#sumaya al-attia

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Incendies, 2010

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GCC News Roundup: Trump moves to sell F-35 fighter jets to UAE, first flight carrying Israeli tourists lands in UAE (November 1-30)

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GCC News Roundup: Trump moves to sell F-35 fighter jets to UAE, first flight carrying Israeli tourists lands in UAE (November 1-30)

By Sumaya Attia Trump advances plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to UAE The Trump administration formally notified Congress on November 10 that it plans to sell 50 stealth F-35 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a broader arms deal worth $23 billion aimed at deterring potential threats from Iran despite concern in Israel. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had authorized the sale in keeping with the administration’s Middle East peace efforts. First flight carrying Israeli tourists lands in UAE On November 8, the first flight carrying Israeli tourists to the UAE landed in the city-state of Dubai, the latest sign of the normalization deal reached between the two nations. Meanwhile, on November 16, UAE national carrier Etihad Airways announced it would start operating daily nonstop flights to Tel Aviv next spring. Bahraini FM visits Israel, Israeli PM meets Saudi crown prince Bahrain’s foreign minister paid a history-making visit to Israel on November 18, in the latest sign of warming ties following a series of U.S.-brokered normalization accords between Israel and Arab nations. Meanwhile, Israeli media reported on November 23 that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. Explosion at Saudi cemetery wounds 3 An explosion at a Saudi cemetery where American and European officials were commemorating the end of World War I wounded three people on November 11, according to official statements. It’s not clear what motivated the blast, but France has been the target of three attacks in recent weeks that authorities have attributed to Muslim extremists. Bahrain’s PM dies at age 84 Bahrain’s Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, one of the world’s longest-serving prime ministers who led his island nation’s government for decades and survived the 2011 Arab Spring protests that demanded his ouster over corruption allegations, died on November 11. He was 84. Saudi Arabia formally suspends Turkish imports Saudi Arabia formally suspended imports of products from Turkey earlier this month, the Turkish exporters’ union said, after a months-long informal boycott of Turkish goods over political tensions between the two regional rivals. “Imports from our country of red meat and products, white meat and products, water products, eggs, honey and their products, as well as milk and…alternatives to breast milk, have been suspended as of November 15,” the union told its members in an email obtained by Reuters. Saudi Arabia announces migrant labor reforms Saudi Arabia on November 4 announced reforms that will abolish some key restrictions tying millions of low-paid and vulnerable migrant workers to their employers in conditions that have been rife with abuse and exploitation. The Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development said the reforms will allow foreign workers the right to change jobs by transferring their sponsorship from one employer to another, leave and re-enter the country, and secure final exit visas without the consent of their employer, which had long been required. UAE stops issuing new visas to citizens of 13 countries The UAE has stopped issuing new visas to citizens of 13 mostly Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, according to a document issued by a state-owned business park. The document, sent to companies operating in the park and seen by Reuters, cited an immigration circular that came into effect on November 18. UAE loosens Islamic laws related to personal freedoms On November 7, the UAE announced a major overhaul of the country’s Islamic personal laws, allowing unmarried couples to cohabitate, loosening alcohol restrictions, and criminalizing so-called “honor killings.” The reforms aim to boost the country’s economic and social standing and “consolidate the UAE’s principles of tolerance,” said state-run WAM news agency, which offered only minimal details in the surprise weekend announcement.      

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GCC News Roundup: Kuwaiti ruler dies, Bahrain normalizes relations with Israel (September 1-30)

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GCC News Roundup: Kuwaiti ruler dies, Bahrain normalizes relations with Israel (September 1-30)

By Sumaya Attia KUwaiti ruler Sheikh Sabah dead at 91 Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nation’s top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died on September 29. He was 91. The country on September 30 laid to rest the late ruler in funeral rites closed to the public due to COVID-19 concerns. His successor and brother, Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah, 83, headed the rites after being sworn in at parliament, pledging to work for the OPEC member state’s prosperity, stability and security. Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel Bahrain on September 11 agreed to normalize relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab nation to do so as part of a broader diplomatic push by President Donald Trump and his administration to further ease the Jewish state’s relative isolation in the Middle East and find common ground with nations that share U.S. wariness of Iran. Trump announced the agreement on the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks following a phone call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The three leaders also issued a brief joint statement marking the second such Arab normalization agreement with Israel in the past two months. First direct flight from Israel lands in Bahrain  The first known direct commercial flight between Israel and Bahrain landed September 23 in the island kingdom, just a week after it signed a deal alongside the United Arab Emirates to normalize relations. Flight data showed an Israir Airlines Airbus A320 landed at Bahrain International Airport after a nearly three hour flight from Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport. Hours later, Bahrain acknowledged the flight carried a delegation of Israeli officials. Saudi Arabia reaches final verdict in Khashoggi case A Saudi court issued final verdicts on September 7 in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi after his son, who still resides in the kingdom, announced pardons that spared five of the convicted individuals from execution. While the trial draws to its conclusion in Saudi Arabia, the case continues to cast a shadow over the international standing of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose associates have been sanctioned by the United States andUnited Kingdom for their alleged involvement in the brutal killing, which took place inside the Saudi Consulate inIstanbul. Saudi dissidents form party, push for reform A group of Saudi dissidents, most of them in exile, on September 23 announced the formation of a party to push for political reform in Saudi Arabia in defiance of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has moved to crush any dissent. The world’s top oil exporter and U.S. ally is an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament or political parties. Past attempts to organize politically in the Gulf state in 2007 and 2011 were suppressed and members were arrested. Mecca to open for prayer and pilgrimage Saudi Arabia on September 22 said Muslims would be allowed to perform the smaller, year-round pilgrimage starting October 4 as the kingdom gradually begins lifting restrictions that had been in place on Islam’s holiest site for the past seven months due to the coronavirus. State media reported the government plans to allow up to 6,000 visitors a day at the sprawling Grand Mosque in Mecca, which will be open to Saudi citizens and residents only during this first phase. Afghan, Taliban peace talks resume in Doha Afghanistan and Taliban peace talk negotiators held their first direct session on September 15 in Doha, their spokesmen said, as the warring sides try to work out an agenda and schedule for how to negotiate a peace deal as the United States withdraws troops. Talks between the two sides were to begin shortly after a U.S.-Taliban agreement in February, but started only after months of delays, caused in part by continuing Taliban offensives in the war-torn country as well as disagreement over the release of prisoners.

