch of the economic downturn. With thousands of work visas being cancelled daily, what once was a bustling city with a booming economic future is now the backdrop for out-of-work financiers drowning their sorrows at the neighborhood coffee shops. As a full 90% of Dubai's population are foreign, the economic situation is looking grim for the UAE city. Mortgages are going unpaid, and there’s a reported 3,000 cars abandoned (and not fully paid for) at the airport as people leave the country (and their...

Could the Aero India F-16s bomb India in a war? Ajai Shukla / Yelahanka February 15, 2009, 0:43 IST As the F-16 fighter roars into the skies of Bengaluru at the Aero India 09 show, all attention is on the wonderful aerobatics display it puts up, not on the tiny flag of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on its tail. But the fact is, two of the four F-16s brought here by Lockheed Martin belong to the UAE Air Force. Two intriguing questions immediately arise: Firstly, were these aircraft flown, perhaps just days ago, by combat pilots from the Pakistani...

With Dubai’s economy in free fall, newspapers have reported that more than 3,000 cars sit abandoned in the parking lot at the Dubai Airport, left by fleeing, debt-ridden foreigners (who could in fact be imprisoned if they failed to pay their bills). Some are said to have maxed-out credit cards inside and notes of apology taped to the windshield. jobless people here lose their work visas and then must leave the country within a month. That in turn reduces spending, creates housing vacancies and lowers real estate prices, in a downward spiral that has left parts of Dubai... looking like...

JORDAN TIMES 8 Feb.'09:"Abu Dhabi to pay circumcision for converts" DUBAI (AFP) - Social security in the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi will cover the cost of circumcising men who convert to Islam, Al Bayan daily reported Saturday. The health authority in the capital of the United Arab Emirates said the government-backed insurance firm, Daman, has included circumcision operations in existing insurance policies for new Muslims, the paper said. Converts will have to present a certificate, issued by an Abu Dhabi court, attesting to their conversion. Authorities in the UAE, where expatriates represent more than 80 per cent of an...

DUBAI, JANUARY 29 - Almost 3,000 people, the majority of them women, from dozens of nationalities became Muslims in Dubai last year, it was announced as reported by Arabian Business online. A total of 2,763 individuals - 1,869 of them women - from 72 countries embraced Islam in 2008, an increase of 71% over 2007, according to figures released by the Islamic affairs and charitable activities department. Announcing the data, Hamad bin Al Sheikh Al Shaibani, director general of the department, said: "We are delivering our message properly by spreading Islamic culture and instilling national identity through giving greater attention...

Local police have found at least 3,000 automobiles -- sedans, SUVs, regulars -- abandoned outside Dubai International Airport in the last four months. Police say most of the vehicles had keys in the ignition, a clear sign they were left behind by owners in a hurry to take flight.

The Bush administration plans to sign a nuclear-cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday,according to officials involved in the negotiations,despite concerns in Congress. The pact, one of the administration's final foreign-policy acts, could help the U.A.E. become the first Arab nation to develop a nuclear-power industry as early as 2017, said these officials. The Bush administration has championed the agreement as a model for promoting peaceful nuclear energy,while guarding against weapons proliferation. Still, some U.S. lawmakers are seeking to block the U.A.E. deal over fears it could fuel a nuclear-arms race in the Middle East at a time...

The UK-based Daily Telegraph has reported that Iranian assets are being funneled back to Teheran using financial intermediaries in Dubai. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly authorized the transfers as fears rise that Iranian financial institutions may come under European Union sanctions. The Iranian media has reported that the move caused tension between the president and the governor of Iran's central bank, Tahmaseb Mazaheri, and that Mazaheri may resign as a result. Mazaheri took over the leadership of the central bank in 2007, as he replaced outgoing governor Ibrahim Sheibani who resigned due to Ahmadinejad's moves to influence the central bank's...

If Egypt wants to regain its lost prestige, it must not follow Iran Emile Hokayem, Political Editor Last Updated: December 09. 2008 9:24PM UAE / December 9. 2008 5:24PM GMT Middle Eastern politics have often a mild-mannered, almost obsequious quality in public, but less so behind closed doors, where interests and personalities often collide. This is no different from anywhere else in the world, except that Middle Eastern leaders face a disproportionate number of strategic and symbolic limitations that make them even more cautious in their public pronouncements. It only takes an accusation of being weak in support of the...

