Detained in Dubai – Support Group for Dubai Residents and Tourists who find themselves in Hot Water in Dubai

original source 7Days Dubai 18 Nov, 2009

With hundreds of Brits being arrested each year and hundreds more other expats ending up on the wrong side of the law, a support group has been set up to reach out to residents and tourists who find themselves in hot water in Dubai.

Detained in Dubai is a non-profit organisation set up by Radha Sterling after she fought for the freedom of close friend and TV executive Cat Le-Huy, who was arrested on arrival in the emirate for possession of a jetlag drug that turned out to be legal both in the UK and the United Arab Emirates.

She said: “I ran a campaign for the release of Cat after he was detained last year. He was picked up in the airport in Dubai and arrested for having melatonin – a jetlag pill which is not even illegal in the UAE. He was held in prison for more than a month and eventually released without charge.”

After Le-Huy’s ordeal hit the headlines, Sterling was contacted by other people whose friends and families were going through the Dubai judicial system.

She said: “I decided to set up something more formal as I was contacted by a lot of people after what happened to Cat. I have a legal background and worked closely with Cat’s lawyers during his experience so gained a detailed knowledge of the legal system and I wanted to share that with people who need help.”

Detained in Dubai is manned by a team of solicitors with experience in corporate, criminal and civil law as well a cross-section of researchers and interns. The drive behind the group is to raise awareness of the UAE’s laws to help foreigners avoid getting into trouble in the first place.

But when the worst does happen, Sterling, who works in the media and has a degree in law, is on hand to talk people through the legal process.

Detained in Dubai offers advice and support and recommends lawyers, but mostly, it helps people understand what to expect from an unfamiliar court system.

Sterling said: “A lot of the cases we come across are when a foreigner has got themselves in trouble because they aren’t familiar with the law.

That comes from ignorance really, but we would like to raise awareness of the expectations of Dubai and to make it clear to people that it is not another America or Britain – there are a lot of very serious rules.”

Many of the cases Detained in Dubai has come across in the last eight weeks since its online launch are relating to drugs.

The UAE’s banned and controlled substance list is 49 pages long. Dozens of substances from cough medicine to anti-schizophrenia drugs are included on the inventory.

Even tiny traces of an illegal substance can lead to years in prison.

But it is not only drugs offences.

Sterling says: “We are seeing a lot of financial and business related cases now which are very complex. It can be difficult for people to know where to start.”

Detained in Dubai offers daily support to people, whatever their nationality, and also helps those who come out of the other side adjust to freedom when they are released.

Sterling said: “That’s an important part of what we do as well because people can find it difficult when they do eventually get home so we offer after care support.

“We understand what they have been through.”

For more on Detained in Dubai, go to www.detainedindubai.org, call  +447050 686 745 or email info@detainedindubai.org

Cases helped by Sterling’s group

In trouble with the boss
Dive instructor Roxanne Hillier was jailed for three months in May this year after being convicted of having an affair with her Emirati boss.
The 22-year-old South African, who was working in Sharjah, was arrested when police broke into the dive centre where she had decided to stay overnight while maintenance work was being carried out on her apartment.
She claimed that she was upstairs, in a locked room, when police swooped. Her married boss was downstairs checking dive equipment. She says she was questioned in Arabic and could not understand.
Both Hillier and her boss were charged, although he was later acquitted. Hillier was released on appeal after nine weeks behind bars.

Drug problem
German TV producer Cat Le-Huy was stopped as he arrived at Dubai Airport last year and subjected to a full search.
He was found with melatonin – a supplement used for combating jetlag. He signed a confession in Arabic admitting to possessing illegal drugs, which led to him being locked up in the airport’s detention centre. The authorities also tested some dust and dirt inside his suitcase and found 0.03g of cannabis – smaller than a grain of sugar. Eventually, Le-Huy was released without charge after a meeting between his counsel and the prosecution.

Words of warning
In September 2009, Sun McKay was heading home to Sydney from Afghanistan where he was working for a security firm.
The 32-year-old Australian was queuing for his connecting flight in Dubai when he decided to go to the cash machine. As he stepped out of line, he claims he was grabbed by a man who shouted at him in Arabic. McKay swore in response and was arrested as the man was a police officer.
He has been charged with using insulting language to a police officer and could face three years behind bars. McKay is awaiting a court hearing on December 9.

Ps: Before travel to UAE Tourists should study the Guidelines for Import of Personal Medicines
and check this List of Restricted and Controlled Drugs
Technorati-Tags: Dubai Touirsts detained, Support Grouo Detained in Dubai

Party like it’s 1999 – Media & Marketing – ArabianBusiness.com

original published ArabianBusiness
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/539041-party-like-its-1999

It may seem incongruous or even insensitive to host a $20 million party in the current economic climate but, once again, Dubai has shown strength and vision that will improve its long term prospects.I watched the opening party of Atlantis the Palm on the television in the UK.

The country’s most popular breakfast television show, GMTV, was broadcasting live twice per hour from one of Palm Island’s fronds.The coverage included red carpet interviews with Hollywood Oscar winners, multi-million album selling singers, business billionaires, and even some minor European royals.

Breakfast TV viewers feasted on footage of the most spectacular firework display since the Beijing Olympics; lapped up the glamour of the world’s most beautiful women; and envied at the presenter reporting in his shirt sleeves from beneath clear blue Dubai skies.

The talk over Friday brunch in Dubai will be about how unfair it is that the world’s glitterati had favoured access to the Atlantis celebrations, while those living in the city were not even allowed to set foot on Palm Island for two days prior to the event.This though would be missing the point.

The cost of the world’s most lavish hotel opening party was not just an ego trip for the resort’s owners, or even a marketing stunt to push up its revenue per average room.
It was a Dubai government-backed initiative to show the world that the city remains one of the most spectacular tourist destinations in the world, and that it will serve as an oasis of delight in a global desert of gloom.

The world is entering a downturn in tourism and business travel that will last into 2010.

But while every destination will be affected, including Dubai, some will suffer more than others.

The positive coverage gained from Atlantis’s $20 million party will prove to be a masterstroke of marketing that will ensure Dubai has the best possible chance to weather the coming storm.

By the end of what is going to be a global recession, expect the emirate to emerge even more dominant against its competitors than it is today.

Bacteria Fears Force Part of Jumeirah Beach Closure

Khaleejtimes , October 7, 2008

read more here:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=/data/theuae/2008/October/theuae_October152.xml&section=theuae

and Gulf News
http://archive.gulfnews.com/opinion/editorial_opinion/nation/10247978.html

ATLANTIS The Palm Dubai’s new dream hotel has a nightmare opening week – The National Newspaper

Photo: 7starsdubai – 25.Sept.2008-1001 Sunbeds Atlantis The Palm

ATLANTIS Dubai’s new dream hotel has a nightmare opening week – The National Newspaper

Gregor McClenaghan
Last Updated: October 04. 2008 11:06PM UAE / GMT

DUBAI

The Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeirah was swamped by visitors and plagued with complaints in its opening week, as staff turned away diners from packed restaurants and the taps ran dry in guest rooms. At one point much of the hotel was without water for more than seven hours when the resort’s main water intake valve ruptured. Guests refused to check out of their rooms until they could shower and change, leaving hundreds of new arrivals stranded in the lobby.

“This is not a situation you want to be in when you are opening a resort of this size,” said Alan Leibman, the resort’s managing director. The water problem, like the fire that caused an estimated Dh128 million (US$34.8m) worth of damage to the hotel’s lobby just weeks before it opened, was “just one of those things that happens”, he said. The two problems were unrelated.“We have perhaps the finest development team in this country, and they are now looking at putting a second valve in there to prevent something like this happening again. You don’t want this. It was unexpected and it shouldn’t happen.”

By opening over the Eid al Fitr holiday, the hotel was overwhelmed with visitors. There were significant delays on the approach to the resort, while day visitors were turned away from restaurants to give priority to hotel guests.However, Mr Leibman said, initial problems were being worked out and the huge number of people wanting to visit the Aquaventure water park, Lost Chambers aquarium and restaurants was a positive sign.

The aquarium had been expecting 350 daily outside guests – up to 500 on a busy day – and instead got more than 1,100. “With Aquaventure, one of the things that has caused some pretty significant delays to people getting in is that it is just so popular. People want to come and try it out,” he said. “We’ve had two or three thousand calls coming into the resort every day to book restaurant reservations and find out about the hotel, and we are responding as quickly as possible to add more resources to make sure we can respond.”

Some visitors complained that service throughout the hotel was slow and inefficient, but Mr Leibman said things were improving. “In a new resort this size there are going to be challenges,” he said.

“We have a lot of new employees who are fantastic and friendly and they are getting better every day as they take care of servicing the guests.”The hotel has offered a free room to anyone whose stay in the first few days was disrupted, but that may not be enough to tempt back some of them.

Writing on the website Journeyetc, a reviewer said his stay was a “nightmare from start to finish” and that it would be his last visit to the hotel.“The staff are obviously very inexperienced at such a high profile location and most of them had no idea who to report to when identifying problems … all in all a bad experience for me,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest attractions at the Lost Chambers aquarium is in for an extended stay. The four-metre juvenile whale shark was captured by staff from Atlantis off the coast of Dubai. Although it was reported that the shark would only be kept until it had recovered from an unspecified medical problem, Mr Leibman said there were no plans to release it.

“I’m not sure where that statement came from,” he said. “We have probably the most talented marine science people in the industry monitoring it and making sure it is well.”

mailto:well.”gmcclenaghan@thenational.ae

ATLANTIS The Palm Dubai’s new dream hotel has a nightmare opening week – The National Newspaper

Photo: 7starsdubai – 25.Sept.2008-1001 Sunbeds Atlantis The Palm

ATLANTIS Dubai’s new dream hotel has a nightmare opening week – The National Newspaper

Gregor McClenaghan
Last Updated: October 04. 2008 11:06PM UAE / GMT

DUBAI

The Atlantis hotel on Palm Jumeirah was swamped by visitors and plagued with complaints in its opening week, as staff turned away diners from packed restaurants and the taps ran dry in guest rooms. At one point much of the hotel was without water for more than seven hours when the resort’s main water intake valve ruptured. Guests refused to check out of their rooms until they could shower and change, leaving hundreds of new arrivals stranded in the lobby.

“This is not a situation you want to be in when you are opening a resort of this size,” said Alan Leibman, the resort’s managing director. The water problem, like the fire that caused an estimated Dh128 million (US$34.8m) worth of damage to the hotel’s lobby just weeks before it opened, was “just one of those things that happens”, he said. The two problems were unrelated.“We have perhaps the finest development team in this country, and they are now looking at putting a second valve in there to prevent something like this happening again. You don’t want this. It was unexpected and it shouldn’t happen.”

By opening over the Eid al Fitr holiday, the hotel was overwhelmed with visitors. There were significant delays on the approach to the resort, while day visitors were turned away from restaurants to give priority to hotel guests.However, Mr Leibman said, initial problems were being worked out and the huge number of people wanting to visit the Aquaventure water park, Lost Chambers aquarium and restaurants was a positive sign.

The aquarium had been expecting 350 daily outside guests – up to 500 on a busy day – and instead got more than 1,100. “With Aquaventure, one of the things that has caused some pretty significant delays to people getting in is that it is just so popular. People want to come and try it out,” he said. “We’ve had two or three thousand calls coming into the resort every day to book restaurant reservations and find out about the hotel, and we are responding as quickly as possible to add more resources to make sure we can respond.”

Some visitors complained that service throughout the hotel was slow and inefficient, but Mr Leibman said things were improving. “In a new resort this size there are going to be challenges,” he said.

“We have a lot of new employees who are fantastic and friendly and they are getting better every day as they take care of servicing the guests.”The hotel has offered a free room to anyone whose stay in the first few days was disrupted, but that may not be enough to tempt back some of them.

Writing on the website Journeyetc, a reviewer said his stay was a “nightmare from start to finish” and that it would be his last visit to the hotel.“The staff are obviously very inexperienced at such a high profile location and most of them had no idea who to report to when identifying problems … all in all a bad experience for me,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest attractions at the Lost Chambers aquarium is in for an extended stay. The four-metre juvenile whale shark was captured by staff from Atlantis off the coast of Dubai. Although it was reported that the shark would only be kept until it had recovered from an unspecified medical problem, Mr Leibman said there were no plans to release it.

