Gulf Insider

The multi-award winning Arabian magazine

Gulf Financial Insider

GulfInsider -The Arabian Review

Issue 85

Iran

Refugees in Kenya

Bahraini’s set up Medical Clinic

A look inside

Interview with Batelco Group Chief Executive

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa Bahrain BD2

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Inside this issue...

12. Kenya

24. Middle East

40. Bahrain

16. Bahrain

35. India

42. Bahrain

18. Iran

36. Real Estate

46. Art

21. Saudi Arabia

38. Cars

48. Fashion

Fight for Survival for Refugees

Batelco - Connecting People

Picture Montage

New Working Law for Women

Instability = Expensive Oil for the World

Broken BRIC?

Luxurious Living

McLaran MP4-12C

Sailing Arabia Tour

Interview with Novotel Al Dana’s Executive Chef

A Talent Recognised Worldwide

Men’s Fashion

COMMENT

“It’s always too early to quit.” - Norman Vincent Peal

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r Gulf Financial Inside

The multi-award

magazine winning Arabian

n Review -The Arabia

Issue 85

Iran

A look inside

RefugeessetinupKenya Bahraini’s Medical Clinic

Interview with p Batelco Grou ve Chief Executi

amed Bin Sheikh Molihfa Isa Al Kha Bahrain BD2

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Who cares about the latest economic forecasts?

Whenever the OECD or the OBR or countless other “think tanks” publish their latest economic forecasts, which are invariably different from their previous forecasts, the media stand around in grave silence, hanging on their every word.

Furious rows then break out, with pundits on each side pointing to different bits of the latest report. What seems to have escaped everyone’s attention is that the OECD and the OBR are admitting that the economic forecasts in their previous reports were wrong, which means that their latest reports are unlikely to be right. The lesson here, which

everyone seems to ignore, is that economic forecasting is not merely an inexact science – it’s pure voodoo.

The odd thing is that anyone takes seriously the forecasts of organisations whose previous forecasts are so consistently inaccurate. I’m willing to be corrected about this. If anyone can cite an example of the OECD or the OBR or any other “think tank” accurately predicting what the annual growth in GDP would be of any country or region more than three months in advance, please email us...

Gulf Financial Insider

GulfInsider

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Nicholas & Rebecca Cooksey

Editor in Chief:

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Gulf Financial Insider October 2008

Administration:

Admin & Finance Redia Castillo Nikesh Pola

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Guest Correspondents: Nick Enoch Annabel Kantaria* Ramzy Baroud

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GulfInsider Issue 83

Bahrain

Keith Bulfin : Former Undercover Agent

What a magnificent man Nabs ‘The King of Snow’ is. The fact that he has been so close to giving up nearly all of his challenges but carried on shows his sheer determination and mental strength. I was really impressed when I learnt he was giving talks to schools around the GCC to try and encourage young people to get involved and raise money for charity. There needs to be more people in the world like him, a true inspiration. His book is also great too!

Nabs Fan

Syria

Uprising Falls Victim to Power Plays

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Big Player in the Great Game

40 Years of Independance GulfInsider takes a look back at the last 40 years of Bahrain’s history.

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GulfInsider -The Arabian Review MADE IN BAHRAIN Monthly focus on Bahraini companies making a difference in the community.

This month featuring:

TAIB Bank

Issue 82

Bahrain

Equal Chances for Expat Business

Dubai and Abu Dhabi Make Gulf Roads Safer

Gulf Employment Dangers ‘Dangers of working in the Gulf’ was a real eye-opener last month. Obviously the case is still under investigation but it seems bizarre how the British former Chief Executive of Standard Chartered in Europe is still subject to a travel ban, when he was cleared of fraud charges and the company fired him themselves. Why keep him waiting any longer if he doesn’t seem to have done anything wrong, I think many people just do it out of spite more than anything else in my opinion. The figures in the GCC are worrying too, particularly here in Bahrain. It is one of the British Ambassador’s main priorities to sort out so fingers crossed ban victims will start to see some changes soon.

John, Riffa

Libya

The Arab Spring

Shockingly Extravagant

Formula One Memories Rizwan Mumtaz is leaving his mark after project managing and ‘pioneering’ the Formula One race track …

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I’m not particularly surprised that One Hyde Park barely has anyone living there at such a huge cost. Even the service charges for the penthouses cost over half a million dollars every year. It’s hard to know if the Candy brothers are lying when they say 62 of the 86 flats have been sold when there seems to be barely anyone going in and out of the block, and very

few lights on in the evening. Maybe the apartments have plenty of owners, they are just so wealthy they only spend a few days there a year while they jet-set to their other homes. What a waste of money!

Oh how the other half live…

Jacqui O’Donnell

Bordering On Ridiculous It is very sad to read articles such as ‘The End of Sharm El-Sheikh’ last month. First of all the economy is already desperately suffering from the political unrest and now some Islamist parties want to ban tourists from drinking alcohol and wearing bikinis. What great timing!

The country needs to turn tourism around and bring money back into the economy, and this really is not the way to go about it. I particularly liked the quote ‘Tourists come to see the ancient civilisation, not to drink alcohol.’ Oh well I guess that statement must apply to everyone then!

A Former Egypt Tourist

Driving Dilemmas I must say Gulf Insider, most of your world news segments leave me shaking my head in disbelief, fuming and laughing all at the same time, now that really is impressive! Now I know this is a sensitive issue, but I just had to bring up the Saudi women driving situation/drama. It is fair enough that religious councils in the country have their own opinions but then they try to start putting down other Muslim countries by saying because they let women drive, it points towards moral decline. Is that really called for, or even fair? An increase in homosexuality and prostitution if the driving ban was relaxed?! A ‘scientific’ report? Give me a break!

