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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...

They are countries so rich in oil and gas that they would never want for fuel to drive their booming economies and the lavish lifestyles of their rulers. Now, however, in a role reversal that makes selling sand to Saudi Arabia look like a sensible business transaction, the oil-rich Gulf states are planning to import coal. An acute shortage of natural gas has led to the city states of the United Arab Emirates seeking alternative fuels to keep the air cool, the lights on and the water running. Abu Dhabi is working with Suez, the French utility company, on a...

An Iranian-born United States citizen was sentenced here yesterday in US District Court to two years in prison and six months of home confinement for illegaly exporting US military aircraft parts to Iran via associates in Germany and the United Arab Emirates. Reza Tabib, 52, of Irvine, CA, pleaded guilty in June 2006 to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which prohibits the export and re-export to Iran of certain items of US origin. The prosecution is the result of a joint investigation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS). In...

Somalis storm hijacked UAE ship Forces from Somalia's Puntland region have stormed a UAE-flagged cargo ship hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden, local officials say. The men from the semi-autonomous region defeated the pirates after "brief fighting", the mayor of the region's Bosasso port told Reuters news agency. Seven pirates were arrested in the incident a day after the Al-Khaleej was hijacked, local officials said. Pirates also seized a Spanish fishing boat in the area at the weekend. At least three people were wounded in the incident, although the ship's crew were unhurt, local reports said. The ship...

DUBAI--Three Filipino workers who allegedly tore a page of the Muslim holy book the Koran and scribbled on it are being investigated on charges of blasphemy, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Their employer lodged a complaint with police in the conservative emirate of Sharjah based on a statement by a colleague, the English-language daily The National quoted an official at the Philippines consulate as saying. The employee said he saw his three colleagues commit the act deemed to be blasphemous in the United Arab Emirates, the paper said. The three men and seven other workers had been involved in a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wonder Woman, King Kong and Shrek are heading for the Persian Gulf as part of the rush to build what could become the world's largest theme park playground. But even as the ink dries on the billion-dollar deals in the United Arab Emirates, movie studios are grappling with ways to make their signature characters and amusement parks fly in the conservative Muslim region. Politically sensitive characters such as Captain America could be left at home. Prayer rooms will join the list of accommodations, and menus will likely feature falafel and humus alongside pizza and hot dogs....

NYU president John Sexton has been promised a blank check to duplicate his university on a desert island in Abu Dhabi. The expansion will leave both campuses flush with petrodollars. But to many faculty, the deal amounts to a sellout. John Sexton’s office, which sits on the top floor of NYU’s Bobst Library and boasts an impressive view north to Washington Square Park, has recently begun to resemble a shrine to Abu Dhabi. The university president has installed a massive Oriental rug, a gift from the crown prince, on one entire wall. On another hangs a framed portrait of the...

The foreign minister of the Sultanate of Oman, Yusef Bin Alawai Bin Abdulla, agreed to hold a short photo-op at the beginning of his meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Monday at the Sheraton Doha hotel. In the last eight years, since the Al-Aqsa intifada led to severing of relations between the two countries, Israeli and Omani foreign ministers have met mostly in secret, in European capitals or on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. When it comes to Israel's ties with the Arab world, progress is measured in millimeters. Therefore, although it might seem to be...

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to leave for Qatar Sunday for a two-day visit during which she is scheduled to speak at the opening of the Doha Forum on Democracy, Development and Free Trade. In her speech, Livni is expected to call on Arab nations to assist in the Israel-Palestinian peace process by promoting "gradual" normalization of ties with Israel, among other things. The foreign minister is scheduled to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, as well as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamed bin Jassem al-Thani. During her meetings with senior Qatari officials, Livni is...

The tallest building in the world and still growing Last updated at 15:21pm on 6th April 2008 It is the tallest man-made structure in the world – and it is still growing. When complete next year the Burj Dubai will stretch half a mile into the sky over the United Arab Emirates, taller than three Canary Wharf towers balanced on top of each other. Already 2,200ft tall, and the result of 22million man hours of labour, the Burj is the pinnacle of skyscraper engineering. Scroll down for more... When complete next year the Burj Dubai will be taller than three...

The BBC's Frank Gardner has followed 'hidden' Arab troops working closely alongside US soldiers in Afghanistan.

The BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner, can reveal that Arab soldiers have been taking part in dangerous missions alongside US troops in Afghanistan. Troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been delivering humanitarian aid to their fellow Muslims and, on occasion, fighting their way out of Taleban ambushes. Though Jordanian forces have been carrying out some base security duties, the UAE's troops are the only Arab soldiers undertaking full-scale operations in the country. Until now, their deployment has been kept so secret that not even their own countrymen knew they were here. In a windowless room, surrounded by sandbags,...