“I’m not sure where that statement came from,” he said. “We have probably the most talented marine science people in the industry monitoring it and making sure it is well.”

mailto:well.”gmcclenaghan@thenational.ae

FT.com / World – Tourists bring in money – and a cultural clash

FT.com / World – Tourists bring in money – and a cultural clash

By Simeon Kerr

When the airline Emirates was ramping up its business in the 1990s, management suggested to Dubai’s rulers that they should build hotels on its pristine beachfront. The rulers, it is said, scratched their heads and wondered why anyone would pay to come to a harsh, desolate desert.

More than a decade on and Dubai has led the charge in developing itself as a tourism destination. As the emirate has realised that its limited oil reserves will soon dry up, tourism now accounts for a third of the city-state’s economy.

But as the summer heat grips the Gulf, hotels are slashing rates in a bid to fill rooms as cities turn into ghost towns. A week-long package at a top beach hotel is now cheaper than a scheduled return flight. Packs of bejewelled men from northern Europe now prowl the shopping malls sporting football tops. Local wags, playing on a British word for such downmarket types, dub it the summer chavalanche.

Even if Dubai’s “luxury lifestyle” has become more affordable for aspirational British holidaymakers, hoteliers say this summer is one of the worst in recent years.
Occupancy and room rates are way down, they say.

Many Gulf tourists have fled to Beirut as political tensions have eased.

Geneva and London are thronging with increasingly wealthy Arabs escaping climates such as Dubai’s for the temperate climes of Europe.

Oman is chasing upmarket tourists who want to experience the mud forts of “real Arabia”, or those who would rather trek across craggy mountain ranges than wander Dubai’s malls. Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ploughing their hydrocarbon billions into art and architectural marvels, hoping to elevate their emirates into destinations for the culturati.

Even Saudi Arabia has said it will also develop a tourism industry albeit one catering specifically for Muslims, although stringent visa regulations hamper any meaningful growth beyond the Hajj pilgrimage and business travellers.

It is easy for tourism to seduce governments. States find quick returns on their investment and can rapidly develop their non-oil sectors, a barometer for economic sustainability. Local landowners, including ruling families, see real estate values sky-rocket. Oil companies may drive an economy, but they do not necessarily employ many people. In 2000 BP was one of the biggest investors in Algeria but the Algiers Sheraton hotel directly employed more locals than the oil company.

Only Oman has had much success corralling its nationals into tourism jobs. Bahrain is battling hard to fight a cultural resistance that sees families dissuade their children from working in hotels. Such a disinclination is not surprising. Many of Dubai and Manama’s three-star hotels are thought of as fleshpots, besmirching the reputation of the Gulf’s hospitality industry. Little wonder that Sharia- compliant, alcohol-free hotels are cropping up all over the region.

Dubai’s tourism vision is the grandest – and the most risky as it seeks to double the number of tourists who visit the emirate by 2015. The Palm Jumeirah has just opened, with dozens of resorts rising up on its fronds; two more Palms are set to follow, along with offshore islands and inland canal developments aiming to lengthen Dubai’s limited beachfront.

Then there is Bawadi, a development that is trying to portray itself as Las Vegas without the gambling. Dozens of geographically themed hotels, including the world’s largest, are planned in the desert. Next door, numerous theme parks, celebrating characters from Bob the Builder to the Marvel comic heroes, are targeting tourists from India, Pakistan and central Asia, as well as Europe.

To fill these rooms, a relentless drive downmarket is likely, as occupancy levels rather than margins rule the day. The effect is likely to be an uncomfortable clash of two very different cultures.

Dubai’s minority nationals are increasingly uncomfortable with the pace of change and the growing sense that they are strangers in their own land. The recent, highly publicised arrest of two Britons caught in flagrante delicto, following an alcoholic Friday brunch, is a graphic example of the excessive behaviour which breaks the taboos of a conservative local society.

The emirate has thrived through its adoption of that old Field Of Dreams wisdom: “Build it and they will come.”

But does the emirate really want them to come?

Do Dubai’s rulers understand what they are unleashing?

The writer is the FT’s Gulf business correspondent, based in Dubai
simeonkerr@gmail.com

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

FT.com / World – Tourists bring in money – and a cultural clash

FT.com / World – Tourists bring in money – and a cultural clash

By Simeon Kerr

When the airline Emirates was ramping up its business in the 1990s, management suggested to Dubai’s rulers that they should build hotels on its pristine beachfront. The rulers, it is said, scratched their heads and wondered why anyone would pay to come to a harsh, desolate desert.

More than a decade on and Dubai has led the charge in developing itself as a tourism destination. As the emirate has realised that its limited oil reserves will soon dry up, tourism now accounts for a third of the city-state’s economy.

But as the summer heat grips the Gulf, hotels are slashing rates in a bid to fill rooms as cities turn into ghost towns. A week-long package at a top beach hotel is now cheaper than a scheduled return flight. Packs of bejewelled men from northern Europe now prowl the shopping malls sporting football tops. Local wags, playing on a British word for such downmarket types, dub it the summer chavalanche.

Even if Dubai’s “luxury lifestyle” has become more affordable for aspirational British holidaymakers, hoteliers say this summer is one of the worst in recent years.
Occupancy and room rates are way down, they say.

Many Gulf tourists have fled to Beirut as political tensions have eased.

Geneva and London are thronging with increasingly wealthy Arabs escaping climates such as Dubai’s for the temperate climes of Europe.

Oman is chasing upmarket tourists who want to experience the mud forts of “real Arabia”, or those who would rather trek across craggy mountain ranges than wander Dubai’s malls. Abu Dhabi and Qatar are ploughing their hydrocarbon billions into art and architectural marvels, hoping to elevate their emirates into destinations for the culturati.

Even Saudi Arabia has said it will also develop a tourism industry albeit one catering specifically for Muslims, although stringent visa regulations hamper any meaningful growth beyond the Hajj pilgrimage and business travellers.

It is easy for tourism to seduce governments. States find quick returns on their investment and can rapidly develop their non-oil sectors, a barometer for economic sustainability. Local landowners, including ruling families, see real estate values sky-rocket. Oil companies may drive an economy, but they do not necessarily employ many people. In 2000 BP was one of the biggest investors in Algeria but the Algiers Sheraton hotel directly employed more locals than the oil company.

Only Oman has had much success corralling its nationals into tourism jobs. Bahrain is battling hard to fight a cultural resistance that sees families dissuade their children from working in hotels. Such a disinclination is not surprising. Many of Dubai and Manama’s three-star hotels are thought of as fleshpots, besmirching the reputation of the Gulf’s hospitality industry. Little wonder that Sharia- compliant, alcohol-free hotels are cropping up all over the region.

Dubai’s tourism vision is the grandest – and the most risky as it seeks to double the number of tourists who visit the emirate by 2015. The Palm Jumeirah has just opened, with dozens of resorts rising up on its fronds; two more Palms are set to follow, along with offshore islands and inland canal developments aiming to lengthen Dubai’s limited beachfront.

Then there is Bawadi, a development that is trying to portray itself as Las Vegas without the gambling. Dozens of geographically themed hotels, including the world’s largest, are planned in the desert. Next door, numerous theme parks, celebrating characters from Bob the Builder to the Marvel comic heroes, are targeting tourists from India, Pakistan and central Asia, as well as Europe.

To fill these rooms, a relentless drive downmarket is likely, as occupancy levels rather than margins rule the day. The effect is likely to be an uncomfortable clash of two very different cultures.

Dubai’s minority nationals are increasingly uncomfortable with the pace of change and the growing sense that they are strangers in their own land. The recent, highly publicised arrest of two Britons caught in flagrante delicto, following an alcoholic Friday brunch, is a graphic example of the excessive behaviour which breaks the taboos of a conservative local society.

The emirate has thrived through its adoption of that old Field Of Dreams wisdom: “Build it and they will come.”

But does the emirate really want them to come?

Do Dubai’s rulers understand what they are unleashing?

The writer is the FT’s Gulf business correspondent, based in Dubai
simeonkerr@gmail.com

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

Gulfnews: Jumeirah beaches must be sewage free

Gulfnews: Jumeirah beaches must be sewage free

Gulf NewsPublished: September 26, 2008, 23:32

The tankers which clean out thousands of cess pits around Dubai are supposed to take the sewage to be treated in the city’s sewage plants in Awir and Jebel Ali.
But the vast queues of tankers at these inadequate plants force the drivers to wait for many hours.

As a result they chose to dump the sewage in the road system’s storm drains.

This then oozes out through the drainage system (which is only supposed to handle sudden rain water) and emerges into the sea.

As a result, raw sewage is washing up on beaches in Jumeirah and beyond.

It is a serious danger to people’s health, with germs having already been detected in the water used by thousands of people innocently enjoying the magnificent beaches of Dubai’s coast.

Blocking the drains is not the answer.

Stopping the dumping is imperative, particularly as the tourist season is about to start.

Tide of filth costs Dubai Offshore Sailing Club its licence – The National Newspaper

original published http://www.thenational.ae/

Tide of filth costs club its licence – The National Newspaper:

DUBAI

Dubai’s internationally renowned sailing club has lost its licence to teach and had its latest regatta spoiled after illegally dumped sewage flooded its private harbour.

The Dubai Offshore Sailing Club lost its Royal Yachting Association (RYA) accreditation yesterday after effluent dumped into a storm drain nearby flowed into the waters around the club, leaving a stench. Keith Mutch, the club’s manager, said the dumping ruined the opening regatta of the season on Friday and threatened the reputation of the club.

There were more than 200 people here and I got complaints all day about the stench,” he said. “It smelt of raw sewage. In the middle of the afternoon it flowed out of the storm water drain at the bottom of the pier.“The water had a big dark brown slick of water in it that smelt very bad.” The waste has also now washed onto a nearby public beach and the water has made several people sick. They have complained of skin rashes, ear infections and diarrhoea.

One member who used to swim here all the time has stopped because he has got several ear infections from the contaminated water,” said Mr Mutch.The problem has blighted the coast for three months but has dramatically increased this week, said Mr Mutch. “It pours in every day. We do not know where it originating from but it is seriously affecting the club and its members.” One of the members, who did not wish to be named, said: “It is only a matter of time before people get cholera or typhoid from the water. I can’t risk my daughter getting anything like that. People using the beach next to the club have no idea.”

Those on the public beach were equally upset. “I have just taken a swim,” said Claudia Kemfert from Germany. “I never expected to see something like raw sewage in the water. The quality of the beaches has deteriorated since I got here two years ago but this is horrible.” Ahmed Rashid decided against bathing with his seven-year-old son. “I don’t believe it,” he said, peering at the dark brown slick. “I am not going to get into the water. Imagine what my son could catch.” He then left.
Abdul Majeed, director of Dubai Municipality’s drainage and irrigation network, said he was ordering more spot checks to catch the dumpers, but the effort was being hampered by the complexity of the problem.Around 7,000 manholes feed into Dubai’s storm drainage system, with water exiting from four points along the coastline. Haulers dump their load into the system to avoid waiting in long lines at the city’s sewage treatment facilities.

“We try to catch them but they do it at 3am or 4am – we do not have full teams to cover night shifts,” Mr Majeed said.The Dubai Offshore Sailing Club has more than 600 members, with more than 200 on the waiting list.Independent tests on the pollution have been carried out by the club and the results are now in the hands of the municipality. The club says it hopes to replace polluted sand that has turned a dark brown. It must also send clean water samples to the RYA’s headquarters in the UK before it regains its certificate to teach.

However, Mr Mutch said the efforts could prove fruitless: “It’s a catch-22 situation for us. I want to replace the sand now but we do not know when the sewage will be stopped.”

eharnan@thenational.ae

Having an invested interest – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com

Having an invested interest – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com:

“Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels chief executive Arthur de Haast looks at the region’s hotel investment opportunities and explains why greater transparency is essential for the sector to progress.

Who is investing in the Middle East hotel sector at the moment, and where?

The main players are from within the region, and within the region the UAE remains a significant source of capital, so not only are they investing significantly within the UAE but also right across the region – they are the major players. We don’t see much change in that in the hotel sector for the foreseeable future.”