Anonymous

Business Roundup

Bahrainis Snub Apartments In Risk To Social Housing Push The Bahrain government has signed a record BD208m with a local developer to build more than 4,000 homes in a bid to ease the low-cost housing shortage.

The partnership is the Kingdom’s first public, private partnership (PPP) agreement and Minister for Housing Basim bin Yacob Al Hamer said the deal was a step towards addressing more than 55,000 people in Bahrain on a waiting list for social housing.

The affordable housing units will first be sold to those already on the ministry’s waiting list using a loan from the government. The remaining will be sold on the open market.

Property analysts have warned however, that the thousands of low-cost homes may be sidelined by Bahrainis’ refusal to live in apartments and nationals have proved reluctant to live in properties other than villas, said real estate consultancy CBRE. The Kingdom has one of the largest shortfalls of affordable housing in the GCC, lacking an estimated 40,000 homes for its population.

Etihad Shrugs Off World Aviation Woes with Record Traffic Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned airline, carried a record number of passengers and cargo last year as it added flights and eight new routes.

The airline, which last month announced it was increasing its stake in Air Berlin to 29.2 per cent, said it carried 8.29 million travellers last year, up 17 per cent from 2010.

Etihad’s Crystal Cargo unit transported 310,000 tons, an increase of 18 per cent, the company said in an emailed statement.

The airline’s busiest route was to Bangkok last year, with more than 500,000 passengers flying to the Thai capital. This was followed by London with 479,000 travellers, Manila with 446,000 passengers and Jeddah with 289,000 travellers during the 12 months.

Sydney, Frankfurt, Paris, Manchester, Doha and Dublin completed the list of Etihad’s ten most popular routes, the airline said.

Etihad reported a 28 percent rise in revenue to USD1.72bn for the first half of 2011, putting it on target to generate its first net profit in 2012.

‘World’ Island For Sale in Dubai For USD28.6m An owner in Nakheel’s floundering ‘The World’ development has become the latest to put his island up for sale as buyers seek to offload assets in the stalled project.

The atoll located in the Asia group of islands has an initial asking price of AED105m (USD28.6m), but comes with outstanding payments due to developer Nakheel, the broker behind the sale said.

No construction has begun on the island, which spans 36,661 sq m, though the development has been granted permission

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Gulf Insider February 2012

for a series of hotel and residential developments.

Work on ‘The World’ slowed to a virtual standstill in the wake of the economic downturn, as owners struggled to secure financing to develop the islands. Just two buyers have begun construction work and five islands were put up for sale last July at discounts of up to 17 per cent on their original sale prices as investors attempted to exit Dubai’s struggling real estate market.

Business Roundup

Bahrain Air Restarts Kuwait Flights After 11-Month Lull Bahrain Air, the Gulf state’s second national carrier, resumed its flights to Kuwait at the end of last month, nearly a year after it suspended the route amid unrest in its domestic market.

The airline, which suspended the route in February last year, will operate four flights a week to the Gulf state and will continue from Kuwait to Beirut and back, the carrier said in a statement.

The state-backed carrier also suspended several routes, including those to Lebanon, Iraq and Iran, in the wake of the unrest.

Bahrain’s Batelco Set to Reinstate Sacked Workers Bahrain’s main telecom has said it will re-employ workers sacked after strikes connected to pro-democracy protests.

Bahrain Telecommunications Co (Batelco) said in a statement that the move had been made “in the spirit of building the Bahraini community”.

It added that it’s directors held discussions to review the status of employees terminated last year for “breaching employment contracts and Batelco chairman policies and accordingly, efforts are being taken to employ terminated employees,” the statement said.

More than 2,000 mainly Shi’ite workers were sacked from statecontrolled companies last year for taking part in strikes and protests against perceived discrimination.

Batelco chairman Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdulla al-Khalifa said that Batelco would employ terminated employees “who agree to abide

by Bahrain’s labour law and Batelco internal policies”.

Dubai-Berlin Fashion Fusion The joint fashion collection ‘Dubai-Berlin Fashion Fusion’ consisting of eight young designers from Dubai and Berlin was presented last month at a fashion show focusing on fashion influenced by both cities. The event was held at the Pavilion Downtown Dubai and was organised by the Goethe-Institute German language Center Dubai. It was part of the second Berlin-

Dubai Festival and an integral part was the ‘Young Designers’ Fashion Exchange Project’ who presented their joint work at the fashion show.

The collection mirrored both cities’ individual style and tried to link their history with traditions, values and visionary concepts. The fashion show represented a prime example of bridging the gap between Arabic and Western styles where the East meets the West.

Gulf Insider February 2012

9

Business Roundup

10

Swiss, German Firms Plan USD2billion Oman Solar Project

Batelco Group Announces Financial Results

Switzerland’s Terra Nex Financial Engineering have announced their plans for a major USD2bn solar power project in Oman.

The company said they were collaborating with the Middle East Best Select (MEBS) Group of Funds to develop solar power resources within the sultanate.

Terra Nex, a Swiss licensed and global wealth management company, said in a statement that solar power electricity generation stations were central to the project.

The project aims to generate approximately 400MW and industrial plants will be established in Oman to manufacture the solar panels and aluminium frames to be used by the power station.

The project aims to tie up with major international technology companies and universities with expertise in renewable energy education, to help train the local population.