The United Arab Emirates has approved plans to pursue a nuclear power programme, saying it would invest $100m in an agency that plans to make it the first Arab state to develop atomic energy. The cabinet approved a plan for the formation of the Nuclear Energy Implementation Organisation, which will work alongside the International Atomic Energy Agency – the United Nations watchdog – as it builds nuclear power facilities. The government said it would import uranium, shunning the uranium enrichment process, the most sensitive aspect of a nuclear development programme. The move confirms the intention of the oil-rich federation to...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — For years, Sharla Musabih has fought a lonely battle to protect battered wives and victims of human trafficking here. She founded the Emirates’ first women’s shelter here and she became a familiar figure at police stations, relentlessly hounding officers to be tougher on abusive husbands. She has also earned many enemies. Emiratis do not often take kindly to rights advocates drawing attention to the dark side of their fast-growing city-state on the Persian Gulf, better known for its gleaming office towers and artificial islands. Still, no one was quite prepared for the stories that started...

The most important new forces in global business are aggressive, wealthy, and entrepreneurial. But they aren't corporations: they're authoritarian governments. IT WAS THE biggest corporate deal in the history of sub-Saharan Africa: Last October, a foreign firm spent nearly $6 billion for a chunk of Standard Bank, the South African company that has long dominated finance on the continent. more stories like this US: Olympic host China lacks freedoms Asian markets mixed China vows to control inflation China premier promises to cut pollution Wen says Olympics key for development Yet the foreign suitor was not Citigroup, or UBS, or some...

For 3,881 years, the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure ever built. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World had a lot to live up to even then. The Great Pyramid and its cohorts remain something to see: a feat of strength and wealth shouting to the world, “Look at me!” Well, there’s a new Pharaoh in town, and he’s building the world’s tallest buildings on the backs of foreign workers and foreign cash, just like old times. The Middle East once again holds the distinction of being home to the tallest structure on earth. Dubai alone has...

Pressure is mounting on central banks in the Gulf to fight surging inflation when they meet on Wednesday by severing the link between their currencies and the tumbling US dollar. Officials in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have denied rumours of an imminent decoupling, but investors are betting on reform and are rushing to buy local currencies as investment banks issue fresh calls for revaluation. Analysts said that, despite the momentum, the Gulf states were unlikely to decouple suddenly from the dollar. They predicted more measured moves towards links to a basket of currencies. “The feeling is [that] unilateral...

DOHA (AFP) — Thousands of Christians took part on Saturday in the first mass at Muslim Qatar's only church, opened this week despite threats from Islamists.Vatican envoy Cardinal Ivan Dias presided over the eucharist attended by around 15,000 worshippers at Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic church in Doha, thanking "God and Qatar for this great gift".The church, which like elsewhere in the Gulf Arab region has no bells or crosses on its exterior, opened on Friday ahead of western Christianity's celebration of Easter, which this year falls on March 23.It is the first of five to be constructed...

The Gulf states' dollar pegs restrict their ability to draw out monetary policy suiting domestic economic condition, independent of the US policy stance, the former FOMC Chairman Alan Greenspan said Monday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Most gulf states are experiencing record high of inflation, with Qatar reporting a 14% surge last year, followed by the UAE, Kuwait and other countries. Saudi Arabia's inflation hit a twenty seven year high of 7% in January, while UAE's inflation topped 9.3% in nineteen years during the month. The regional inflation average hit 6.3% in 2007, compared to 0.3% in 2001, according to Merrill...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - A license plate with nothing but the number "1" on it went for a record $14 million at a charity auction Saturday. Saeed Khouri, a member of a wealthy Abu Dhabi family, wouldn't say how many automobiles he owned or which of them might carry the record-breaking single-digit plate. "I bought it because it's the best number," said Khouri, whose family made its fortune in real estate. "I bought it because I want to be the best in the world." The oil-rich UAE began auctioning off vanity license plates last May. Ordinary automobile license...

KINSHASA, Congo -- A U.N.-backed body assigned to curb the sale of conflict diamonds suspended the Republic of Congo from the legitimate diamond trade on accusations the African nation sent millions of dollars in smuggled gems onto the world market. The suspension followed a May 31-June 4 mission to Republic of Congo that found the country was dealing in millions of carats of smuggled diamonds from other African countries. The West African country was sending the gems through the lesser diamond centers of Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates to avoid rigorous controls at the world's diamond hub, Antwerp, Belgium,...