I think at the moment it’s very much a developer’s market, so it’s the developers who are investing to develop the product.

Now some of those developers are going to reach a point over the next 12 to 24 months where they’re going to think, ‘I’ve done my development, I want to sell out now and move onto my next project rather than be a long-term holder’, although there will obviously also be developers who will hold assets for quite some time.
But at the moment one of the challenges regarding the investment market here is that there’s actually very little investment market product; there’s lots of development activity but very little investment product – i.e. completed hotels – on the market that investors could buy.
So in a sense it’s hard to know where the market’s going, because without the availability of investment opportunities it’s hard to know who is going to be a future investor.

But looking as we do at the global market and the trends in the market, I expect it will continue to be dominated by the region, so if investment product does come up for sale I think it will still be acquired by Gulf investors or North African investors.

I think the ripple will go out over time – I think the next wave of investment is likely to be drawn from markets such as Turkey, Russia, the CIS, and the Indian subcontinent.

So do I see a lot of US investment coming in here?
No, not in the near future.

Do I see Australians investing here? No, not in the near future.

I think that the market will have to develop and evolve further, so the first wave of investment is likely to be from countries that are relatively close.How do you see Africa’s investment situation progressing?

I don’t see Africa being a major player in terms of outbound investment; I think you’re already seeing quite a presence in the market here from South Africa, from an operational perspective: you’ve got Southern Sun, Protea and so on operating here.

So from an operational perspective they’re definitely active – from an investment perspective, not so.There’s not a lot of capital in the sub-Saharan African continent that’s likely to [come into the Middle East]; they’ve got a lot of opportunities in their own market, so I think they’ll focus more on that for the time being.

North Africa I think is a little different; you’ve got some different dynamics there.
Libya for example, has a strongly oil-based economy and therefore has investment capital available and indeed has been an investor in hotels in the past.
So there are pockets of investment activity in the Northern African market.But no, there won’t be any major surge of investment from them in the near future, not in the way we’re seeing coming out of the Gulf.

What future impact will the US ‘credit crunch’ have on regional investment in hotels in the Middle East?

I don’t think it’s going to have an impact on the pace of development and the level of investment going into new developments in the region; most of that is being funded within the region, those investors are not dependent on a high-leverage model.

I think a much bigger challenge for the region is the cost inflation, particularly with things like steel and construction materials, and the issue of labour, which is a challenge for both the hospitality and the construction industry.

I think that another area the region could suffer from is if there is a significant slow-down in demand.

Although a high proportion of demand is from the region, this is still a market that is heavily dependent on the inbound traveller, particularly from Europe.

And if there is a significant slow-down from the UK, Germany and so on, that could impact the demand side.

Having an invested interest – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com

Having an invested interest – Banking & Finance – ArabianBusiness.com:

“Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels chief executive Arthur de Haast looks at the region’s hotel investment opportunities and explains why greater transparency is essential for the sector to progress.

Who is investing in the Middle East hotel sector at the moment, and where?

The main players are from within the region, and within the region the UAE remains a significant source of capital, so not only are they investing significantly within the UAE but also right across the region – they are the major players. We don’t see much change in that in the hotel sector for the foreseeable future.”

I think at the moment it’s very much a developer’s market, so it’s the developers who are investing to develop the product.

Now some of those developers are going to reach a point over the next 12 to 24 months where they’re going to think, ‘I’ve done my development, I want to sell out now and move onto my next project rather than be a long-term holder’, although there will obviously also be developers who will hold assets for quite some time.
But at the moment one of the challenges regarding the investment market here is that there’s actually very little investment market product; there’s lots of development activity but very little investment product – i.e. completed hotels – on the market that investors could buy.
So in a sense it’s hard to know where the market’s going, because without the availability of investment opportunities it’s hard to know who is going to be a future investor.

But looking as we do at the global market and the trends in the market, I expect it will continue to be dominated by the region, so if investment product does come up for sale I think it will still be acquired by Gulf investors or North African investors.

I think the ripple will go out over time – I think the next wave of investment is likely to be drawn from markets such as Turkey, Russia, the CIS, and the Indian subcontinent.

So do I see a lot of US investment coming in here?
No, not in the near future.

Do I see Australians investing here? No, not in the near future.

I think that the market will have to develop and evolve further, so the first wave of investment is likely to be from countries that are relatively close.How do you see Africa’s investment situation progressing?

I don’t see Africa being a major player in terms of outbound investment; I think you’re already seeing quite a presence in the market here from South Africa, from an operational perspective: you’ve got Southern Sun, Protea and so on operating here.

So from an operational perspective they’re definitely active – from an investment perspective, not so.There’s not a lot of capital in the sub-Saharan African continent that’s likely to [come into the Middle East]; they’ve got a lot of opportunities in their own market, so I think they’ll focus more on that for the time being.

North Africa I think is a little different; you’ve got some different dynamics there.
Libya for example, has a strongly oil-based economy and therefore has investment capital available and indeed has been an investor in hotels in the past.
So there are pockets of investment activity in the Northern African market.But no, there won’t be any major surge of investment from them in the near future, not in the way we’re seeing coming out of the Gulf.

What future impact will the US ‘credit crunch’ have on regional investment in hotels in the Middle East?

I don’t think it’s going to have an impact on the pace of development and the level of investment going into new developments in the region; most of that is being funded within the region, those investors are not dependent on a high-leverage model.

I think a much bigger challenge for the region is the cost inflation, particularly with things like steel and construction materials, and the issue of labour, which is a challenge for both the hospitality and the construction industry.

I think that another area the region could suffer from is if there is a significant slow-down in demand.

Although a high proportion of demand is from the region, this is still a market that is heavily dependent on the inbound traveller, particularly from Europe.

And if there is a significant slow-down from the UK, Germany and so on, that could impact the demand side.

UAE residents "happiest and safest throughout Middle East"

original published: Gulf News
http://archive.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10220035.html

Dubai leads Middle East countries in quality of living for residents, according to latest survey.

By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
Published: June 10, 2008, 18:27

Dubai: UAE residents are the happiest and safest among all cities in the Middle East, according to a quality of living survey of 215 cities, with Dubai coming tops, followed by Abu Dhabi.

Mercer, an international consulting firm, announced the results of its annual survey on Tuesday, ranking Dubai at 83 and Abu Dhabi at 87 in terms of quality of living, and Abu Dhabi 33 and Dubai 47 for personal safety.

The best city to live in is Zurich while the safest is Luxembourg. Baghdad placed last in both aspects, coming in at 215 out of 215.

The survey was conducted “to help governments and major companies place employees on international assignments”.

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“Several regions of the Middle East have benefited enormously from government investment in infrastructure, health and sanitation and are rising up the rankings,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, in a statement.

“However, personal safety and political tensions remain stumbling blocks and account for the low ranking of many of the region’s cities. Multinationals often compensate for this by increasing compensation levels and other benefits for their employees,” he said.

The key indicators included medical supplies and services, traffic congestion, censorship, personal freedom, recreation, schools and education, political and social environment and economic environment.

Nada Al Qassimi, spokesperson for Dubai Health Authority, told Gulf News that Dubai has always tried to lead the way in terms of health.

“What we’re doing is good but we want the best. We are benchmarking our health system against the best in the world,” she said.

Last year, Dubai came in at 80 and Abu Dhabi at 88 in the quality of living survey.

Bassam Ghazal, head of public information product solutions at Mercer in Dubai, said the lower ranking does not mean Dubai has lost its strength.

“Dubai’s ranking has not gone down. It has actually gone up. It is now ranking 83 because other cities have also improved,” he said.

The Dubai government has acknowledged the population growth and adjusted its future plans accordingly, announcing a new system of health funding that will allow all residents equal access to healthcare.

Dubai is also undertaking various ambitious infrastructure projects to accommodate the growing population, including building an extensive network of roads and a light-rail transport system.

Abu Dhabi is involved in several projects to improve the quality of life for its residents, including ones that will place it as the cultural centre of the UAE.

Why Hotel Staff need a few tips

http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=72714
original published 7 days.ae

If you’ve ever had a bad experience at a hotel, you may well have grabbed the survey form carefully placed between a postcard and an envelope that wouldn’t stick if Lassie licked it for a week. You’ll show them for not putting a chocolate on your pillow, as with pen in hand you viciously scribble sarcastic remarks in the margin.

Don’t be surprised if you still feel uptight once you’ve filled in the form – because the questions are so benign:
Do you like our hotel a little or a lot?
Do you like your tea in a cup or in your lap?

What about how I hate this hotel for not putting a chocolate on my pillow? I’ve been travelling forever, I haven’t slept properly for days and I’ve had enough with hotels not getting it right.
It is time those ridiculous hotel survey forms became more realistic – now!

1) Would you like a free glass of cheap orange juice and a 30-minute wait because the 42 emails sent months in advance were ignored OR a quick stress-free check-in that got you to your room with a minimum of fuss?

2) Would you like a buffet breakfast that partially caters to your taste, where all the food is old and tired because it’s been kept hot for hours on end OR would you like your hot breakfast food cooked to order, sizzling, fresh and the way you like it?

3) Would you like tea or coffee from a server whose idea of fresh would make an embalmer blush OR would you like genuinely fresh beverages made the old-fashioned way and delivered to your table with flair?

4) Do you want internet or telephone services harder to fathom than the layout of a QWERTY keyboard and more expensive than marrying Heather Mills OR cost-efficient systems designed for a fair price and ease of use?

5) Would you like your cutlery, crockery and unfinished food cleared away because you paused a second too long while eating, even though you are not finished, OR would you like your table cleared once everyone has finished or when you request it as is standard in all good establishments (regardless of any amount of uneducated customers’ requests in the past)?

6) Around the pool, would you like there to be a realistic ratio of sunbeds to guests OR would you rather spend 45 minutes of the hour you were going to spend around the pool searching for the one rickety sun bed in the whole area for your family of four to share?

7) Would you rather have staff who chant simple mantras like ‘Good morning’ or ‘Hello’ every few minutes without any thought because they’d been told to do so OR have well-trained staff who anticipate your needs and have the ability to problem solve effectively with a minimum of fuss?

8) Would you like staff to ignore your ‘Do not disturb’ sign OR would you rather have staff respect your privacy?

9) Would you like staff who ‘yes’ you to death OR staff who listen attentively and ask you to explain if they don’t understand something?

10) Would you unequivocally recommend such a hotel to all your friends and praise it to everyone you meet OR realise that you were simply having a dream, that you are laying on the chocolate meant for your pillow and you are just having a bad day?

Greg Hunt is an author, journalist and occasional insomniac. Email him at: lockmanhunt@gmail.com

Jumeirah Beach – Thousands of dead fish

original published: 7days.ae
http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=69966

Thousands of dead fish and sea creatures were mysteriously washed up onto the beach in Dubai yesterday.

The remains of the fish were littered along a stretch of Jumeirah Beach – while thousands more fish floated motionless in the sea. It is not clear what caused the unusual sight, but one possibility is a ‘red tide’.

Jumeirah Beach – Thousands of dead fish

original published: 7days.ae
http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=69966

Thousands of dead fish and sea creatures were mysteriously washed up onto the beach in Dubai yesterday.

The remains of the fish were littered along a stretch of Jumeirah Beach – while thousands more fish floated motionless in the sea. It is not clear what caused the unusual sight, but one possibility is a ‘red tide’.

No Refund – Visitos Dubai World Cup 2008

Dubai World Cup 2008

original published 7days.ae
http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=69817

Thousands of people were left seething yesterday after being forced to queue for hours to get into the Dubai World Cup. Doors to the sold out event opened at 2pm but thousands of racegoers were still queuing outside at 7pm as security staff frisked each person waiting to get in. Some people, who had all paid dhs180 for a ticket, said they had to stay in line for up to three hours and complained that no-one told them why they had to wait to get in.

