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Expatriates in the Gulf are used to horror stories about exit permits refused, passports withheld and people being held indefinitely under house arrest, but most accept it as one of the risks of working in a developing country

Sharjah-based company’s oil and gas exploration deal with Rosneft will focus on the Mena region

It has long been fashionable in Iraq to state that Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Co-Operation Council states represent a ‘hidden hand’ in Iraqi politics, backing various potential proxies by bankrolling their campaigns. The renewed prominence of Iyad Allawi has strengthened this view, leading many Iraqi politicians and commentators to complain about the degree of Saudi influence over the political campaigns of Sunni groups like Allawi’s Iraqiya list.

If Iran acquires an advanced, ‘double-digit’ surface-to-air missile (SAM) from Russia or China, the only aircraft capable of operating safely within its airspace would be the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.

Controversy has erupted in Saudi Arabia over the position of Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, head of the Mecca branch of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. He first hit the headlines late last year after an interview in Okaz newspaper in which he spoke openly about ikhtilat, the mixing of unrelated men and women,

RAK-P has announced a Dh29.5m ($8m) profit for 2009 and Dh30.5m for Q1 10. The company made a loss of Dh210.7m in 2008.

The little-known Al-Mal Bank, based in Doha, has had its licence revoked by the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (QFCRA) for breach of regulations.

India’s Financial Express newspaper reported that Oman has become the first country in West Asia to place an order for guns with an Indian supplier.

Public tensions have died down following reports of a skirmish between Emirati and Saudi vessels that was blamed on a dispute over the route of the Dolphin pipeline which brings Qatari gas to the UAE

Doha has backtracked on proposals to scrap its visa-on-arrival scheme– which would have meant visitors from 33 countries having to apply in advance for a tourism or short-stay visa.

A three-day military exercise by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) ground, air and naval units, which began on 22 April, was intended to test a range of Iranian-built missiles and other equipment.

Bahrain’s legally registered political groups are working to shore up their vote and persuade their constituencies they remain worthy of support ahead of National Assembly and municipal elections scheduled for this year, probably November. Much attention has been paid to parties supported by the Shia majority, led by Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, which holds 17 of the 40 Majlis Al-Nawab (Chamber of Deputies) seats.

The US Department of Defence has awarded Lockheed Martin Corporation a $46.2m contract to produce advanced helicopter weapons-targeting systems for the Apache helicopter fleets of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Netherlands.

While the secession of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area has occupied most attention, a failure of state-building in post-Baathist Iraq might also see other regions looking for at least Kurdish levels of autonomy, if not outright independence. Of most concern to Baghdad would be the hydrocarbons-rich south. GSN spoke to a range of decision-makers in Basra to test the support for different kinds of decentralisation in the province, which has been called ‘the failed Gulf state’ by historians of the area

Investcorp board