The project will be financed by world investors and financiers, with the majority coming from Germany.

From the USD2bn investment, $600m will be direct equity capital and the remaining covered by loans from European financiers.

Terra Nex and MEBS said they have agreed with the local partner, Sheikh Hilal AlMaawali, to offer 40 per cent of the capital for public subscription in the future after not more than four years from the operation of the project.

The project is set to create over 2,000 job opportunities.

Batelco Group, the regional telecommunications operator announced its results for the last twelve months, which were marked by sound financial results and operating performance across its markets of operation in the MENA region and India.

For the full year of 2011, the group reported net profits of BD80million versus BD86.8million in 2010, representing a decline of 8 per cent.

The group ended the year with a strong balance sheet and as of 31st December, Batelco was free of debt and had significant cash and bank balances of BD107.9M, an increase of 24 per cent year on year.

Supporting the group’s sound financial results was the continued growth of its subscriber base. At the year end of 2011, the group reported a record 11 million customers, an increase of 20% year on year.

Gulf Insider February 2012

Shaikh Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa

AMP Capital Opens Office in the GCC AMP Capital, one of Australia’s specialist investment managers, officially opened its new office in Bahrain under the patronage of H.E. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

This follows AMP Capital being awarded a representative office license by the Central Bank of Bahrain earlier this year.

AMP Capital Chief Executive Anthony Fasso explained that the GCC is an important region for AMP Capital to operate in, having existing clients across the region for the last ten years.

Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board Sheikh Mohammed Bin Essa Al-Khalifa said, “We welcome AMP Capital to Bahrain.

We look forward to supporting their growth in the region as it becomes a part of their 160 year history. They are an asset to our developing platform of global businesses and we look forward to working with them as they grow their business in the region.”

A specialist investment manager with more than 250 investment professionals, over $94 billion in funds under management and a carefully selected global network of investment partners, AMP Capital offers significant depth and breadth of investment expertise.

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People

A Fight For Survival A magical journey from Bahrain to Kenya, visiting the largest refugee camp in the world through the eyes of Bahraini Ministry of Health dentist Mohamad Shahda.

Men taking children to the medical centre

L

ast October, Mohamad Shahda made headlines when he embarked on a trip to visit a refugee camp near the Somalia border. He set off with a co-worker and the pair became the first two Arabs from the whole Middle Eastern health industry to visit refugees at the Dadaab camp in Kenya.

had been to Kenya before us to report on the horrible situation, where she met and talked to people about their lives. The trip came about after she convinced us to go to that area as they were in dire need of doctors and to join the Alliance of International Doctors Foundation (AID).

I was apprehensive about the security situation and as soon as I reached Nairobi, there were two terrorist explosions.

My family and friends tried to force me to return to Bahrain but I decided to complete my mission till the very end, that is just the soul of our work. It was a challenge but a risk worth taking.”

I witnessed many horrible things, I even saw a man eating directly from the garbage. That situation deeply affected me and that was just the beginning.

As he explains, he didn’t know what to expect and was apprehensive at the beginning.

“A human rights activist from Bahrain

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Gulf Insider February 2012

Dr Mohammed Shahda with refugees

People

Dr Mohammed helping with food distribution Mohamad spent two weeks at the camp treating between 250-300 patients every day, most of whom were children, but the medical camp was small and only consisted of around six tents. The refugee camp itself is the largest in the world, consisting of more than 700,000 people, 90 per cent of whom are Somalians. “The main problems at the camp were malaria, malnutrition and dehydration. Other common diseases were respiratory tract infections, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, otitis, conjunctivitis, anemia and measles. Most of the patients were children under five years old and priority was given to treat children and woman first in the clinic.

It was an incredibly rewarding experience to help these people and to represent my country during such a challenge.

As Mohamad explains, many parts of the trip were incredibly difficult and some of the situations he became faced with were traumatising. “It was difficult to see the transport, the accommodation and sanitary facilities. I really saw the opposite side of the World and I am so sad to think that we are in 2012 and there are still more than 700,000 refugees living without electricity, without any basic

Bahrain Medical Clinic

Sun setting over the Dadaab camp

Gulf Insider February 2012

13

People requirements. After 5pm they live in the darkness as there is no electricity, can you imagine living like that? It was rewarding to do little things for them like taking their pictures, many had never even seen what they looked like.”

“The best part was that we were providing relief to people who had been suffering for years, even a touch and smile can do wonders for them. Many people however, thought we had the solution for everything and they could be instantly cured. A blind man came to the clinic and said, ‘I was waiting for you because I heard that you have eye drops which can bring my sight back.’ It was heartbreaking when we told him that his problem was permanent and he became very depressed because he had got his hopes up. I witnessed many horrible things, I even saw a man eating directly from the garbage. That situation deeply affected me and that was only at the beginning. These people’s way of life is so shocking that sometimes you think that it isn’t even fit enough for animals.”

He continued.

Soon after arriving, it was obvious to Mohamad there needed to be far more medical tents and medication. Before leaving, the team decided to establish a clinic so that other doctors could come from Bahrain and do as much as possible for the refugees. The camp’s first medical centre was established by donations from Bahrainis and coordinated by a group of youth and human right activists.

The clinic was later named the Bahrain Medical Clinic.

“We all returned from Kenya feeling very proud of what had been achieved and promised to do more for the refugees in the future. Another group of doctors including four from Bahrain, returned to the camp last December which was just fantastic and the clinic now receives more than 700 patients daily. We still need as much help as possible, the more volunteers the better. All I can say is please help as much as you can, these refugees are incredibly hungry and need to be saved now.”

