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Dubai's government will not guarantee the debts of state-owned Dubai World, a senior finance official said on Monday. "Creditors need to take part of the responsibility for their decision to lend to the companies. They think Dubai World is part of the government, which is not correct," Abdulrahman al-Saleh, director general of Dubai's department of finance, said on Dubai TV, according to Reuters. The comments raised worries about how creditors and companies with exposure to Dubai World will fare in a restructuring without a government guarantee of the debts. Dubai World, the conglomerate behind the emirate's astonishing rise, triggered a...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A top Dubai finance official says heavily indebted Dubai World is not guaranteed by the emirate's government. Abdulrahman al-Saleh, director general of Dubai's Finance Department, says lenders to the conglomerate bear some responsibility for the current crisis. (snip) Al-Saleh said while Dubai owns Dubai World, it has been known since the conglomerate was established that it was independent and that it "is not guaranteed by the government."

FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell on Friday but traded off their lows, as Dubai World's debt woes fueled a sell-off in commodities and stocks, while the U.S. dollar gained against its rivals. Gold for December delivery tumbled from a high of $1,195 an ounce to an intraday low of $1,130.10 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. That is a decline of nearly $65, or more than 5%. In recent trading, gold fell $26.80, or 2.3%, to $1,160.20 an ounce.

Dow Futures down 327 as of 2:41AM. NASDAQ down 70.75. S&P down 41.70.

A former French spy has told how, after being accused of a multimillion-pound fraud in Dubai, he disguised himself as an Arab woman and fled to international waters in a rubber dingy. Herve Jaubert, who served in the French intelligence service until March 1993, said that he drew on his experience to escape after a joint business venture turned sour. He said that he had been running a business in America building submarines when he was approached by Dubai World, a state-owned conglomerate, to form a joint venture making submarines, and he moved to Dubai in 2004. “Like an idiot...

6 Apr 2009 MGM hires bank to sell casino assets: Source NEW YORK: MGM Mirage to advise on selling a number of its casinos, and is talking to potential buyers about the assets, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday. The No. 2 casino operator, controlled by billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, is grappling with weak consumer demand and reduced access to credit. The casino firm is hoping to raise money to meet debt payments and also to fund a troubled project it jointly owns with Dubai World called CityCenter, the source said. MGM Mirage, which said in March that...

Nakheel Hotels has bought a 50 percent interest in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort for $375 million. The iconic hotel is in the midst of a $500 million renovation and is expected to open during the second half of 2008. Aventura-based Turnberry Associates bought the hotel in 2005. The Dubai emirate manages Nakheel, the hotel group's parent company. It developed the Palm Islands in Dubai and recently partnered with Busch Entertainment Corp., the family entertainment division of Anheuser-Busch Cos., to put four theme parks on the man-made islands. "We are extremely pleased to have a world-class organization such as Nakheel,...

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian and MGM’s Board of Directors are expected to announce today (WED) that certain members of the Royal Family of Dubai- a Mid-East oil-rich kingdom - are buying into MGM Mirage and its $7-billion City Center hotel-condo complex. My Wall Street sources are abuzz this morning saying the multi-billion dollar deals signal the next phase of corporate takeovers and foreign investment into the booming Vegas gaming and hospitality business.Kirkorian’s company, Tracinda that owns his share of MGM is reducing his stake from 54.15% to 51.65% in the transaction and Wall Street believes that Dubai World will ultimately buy...

A holding company for the Persian Gulf state of Dubai has laid down a big marker on the Las Vegas Strip _ a $5 billion investment that gives it a chunk of MGM Mirage and 50 percent of a massive entertainment complex the casino operator is building. Dubai World will pay $2.7 billion for half of the 76-acre CityCenter complex under construction in the heart of the Strip, and buy up to $2.4 billion in MGM Mirage Inc. stock, the company said Wednesday.