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GCC News Roundup: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait implement new economic measures (April 1-30)

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GCC News Roundup: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait implement new economic measures (April 1-30)

By Sumaya Attia Gulf economies struggle as crude futures collapse Gulf debt and equity markets fell on April 21 and the Saudi currency dropped in the forward market, after U.S. crude oil futures collapsed below $0 on a coronavirus-induced supply glut. Saudi Arabia’s central bank foreign reserves fell in March at their fastest rate in at least 20 years and to their lowest since 2011, while the kingdom slipped into a $9 billion budget deficit in the first quarter. GCC countries cut oil production following OPEC+ deal OPEC, Russia and other oil-producing nations on April 12 finalized an unprecedented production cut of nearly 10 million barrels, or a tenth of global supply, in hopes of boosting crashing prices amid the coronavirus pandemic and a price war, officials said. Following the deal, Saudi Arabia announced its official crude pricing (OSP) for May, selling oil more cheaply to Asia while keeping prices flat for Europe and raising them for the United States. Oman has told its oil producing companies to cut 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) starting from May 1 until the end of June in line with OPEC+ crude supply reduction pact and will inform its customers of the same plan, its oil ministry said. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is committed to reducing oil production from its current level of 4.1 million bpd, energy minister Suhail Al Mazrouei said in a tweet on April 12. Kuwait’s oil minister said on April 12 that his country would be cutting more than 1 million bpd in actual oil supply, taking into consideration its current April production of around 3.25 million bpd. Gulf states adjust curfews, airport restrictions  Saudi Arabia eased curfews on April 26 across the country but kept 24-hour lockdowns in place in the city of Mecca and neighborhoods previously put in isolation to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, state news agency SPA said. The country also said it would allow entry into and exit from Qatif province starting April 30. Meanwhile, the emirate of Dubai said on April 26 it had lifted its full lockdown on two commercial districts that have a large population of low-income migrant workers, after the UAE eased nationwide coronavirus curfews the previous weekend Kuwait decided to extend the suspension of work in the public sector including at government ministries until May 31 and expand a nationwide curfew to 16 hours as part of efforts to combat the coronavirus, a government spokesman said on April 20. Bahrain reopened the Bahrain International Airport for transit passengers, Manama-based Gulf Air said on April 4, though entry to the country remains limited to Bahraini nationals and residents. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait implement new economic measures Saudi Arabia was set to raise $7 billion with a three-tranche bond deal on April 15, a document showed, as the world’s biggest oil exporter seeks to replenish state coffers battered by low oil prices and expectations of lower output. King Salman has also ordered up to 9 billion riyals ($2.4 billion) to be disbursed to pay part of the wages of private-sector workers to deter companies from laying off staff, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on April 3. The UAE central bank has urged commercial lenders to use the $70 billion-worth of capital and liquidity measures launched by the regulator to support the economy during the coronavirus outbreak, reported Reuters on April 13. Dubai’s department of finance has told all government agencies to slash capital spending by at least half and halt new hiring until further notice, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, reported Reuters on April 9. Qatar’s ruler has asked the government to postpone $8.2 billion in unawarded contracts on capital expenditure projects due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a bond prospectus dated April 7. Kuwait announced measures early on April 1 aimed at shoring up its economy against the coronavirus pandemic, including soft long-term loans from local banks. The country’s central bank asked banks to ease loan repayments for companies affected. Gulf states deport and repatriate migrant workers due to coronavirus The UAE and Pakistan are working to add more flights to repatriate Pakistani citizens, a Dubai government source said on April 22. More than 20,000 Pakistani workers stuck in the UAE have registered since April 3 with the consulate to go home, as the Gulf Arab state tightens restrictions due to the coronavirus outbreak. Qatar detained dozens of migrant workers and expelled them in March after telling them they were being taken to be tested for the new coronavirus, human rights group Amnesty International said on April 15. Saudi Arabia has deported 2,870 Ethiopian migrants to Addis Ababa since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.N. migration agency said on April 13, urging Riyadh to suspend the practice for the time being. Saudi Arabia ends flogging, death sentences for minors Saudi Arabia said on April 26 that it would no longer impose the death sentence on individuals who committed crimes while still minors, according to a statement from the state-backed Human Rights Commission (HRC), which cited a royal decree by King Salman. The country also said that it is ending flogging as a form of punishment, according to a document from the kingdom’s top court seen by Reuters on April 24. GCC monarchies to establish food supply safety network  The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) six Arab monarchies have approved Kuwait’s proposal for a common network for food supply safety, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported on April 16. The decision was taken after a virtual meeting of GCC trade and industry ministers to discuss the COVID-19 outbreak’s impact on food supply safety. Qatar pushes back against US accusations of World Cup bribery  The organizers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have strongly denied allegations from the U.S. Department of Justice that bribes were paid to secure votes for the hosting rights to the tournament. On April 6, for the first time, prosecutors set direct, formal allegations regarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups down in an indictment.