Mohamad Shahda is currently looking for more help from doctors and medical staff and another group of doctors are required to volunteer at the camp’s medical clinic. GFI

For more information email scre4msomalirefugees@gmail.com or visit the ‘Journey to Somalia Refugee Camps’ Facebook page to learn more about this Humanitarian disaster.

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Gulf Insider February 2012

A family waiting to be treated A woman watches over her desperately ill child

For more information Tel. +973 1603 4492 or E-mail: info@amwajmarina.com

People

Connecting Bahrain Batelco Group Chief Executive Shaikh Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa discusses roaming rates, the saturated telecoms market and new business ventures with Gulf Insider.

B

atelco is the principal telecom operator in Bahrain, along with the other main companies VIVA and Zain. Shaikh Mohamed, who joined the group in October last year, is the first Bahraini national to hold a the top position at the company and explains that he has focused on overall customer care and responsiveness in dealing with customer enquiries as some of his main priorities.

“Batelco customers help to develop our new services and packages due to their demand and response. Their feedback and opinion is obviously vital as they are the ones buying the products so we always aim to meet and exceed their needs. Our success is measured on a balanced scorecard of product innovation, customers, employees and shareholders.”

In terms of competition in the crowded telecommunications market, he explains that Batelco attempts to create differentiation for the brand to give them an edge, and closely measures service levels and product performance to improve delivery and reliability.

“When it comes to strengths and weaknesses, Batelco’s main aim is quite simply, continuous improvement.

Customers demand innovation through the latest technology along with great value. As we expand, retention of their loyalty is critical to our success and we believe that our quality and excellence differentiate our company. We help our customers interact with each other

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Gulf Insider February 2012

more efficiently and believe we give them a more personalised experience.

This gives us an edge in the highly competitive market by providing the newest technologies possible, designed largely from customer feedback and market research.”

When discussing the marketing and competitive strategies for other telecoms, the CEO declined to give names but explained that he felt some

Batelco always strives to deliver the best negotiated rates with the leading operators in each country in order to avoid potential ‘horror stories’ of excessive roaming charges. rival companies had mislead their customers in the past by claiming they provided certain services such as 4G, which according to him, turned out to be a PR stunt and is not something he wishes Batelco to replicate. Customers should always be served the best service as and when it’s available.

On the subject he does however credit the Telecommunication

Regulatory Authority (TRA) for bringing in competition. “Competition is a good thing and keeps everyone on their toes.

We are competing well with our rivals.

For example, we were not sure how successful the ‘I Love My Number’ campaign would be.” He explains, referring to the number portability service that allows consumers and businesses to keep their mobile or land line telephone number when changing service provider.

“In retrospect, as the incumbent provider we could have lost a lot of business from the campaign but as it turns out, it has been positive as subscribers have actually increased. We have lost a few of our lower revenue clients but have fortunately kept many of the higher spending customers.”

Sheikh Mohamed is also the Chairman of SAMENA (South Asia, Middle East, North Africa) Telecommunications Council, the triregional telecommunications consortium which aids a healthy market. Upon his election he explained that digitisation will be the key driver of sustainable economic growth across the MENA region to benefit the society and economy.

The council aims to be the ultimate promoter of telecom innovations and a facilitator for collaboration and knowledge-sharing between the companies to find resolutions to issues where tough economical and regulatory environments prevail.

A negative subject mobile phone

People

Sheikh Mohamed Bin Isa Al Khalifa companies have been faced with over recent months is the issue of high roaming rates. Last year, Gulf Insider wrote a feature based on the complaints of customers from all three of Bahrain’s telecoms operators who were frustrated with the charges of roaming services, which many described as ‘exorbitant.’

“I empathise with these customers, I have had a similar experience myself on a three day trip to India where I was hit with a BD300 bill on my return, and I can understand how frustrating the situation is. Batelco now sends customers texts as soon as they land in another country, detailing the particular charges of using their mobile phones there and what the best network is for them to join.”

He admits the problem is trying to be resolved; however it makes it difficult as there are so many parties involved as he continued; “It’s important to understand that for a customer to be able to use his/her mobile phone in an overseas location, no mobile provider can deliver this service in their own right. Several companies are involved and sometimes even third parties to deliver roaming traffic from one user to another. Roaming charges

are dependent on the rates charged by overseas providers so it is difficult to gauge any charges as they can vary enormously.”

“Roaming rates are charged by the network operator providing roaming services to our customers and Batelco always strives to deliver the best negotiated rates with the leading operators in each country. For example O2 in the UK and Telefonica in Spain, which charge around 600fils per MB used, just like roaming in the GCC. This is done in order to avoid potential ‘horror stories’ of excessive roaming charges.”

In the same month that Shaikh Mohamed became CEO four months ago, Batelco also reported a 14 per cent loss in net profit of BD9.5 million, which he explains was because the company had been impacted by some loss of business and price erosion.

“Whilst our core overseas investments in Umniah (Jordan’s telecom provider) and QualityNet (A 44% Batelco-controlled subsidiary telecom company in Kuwait) continue to grow profitably, losses in Bahrain coupled with our share of losses from start-up overseas business in India, overall adversely impacted our results.”

On a more positive note in terms of Batelco’s growth, the company is acquiring new businesses and ventures, due to excessive market saturation in terms of mobile phone companies. The CEO also hopes that by 2015, Batelco will attract around 30 million subscribers, over double the amount of their customers today.