“There’s been no comm-unication, it’s been very inefficient and you would have thought they would have been a bit smarter in getting people in and out,” said Yara Najjar, 23, from Lebanon. “We’ve been in the queue for over an hour having arrived here at 4pm. It will definitely put us off coming again.” The queues snaked around the outside of the race course and people said that many ticket holders became so fed up with their lack of progress, they gave up and went home.
Englishman Simon, 39, said: “There were hundreds of people who just left. We were queueing for more than two hours and didn’t seem to move at all, so eventually we went home. It was an absolute farce, total chaos.” Gareth O’Brien, 26, from Ireland, added: “Lots of people have left and gone home. We arrived at the main gate, were then told to go to the ticket collection point where we had to queue for an hour, we then had to queue for the bus to come back to the main entrance, where we queued again for another hour. It has ruined our whole day.”
Frank Gabriel Jnr, CEO of Dubai Racing Club, apologised for the delays and promised to solve the problem for future editions: “We apologise to everyone for the inconvenience today but it’s all down to protocol,” he said. “We have a lot of dignitaries here and we have to scan every individual. It is something we obviously need to address and work on for next time.”

Posted by Jane C

A shambolic piece of organisation. It’s all very well saying they’ll address the issues for next time, but after waiting two hours in the queue without water or information (plus the 15 minute shuttle bus ride that was misdirected by traffic marshalls and went round the houses) I shan’t be wasting my money on a ticket next year and will in fact be seeking recompense for my unsused ticket. I think alot of others feel the same.

Posted by Khalid

… and to top it up, we had queue for another one and a half hours to get a taxi back. Too many people, two metal detectors to get in do not added up well. For previous 5 years this has been a favourite experience, but after last night, never again!

Posted by Slapper

World Class event….Dont think so… However anything that says this is a World Class event just died with the effort of trying to get in……I suggest that all boycott the event next year and save their money…see how they try to win people back to the races. They should learn from the Rugby 7’s the Exiles have got it sorted for the last two years…ok before that is was a mess too.

Posted by Tony

What a shambles the whole day was. From the moment you got in traffic to the race course you knew it was going to be a bad day. Taking over an hour to get to the course of which normally would only take 15 mins should have set alarm bells ringing. However, we thought we have got dressed up it will be worth it! When we got there there was a massive queue with no stewards telling people what to do or where to go. The stewards that were there just seemed to walk up and down the queue laughing at them. After 2 hours of waiting in the queue we gave up as it would have taken at least another hour to get in. The question is will I be going back next year?………and the answer must be NO!!!! Do you think they will offer us a refund?………somehow I dont think they care enough

Posted by walidmichael

No event is worth that much hassle and really, the fact that we were constantly re-directed in the wrong direction to pick up our tickets was simply angering. We were not the only ones outraged, many people experienced the same e-ticket scandle or just could not bother waiting in the 2hours gate 8 line up. Hence we noticed that many, like us, decided to turn around, throw their tickets out, and have their champagne elsewhere to avoid further frustration and humiliation.

Posted by Martin Bishof

Welcome to another marketing bubble of Dubai. I wonder anyway what happened to the Wolrd’s Biggest Firework which was postponed to the 29. March?

Posted by Darren Ashley

It could have been a blessing in disguise for those who did not get in. We did and got pickpocketed – they took loads of money and I have had the inconvience of having to cancel all my cards.

Posted by ss

this event is a microcosm of what dubai has become. used to be a calm, classy, reputable event. yesteray was a high traffic, highly disorganized, high stressed mess and it was a nightmare to be a part of. as my make up smudged on my face from the blazing sun, walking aimlessly in heels, we waited 1 hour to pick up our ticks and another 2 hours in the line up to enter before giving up and cutting our losses short! dubai world cup not only was not only a waste of money but we were also robbed of our time and our precious weekend. such events are supposed to be enjoyable and help destress, not cause it! i want my money back and i will keep 7days closely informed.

Posted by Bob

The problem did not lie so much on the amount of gates or the protocol that had to be adheard. It was the typical ignorant and selfish people in Dubai that thought they were better than the next person and felt the need to push in and queue jump. The lines would of moved 10 times faster if there was crowd control and everyone just joined the back of the queue instead of going straight to the front. Although to be fare, the shuttle buses were dropping people off at the front of the lines and there was nobody there to direct or inform people. All that said, once inside, it was an amazing day and despite the wait, I had a lovely time. I’ll not say that I’m not going again though. If they can sort out the entry it will be perfect!

Posted by Lyndon Hall

Once again Dubai has shown that it can stage a world class event! However once again it has proved it can’t manage a world class event. From the moment the police directed the bus from the international village pick up point in the wrong direction we should have realised what lay ahead. The driver did his best, but the police were having non of it. As for the buses back to the car park what a joke that was. They should send a team back to any large world class event and learn how they are managed in other countries, it’s Dubai reputation that has taken yet another knock in the eyes of all those mere mortals that attended yesterdays event.

Posted by Work rider

Sorry for those poor people that got all dressed up and spent hours standing out there in the sun, I hope Mr. Frank (thats the CEO of DRC) gives you all a full refund, you at least desvere that and more. Its amazing Ascot racecourse has a 3 day event with more than 80,000 people and they never have any problems like this. Good job Dubai racing club- the first time in history the world cup sold out expecting more than 50,000 and you install 2 metal detectors. BRAVO. By the way, is there any chance that you could get around to giving the work riders equal pay as we are the ones risking our lives every day getting these horses ready for events such as this. Maybe not- as you will need that extra money for more metal detectors next year. Thats if anyone bothers going.

Posted by nickuae

Absolutely shocking! I have been to many race meets in the U.K.. Ascot, Cheltenham and Epsom and this just showed how far behind Dubai is. There was so much hype surrounding the whole event and for something so easy (getting people in) no-one had a clue what was going on. No organisation, people pushing in, people passing out!! To top off the 2 hour queuing we had the pleasure to drink in a field.. Great, cant wait for next year.

Posted by Martin Bishof

I don’t get it. This was not the first time of the World Cup, was it? How could they srew up so much this year? Were there so many more people?

Posted by Adrian Parry

Every year since inception the Dubai World Cup gets more shambolic. Having been to most I thought I had better get there early. As I was approaching the racetrack at 2.15 I knew the day would be awful because the direction signs were only then being put up! At least I did manage to there inside 2 hours! The next problem was that from the corporate chalet actually seeing the races was impossible because the view of the last furlong was blocked by tents. We did have a television though but of course the sound was not working. Anyway, we decided to leave at 9pm and then could not find a bus to area 6 (only 7 & 8) so we had a long walk. The racing experience in Dubai gets worse every year and surely someone must realise that the management of Dubai Racing Club are not up to the job.

Posted by boffster

I agree with SS 100%. All the organisers want is your cash. And all you get in return is a promise they will try harder next year… laughable. It’s become the same chaos at the Dubai Rugby 7’s … poor management. Not enough people to go and collect tickets from. Too slow to get in. Poor transport arrangements etc etc. Time to leave this sorry place soon I feel….. Dubai has been able to talk the talk, but it’ll never be able to walk the walk with events organised like this.

Posted by pepe

After six or seven Dubai World Cup events you would have thought someone would have learned the basics or managing queues. Confused bus drivers, understaffed marshalls, security staff allowing hundreds to queue jump and then not frisking people when the gate security system would buzz. Stampedes for the bus, ladies walking barefoot for miles to retrieve cars and finally organisers shrugging shoulders. The cause? Too many people. Is that not what this event is designed to attract? If the organisers cannot take responsibility then they havent learned anything after six years. Shame on you

No Refund – Visitos Dubai World Cup 2008

Dubai World Cup 2008

original published 7days.ae
http://www.7days.ae/showstory.php?id=69817

Thousands of people were left seething yesterday after being forced to queue for hours to get into the Dubai World Cup. Doors to the sold out event opened at 2pm but thousands of racegoers were still queuing outside at 7pm as security staff frisked each person waiting to get in. Some people, who had all paid dhs180 for a ticket, said they had to stay in line for up to three hours and complained that no-one told them why they had to wait to get in.

“There’s been no comm-unication, it’s been very inefficient and you would have thought they would have been a bit smarter in getting people in and out,” said Yara Najjar, 23, from Lebanon. “We’ve been in the queue for over an hour having arrived here at 4pm. It will definitely put us off coming again.” The queues snaked around the outside of the race course and people said that many ticket holders became so fed up with their lack of progress, they gave up and went home.
Englishman Simon, 39, said: “There were hundreds of people who just left. We were queueing for more than two hours and didn’t seem to move at all, so eventually we went home. It was an absolute farce, total chaos.” Gareth O’Brien, 26, from Ireland, added: “Lots of people have left and gone home. We arrived at the main gate, were then told to go to the ticket collection point where we had to queue for an hour, we then had to queue for the bus to come back to the main entrance, where we queued again for another hour. It has ruined our whole day.”
Frank Gabriel Jnr, CEO of Dubai Racing Club, apologised for the delays and promised to solve the problem for future editions: “We apologise to everyone for the inconvenience today but it’s all down to protocol,” he said. “We have a lot of dignitaries here and we have to scan every individual. It is something we obviously need to address and work on for next time.”

Posted by Jane C

A shambolic piece of organisation. It’s all very well saying they’ll address the issues for next time, but after waiting two hours in the queue without water or information (plus the 15 minute shuttle bus ride that was misdirected by traffic marshalls and went round the houses) I shan’t be wasting my money on a ticket next year and will in fact be seeking recompense for my unsused ticket. I think alot of others feel the same.

Posted by Khalid

… and to top it up, we had queue for another one and a half hours to get a taxi back. Too many people, two metal detectors to get in do not added up well. For previous 5 years this has been a favourite experience, but after last night, never again!

Posted by Slapper

World Class event….Dont think so… However anything that says this is a World Class event just died with the effort of trying to get in……I suggest that all boycott the event next year and save their money…see how they try to win people back to the races. They should learn from the Rugby 7’s the Exiles have got it sorted for the last two years…ok before that is was a mess too.

Posted by Tony

What a shambles the whole day was. From the moment you got in traffic to the race course you knew it was going to be a bad day. Taking over an hour to get to the course of which normally would only take 15 mins should have set alarm bells ringing. However, we thought we have got dressed up it will be worth it! When we got there there was a massive queue with no stewards telling people what to do or where to go. The stewards that were there just seemed to walk up and down the queue laughing at them. After 2 hours of waiting in the queue we gave up as it would have taken at least another hour to get in. The question is will I be going back next year?………and the answer must be NO!!!! Do you think they will offer us a refund?………somehow I dont think they care enough

Posted by walidmichael

No event is worth that much hassle and really, the fact that we were constantly re-directed in the wrong direction to pick up our tickets was simply angering. We were not the only ones outraged, many people experienced the same e-ticket scandle or just could not bother waiting in the 2hours gate 8 line up. Hence we noticed that many, like us, decided to turn around, throw their tickets out, and have their champagne elsewhere to avoid further frustration and humiliation.

Posted by Martin Bishof

Welcome to another marketing bubble of Dubai. I wonder anyway what happened to the Wolrd’s Biggest Firework which was postponed to the 29. March?

Posted by Darren Ashley

It could have been a blessing in disguise for those who did not get in. We did and got pickpocketed – they took loads of money and I have had the inconvience of having to cancel all my cards.

Posted by ss

this event is a microcosm of what dubai has become. used to be a calm, classy, reputable event. yesteray was a high traffic, highly disorganized, high stressed mess and it was a nightmare to be a part of. as my make up smudged on my face from the blazing sun, walking aimlessly in heels, we waited 1 hour to pick up our ticks and another 2 hours in the line up to enter before giving up and cutting our losses short! dubai world cup not only was not only a waste of money but we were also robbed of our time and our precious weekend. such events are supposed to be enjoyable and help destress, not cause it! i want my money back and i will keep 7days closely informed.

Posted by Bob

The problem did not lie so much on the amount of gates or the protocol that had to be adheard. It was the typical ignorant and selfish people in Dubai that thought they were better than the next person and felt the need to push in and queue jump. The lines would of moved 10 times faster if there was crowd control and everyone just joined the back of the queue instead of going straight to the front. Although to be fare, the shuttle buses were dropping people off at the front of the lines and there was nobody there to direct or inform people. All that said, once inside, it was an amazing day and despite the wait, I had a lovely time. I’ll not say that I’m not going again though. If they can sort out the entry it will be perfect!