Proposed Cooperation With Middle Eastern Nation Would Face Hurdles in Congress on Proliferation Fears The Bush administration plans to sign its first nuclear-cooperation agreement with a Middle Eastern nation within the next few weeks, according to a senior U.S. official, raising concerns among congressional critics who say the deal could fuel nuclear proliferation in the region. The proposed deal with the United Arab Emirates has attracted attention because the U.A.E.'s largest trading partner is Iran. The U.A.E. has served in the past as a transshipment point for technology with military applications headed to Iran. The move could place President-elect Barack...

REPARATIONS FROM... ISLAMO ARABS???     Introduction   In light of the recent renewed talk about a ludicrous idea of "reparations" to African Americans because of past - slavery   On the stupidity of being obsessed with this past, the great M. Medved cleared the air [on his radio program on July 30, 2008, around 1:30 -1:35 PM PT]: Shall we include only those that are able to provide tracks of slavery - ancestry?That would come out to be a very small percentage of blacks?Shall we than also find those that can be proven to be with a linkage to 'slave owners',...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023702.php November 28, 2008 UAE to give 1 billion dollars to Pakistan Wonder if any of this money will -- somehow or other -- find its way to the jihadists, as part of the "financial jihad" (jihad al-mal)? "UAE to give $1bn to Pakistan," from the Daily Times, November 28 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm): ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed to provide $1 billion to Pakistan to help improve the country’s balance of payment situation, Investment Board Chairman Saleem H Mandiwala said on Thursday. He said that President Asif Ali Zardari’s...

The Government of Dubai has moved to protect its economy from a looming crisis of confidence by disclosing details of its previously secretive finances, merging and nationalising financial groups and putting the brakes on its property market. Mohamed Alabbar, a member of Dubai's executive council and chairman of Emaar Properties, said yesterday that the emirate's borrowings were $10 billion (£6.6 billion) and that state-affiliated companies owed a further $70 billion. Dubai's GDP was 198 billion United Arab Emirates dirhams (£35.6billion), which means that the ratio of its debt to gross domestic product is 148 per cent, compared with 57 per...

To the untrained eye they may look like rubble. But the ruins of a monastery and church discovered in Abu Dhabi tell a fascinating tale about a little-known period in the region's history. When the foundations were built, the Roman empire had just come to an end, Christianity was sweeping the world and Islam had not yet been born... The monastery and church, survivors of a Nestorian Christian period, are just two of 36 archaeological troves on the island. Others include the remains of villas with stucco decorations, pottery and basic furnishings, providing a glimpse into life in pre-Islam times....

“They belch, vomit, copulate, litter, and barge their way through public spaces, dressed like hookers and louts, defying the police without shame or modesty. British expatriates are some of the worst: overpaid, oversexed, and all over the place.” This is how Minette Marrin, writing in the Times, describes the British abroad, and with some justification. Marrin is responding to the case of well-heeled expatriates Michelle Palmer, 36, and Vince Acors, 34, who had drunken sex on a beach in Dubai and insulted a policeman who tried to caution them. The “couple” — or rather “copulating pair,” for they had only...

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices proved there is plenty of capital available during the credit crunch, provided that you've got the growth potential and price appeal to earn it. Advanced Micro Devices surged on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday after announcing that it was hopping into bed with investors in Abu Dhabi in a joint venture dubbed The Foundry. The deal, intended to shore up the firm’s finances and boost efficiency, will see AMD spin off three of its factories and get a multibillion-dollar cash infusion from one of the Persian Gulf state’s investment vehicles, Advanced Technology Investment. Investors...

The steady atrophy of America’s nuclear capabilities could lead to a dramatic reversal in the balance of power between the United States and Russia over the next two decades, a new article in the September/October issue of The National Interest has warned. “The United States faces major problems in the maintenance of its nuclear forces and infrastructure,” write the authors, Professor Bradley Thayer of Missouri State University and Thomas Skypek, a defense analyst with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. “It is the only nuclear country that cannot manufacture a new nuclear weapon because of a self-imposed moratorium, which has...

YouTube - aljazeera channel is an example of racism in the ARAB WORLD...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p94t2YkoGQo This Arab admits on video that: "the Arabs are the most racist people in the world".  