“We continue to explore acquisitions in ME, North Africa and Asia Pacific as they suit our requirements for growth.

We are focused on changing the way our customers use telecommunications and develop our products as technologies evolve. I believe the market will look very different in five years time in terms of content, speed and products so it is important to be constantly innovative and up to date. We are currently focusing on improving the broadband experience for customers.”

The Batelco CEO’s philosophy is geared towards team work and his motto and future plans are simple.

“I don’t believe in fixing something that is not broken. I wish to continue building on Batelco’s success and continue the challenge of competing against other companies within a healthy market.” GFI

Gulf Insider February 2012

17

Iran

Iranians Morteza Alavi and Mehdi Hagh Badri fly with a tandem paraglider over northwestern Tehran, on May 20th, 2011.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A View Inside Iran

I

ran has appeared in numerous headlines around the world in recent months, usually attached to stories about military exercises and other saber-rattlings, economic sanctions, a suspected nuclear program, and varied political struggles. Iran is a country of more than 75 million people with a diverse history stretching back many thousands of years. While over 90 percent of Iranians belong to the Shia branch of Islam -- the official state religion -- Iran is also home to nearly 300,000 Christians, and the largest community of Jews in the Middle East outside Israel. At a time when military and political images seem to dominate the news about Iran, we thought it would be interesting to take a recent look inside the country, to see its people through the lenses of agency photographers. Keep in mind that foreign media are still subject to Iranian restrictions on reporting.

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Gulf Insider February 2012

Iranian grooms, Javad Jafari, left, and his brother, Mehdi, right, pose for photographs with their brides, Maryam Sadeghi, second left, and Zahra Abolghasemi, who wear their formal wedding dresses prior to their wedding in Ghalehsar village, about 220 miles (360 km) northeast of the capital Tehran, Iran, on July 15th, 2011.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran Nature lovers prepare before a trash disposal campaign in the Miankaleh area, 250 km (155 mi) northeast of Tehran, on 22nd September, 2011. The Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), an NGO organization, arranged a symbolic trash disposal campaign with 200 environmentally friendly people, along the Caspian Sea. They collected more than 3 tonnes of trash. (Reuters/Raheb Homavandi)

Iranian archer Shiva Mafakheri aims at a target during horseback archery competitions, in Tehran, on May 28th, 2011.

(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An Iranian man wears Santa Claus costume, as he stands in front of a shop with Christmas decorations, in central Tehran, on December 20th, 2011. (AP Photo)

Iranian rollerbladers wait to hear whistle of referee, to start their competition, in a women’s rollerblading championship league, at the Azadi (Freedom) sport complex, in Tehran, on June 30th, 2011. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Gulf Insider February 2012

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Iran Iranian youths shoot water at each other with water guns, during water fights at the Water and Fire Park in northern Tehran, on 29th July, 2011. During the summer, Iran was trying to put down a new wave of civil disobedience - flash mobs of young people who broke into boisterous fights with water guns in public parks. Dozens of water fighters were arrested and a top judiciary official warned that “counter-revolutionaries” were behind them.

(AP Photo/Milad Beheshti)

Wearing traditional dress, Salameh Bazmandegan, poses during a visit to “Darreyeh Setaregan” or Stars Valley, a tourist site on the Iranian island of Qeshm, which oversees the strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, on 23rd December, 2011.

(AP Photo/Vahid) An Iranian-Kurd woman talks on her mobile phone as she walks in a bazaar while shopping in Marivan in Kurdistan province, 512 km (318 miles) west of Tehran, on 12th May, 2011.

(Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)

A woman poses for a picture in front of the beached Greek ship Moula F, during sunset off Kish Island, 1,250 km (777 miles) south of Tehran, on April 27th, 2011. The ship ran aground on the southwest side of the island en route to Greece and was abandoned after salvage efforts proved unfeasible. (Reuters/Caren Firouz)

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Gulf Insider February 2012

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia enforces law that allows only women to work in lingerie and cosmetics shops

By Nick Enoch

S

audi Arabia’s government last month announced that it will begin enforcing a law that allows only females to work in women’s lingerie and clothing stores, despite disapproval from the country’s top cleric.

The 2006 law banning men from working in female apparel and cosmetic stores has never been put into effect.

This is partly because of the stance of hard-liners in the religious establishment, who oppose the whole idea of women working where men and women congregate together, like malls.

Saudi women - tired of having to deal with men when buying undergarments - have boycotted lingerie stores to pressure them to employ women.

The kingdom’s religious police, under the control of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, enforce Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islam, which prohibits unrelated men and women from mingling.

Women and men in Saudi Arabia remain highly segregated and are restricted in how they are allowed to mix in public.

The separation of men and women is not absolute.

Women in Saudi Arabia hold high-level teaching positions in universities and

work as engineers, doctors, nurses and a range of other posts.

The strict application of Islamic law forced an untenable situation in which women, often accompanied by uncomfortable male relatives, have to buy their intimate apparel from men behind the counter.

Over the past several weeks, some women have already begun working in the stores.

And with the kingdom boasting 7,353 lingerie shops in total, there is clearly demand from fashion-forward Saudi women.

Although the decision affects thousands of men who will lose their sales jobs, the Labour Ministry said that more than 28,000 women, many of them South Asian migrants, have already applied for the positions.

Saudi’s Arabia’s most senior cleric, Sheik Abdul-Aziz Al Sheikh, spoke out against the Labour Ministry’s decision in a recent sermon, saying it contradicts Islamic law.