Posted by Lyndon Hall

Once again Dubai has shown that it can stage a world class event! However once again it has proved it can’t manage a world class event. From the moment the police directed the bus from the international village pick up point in the wrong direction we should have realised what lay ahead. The driver did his best, but the police were having non of it. As for the buses back to the car park what a joke that was. They should send a team back to any large world class event and learn how they are managed in other countries, it’s Dubai reputation that has taken yet another knock in the eyes of all those mere mortals that attended yesterdays event.

Posted by Work rider

Sorry for those poor people that got all dressed up and spent hours standing out there in the sun, I hope Mr. Frank (thats the CEO of DRC) gives you all a full refund, you at least desvere that and more. Its amazing Ascot racecourse has a 3 day event with more than 80,000 people and they never have any problems like this. Good job Dubai racing club- the first time in history the world cup sold out expecting more than 50,000 and you install 2 metal detectors. BRAVO. By the way, is there any chance that you could get around to giving the work riders equal pay as we are the ones risking our lives every day getting these horses ready for events such as this. Maybe not- as you will need that extra money for more metal detectors next year. Thats if anyone bothers going.

Posted by nickuae

Absolutely shocking! I have been to many race meets in the U.K.. Ascot, Cheltenham and Epsom and this just showed how far behind Dubai is. There was so much hype surrounding the whole event and for something so easy (getting people in) no-one had a clue what was going on. No organisation, people pushing in, people passing out!! To top off the 2 hour queuing we had the pleasure to drink in a field.. Great, cant wait for next year.

Posted by Martin Bishof

I don’t get it. This was not the first time of the World Cup, was it? How could they srew up so much this year? Were there so many more people?

Posted by Adrian Parry

Every year since inception the Dubai World Cup gets more shambolic. Having been to most I thought I had better get there early. As I was approaching the racetrack at 2.15 I knew the day would be awful because the direction signs were only then being put up! At least I did manage to there inside 2 hours! The next problem was that from the corporate chalet actually seeing the races was impossible because the view of the last furlong was blocked by tents. We did have a television though but of course the sound was not working. Anyway, we decided to leave at 9pm and then could not find a bus to area 6 (only 7 & 8) so we had a long walk. The racing experience in Dubai gets worse every year and surely someone must realise that the management of Dubai Racing Club are not up to the job.

Posted by boffster

I agree with SS 100%. All the organisers want is your cash. And all you get in return is a promise they will try harder next year… laughable. It’s become the same chaos at the Dubai Rugby 7’s … poor management. Not enough people to go and collect tickets from. Too slow to get in. Poor transport arrangements etc etc. Time to leave this sorry place soon I feel….. Dubai has been able to talk the talk, but it’ll never be able to walk the walk with events organised like this.

Posted by pepe

After six or seven Dubai World Cup events you would have thought someone would have learned the basics or managing queues. Confused bus drivers, understaffed marshalls, security staff allowing hundreds to queue jump and then not frisking people when the gate security system would buzz. Stampedes for the bus, ladies walking barefoot for miles to retrieve cars and finally organisers shrugging shoulders. The cause? Too many people. Is that not what this event is designed to attract? If the organisers cannot take responsibility then they havent learned anything after six years. Shame on you

Popular Dubai-based blog "Secret Dubai Diary" blocked by TRA

Popular Dubai-based blog blocked by TRA
original article from 7days.ae Last Updated : Tuesday 18 Mar,
2008 – 10 comments

Secret Dubai Diary, one of the emirate’s most popular blogs, has been shut down in a move that has upset the many thousands of its readers. The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has decided to block secretdubai.blogspot.com, calling it, “a web site for slander, defamation and vilification against Dubai”.

The same site was blocked in 2005 for similar reasons. However, since laws to block web sites were not concrete then, the site was eventually unblocked. This time, the TRA says the content was more offensive.

TRA spokesman Rasheed Joumblatt told 7DAYS: “Many people contacted the TRA complaining about the offensive language and the lies that had been spread on the site, ‘mutilating’ their beautiful city and twisting facts to dishonour the development and progress of the city…

“The TRA browsed the web site and found that it is a site for slander, defamation and vilification against the city of Dubai… and UAE individuals and personalities.”

However, one expat who regularly read the site said he was disappointed to see it had been blocked. He said: “It offered a nice irreverent look at life in the UAE. I do not believe it was slanderous or anti-Dubai. It was just people speaking their mind and giving their own, honest views on people living here. I hope the ban is lifted.”

Readers Comments

Posted by Jerica
What a shocker. Heaven forbid that anyone take personally responsibility on what they view on the internet.

Posted by mike_abudhabi
It’s a shame that the UAE TRA has blocked this site. I thought the UAE was open to freedom of speech and expression and news. What happened TRA?

Posted by dan perry
mike_abudhabi – really mike? you really thought that? come on, wake up buddy
Posted by FRZ
If Dubai is really an “open city”, it should consider those blogs as a “heads up”.

Posted by Proud Emarati
Funny! Why are you shocked, eh? When someone insults you and tries to destroy your image do you just keep quiet? Simple shows that certain groups of people like yourselves have no respect for this country. Now thats a shame!!

Posted by secretdubai
Thank you all for the support, and to 7Days for continuing to push for freer speech despite so many setbacks and so much undeserved hostility. It will take more than a proxy block to shut me up – and of course the rest of the world can still read what I have to say ;)

Posted by Proud Emarati
secretdubai: not as long as you live here!

Posted by umsara
secret dubai i pitty you really- it seems like you forgot how it was living in your “perfect country”" that know you have to put it on the place youre making a living from! and thinking that the rest of the world cares to what appears like a desperate women’s blabber is really a strech!!!! you people think your open to cultures but all you are is stereotyped discriminative blocked headed poeple who dont respect other cultures OR maybe your just bored who knows!

Posted by Jerica
Proud Emarati, I listen to Emaratis and other nationalities bash my country to no end. Of course the minute the offending party realizes that it is my home country, they shut up and back track. But in the same instance, I respect the right to other peoples opinions. EVERY ONE has something horrible said about their home countries. It does not mean you police their activities on the internet. As long as they are not planning some crime or making threats in any way, then it should be no big deal.

Posted by 7 days fan
I have to agree with Jerica. No country is perfect and sometimes the ideal of freedom of speech can initiative positive change and make people think about issues. Admittedly I’ve never seen the Secret Dubai site, so I am not too sure about the content, but provided it’s not inciting racial hatred or anything dire like that, what’s the problem. I love my home country, but I am the first to admit it’s not perfect and it is often criticism of the deficiencies that leads to them being addressed. Same goes for Dubai. I have a lot of respect for the place and the people here, but by the same token, it is not perfect and people should have the right to discuss this freely and lobby for change.

Popular Dubai-based blog "Secret Dubai Diary" blocked by TRA

Popular Dubai-based blog blocked by TRA
original article from 7days.ae Last Updated : Tuesday 18 Mar,
2008 – 10 comments

Secret Dubai Diary, one of the emirate’s most popular blogs, has been shut down in a move that has upset the many thousands of its readers. The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has decided to block secretdubai.blogspot.com, calling it, “a web site for slander, defamation and vilification against Dubai”.

The same site was blocked in 2005 for similar reasons. However, since laws to block web sites were not concrete then, the site was eventually unblocked. This time, the TRA says the content was more offensive.

TRA spokesman Rasheed Joumblatt told 7DAYS: “Many people contacted the TRA complaining about the offensive language and the lies that had been spread on the site, ‘mutilating’ their beautiful city and twisting facts to dishonour the development and progress of the city…

“The TRA browsed the web site and found that it is a site for slander, defamation and vilification against the city of Dubai… and UAE individuals and personalities.”

However, one expat who regularly read the site said he was disappointed to see it had been blocked. He said: “It offered a nice irreverent look at life in the UAE. I do not believe it was slanderous or anti-Dubai. It was just people speaking their mind and giving their own, honest views on people living here. I hope the ban is lifted.”

Readers Comments

Posted by Jerica
What a shocker. Heaven forbid that anyone take personally responsibility on what they view on the internet.

Posted by mike_abudhabi
It’s a shame that the UAE TRA has blocked this site. I thought the UAE was open to freedom of speech and expression and news. What happened TRA?

Posted by dan perry
mike_abudhabi – really mike? you really thought that? come on, wake up buddy
Posted by FRZ
If Dubai is really an “open city”, it should consider those blogs as a “heads up”.

Posted by Proud Emarati
Funny! Why are you shocked, eh? When someone insults you and tries to destroy your image do you just keep quiet? Simple shows that certain groups of people like yourselves have no respect for this country. Now thats a shame!!

Posted by secretdubai
Thank you all for the support, and to 7Days for continuing to push for freer speech despite so many setbacks and so much undeserved hostility. It will take more than a proxy block to shut me up – and of course the rest of the world can still read what I have to say ;)

Posted by Proud Emarati
secretdubai: not as long as you live here!

Posted by umsara
secret dubai i pitty you really- it seems like you forgot how it was living in your “perfect country”" that know you have to put it on the place youre making a living from! and thinking that the rest of the world cares to what appears like a desperate women’s blabber is really a strech!!!! you people think your open to cultures but all you are is stereotyped discriminative blocked headed poeple who dont respect other cultures OR maybe your just bored who knows!

Posted by Jerica
Proud Emarati, I listen to Emaratis and other nationalities bash my country to no end. Of course the minute the offending party realizes that it is my home country, they shut up and back track. But in the same instance, I respect the right to other peoples opinions. EVERY ONE has something horrible said about their home countries. It does not mean you police their activities on the internet. As long as they are not planning some crime or making threats in any way, then it should be no big deal.

Posted by 7 days fan
I have to agree with Jerica. No country is perfect and sometimes the ideal of freedom of speech can initiative positive change and make people think about issues. Admittedly I’ve never seen the Secret Dubai site, so I am not too sure about the content, but provided it’s not inciting racial hatred or anything dire like that, what’s the problem. I love my home country, but I am the first to admit it’s not perfect and it is often criticism of the deficiencies that leads to them being addressed. Same goes for Dubai. I have a lot of respect for the place and the people here, but by the same token, it is not perfect and people should have the right to discuss this freely and lobby for change.

TV executive arrested at Duai airport relaseaded

original published GulfNews http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Police_and_The_Courts/10194195.html

By Bassam Zaza, Senior Reporter Published: March 02, 2008, 16:02

Dubai:

A TV executive has been discharged of illegally bringing in and possessing 0.03 grams of hashish, Gulf News has learnt. Dubai Public Prosecution dismissed the charges and released the suspect. Gulf News learnt that the suspect was arrested at Dubai International Airport during a business trip. A lawyer said the suspect was unaware that the drug, used by many of his friends, was in the suspect’s handbag. No one from Dubai Public Prosecution was available to give reasons behind dismissing the case and issuing a release order.

original published: http://travel.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/news/article3607846.ece

March 24, 2008

Endemol exec sent to Dubai jail after customs find ’speck of dirt’

Warning to travellers over Dubai drug laws as it is claimed officials ‘are paid bounty for each arrest’

A speck of dirt invisible to the human eye was all it took to land Cat Le Huy in a Dubai jail.

Officials at Dubai airport claimed they had found 0.03 grams of hashish in the Endemol television executive’s bag after he had travelled to the United Arab Emirates to visit a friend last month. They accused him of possession — which would have led to a mandatory four-year prison sentence had he been convicted. After he spent six weeks in Dubai’s jails protesting his innocence, prosecutors dropped the case this month.

Mr Le Huy, 31, a German citizen living in London, claims that Dubai officials are paid a “bounty” for arresting drug offenders, a practice confirmed independently to The Times by sources who did not wish to be named.

“People shouldn’t go to Dubai until the laws change,” Mr Le Huy said. “They are running a risk. Even if you’re innocent and know about the laws, if they suspect you of anything, you run the risk of incarceration.”

His experience is common, according to Fair Trials International, a legal charity, which says that drug-related arrests have increased rapidly since 2006, when the laws changed in Dubai so that trace amounts of banned substances picked up by airport detection equipment were deemed to indicate possession. “People are being subjected to very thorough searches,” said Saima Jirji, a solicitor at the charity. “Even seams in their clothing and the fluff in their pockets is being checked.”