MUMBAI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Services on two of three broken undersea cables providing Internet services to parts of the Middle East and Asia have been restored after both cables were repaired, an Indian-owned cable operator said on Sunday. FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of India's No. 2 mobile operator Reliance Communications (RLCM.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), said in a statement the breaks in its FLAG Europe-Asia (FEA) and FALCON cables had been repaired and services routed back through these cables. Web access in south Asia and parts of the Middle East was disrupted after breaks occurred in segments of two cables...

DUBAI — An estimated 1.7 million Internet users in the UAE have been affected by the recent undersea cable damage, an expert said yesterday, quoting recent figures published by TeleGeography, an international research Web site. Internet data was majorly affected as it is the biggest capacity carried by the undersea cables. However, all voice calls, corporate data and video traffic were also affected. Two du experts yesterday briefed the media on the current methods being undertaken by the telecom provider to re-route the Internet traffic to provide normalcy to the users. Quoting TeleGeography and describing the effect the cuts had...

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) -- You expect a motorist to shell out a little extra cash for a vanity license plate. Number 5 fetched $6.75 million, now the UAE is likely to set another record. But nowhere is the craze for a unique plate more intense than in the United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich Persian Gulf nation that holds the world record for the six most expensive plates. Here, it's all about how low you can go -- with people battling it out at auctions to win the chance to show off license plates with the lowest digit....

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Tiger Woods birdied five of his final seven holes Sunday to rally from a four-shot deficit and grab a dramatic victory at the Dubai Desert Classic for a sixth title in his last seven events. One week after winning the Buick Invitational by eight shots, Woods fired a seven-under 65 for a 14-under total of 274 and then waited to see if Ernie Els could catch him. Needing a birdie on the par-five 18th to force a playoff, overnight leader Els hit his tee shot into the water and made bogey...

Iran Says French Base in Gulf "Not Conducive" to Peace February 03, 2008 Reuters Fredrik Dahl TEHRAN -- Iran declared on Sunday that a French military base in the Gulf would not help security and peace in the oil-rich region. Paris signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates in January to build France's first permanent military installation in the Gulf, just across the water from Iran. The base will accommodate 400 to 500 personnel, keeping France within reach of sea lanes through which over a third of global oil shipments pass. "We are against any kind of increase in...

  The Wall Street “Sheikh-Up”   By Jonathan SchanzerFrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, February 01, 2008 The stock market is undergoing a dizzying correction. The subprime mortgage mess has forced credit markets to dry up and has hammered U.S. securities. Fears of recession recently sparked one of the worst stock sell-offs in years. But the worst may be yet to come. While Americans are selling their positions in U.S. companies, Middle Easterners flush with petrodollars are aggressively gobbling up these stocks at fire sale prices. Moreover, as American financial institutions report the losses that forced them to deplete their cash reserves,...

Six gulf states control sovereign wealth fund assets of some $1.7 trillion. Here are the men who manage these funds The men who manage the so-called sovereign wealth funds of the Persian Gulf for their governments are quickly becoming some of the world's most powerful money managers. They are using billions from Persian Gulf oil revenues to change the face of global finance by buying big chunks of blue chip companies, partnering with private equity firms to do buyouts, and increasingly snapping up companies on their own. As the credit crisis deepens, investment banks and buyout firms are stepping back...

Petrodollar rich foreign governments buy their way into US board rooms - click the link to watch the video

The cleanest city in the entire world will take root next month in Abu Dhabi, a place best known for its oil. -snip- In February, Masdar (which means "the source" in Arabic) will break ground on the six-square-kilometer city that its backers say will be the first zero-pollution, zero-waste city. The city will be capable of housing 47,500 people, who are scheduled to start moving there in 2009. Construction is expected to take 10 years. -snip- No cars will be allowed in the city. People will get around through an electric light-rail system that will be linked to the center...

Today the President continued his tour of the middle east. Completing his visit to the UAE and then arriving in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. First Lady Laura Bush presented national medals for Museum and Library Services in the East Room. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

While radical Islamists fight to restore the Dark Ages, a modernizing sheikhdom invests in Western culture. Each month, 25,000 people from around the globe arrive in the United Arab Emirates, seeking jobs, contracts, and political stability. Walk past the gleaming new skyscrapers, government buildings, fountains, and shopping malls that line the immaculate tree-lined corniche in Abu Dhabi—or those in neighboring Dubai, only a 90-minute drive away—and you’ll hear dozens of languages. Most people wear Western clothes; you see relatively few dishdashas, the flowing white robes usually worn by Arab men in the Persian Gulf. There are no bearded mullahs on...

Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island The President continues his travels to Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt from January 8-16, 2008. Please .. especially 'til he and his party are safely home .. Pray for President Bush ~~ Day 2677