‘The employment of women in stores that sell female apparel and a woman standing face to face with a man selling to him without modesty or shame can lead to wrongdoing, of which the burden of this will fall on the owners of the stores,’ he said.

He also urged store owners to fear God

and not compromise on taboo matters.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has become something of a hero to women in his home country.

It was he who issued the decree banning all men from working in lingerie shops to end ‘embarrassment’ suffered by women who don’t want to give men their measurements.

Saudi women working in the outlets got embroiled in a dispute three years ago with the Labour Ministry and the powerful religious authority, which issued a fatwa banning such jobs.

The decree from the king was part of a push to reduce the amount of female unemployment in the conservative kingdom, currently at around 30 per cent.

Saudi women say they have been uncomfortable buying lingerie from men and would prefer female sales assistants.

Fatima Garub, founder of a Facebook campaign called ‘Enough Embarrassment’, backed the king’s decision saying it would create about 6,000 jobs for Saudi women.

‘From now, embarrassment will end,’ she said. ‘We thank the king who felt our problem and took the decision that we have been waiting for a long time.’ GFI

Gulf Insider February 2012

21

Aljazeera Coverage

The Revolution Will Be Televised, and also Manipulated

By Ramzy Baroud

I

n the final days of the Libyan conflict, as NATO conducted a nonstop bombing campaign, an Aljazeera Arabic television correspondent’s actions raised more than eyebrows. They also raised serious questions regarding the journalistic responsibility of Arab media – or in fact any media - during times of conflict.

Using a handheld transceiver, the journalist aired live communication between a Libyan commander and his troops in a Tripoli neighborhood targeted by a massive air assault. Millions of people listened, as surely did NATO military intelligence, to sensitive information disclosed by an overpowered, largely defeated army. The Doha-based news anchor sought further elaboration, and the reporter readily provided all the details he knew.

Did Abdel-Azim Mohammed, a journalist reputed for his gutsy reports from Iraq’s Fallujah, violate the rules of journalism by transmitting information that could aid one party against another, and worse, cost human lives?

While there are few doubts about the impressive legacy of Aljazeera – and the valuable individual contributions of many of its reporters – urgent questions need to be asked regarding its current coverage of the so-called Arab Spring that began in December 2010.

Some of us have warned against the temptation of a one-narrative-fits-all style of reporting. A non-violent popular uprising is fundamentally different from

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Gulf Insider February 2012

an armed rebellion, and a home-grown peaceful Tahrir Square revolution is different from NATO-Arab military and political campaigns aimed at settling old scores and fomenting sectarian conflict (as in Libya and now Syria).

Aljazeera coverage of the Egyptian revolution was, for the most part, impeccable. It was the type of coverage that reflected the revolutionary fervor felt throughout the country. Even when the former regime of Hosni Mubarak

Aljazeera’s priority has now shifted from Libya to Syria, a country that has been on Washington’s radar for many years. pulled the plug on Aljazeera coverage, it somehow found a way to transmit the country’s mood with impressive clarity.

Yet, despite the fact that some Arab uprisings are inherently more complex than others (because some societies embody a more involved sectarian makeup, for example), Aljazeera news anchors continue to jump from one country to the other, as if addressing different points of the exact same topic.

In the channel’s coverage of Libya,

NATO’s unwarranted bombing campaign received little reporting. The targeting of black Africans (covered by some Western and African media) earned little airtime at Aljazeera Arabic. Ever-available guests were often immediately dispatched to dismiss any reports of maltreatment of captured soldiers accused of being ‘loyal to Muammar al-Qaddafi’. Aljazeera had indeed striven to present a perfect scenario of a perfect revolution. Now that the sentimentalisation of the revolution is fading out, a harsh new reality is setting in, one that encompasses numerous arms groups, infighting and Western countries ready to share the spoils.

Aljazeera’s priority has now shifted from Libya to Syria, a country that has been on Washington’s radar for many years and long irked Israel for its support of Lebanese and Palestinian resistance factions.

From a political and humanitarian viewpoint, there is no denial that Syria is in need of fundamental political reforms.

More, the blatant violence employed against the uprising was simply indefensible. However, unlike what Aljazeera Arabic and other media may claim on an hourly basis, there is more to Syria than a brutal ‘Alawite regime’ and a rebelling nation that never ceases to demand ‘international intervention’. There is also the reality of ill-intentioned parties seeking their own objectives, such as further isolating Iran, strengthening allies in Lebanon, weakening Damascus-based Palestinian factions, and aiding US allies

Aljazeera Coverage

in rearranging the entire power-paradigm in the region.

One would argue that whatever ambitions some small Arab country may have, these should not be pursued at the expense of the Syrian people, who are seeking real democracy in a sovereign country free from meddling, armed militias and unexplained car bombs. The fact is, insecurity and political uncertainty will be the future of Syria if a political settlement is not achieved between the government – which must end its violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protests – and a truly patriotic opposition that doesn’t call for foreign intervention or ‘no-fly-zones’. The Iraq no-fly-zone in 1991 and the Libya no-fly-zone in 2011 were mere prologues to military actions that devastated both countries. There is little justification in repeating this scenario; the Syrian people did not rise merely to see their country being destroyed.

On 5th January, a massive blast killed 26 people in Damascus, exactly two weeks after twin bombings killed 44.

Between the two bombings, hundreds of Syrians were reportedly killed and wounded in the armed conflict involving

the Free Syrian Army. Considering the large and porous border areas between Syria and Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and the contentious border area with the occupied Golan Heights (illegally annexed by Israel), one cannot dismiss the possibility that Syria has been infiltrated on many fronts. But this also goes unreported.