Mr Le Huy claims that he was also approached by a detective asking whether he knew any drug-takers back in Britain and whether he could coerce them into coming to Dubai. He alleged that at least two other foreign inmates had been approached with similar requests. The UAE Embassy in London refused to comment.

At first he was accused of smuggling heroin after officials found pills in an unmarked container that turned out to be jet-lag medicine sold freely over the counter in Dubai and the US.

He was strip-searched.

Officials claimed to have found a trace of hashish in his bag and detained him.

He was asked to sign letters in Arabic, which he could not read.
Only after being told that he would at once be deported if he signed did he do so, but he wrote “under duress” beneath each signature.

Instead of being deported he was put in solitary confinement.
Because he was dehydrated and forbidden from drinking he was only able to produce a urine sample after eight hours.

Last year 59 British people were detained in Dubai over drugs offences, and so far this year the figure is nine, according to the Foreign Office. Keith Brown served nine months after customs officers found a 0.003 gram trace of cannabis stuck to his shoe.

This month the BBC Radio 1 DJ Grooverider, whose real name is Raymond Bingham, started a four-year sentence for possessing 2.16 grams of cannabis.

Fair Trials said the list of prohibited substances included everything from antidepressants to a cough medicine for children. Even those in Dubai on transit to another destination can be arrested under the regulations.

Mr Le Huy denies that there were ever any drugs on his person.
“Hashish isn’t something available in my social circle — the idea it was in my bag is absolutely ludicrous,” he says.
He was pressed by the authorities to plead guilty, but his refusal left him in a legal limbo.

After a persistent campaign by his friends in Britain and after negotiations with his lawyer in the UAE, the Dubai authorities agreed to drop the investigation.

He had initially spent two weeks at the airport jail, where he couldn’t shower because of the condition of the bathrooms. To compensate, he “discovered the magic of Dettol”, using the disinfectant to shower.

At Dubai Central Jail he suffered even worse conditions. Inmates slept eight to a cell. Because of the poor food he lost 15 kilograms in weight (more than two stone). “Every day was a bad day when you wake up and realise, ‘I’m still here.’ ” When he was finally released, he was taken to a police station to pick up his passport, only for detectives to put him in a bloodstained cell for another four hours.

During the six weeks he had found solace in the company of other English-speaking inmates such as Grooverider. Mr Le Huy said that foreign inmates were treated with “distant contempt” by guards, who “played mind games” with them. “They’d ask us to go out in the courtyard at 1am, then take four hours to search all our cells. There was a lad from London who had a bronchial infection. They made him wait in the rain for four hours even after we asked the guards if he could stand in the corridor.”

“The laws and punishments of a nation are theirs to set,” he emphasised, adding: “My point is that you will be detained for a minimum of 21 days if they suspect you of anything, whether or not you’re innocent.”

Comments:

…..just got back from dubai and i am disgusted with the way they are treating human lives with such cruelty..alcohol is freely avaiable so dont tell me its a moral thing to due with islam..these are peoples lives they are destroying..they are not drug smugglers and have only been in possession of small amounts of cannabis unknowingly or through being careless.certainly does not deserve this kind of treatment. i have been going to the area for eight years or so and this is a whole new practice by the customs..people must be warned of the dangers of smoking cannibis and going to the uae as it can last up to four weeks or more as a trace in your blood which is also a four year sentence. i really feel for the people now in prison for such ridiculous sentences and i hope our goverment puts pressure on the country to release these people as soon as possible. They are trying to be a tourist destination i think!
wads, porthleven, cornwall
i`m just back in europe after 45 days along with cat mentioned in your article. unfortunatley it´s all true. DO NOT GO TO DUBAI AND AVOID EMIRATES AIRLINES!!!!! this is all i want to add …

B.H., duesseldorf,
Having recently returned from Dubai I can only say the airlines must lace the onboard drinks with something that makes people like the place. However as I only drank water they failed to hook me! Dubai simply is the worst place I have ever visited. Of course it has sun, but then so do many other places.
In short it has nothing going for it. A more disturbing aspect is the manner in which the exploited foreign workers are treated is appalling. Boycott the place, that’s my advice.

The Story
original published: http://freediz.com/

Cat finally got released on Wednesday the 5th of March after having been detained for 6 weeks and arrived safely back home in London 0n the 6th :-)
A huge thanks to everyone else involved who has helped by showing their support and by spreading the word. The extent of bloggers and facebookers joining in support of freeing Cat must have left the Dubai authorities in shock and amazement. Incredible what the ‘masses’ can achieve in an area where all politicians – independent of nationailty have been too cowardice to even approach the subject.Excellent Work!

The CaseCat Le-Huy
known to his friends as Diz has been detained in Dubai since Saturday 26th of January whilst the Dubai authorities are trying to come up with some drugs charges against him. Cat being Asian and having long hair was an obvious target and when they found melatonin sleeping pills they decided that these had to be drugs and have sent them off for testing. They claim to have found a piece of hash in his bag and this has been sent off for analysis as well…
The very worrying thing about Dubai law is that if they do a urine test on you and find that you have traces of anything illegal in your system – independent of where you consumed these illegal substances, then this will count as smuggling and the minimum charge for anything drug related is 4 years. Even if this charge is based on a trace of something in your urine. Can I just add that something as basic as Codeine is considered illegal and just a trace of the painkiller can land you in jail.

original published: http://thetruthaboutdubai.com/?cat=6

February 25th, 2008
Filed Under Cases, Cat Le-Huy (Diz), Take Action

Cat Le-Huy as of the 22nd of February remains in Al Wathba Prison. We are exploring all possible avenues for his release. Currently the decision rests with the Dubai Chief Prosecutor as to whether to charge him or drop the case entirely. Cat’s Advocate has been presenting arguments to the Prosecution in an attempt to persuade them to drop the case.
We hope that the Chief Prosecutor can be persuaded to drop the case. It is almost like a pre-trial and the legal fees for this are are expected to be in the vicinity of £50,000. We have raised half this amount already thanks to your donations, and are now making an appeal for people to keep donating to reach the full amount. All fees will need to be paid prior to his release and therefore it is urgent and imperative that we complete the fundraising ASAP. As the amount is large, it is difficult for any one party to provide liquid cash in such a short time so we need to appeal to the public for support.
CLICK HERE TO SAVE CAT – DONATE NOW
We are hoping for a speedy, positive resolution & expect to have more solid news very shortly. There are rumours being generated within the prison that people who plead guilty, are deported though as you would expect, there are no guarantees and this is often an attempt to scare prisoners into pleading guilty, to make the Chief Prosecutor’s job easier. Cat was told if he signed the Arabic confession, he would be deported immediately. They didn’t keep their word then & we very much doubt they would now. As such, Cat agrees it’s better to tell the truth and maintain his innocent plea. Unfortunately, the legal system in the UAE is not designed with fair trials in mind & with very few practicing (drug) criminal lawyers, senior advocates & associated law firms charge a high amount for their services. In this case, we are confident that Cat’s advocate will be able to secure his release in the very near future as he has done for many others in similar situations in the past. We have been advised, there is a 90% chance this case will be closed if we can raise the financial assistance in a timely manner.
Please circulate this most important appeal for financial assistance.We are asking for your donations –whatever you can give– of which 100% of proceeds will go toward his legal defence fund. Without a lawyer, Cat will very likely have no option but to plead guilty, and we are at a critical stage in this process. Cat pleaded with us not to let him get lost in the system and we need to do everything we can to keep prevent this happening. Without legal representation, he doesn’t stand a chance.
Thank you so much for your help, we couldn’t do this without your benevolence and generosity. Please direct questions to dubai@futurecorp.co.uk.

Dubai a real safe Tourist Destination ? The Dangers of Dubai – Nine Network Australia

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Dubai – Security of tourists high on agenda

By Agencies on Friday, February 15 , 2008

Maintaining the safety and security of tourists is key to creating a popular destination in the coming years, officials have said.

Police and tourism officials met yesterday to discuss the wide range of issues concerning the soaring numbers of people choosing the emirate as a holiday destination.

Other topics at the head office of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) included regulation violations by hotels, and restricting activities that threaten the culture of the country.

Brigadier Khamis Al Muzinah, Director of Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, outlined the role and initiatives of Dubai Police and its strategy on crime prevention, tourist security and public order.

He said: “The Tourist Security Department was set up with the aim of taking care of tourists. This department seeks to provide utmost security to tourists as the Government of Dubai considers tourism as one of the pillars of its economy.

DTCM Director-General Khalid bin Sulayem said there was a need for greater co-ordination between the tourism organisations and Dubai Police to ensure higher level of service. He praised Dubai Police, especially for containing “vices” that contradict Emirati culture and Islamic values. (Wam)

Dubai – Security of tourists high on agenda

By Agencies on Friday, February 15 , 2008

Maintaining the safety and security of tourists is key to creating a popular destination in the coming years, officials have said.

Police and tourism officials met yesterday to discuss the wide range of issues concerning the soaring numbers of people choosing the emirate as a holiday destination.

Other topics at the head office of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) included regulation violations by hotels, and restricting activities that threaten the culture of the country.

Brigadier Khamis Al Muzinah, Director of Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation Department, outlined the role and initiatives of Dubai Police and its strategy on crime prevention, tourist security and public order.

He said: “The Tourist Security Department was set up with the aim of taking care of tourists. This department seeks to provide utmost security to tourists as the Government of Dubai considers tourism as one of the pillars of its economy.

DTCM Director-General Khalid bin Sulayem said there was a need for greater co-ordination between the tourism organisations and Dubai Police to ensure higher level of service. He praised Dubai Police, especially for containing “vices” that contradict Emirati culture and Islamic values. (Wam)

Visitors sentenced to jail for illicit relationship

GulfNews
By Bassam Za’za’Staff Reporter
Published: January 31, 2008, 22:41

Dubai: A male and female visitor who had consensual sex following an ‘unregistered marriage’ have been jailed, ruled a court on Thursday.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the 29-year-old Saudi male visitor, H.F., and 28-year-old Egyptian woman, A.H., to six months in jail each. The court also sentenced H.F. along his two compatriot visitors, 26-year-old M.A. and 25-year-old M.Q., to 13 months in jail each for beating and having sex with the woman against her will, while under the influence of alcohol.

The four accused will be deported after serving their sentence. A.H. earlier pleaded innocent against having an illicit affair and claimed she had consensual sex with her 29-year-old husband from an ‘unregistered marriage’.

Denial

Meanwhile, the Saudi men denied having sex with the woman against her will.

The Public Prosecution charged H.F. and A.H. with having an illicit relationship. The three Saudi men were charged with having sex with the woman against her will. They were also charged with beating her and consuming liquor.

“I met him in Abu Dhabi and we agreed to marry in the UAE but without registering the marriage contract. After having slept with him, I shockingly realised that he had already been married in his country,” the woman said.

Visitors sentenced to jail for illicit relationship

GulfNews
By Bassam Za’za’Staff Reporter
Published: January 31, 2008, 22:41

Dubai: A male and female visitor who had consensual sex following an ‘unregistered marriage’ have been jailed, ruled a court on Thursday.

The Dubai Court of First Instance sentenced the 29-year-old Saudi male visitor, H.F., and 28-year-old Egyptian woman, A.H., to six months in jail each. The court also sentenced H.F. along his two compatriot visitors, 26-year-old M.A. and 25-year-old M.Q., to 13 months in jail each for beating and having sex with the woman against her will, while under the influence of alcohol.

The four accused will be deported after serving their sentence. A.H. earlier pleaded innocent against having an illicit affair and claimed she had consensual sex with her 29-year-old husband from an ‘unregistered marriage’.

Denial

Meanwhile, the Saudi men denied having sex with the woman against her will.

The Public Prosecution charged H.F. and A.H. with having an illicit relationship. The three Saudi men were charged with having sex with the woman against her will. They were also charged with beating her and consuming liquor.

“I met him in Abu Dhabi and we agreed to marry in the UAE but without registering the marriage contract. After having slept with him, I shockingly realised that he had already been married in his country,” the woman said.

Members of gang held for murder at Dubai Hotel Burj Al Arab

Staff Report
Published:GulfNews September 28, 2006, 00:00

Dubai: Police nabbed a group of people who killed one Arab and injured another in a fight in the Burj Al Arab Hotel on Sunday.

