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Issue 1055 - 08 March 2018

Kuwait orders US surveillance aircraft

Free

The State Department has approved a $259m order for four King Air 350ER intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. The deal was notified to Congress by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency on 21 February. It includes a range of electro-optical and infrared imaging sensors, active electronically scanned array radars, missile warning systems and other equipment for the aircraft. The deal will give Kuwait airborne ISR capabilities for the first time. One of the four aircraft will be modified to carry VIPs.

Kuwait
Issue 979 - 17 October 2014

Qatar: Egyptian repayment

Free

Egypt’s central bank has paid $500m back to Qatar and will return the rest of the money it owes soon, central bank governor Hisham Ramez said. Qatar pledged billions to Egypt when Mohammed Morsi was president, but relations deteriorated after Morsi’s overthrow. “Egypt has already transferred $500m to Qatar on 1 October and will refund $2.5bn at the beginning of November, because they [Qatar] did not ask for renewal,” Ramez told Reuters on 11 October.

Qatar
Issue 939 - 24 January 2013

Saudi Arabia: Carrier licences

Free

Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Civil Aviation (GACA) announced on 28 December that it had awarded carrier licences to Gulf Air and Qatar Airways.

Saudi Arabia
Free

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan welcomed Niger’s President Mahamadou Issoufou ain Abu Dhabi on 10 December. After a 21-gun salute, they held talks and witnessed signings, including agreements on double taxation and investment protection and promotion.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Issue 857 - 11 July 2009

AHMED BIN SAQR: Mystery Club

Free

Unconfirmed reports have suggested that Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi has purchased a majority stake in an English Premier League club

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Issue 1017 - 17 June 2016

Iran refuses visas to congressmen

Free

The three Republican members of the US House of Representatives – Mike Pompeo (Kansas), Lee Zeldin (New York) and Frank LoBiondo (New Jersey), who all voted against the nuclear agreement – have finally received a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAF) to their requests to visit Iran, submitted in February. They had wanted to inspect nuclear sites, observe upcoming elections and meet with a then imprisoned US citizen. MAF finally responded in early June, in a letter sent via the State Department that called the congressmen’s applications “ironic”, “inappropriate” and a “publicity stunt.”

Iran
Free

Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabeh held talks with President Omar Hasan Al-Bashir at Bayan Palace on 22 October, as part of a short regional tour by the controversial Sudanese leader. Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah attended the talks, along with prime minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, foreign affairs minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Saba and other senior officials. Some 12,000 Sudanese live and work in Kuwait. Khartoum is keen to see more investment. Bashir went on to Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait
Free

To mark the tenth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, and to give wider public access to some of our reporting and analysis, GSN has unlocked the archive of its newsletters published in 2003 (accessible at www.gsn-online.com). The invasion was hardly a surprise; US determination to depose Saddam Hussein had been clear for months, but too little thought went into its repercussions. Few of those behind the invasion saw the potential for the turbulence it unleashed. A reading of pre-2003 GSN shows just how inevitable conflict was. ‘Global terrorism’ was high on the agenda as the George W Bush administration came to power.

Iran | Kuwait | Saudi Arabia | Bahrain | Oman | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | Iraq | Qatar
Free

Australia is to send military aircraft and 600 personnel to the UAE as part of the international coalition to counter the threat from the Islamic State. Prime Minister Tony Abbott told a news conference in Darwin on 14 September that the Australian defence force would send up to eight Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 combat aircraft, an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and a KC-30A multi-role tanker and transport aircraft. A special operations task group would also be sent to assist Iraqi and other security forces “that are taking the fight to the ISIL terrorists”.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Issue 991 - 24 April 2015

Sultan Qaboos chairs cabinet meeting

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On 8 April, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said presided over his first council of ministers’ meeting since returning to Muscat on 23 March, following lengthy treatment in Germany for what is understood to be cancer. Photographs showed the sultan in good spirits as he attended the meeting at Bayt Al-Baraka. With Oman somewhat in limbo during his eight-month absence, he spoke of the need to speed up economic diversification (an ever more pressing problem in Oman, given how far the price of oil has fallen), complete major projects, attract investment, and activate public-private partnerships.

Oman
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Saudi Arabia’s strategy to combat extremism – the Prevention, Rehabilitation and Aftercare (PRAC) strategy – developed in the aftermath of the May 2003 bombings of residential compounds in Riyadh. It involves several ministries, but is led by the Ministry of Interior – specifically Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef, who has been minister since November 2012, and was previously assistant to the interior minister for security affairs (since 1999). Sometimes discussed as a contender for the Saudi throne, Mohammed Bin Nayef rose to prominence in mid-2003 when jihadist Ali Abedlrahman Al-Ghamdi handed himself over to him; the extent of the prince’s personal commitment was further showcased in 2009, when he survived an assassination attempt by Yemeni-born Abdullah Al-Asiri

Saudi Arabia
Free

The funeral prayers for Prince Bandar Bin Mohammed Bin Abdelaziz were held on 5 January following his death aged 79. Crown Prince Salman led the prayers. Prince Bandar was a low-profile son of King Khalid’s full brother Prince Mohammed, although he was thought to be a member of the Al-Saud Family Council.

Saudi Arabia
Issue 1029 - 16 January 2017

UAE: Loss of five men in Afghan attack

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Five UAE nationals were among 39 killed people in a terrorist attack at the governor of Kandahar’s headquarters in Afghanistan on 10 January. UAE authorities said the men – Mohammed Ali Zainal Al-Bastaki, Abdullah Mohammed Essa Obaid Al-Kaabi, Ahmed Rashid Salim Ali Al-Mazroui, Ahmed Abdul Rahman Ahmed Al-Tunaiji and Abdul Hamid Sultan Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Hammadi – were in the area to perform humanitarian work. UAE ambassador to Afghanistan Juma Al-Kaabi was wounded in the attack.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Issue 1030 - 27 January 2017

Saudi renewable energy push

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Riyadh is planning to launch a $30bn-50bn renewable energy investment programme in the near future, according to comments by energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al-Falih on 23 January. The programme is designed to result in 3.5GW of clean energy generating capacity by 2020 and 9.5GW by 2023. Significant investment in nuclear power is also on the cards, he said.

Saudi Arabia
Free

Obtaining details and confirmations remains as problematic as ever, but some sources are talking about upheavals in the Saudi military/security establishment linked to continuing dynastic struggles in the Kingdom. According to one version of events, as many as 150

Saudi Arabia