While one lacks sympathy for any regime that brutally murders innocent people, journalists are also accountable to both balance and humanitarian standards.

They cannot completely dismiss one party and embrace another. Aljazeera Arabic channel has done just that. It has failed to maintain its independence, and is growingly covering the upheaval in the Arab world from the narrow political prism of its host country.

In Aljazeera’s early days in the mid and late 1990s, the channel took on taboo subjects and proudly challenged the status quo. This continued with Aljazeera’s coverage of Afghanistan and the Iraq war, when mainstream Western media were disowning their own proclaimed standards of objectivity and treating Iraqis like dispensable beings

underserving of even a body count.

In recent months, however, Aljazeera has begun to change course.

It has deviated from its journalistic responsibilities in Libya, and is now completely losing the plot with Syria.

The channel is in urgent need to revisit its own code of ethics, and to fulfill its promise of treating its audience “with due respect and address every issue or story with due attention to present a clear, factual and accurate picture.” Yes, perhaps the Syrian regime should be changed, and perhaps an armed rebellion in Syria will eventually overtake the nonviolent uprising. But the outcome is not for me, Aljazeera, The New York Times or any other journalist or publication to decide. The revolution belongs to the Syrian people alone, and only they can determine where it leads. GFI

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle. com. His latest book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London).

Gulf Insider February 2012

23

Middle East

Instability in the Middle East = Expensive Oil for the World

I

ran is an Islamist republic, which means a regime guided by Islam and headed by an ayatollah or supreme leader. Importantly, Iranians are predominantly Shi’a Muslim, as opposed to the Sunnis that make up 80 to 90% of the world’s Muslim population.

In the context of current events, here’s what matters.

• The West believes Iran is supporting Assad’s violent crackdown in Syria.

• The Arab League has suspended Syria, a move led by Saudi Arabia and supported by other Arab Gulf states.

• The withdrawal of US troops from Iraq leaves more room for Iran and Saudi Arabia to intervene and wage a proxy war.

• Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki has refused to align with the growing Arab consensus to ostracize the Syrian regime.

In early December he said the downfall of President Assad would invariably lead to civil war in Syria, which in turn would necessitate new alliances in the region - a hint that Iraq could join an Iranian-led alliance.

In the context of all this came that report on November 8 from the International Atomic Energy Agency

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Gulf Insider February 2012

claiming it has credible evidence that Iran is still developing nuclear weapons.

In 2007 the Agency determined Iran’s nuclear program could complete a nuke in three to eight years. We are clearly within that time frame now. In response Western nations significantly tightened sanctions against Iran, though the

Iran produced 4.3 million barrels of oil per day in 2010, which constitutes 5% of the world’s oil production, and exported 2.3 million of those barrels. sanctions stopped short of impeding Iran’s oil exports. The challenge there is that Iran plays a very important role in the global oil scene.

Iran produced 4.3 million barrels of oil per day in 2010, which constitutes 5% of the world’s oil production, and

exported 2.3 million of those barrels.

Top customers are Japan, China, India, and South Korea, but several European countries also rely on Iranian oil. Italy gets 18% of its oil from Iran; Spain buys 13% of its crude from Iran; and Greece has traditionally relied on Iran for 10% of its crude oil supplies, though imports have increased this year as other suppliers shunned it for fear it would default.

The EU is considering embargoing Iranian oil to push Iran into cancelling its nuclear program. It’s a noble thought but immediately invites three questions. First, where would Europe find replacement crude? Russian Ural crude is of similar quality, but its price has already shot to a rare premium over Brent crude. Could the beleaguered countries of Europe afford that?

Second, would it even work? China is not going to stop buying Iranian oil, whether the EU and the US want it to or not. Saddam Hussein was able to withstand oil sanctions for years.

Third, and most important, how Iran would respond? Iran’s role in the global oil machine is not limited to its exports.

Along Iran’s southern coast lies the Strait of Hormuz. Almost all of the oil produced in the Persian Gulf - we’re talking 15.5

Middle East

out of 16.6 million barrels of oil per day - has to transit the Strait of Hormuz to access international markets. It is the world’s most important chokepoint for oil supplies.

Iran has said it will blockade the Strait if faced with an oil embargo. Now, instead of losing 2.3 million barrels of daily supply, the world loses 15.5 million. The price of oil would double immediately, on its way to $300 a barrel.

Always a country with few friends, Iran now finds itself increasingly isolated.

The country’s two traditional allies are Syria and the Lebanese Shi’a militia Hezbollah; together these three have long stood against Israeli and American aspirations in the Middle East. But Syria is a tad bit preoccupied at the moment and Hezbollah, ever the opportunist, appears to be realigning towards newly Islamist Egypt.

The take-home is this: the Arab Spring has reinvigorated discord across the Middle East. The region’s raft of sectarian tinderboxes had been kept somewhat cool by alliances on each side that kept the other in check. Those alliances are now failing.

There Is No Easy Solution for Syria The deaths of more than 4,000 people - largely at the hands of President Assad’s forces - is an affront too large for even Syria’s staunchest allies to ignore. Hamas is one of those allies, having used Syria as a base of operations for many years.

Now rumors are swirling that Hamas is looking for new quarters.

Iran is likely pressuring Hamas to stay in Syria, but Hamas does not rely on Iranian support as much as it once did.

It makes sense. Hamas fears that remaining linked to an increasingly isolated and discredited regime is a liability. Iran is likely pressuring Hamas to stay in Syria, but Hamas does not rely on Iranian support as much as it once did: Iran supplies less than 10% of Hamas’ budget, mostly in the form of weapons.