The US is considering selling an anti-missile system to the United Arab Emirates, which could be used to defend the UAE against any future aggression from Iran. THAAD is designed to defend against short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and complements the Patriot missile-defense system, which aims lower. The Pentagon is set to notify US Congress of the sale and Congress will then have 30 days to review the matter, sources close to the issue told news outlets on Monday. If approved, it would be the first sale of the THAAD system to a foreign country. The pursuit of advanced defense...

A new congressional study has found that more than 20 Muslim nations deny entry to American and other foreign religious workers, WND has learned, even as the U.S. State Department grants entry to hundreds of clerics from their countries each year. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and most other Middle Eastern countries still refuse to offer religious visas, they and deny entry to U.S. clergy as official policy, according to a report by the Law Library of Congress, the foreign legal research arm of the U.S. Congress. In a shocker, U.S. allies Afghanistan and Iraq also made the...

A Somali native accused of plotting to blow up a Columbus area mall is now in a legal holding pattern. A judge has ordered a psychological exam for Nuradin Abdi, but it may take three months for the results to be released. It appears the FBI started paying close attention to Abdi five years ago. That's when court documents accuse him of taking part in terrorist training, just four months after landing on US soil. In January, 1999 Abdi entered the US from the United Arab Emirates. ... Abdi returned to the US nearly a year later, in March of...

Commodity Online ABUDHABI : It seems that oil rich Middle East nations finally began to face the realities of core issues such as food shortages that continued to affect common man around the world. Faced with a scarcity of fertile land, water shortages and surging world food prices, wealthy Arab states in the Gulf are seeking to secure their food supplies by investing in agriculture abroad. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the top food importers among Arab countries in the Gulf, are now looking to Asia and Africa as opportunities for agricultural investments. UAE, which imports around 85...

The United Arab Emirates will reduce oil output by 150,000 to 200,000 barrels per day for 40 days in October and November for maintenance, an official at state oil company ADNOC said on Monday. The scheduled shutdown will cut oil output from the world's fifth-largest oil exporter by up to 7.5 percent. The OPEC-member pumped around 2.6 million bpd in June, a Reuters survey showed. "It's for 40 days, around 150,000 to 200,000 bpd," the official at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The work will cut output just as consumer oil demand rises...

The Saudi king's talk of tolerance and moderation notwithstanding, the Jewish state is proving to be a divisive issue at the religious conference that the Saudi monarch has convened here. The conference, the theme of which is interfaith dialogue, is an effort by the Saudi monarch to foster more cordial relations between imams in his country and Christian and Jewish religious leaders in the West. The conference is also drawing notice because Abdullah, whose kingdom includes the sites of Islam's two holiest places, denounced religious extremism during his address on Wednesday to the Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish leaders...

A Rochester native has filed a civil lawsuit against an Arab sheik who was convicted of beating him in the bar of a posh hotel in Geneva, Switzerland. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Diego, Calif., Silvano D. Orsi asks for an unspecified monetary amount from Sheik Falah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan for past, present and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of earning capacity. A police tribunal last month convicted the sheik, a member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, of inflicting "bodily harm with the...

The United Arab Emirates has written off debts of close to 4.5 billion euros owed by Iraq. It is the first country in the Gulf region to take such a step. In recent months, the United States has been urging Arab governments to support Iraq's recovery by joining Western nations in forgiving their share of Iraqi foreign debts. It is estimated that Iraq's total foreign debt comes to just over 50 billion euros.

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has cancelled the entire debt owned to it by Iraq, which totals just under $7 billion including interest and arrears payments, a UAE diplomatic source told Reuters on Sunday.

Seventeen women have been taken by police from a luxury hotel in Brussels amid allegations that they had been enslaved by an Arab royal family. Police officers and officials from Belgium's Labour Audit Authority raided the Conrad Hotel, the city's most prestigious and the preferred choice of many national leaders during European Union summits, on Tuesday evening. The operation was triggered by the apparent escape of a maid who was among 20 servants working for the widow of a senior royal figure from the United Arab Emirates and her four daughters who have rented the entire fourth floor of the...

ABU DHABI ? The United Arab Emirates has officially acknowledged that it captured a major Al Qaida leader and transferred him to U.S. custody. Al Nashiri, 36, was one of the leading fugitives in the Al Qaida network. He is believed to have directed or participated in the suicide attack on a French oil tanker off the Yemeni coast in October, the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Officials said Abu Dhabi relayed Abdul Rahim Al Nashiri to U.S. authorities last month, Middle East...