Police said the fight took place in one of the hotel rooms where the victims had gone to sell diamonds worth $255,000 (Dh935,850) to a group of Russians after a Kazakh woman lured the victims, as she knew them previously.

On Tuesday, September 26, the operations department received a report stating that a murder had taken place at Burj Al Arab Hotel in Jumeirah. Police squads arrived at the scene where an Arab national R.A.S., 31, was found killed.

Police found R.A.S. tied and there was a tape around his neck and on his mouth.

They also found another Arab A.J.N., 30, who was being escorted by a nurse. He was beaten up and his feet and hands were tied.

Part 2
Murder victim ‘came to UAE to build a life for himself’
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Published: October 02, 2006, 00:00

Dubai: The two men who went to display diamonds at the Burj Al Arab never suspected their deal would turn bloody.

Rami Andrwas Sama’an, a 32-year-old Syrian, was killed last Tuesday at the seven-star hotel when he accompanied his friend and compatriot Elias Al Nadaf, 30, to meet a group of people who claimed to be diamond traders.

Sama’an came to the UAE 10 years ago and was a partner at the Al Rozana coffee shop in Al Ghusais. Sama’an has a brother and a sister. His family lives in Ma’areen, a village near Damascus.

“He came to work here to support his family and to build a life for himself,” said Fadi Al Nadaf, Elias’s brother and Sama’an’s friend.

Al Nadaf said Sama’an was unmarried and was staying with friends in an apartment in Al Nahda in Sharjah.

Members of gang held for murder at Dubai Hotel Burj Al Arab

Staff Report
Published:GulfNews September 28, 2006, 00:00

Dubai: Police nabbed a group of people who killed one Arab and injured another in a fight in the Burj Al Arab Hotel on Sunday.

Police said the fight took place in one of the hotel rooms where the victims had gone to sell diamonds worth $255,000 (Dh935,850) to a group of Russians after a Kazakh woman lured the victims, as she knew them previously.

On Tuesday, September 26, the operations department received a report stating that a murder had taken place at Burj Al Arab Hotel in Jumeirah. Police squads arrived at the scene where an Arab national R.A.S., 31, was found killed.

Police found R.A.S. tied and there was a tape around his neck and on his mouth.

They also found another Arab A.J.N., 30, who was being escorted by a nurse. He was beaten up and his feet and hands were tied.

Part 2
Murder victim ‘came to UAE to build a life for himself’
By Bassma Al Jandaly, Staff Reporter
Published: October 02, 2006, 00:00

Dubai: The two men who went to display diamonds at the Burj Al Arab never suspected their deal would turn bloody.

Rami Andrwas Sama’an, a 32-year-old Syrian, was killed last Tuesday at the seven-star hotel when he accompanied his friend and compatriot Elias Al Nadaf, 30, to meet a group of people who claimed to be diamond traders.

Sama’an came to the UAE 10 years ago and was a partner at the Al Rozana coffee shop in Al Ghusais. Sama’an has a brother and a sister. His family lives in Ma’areen, a village near Damascus.

“He came to work here to support his family and to build a life for himself,” said Fadi Al Nadaf, Elias’s brother and Sama’an’s friend.

Al Nadaf said Sama’an was unmarried and was staying with friends in an apartment in Al Nahda in Sharjah.

Dubais Touristen landen schnell im Knast

“Dubai ist eine aus Lügen gebaute Welt”

Quelle: Spiegel online http://www.spiegel.de/

Von Ulrike Putz, Kairo

Dubais Touristen und Edel-Gastarbeiter leben im Luxus – und landen schnell im Knast. Der ägyptische Banker Mo wurde am Flughafen mit 0,03 Gramm Hasch erwischt und zu vier Jahren Haft verurteilt. Rechtshilfeorganisationen sind besorgt: Immer öfter gebe es wegen Lappalien drakonische Strafen.

Foto: Copyright Sheikha all Rights reserved

Kairo – Dubai

Eigentlich war seine Reise schon zu Ende, als die Odyssee begann. Der 27-jährige Mo hatte alle Passkontrollen hinter sich gebracht, sein Gepäck abgeholt, im Duty-Free in der Ankunftshalle des Flughafens Dubai noch zwei Fläschchen Parfum für Freunde erstanden.

Glitzerndes Emirat Dubai: “Opfer des Dubai-Marketings”Dann kam ein Mann in der weißen Dischdascha der Golf-Araber auf ihn zu. “Welche Nationalität”, fragte der Kriminalbeamte. Und ob er Hasch rauche. Nein, warum? “Du siehst so aus”, sagte der Mann in dem bodenlangen Gewand und befahl Mo mitzukommen.

Ein enger Raum in den Katakomben des Dubaier Flughafens war die erste Zelle, die der Banker von innen sah, die erste in einer langen Reihe.
Während er sich nackt ausziehen musste, wurden seine Sachen durchsucht. Schließlich fischte ein Sicherheitsbeamter ein dunkles Krümelchen aus Mos Jeanstasche. “Das ist doch Haschisch!”, rief er und Mo ahnte: Jetzt steck ich in der Klemme.
Seit anderthalb Jahren lebte er in Dubai und er hatte genug Geschichten über die drakonischen Strafmaße des Wüstenstaates gehört. Er wusste: Wer als Ausländer in Dubai mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt kommt, sollte sich auf alles gefasst machen.
Es war das glitzernde, glamouröse Image der Emirate, das den jungen Ägypter direkt nach dem Master-Abschluss in London nach Dubai zog. Als eine internationale Bank ihn für die Filiale am Golf anheuerte, freute er sich. Zehntausende hoffnungsfroher Berufsanfänger ziehen jedes Jahr nach Dubai: Europäer, Australier, Araber, alle mit exzellentem Englisch, viele mit Studienabschlüssen von renommierten Universitäten. “Die Emirate sind voller junger Abenteurer, man hat Spaß, feiert viel und arbeitet gleichzeitig sehr professionell”, erinnert sich Mo, der seinen Nachnamen nicht nennen möchte. Der Spaß war vorbei, als sich Mo am 4. Juni dieses Jahres in der Flughafenzelle wieder fand. “Da bin ich zum ersten Mal mit dem echten Dubai konfrontiert worden.”
“Ich kiffe nicht, das interessiert mich nicht”

Mos Geschichte hatte ein Woche zuvor in Kairo begonnen. Seine deutsch-ägyptische Lieblingscousine heiratete ihren neuseeländischen Freund, 300 Gäste waren angereist, aus aller Welt, um am Pool des besten Hotels in Kairo zu feiern. Auf Bitten von Partygästen besorgte Mo über Freunde ein Stück Haschisch, übergab es und vergaß die Angelegenheit. “Ich kiffe nicht, das interessiert mich nicht, ich hab mich da weiter nicht drum gekümmert.” Zwei Tage später reiste er ab, flog zuerst nach London, wo er noch eine Wohnung hat. Während des Zwischenstopps gab er seine Sachen in die Reinigung, auch die Hose, in deren Tasche er die etwa acht Gramm Hasch transportiert hatte, und in der anscheinend ein Krümel hängen geblieben war.

Am schlimmsten, sagt Mo, sei die Unsicherheit gewesen. Noch am Tag seiner Verhaftung hatten die Polizisten in seinem Beisein das Krümelchen gewogen, dass sie bei ihm gefunden hatten. Als die Waage 0,03 Gramm anzeigte, war Mo beruhigt: Das ist ja nichts, da kann mir ja nichts passieren, sagte er sich. Der Urintest war negativ, mit dem er auf Drogenkonsum getestet wurde. Mo wähnte sich schon bald frei.

Doch dann wurde er in eine Sammelzelle des Flughafengefängnisses gebracht. 130 Mann pro Raum, geschlafen wurde in Schichten, es stank, und was seine Zellengenossen berichteten, trieb Mo in die Verzweiflung. “Sie sagten mir auf den Kopf zu, dass ich vier Jahre kriegen würde, dass ich mir keine Illusionen machen soll.” Auch der zwischenzeitlich von seiner Familie engagierte Anwalt machte ihm keine Hoffnung. Wie im Film habe er daraufhin seinen Kopf gegen die Wand geschlagen und gefleht, dass alles nur ein Traum sei, erzählt Mo an diesem Nachmittag am Pool eines Luxushotels in Kairo.
Drei Minuten dauerte die Verhandlung

Wer ihn so auf seiner Liege sieht, könnte ihn für irgendeinen Sohn aus gutem Kairoer Hause halten: Ray-Ban-Sonnenbrille, edle Surf-Shorts, teure Sonnenkosmetik. Doch wer ihn reden hört, merkt: Vier lange Monate auf der Schattenseite des Lebens haben ihre Spuren hinterlassen. “Ich bin da noch lange nicht drüber weg, da müssen erst viele gute Dinge passieren, um das aufzuwiegen”, sagt Mo.

Einen Monat nach seiner Festnahme wird der junge Mann in das neue Zentralgefängnis in der Wüste von Dubai verlegt, seinen Job bei der Bank hat er längst verloren. Bis zum Prozess dauert es noch mal neun Wochen. “In Dubai gilt man als schuldig, bis das Gegenteil bewiesen ist, so sieht die Realität aus”, erzählt Mo. Drei Minuten, schätzt Mo, dauerte die Verhandlung, dann fiel das Urteil: Vier Jahre Haft wegen Drogenbesitzes für eigenen Gebrauch, danach Deportation.

Er wird in den Trakt für verurteilte Verbrecher verlegt, nach dem anfänglichen Schock findet er sich mit dem neuen Alltag ab. Drei Mal am Tag Essen, Ausgang an der frischen Luft, einmal wöchentlich nach Sonnenuntergang. Tagsüber dürfen die Gefangenen sich auf dem Flur aufhalten – “aber da sind auch richtig schwere Jungs, Mörder und Vergewaltiger, da will man nicht raus”.

Mo hat Glück, in seiner Zelle sind nur andere kleine Drogenfälle untergebracht. “Zwei Briten, ein Amerikaner, ein Libanese und ein weiterer Ägypter, alle wegen 0,01 bis 0,5 Gramm Hasch oder Marihuana.” Andere Flurgenossen sitzen für geradezu lachhafte Vergehen ein, erzählt Mo:

Ein Engländer, der sich während eines achtstündigen Aufenthalts am Dubaier Flughafen Bewegung verschaffen wollte und Liegestütze machte, habe drei Monate für “Belästigung des Flughafenbodens” bekommen.

Ein anderer habe mitten in der Wüste an eine Straßenlaterne gepinkelt und dafür ein Jahr Gefängnis bekommen.

Sie alle finden sich in einer Welt wieder, in der die Flurvorsteher Schutzgelder kassieren und Angebote für schnellen Sex auf der Zelle an der Tagesordnung sind.
Eines Tages knüppeln 40 Wachleute ohne ersichtlichen Grund auf die Gefangenen ein und hetzen Hunde auf sie. “Ein Armenier fiel dabei die Treppe herunter und ist seitdem gelähmt.” Der Fall schlägt Wellen, Dubaier Medien berichteten von der missglückten “Übung” der Wärter, eine Menschenrechtskommission der Dubaier Polizei ermittelt.

Nicht alle Geschichten, die Mo aus dem Gefängnis erzählt, sind wie die des Armeniers nachprüfbar. Unglaubwürdig sind sie nicht.
“Dubai legt seine Gesetze sehr harsch aus”, sagt Saima Hirji, Anwältin bei “Fair Trials Abroad”, einer Londoner Organisation, die seit 1992 dafür kämpft, im Ausland Verhafteten faire Prozesse zu garantieren. Die Anzahl der Fälle, in denen in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten Petitessen mit drakonischen Strafen geahndet werden, habe in den vergangenen Jahren “bedenklich zugenommen, es ist besorgniserregend”. Vier Jahre als Mindeststrafe für Drogenvergehen “darf einfach nicht wahr sein”, sagt die Anwältin.

