Search results

Mansoor Abulhoul, a member of the family that owns the Dubai-based Magrudy’s retail business, has replaced Sulaiman Almazroui as the UAE’s ambassador in London.

Government stasis: Kurdish political parties may be close to reaching a compromise on a number of key issues as they try to form a new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), more than four months after the 30 September regional elections. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) won 45 seats in the 111-seat assembly, while the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) picked up 21 seats, offering a viable majority if they can agree a coalition deal.

The former chief executive of Bahrain’s state-owned aluminium producer Alba, Bruce Hall, was sentenced to 16 months in prison on 22 July for conspiracy to corrupt, in relation to contracts for the supply of goods and services to Alba. Hall had pleaded guilty to the charges in June 2012, and agreed to be a witness in the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO)’s main case, against Victor Dahdaleh, the alleged middleman in bribery schemes aimed at securing Alba contracts. The case against Dahdaleh collapsed on 10 December, in part - so the SFO said – because Hall gave an account in court that “differed markedly from the witness statement he had provided to the SFO”.

The head of Saudi Arabia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha – integrity) Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Sharif has said he will quit his job if the agency does not perform. “I will be the first to quit this position if Nazaha becomes a bureaucratic agency or if I feel that it is not working properly,” he said in comments published on 9 December by English-language Arab News. Al-Sharif, who is a former member of the Majlis Al-Shura, was appointed to the commission in 2011. Nazaha’s profile has gradually been rising (GSN 932/11), and in November it said it had reported some ministers to King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz, for non-co-operation.

One of the more bizarre arguments put forward by the Obama administration as it pushed for military intervention in Syria was that failing to respond to the horrific chemical attack on Ghouta would send the wrong ‘message’ to Iran. On 3 September, secretary of state John Kerry mentioned Iran four times in his brief opening statement to members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as he sought to convince them of the need to strike. “Iran is hoping you look the other way,” Kerry said. “Our inaction would surely give them a permission slip for them to at least misinterpret our intention if not to put it to the test.” Defence secretary Chuck Hagel took a similar tone. “Our refusal to act would undermine the credibility of America’s other security commitments, including the president’s commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” he said.

As Kuwait prepares for the 21 October start of the parliamentary session, Islamist assembly members are preparing to campaign for the amendment of Article 2 of the constitution to bring all legislation into compliance with Islamic principles.

The Bahrain authorities have spent close to $9m with at least 12 firms to lobby branches of the United States government as well as US corporations, media and the general public over the past decade, according to GSN analysis of filings lodged under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (Fara) since January 2010.Much of the focus of the activity is on general lobbying and public relations, but a number of contracts underline some of the particular policy priorities and challenges Manama has been dealing with over this time.

Parliamentary election constrained: Some 365,000 Bahraini men and women were eligible to vote for the 293 candidates who ran for the 40-seat Majlis Al-Nuwab (Council of Representatives) in elections held on 24 November. The authorities announced a turnout of 67% – far higher than the 53% recorded at the last election in 2014. Only seven candidates gained enough votes in the first round, necessitating a second round on 1 December.

Hardliners in Iran may feel that they held the eleventh election for the Majlis-e Shura-ye Eslami (parliament) just in time. The vote on 21 February returned a chamber dominated by conservatives, as a result of the widespread exclusion of moderate candidates by the Guardian Council, and low turnout among a disillusioned populace. But given the authorities’ failure to cope with the Covid-19 outbreak since then, the authorities will have to work even harder to supress public anger in the future.

On 4 October, prominent rights activist Nabeel Rajab, who is serving a three-year sentence for his part in organising protests, was allowed to leave prison to attend his mother’s funeral

A more united political system is seen as highly desirable by many Kuwaitis amid the uncertain security climate apparent since a suicide bomber killed 27 people in an attack on a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City on 26 June. The attack was claimed by Islamic State’s Wilayat Najd (Najd province) branch, which in May conducted similar bombings in Saudi Arabia; the bomber was identified as a Saudi national. Seven defendants were sentenced to death for their involvement in the Imam Al-Sadeq mosque bombing.

Thousands of labourers went on strike on 12 March in Oman, to demand better safety conditions after a worker died in an accident. According to Reuters, an Indian working on the expansion of Muscat airport was run over by a bus belonging to contractor BEB on 11 March. “We will not go to work today unless our company assures us that they will revise safety standards in our workplace,” Mohan Raman told the newswire.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) efforts to expand an already formidable arsenal of high-tech weaponry stepped up a notch in 2014 when, according to a study by respected defence specialist IHS Jane’s, Saudi Arabia overtook India to become the world’s largest importer of weapons and defence systems. Riyadh spent $6.4bn on defence imports in 2014, 54% more than the previous year, and more than all the other GCC states combined. According to the IHS Jane’s report published on 8 March, the UAE spent $2.2bn on defence imports in 2014, Oman and Kuwait each spent $1.1bn, and Qatar and Bahrain spent $573m and $73m respectively.

The Sultan’s decision to visit Iran during President Ahmadinejad’s inauguration shows that Oman remains a significant player in the region, able to balance strong relations with the West with an open approach to Tehran. And the purchase of 24 Eurofighter Typhoons shows it has a tougher mindset, too.

There was considerable fanfare surrounding Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s 17-19 June visit to St Petersburg, with Saudi media describing his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “frank and positive”, and pointing to six agreements signed as evidence of a warming relationship. The agreements (see box, page 5) include plans to co-operate more deeply in fields as diverse as energy, housing, space exploration, nuclear energy and military affairs, as well as for the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to jointly invest $10bn.