Search results

The cabinet has set a date during Ramadan for the latest election to Kuwait’s National Assembly (parliament), with almost all members of the recently-dissolved chamber vowing to stand for re-election.

The relationship between Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and UAE Armed Forces deputy supreme commander Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) and Dubai Ruler, federal Vice President and prime minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) is inevitably complex, with many of its working parts hidden from public view and shielded by a cloak of lèse-majesté. Ties that have bonded the two leaders in creating in the emirates a global pole of commercial achievement and influence have long played a positive role in the region.

Khalid Bin Mohammed's star has been rising for some time, as his father has awarded him a string of senior jobs, but even as the 'Bani Fatima' further consolidate their power, President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed’s favoured son still had to overcome competition from powerful rivals to secure the position of the UAE's heir-apparent.

Abu Dhabi has a new powerful council, created by presidential law in late December, which will oversee all financial, investment, economic, petroleum and natural resource affairs in the emirate. The Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) will supervise the functioning and performance of what the Emirates News Agency (WAM) called the “relevant entities”: the Department of Finance (DoF), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), Mubadala, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and ADQ (previously known as Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, established 2018) have been named so far.

Ambiguous statements over the UAE’s commitment to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen may have created some confusion over the Emirati leadership’s intentions, but the federation continues to wrack up casualties in the conflict. Lieutenant Rashid Ahmed Abdullah Al-Habsi was killed while on duty in Yemen on 5 September and Lance Corporal Saeed Anbar Juma Al-Falasi was buried on 22 September, having received treatment in Paris, France before succumbing to his wounds.

Baghdad and Ankara signed more than 24 agreements and memoranda of understanding during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visit to the Iraqi capital. Defence, water and energy issues were to the fore, but there are still some policy mismatches, not least over attitudes to the Kurdish PKK militia group.

Politics: Established in 1971, the federation of seven emirates – Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al-Quwain is economically liberal and progressive, but remains politically conservative. Ultimate control is held by the emirate rulers, led by oil-rich, politically savvy Abu Dhabi and regional/global commercial hub Dubai. The federal government has legislative and executive jurisdiction over sectors including foreign affairs, security, defence, education, health, currency, electricity and immigration.

While Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is widely assumed to be the next UAE president – only the third in the federation’s brief history – there is slightly more conjecture about who will be next Abu Dhabi crown prince. Most observers expect Hazza Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the third of the Bani Fatima born in 1965, to be MBZ’s successor. Hazza, who is said to be especially close to MBZ, is currently vice chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and national security adviser.

France’s Total has agreed to pay more than $398m to settle charges brought by the US authorities over the alleged payment of $60m in bribes to help win lucrative oil and gas contracts in Iran in the 1990s.
The allegations, which relate to contracts for Sirri A and E and South Pars fields fields, have been pursued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which settled with Total through an administrative order, and the Department of Justice (DoJ), which filed a criminal case in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Total has also been charged with violation of French laws by the Paris prosecutor.

The Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) formally recognised Syria’s new opposition coalition on 12 November, calling it “the legitimate representative of the Syrian people”. “The GCC will offer support and assistance for the Syrian coalition in order to achieve the hopes and aspirations of the Syrian people,” GCC secretary general Abdul-Latif Al-Zayani said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron was back in the UAE for the third time in as many years on 16 November, this time heading to Dubai just ahead of the 17-21 November Dubai Airshow (see page 14). There was immediate political gain to be had from the UAE’s deals with Airbus, worth more than $60bn. A380 wings are designed and assembled at UK sites in Filton and Broughton, part of an Airbus programme worth around $24bn to the UK economy; Cameron has made considerable noise about revitalising relationships with the Gulf, and was able to conclude that the new deals resulted from this effort.

Dubai family dispute: Family issues have brought Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum (MBR) into an unwelcome light – which will be amplified when, as widely expected, the case goes to court in London. His wife Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein has fled the UAE with their two children – Zayed, aged 7 and Jalila, aged 11 – to seek sanctuary in Europe. Haya, a daughter of the late King Hussein and sister of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, married MBR in 2004 and has had the most public exposure of his wives.

Sultan succession: The death of Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said was announced on 10 January. While predicted for some time, his death still came as a profound shock to the nation he had not only ruled but profoundly shaped since 1970, and whose political life he had dominated as an absolute ruler. Qaboos had been suffering from cancer for many years and had received extensive treatment in Europe.

With Ramadan under way, there is heightened risk that more power shortages in Egypt could provoke further unrest. Egypt has suffered from fuel shortages all year and, in the days before Mohammed Morsi’s overthrow, panic-buying led to long queues outside petrol stations. The Morsi government’s failure to deal with the problem was one of the reasons for its great unpopularity, as the new interim government and its Gulf backers are painfully aware. In the immediate aftermath of the coup, shortages of bottled cooking gas and vehicle fuel seemed to ease.

Qatar has reported two deaths from the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (GSN 947/4, 932/4). Health officials said a man died on 6 September, having shown symptoms of the coronavirus on 17 August. He had been suffering from a chronic condition. Earlier in the week, Qatar said a woman had died from MERS, and that two other cases had been registered.