ABU DHABI — A leading Gulf firm in the United Arab Emirates whose plans to operate six U.S. ports was last year rebuffed by Congress, has been certified as a partner in a U.S. port security program. The state-owned Dubai Ports World has been certified as a partner in the Customs-Trade Partnership against Terrorism. DP World underwent a successful audit that determined the company met international ISO 28000 security standards required by C-TPAT. In 2007, DP abandoned plans to purchase a British company that operated six major ports in the United States, Middle East Newsline reported. Congress was opposed to...

Britain today raised its terror warning for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its highest level, raising the spectre of increased danger for an expatriate community which has doubled over the last two years. A statement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) website said today that terrorists were "planning to carry out attacks" in the country, where around 120,000 Brits live. The Jumeira Palm Island, one of thousands of developments in Dubai, in the UAE Latest figures show the UAE has the world's fastest-expanding number of British expats, up from 60,000 in 2006. The government fears that this grouping...

Middle East Buyers Target French Fighter Jet Lionel Laurent, LONDON - It's been 23 years, but finally the French "Rafale" fighter jet is close to getting a foreign buyer. The French government is currently negotiating orders of up to 100 Rafales with interested buyers from abroad, according to a radio interview with President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief-of-staff on Wednesday. The twin-engine, multi-purpose aircraft, which is manufactured by Dassault Aviation, has not had a single export order during its 23-year lifespan. Dassault would not comment on the discussions, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the United Arab Emirates and...

Dubai terror threat is no surprise Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom And there is often the feeling that any Islamic extremists plotting attacks in the UAE, rapidly becoming the financial centre of the Middle East, ...

Foreign Office raises United Arab Emirates threat level By Caroline Gammell Last Updated: 12:54PM BST 16/06/2008 British expatriates and tourists in the United Arab Emirates have been warned to exercise caution after the Foreign Office raised the risk of terrorism to its highest level. It said attacks on the UAE - which encompasses the popular shopping destination of Dubai and the wealthy capital of Abu Dhabi - could happen at any time and would be "indiscriminate" in their target. The terror threat - of which there are four levels - has been increased to high, which means a "high level...

Recent huge spikes in oil prices are "crazy" and unrelated to supply and demand fundamentals as world markets are adequately supplied with crude, the United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Tuesday. Still, the OPEC member would be pleased to join in a meeting with oil-consuming countries to discuss runaway prices because they are hurting economies, Mohammed al-Hamli said. Saudi Arabia will host such a gathering later this month. "There is no shortage of crude oil in the market. Inventory levels are huge," Hamli said after speaking at a conference in Canada. On Friday, US crude jumped $10.75 to a...

DUBAI: Doha Bank is in talks with JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley to help it sell $1bn of Islamic bonds to fund the Gulf’s first carbon credits exchange. The sale will probably happen in the first quarter of next year after being delayed from this October, Doha Bank chief executive R Seetharaman said in an interview in Dubai yesterday. “I want to make sure we have all the regulatory approvals for our Energy City project and that the borrowing is cost- effective,” Seetharaman said. Seetharaman said last year Doha Bank was working with the San Francisco, California-based RainTrust...

UAE eyes France's Rafale fighter ABU DHABI (AFP) — The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it was mulling replacing its fleet of French Mirage 2000 combat planes with the multi-role Rafale, which has yet to find an export market. "The UAE is seriously considering replacing its fleet of Mirage 2000 combat planes with the French new generation Rafale fighter starting in 2013," an official was quoted by the state WAM news agency as saying. "Discussions on this issue are under way between the UAE government and France," he said. The official did not give more details but the oil-rich...

DUBAI — His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, yesterday received US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Shaikh Mohammed and the visiting US official discussed ways of boosting bilateral cooperation in view of the new open markets policy which the US has adopted. Paulson told Shaikh Mohammed that the US would keep its markets open to Arab foreign investments and Sovereign Wealth Funds. The issue of the dollar pegging was also discussed. The UAE currency, said Shaikh Mohammed, will remain pegged to the dollar as long as it is...

Dubai is picking up the mantle of the financial capital of the world, as global banking sectors London and New York continue to fade on the back of the global credit crises. The new mantra in New York and London is "Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai or goodbye", as job losses mount in both cities while opportunities in the east continue to rise. Lehman Brothers on Tuesday became the latest investment bank moving one of its most senior positions to the UAE. Philip Lynch, the bank's co-head of equities for Europe and the Middle East, will be relocating to Dubai after serving...