“Für immer ein vier Monate langes Loch in meinem Leben”

Auch ihre Organisation habe Leute beraten, bei denen – genau wie bei Mo – mit dem bloßen Auge nicht sichtbare Mengen Drogen gefunden wurden. “Da fragt man sich dann, ob nicht jeder, der mal in Kontakt mit Drogen war, gefährdet ist”, sagt Hirji und berichtet von einem Fall, bei dem der Angeklagte mit dem Schuh in etwas getreten war, was die Polizei als eine winzige Menge Haschisch identifizierte. Angesichts solcher Fälle gebe es kaum eine Chance, sich davor zu schützen, in die Fänge der Dubaier Justiz zu geraten.

“Touristen sollten sich informieren und sich bewusst sein, dass ihnen im Zweifelsfall auch die Botschaft kaum helfen kann.”

Mo hatte letztlich Glück im Unglück. Jedes Jahr erlässt der Scheich von Dubai zum Fastenmonat Ramadan eine Amnestie. Dieses Jahr wurden 480 freigelassen, Mo war dabei. In seiner weißen Gefängniskluft setzte die Polizei ihn am Flughafen ab, an dem er vier Monate vorher gelandet war. Sein Alptraum war vorbei, doch hat er “für immer ein vier Monate langes Loch im Leben”, sagt Mo. Den Verdienstausfall und die Anwaltskosten zusammen genommen haben ihn die 0,03 Gramm Haschisch 50.000 Dollar gekostet. Für eine Weile will er sich in Kairo erholen, dann einen neuen Job in Asien antreten.

Eins, sagt Mo, ist sicher: “Selbst wenn ich dürfte, würde ich nie wieder eine Fuß nach Dubai setzen.” Dubai sehe nach Spaß aus, könne sich aber in einer Sekunde in ein Desaster, in ein Drama verwandelt. “Es ist eine aus Lügen gebaute Welt.”

Dubais Touristen landen schnell im Knast

“Dubai ist eine aus Lügen gebaute Welt”

Quelle: Spiegel online http://www.spiegel.de/

Von Ulrike Putz, Kairo

Dubais Touristen und Edel-Gastarbeiter leben im Luxus – und landen schnell im Knast. Der ägyptische Banker Mo wurde am Flughafen mit 0,03 Gramm Hasch erwischt und zu vier Jahren Haft verurteilt. Rechtshilfeorganisationen sind besorgt: Immer öfter gebe es wegen Lappalien drakonische Strafen.

Foto: Copyright Sheikha all Rights reserved

Kairo – Dubai

Eigentlich war seine Reise schon zu Ende, als die Odyssee begann. Der 27-jährige Mo hatte alle Passkontrollen hinter sich gebracht, sein Gepäck abgeholt, im Duty-Free in der Ankunftshalle des Flughafens Dubai noch zwei Fläschchen Parfum für Freunde erstanden.

Glitzerndes Emirat Dubai: “Opfer des Dubai-Marketings”Dann kam ein Mann in der weißen Dischdascha der Golf-Araber auf ihn zu. “Welche Nationalität”, fragte der Kriminalbeamte. Und ob er Hasch rauche. Nein, warum? “Du siehst so aus”, sagte der Mann in dem bodenlangen Gewand und befahl Mo mitzukommen.

Ein enger Raum in den Katakomben des Dubaier Flughafens war die erste Zelle, die der Banker von innen sah, die erste in einer langen Reihe.
Während er sich nackt ausziehen musste, wurden seine Sachen durchsucht. Schließlich fischte ein Sicherheitsbeamter ein dunkles Krümelchen aus Mos Jeanstasche. “Das ist doch Haschisch!”, rief er und Mo ahnte: Jetzt steck ich in der Klemme.
Seit anderthalb Jahren lebte er in Dubai und er hatte genug Geschichten über die drakonischen Strafmaße des Wüstenstaates gehört. Er wusste: Wer als Ausländer in Dubai mit dem Gesetz in Konflikt kommt, sollte sich auf alles gefasst machen.
Es war das glitzernde, glamouröse Image der Emirate, das den jungen Ägypter direkt nach dem Master-Abschluss in London nach Dubai zog. Als eine internationale Bank ihn für die Filiale am Golf anheuerte, freute er sich. Zehntausende hoffnungsfroher Berufsanfänger ziehen jedes Jahr nach Dubai: Europäer, Australier, Araber, alle mit exzellentem Englisch, viele mit Studienabschlüssen von renommierten Universitäten. “Die Emirate sind voller junger Abenteurer, man hat Spaß, feiert viel und arbeitet gleichzeitig sehr professionell”, erinnert sich Mo, der seinen Nachnamen nicht nennen möchte. Der Spaß war vorbei, als sich Mo am 4. Juni dieses Jahres in der Flughafenzelle wieder fand. “Da bin ich zum ersten Mal mit dem echten Dubai konfrontiert worden.”
“Ich kiffe nicht, das interessiert mich nicht”

Mos Geschichte hatte ein Woche zuvor in Kairo begonnen. Seine deutsch-ägyptische Lieblingscousine heiratete ihren neuseeländischen Freund, 300 Gäste waren angereist, aus aller Welt, um am Pool des besten Hotels in Kairo zu feiern. Auf Bitten von Partygästen besorgte Mo über Freunde ein Stück Haschisch, übergab es und vergaß die Angelegenheit. “Ich kiffe nicht, das interessiert mich nicht, ich hab mich da weiter nicht drum gekümmert.” Zwei Tage später reiste er ab, flog zuerst nach London, wo er noch eine Wohnung hat. Während des Zwischenstopps gab er seine Sachen in die Reinigung, auch die Hose, in deren Tasche er die etwa acht Gramm Hasch transportiert hatte, und in der anscheinend ein Krümel hängen geblieben war.

Am schlimmsten, sagt Mo, sei die Unsicherheit gewesen. Noch am Tag seiner Verhaftung hatten die Polizisten in seinem Beisein das Krümelchen gewogen, dass sie bei ihm gefunden hatten. Als die Waage 0,03 Gramm anzeigte, war Mo beruhigt: Das ist ja nichts, da kann mir ja nichts passieren, sagte er sich. Der Urintest war negativ, mit dem er auf Drogenkonsum getestet wurde. Mo wähnte sich schon bald frei.

Doch dann wurde er in eine Sammelzelle des Flughafengefängnisses gebracht. 130 Mann pro Raum, geschlafen wurde in Schichten, es stank, und was seine Zellengenossen berichteten, trieb Mo in die Verzweiflung. “Sie sagten mir auf den Kopf zu, dass ich vier Jahre kriegen würde, dass ich mir keine Illusionen machen soll.” Auch der zwischenzeitlich von seiner Familie engagierte Anwalt machte ihm keine Hoffnung. Wie im Film habe er daraufhin seinen Kopf gegen die Wand geschlagen und gefleht, dass alles nur ein Traum sei, erzählt Mo an diesem Nachmittag am Pool eines Luxushotels in Kairo.
Drei Minuten dauerte die Verhandlung

Wer ihn so auf seiner Liege sieht, könnte ihn für irgendeinen Sohn aus gutem Kairoer Hause halten: Ray-Ban-Sonnenbrille, edle Surf-Shorts, teure Sonnenkosmetik. Doch wer ihn reden hört, merkt: Vier lange Monate auf der Schattenseite des Lebens haben ihre Spuren hinterlassen. “Ich bin da noch lange nicht drüber weg, da müssen erst viele gute Dinge passieren, um das aufzuwiegen”, sagt Mo.

Einen Monat nach seiner Festnahme wird der junge Mann in das neue Zentralgefängnis in der Wüste von Dubai verlegt, seinen Job bei der Bank hat er längst verloren. Bis zum Prozess dauert es noch mal neun Wochen. “In Dubai gilt man als schuldig, bis das Gegenteil bewiesen ist, so sieht die Realität aus”, erzählt Mo. Drei Minuten, schätzt Mo, dauerte die Verhandlung, dann fiel das Urteil: Vier Jahre Haft wegen Drogenbesitzes für eigenen Gebrauch, danach Deportation.

Er wird in den Trakt für verurteilte Verbrecher verlegt, nach dem anfänglichen Schock findet er sich mit dem neuen Alltag ab. Drei Mal am Tag Essen, Ausgang an der frischen Luft, einmal wöchentlich nach Sonnenuntergang. Tagsüber dürfen die Gefangenen sich auf dem Flur aufhalten – “aber da sind auch richtig schwere Jungs, Mörder und Vergewaltiger, da will man nicht raus”.

Mo hat Glück, in seiner Zelle sind nur andere kleine Drogenfälle untergebracht. “Zwei Briten, ein Amerikaner, ein Libanese und ein weiterer Ägypter, alle wegen 0,01 bis 0,5 Gramm Hasch oder Marihuana.” Andere Flurgenossen sitzen für geradezu lachhafte Vergehen ein, erzählt Mo:

Ein Engländer, der sich während eines achtstündigen Aufenthalts am Dubaier Flughafen Bewegung verschaffen wollte und Liegestütze machte, habe drei Monate für “Belästigung des Flughafenbodens” bekommen.

Ein anderer habe mitten in der Wüste an eine Straßenlaterne gepinkelt und dafür ein Jahr Gefängnis bekommen.

Sie alle finden sich in einer Welt wieder, in der die Flurvorsteher Schutzgelder kassieren und Angebote für schnellen Sex auf der Zelle an der Tagesordnung sind.
Eines Tages knüppeln 40 Wachleute ohne ersichtlichen Grund auf die Gefangenen ein und hetzen Hunde auf sie. “Ein Armenier fiel dabei die Treppe herunter und ist seitdem gelähmt.” Der Fall schlägt Wellen, Dubaier Medien berichteten von der missglückten “Übung” der Wärter, eine Menschenrechtskommission der Dubaier Polizei ermittelt.

Nicht alle Geschichten, die Mo aus dem Gefängnis erzählt, sind wie die des Armeniers nachprüfbar. Unglaubwürdig sind sie nicht.
“Dubai legt seine Gesetze sehr harsch aus”, sagt Saima Hirji, Anwältin bei “Fair Trials Abroad”, einer Londoner Organisation, die seit 1992 dafür kämpft, im Ausland Verhafteten faire Prozesse zu garantieren. Die Anzahl der Fälle, in denen in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten Petitessen mit drakonischen Strafen geahndet werden, habe in den vergangenen Jahren “bedenklich zugenommen, es ist besorgniserregend”. Vier Jahre als Mindeststrafe für Drogenvergehen “darf einfach nicht wahr sein”, sagt die Anwältin.

“Für immer ein vier Monate langes Loch in meinem Leben”

Auch ihre Organisation habe Leute beraten, bei denen – genau wie bei Mo – mit dem bloßen Auge nicht sichtbare Mengen Drogen gefunden wurden. “Da fragt man sich dann, ob nicht jeder, der mal in Kontakt mit Drogen war, gefährdet ist”, sagt Hirji und berichtet von einem Fall, bei dem der Angeklagte mit dem Schuh in etwas getreten war, was die Polizei als eine winzige Menge Haschisch identifizierte. Angesichts solcher Fälle gebe es kaum eine Chance, sich davor zu schützen, in die Fänge der Dubaier Justiz zu geraten.

“Touristen sollten sich informieren und sich bewusst sein, dass ihnen im Zweifelsfall auch die Botschaft kaum helfen kann.”

Mo hatte letztlich Glück im Unglück. Jedes Jahr erlässt der Scheich von Dubai zum Fastenmonat Ramadan eine Amnestie. Dieses Jahr wurden 480 freigelassen, Mo war dabei. In seiner weißen Gefängniskluft setzte die Polizei ihn am Flughafen ab, an dem er vier Monate vorher gelandet war. Sein Alptraum war vorbei, doch hat er “für immer ein vier Monate langes Loch im Leben”, sagt Mo. Den Verdienstausfall und die Anwaltskosten zusammen genommen haben ihn die 0,03 Gramm Haschisch 50.000 Dollar gekostet. Für eine Weile will er sich in Kairo erholen, dann einen neuen Job in Asien antreten.

Eins, sagt Mo, ist sicher: “Selbst wenn ich dürfte, würde ich nie wieder eine Fuß nach Dubai setzen.” Dubai sehe nach Spaß aus, könne sich aber in einer Sekunde in ein Desaster, in ein Drama verwandelt. “Es ist eine aus Lügen gebaute Welt.”