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, however, a new stream of weaponry has become available from Libya. And ties between Hamas and Iran were never ideological but based solely on mutual enmity toward Israel.

It was a marriage of convenience, but for Hamas other options are emerging that hold more appeal. The most tantalizing is an alignment with the region’s emerging powers, notably the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The relationship is already forming: Cairo’s acting military government played a significant role in reconciling Hamas with Palestinian rival Fatah and led negotiations to secure the release of thousands of prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

Hamas is not the only ally looking for an exit. Turkey, which in recent years had grown very close to Syria, has turned its back on its former friend, joining the long list of countries to impose sanctions and publicly denounce Assad’s actions.

Egypt’s Choice: Islamist It is not the outcome the West expected. When the first three countries on that list held relatively free elections, it was Islamist parties that prevailed.

Gulf Insider February 2012

25

Middle East

Results from Egypt indicate about 40% support for the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party. The Brotherhood is the largest Islamic party in the Middle East, with branches and allies in many countries, including Hamas and Hezbollah. And in a more surprising turn of events, the Nour Party appears to have some 25% of the ballots at this point, a number that will likely rise as polling in rural Egypt gets under way. Nour candidates are Salafis, an ultra-conservative Islamist group.

The Brotherhood and the Nour do not like each other much, so odds are low they would form an Islamist coalition.

More generally, there is no reason to think Egypt, Morocco, or Tunisia will become Islamic theocracies like Iran anytime soon. However, the success of Islamist parties proves that religion is still the most important ideology of all for these populations.

Egypt is the most populous and internationally influential country in the Arab world. This swing toward Islamic governance is highly significant, as it has the very real potential to turn Israel’s most important Arab ally into yet another enemy. Egypt’s Islamists generally oppose their country’s 1979 peace treaty

26

Gulf Insider February 2012

with Israel, though the Brotherhood has said it will respect the treaty while seeking modifications acceptable to both sides. At this point, Egypt cannot really afford to dishonor the treaty, as it has bought the country billions in US military assistance. Regardless, in time almost anything can change, and the new Egypt will certainly be less compliant to

Expensive oil could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and sends the world spiraling back into a recession... or worse.

American demands, cooler to Israel, and warmer to Iran than was the old Egypt.

The Energy Implications The world’s oil markets are sensitive animals, prone to overreacting and slow to heal. Their herders, the oil traders, are best able to control their flocks when supplies are stable and predictable.

The Middle East is about as far away from stable and predictable as you can get right now. And since the Middle East is to oil as water is to fish, that means one simple thing: expensive oil. One word from an Iranian politician about the Strait of Hormuz would probably send futures up a percent in hours.

The unexpected Nour victories in Egypt likely have oil traders lying awake at night, worst-case scenarios running through their heads. The world’s foreign ministers are praying to their various gods that Sunnis and Shiites somehow miraculously find peace in Syria, because there is no apparent solution other than a miracle.

Expensive oil is more than annoying.

With the US and the EU both facing unprecedented debt problems and struggling to breathe new life into stagnant economies, expensive oil could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and sends the world spiraling back into a recession... or worse. The world is at a precarious crossroads right now and a wrong turn could easily snowball into nationalist and sectarian violence compounded by global competition for scarce and shockingly expensive oil. GFI

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World NEWS

w rld news Summaries of news published last month by international media

Tunisia: revolution betrayed, return of protests, blogger - From ANSAMed, December 22 (ANSAmed) - ROME, DECEMBER 22 - A year after the start of the ‘Jasmine Revolution’, people in Tunisia will start demonstrating again. This prediction was made by Tunisian blogger and symbol of the revolution, Lina Ben Mhenni. ‘’One year ago people in Tunisia demonstrated to ask for social and economic reforms and for more freedom, not for another government that tells us how to be good Muslims,’’ she said in an interview with ANSA, referring to the Ennahda Islamic party that won the elections in October. ‘’On the outside it looks like a moderate party, but the truth is different,’’ she explains: instead of responding to the demands of the Tunisians ‘’who have sacrificed their lives for freedom, the Constituent Assembly is discussing non-existent problems like identity or the niqab.”

And ‘’people are already organising sitins and demonstrations: Ennahda has promised 600 thousand jobs in two years and people are now claiming what was promised for their vote,’’ the 28-year-old Nobel Peace Prize candidate continued.

Moreover, ‘’articles that criticise Ennahda,’’ the moderate Islamic party in the Tunisian government, ‘’have started to disappear’’ from the social networks and blogs used by Tunisians to breathe life into the Jasmine Revolution...

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Gulf Insider February 2012

Egyptian court rules against virginity tests - By Mohamed Fadel Fahmy for CNN, December 27 Cairo (CNN) An Egyptian administrative court issued an order Tuesday banning virginity tests for female detainees, months after several women alleged they were subjected to such examinations following a March protest in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

The ruling comes in the case of Samira Ibrahim, a 25-year-old marketing manager who took the country’s military ledgovernment to court in August, alleging she was among those subjected to the test after her arrest during the March 9 protest. She said she faced death threats after bringing the case.

“Justice has been served today,” Ibrahim told CNN. “These tests are a crime and also do not comply with the constitution, which states equality between men and woman. I will not give up my rights as a woman or a human being.”

Aly Hassan, a judicial consultant affiliated with Ministry of Justice, said the order only affects the use of such tests in military prisons and on women in temporary detention.

In March, the human rights group Amnesty International reported that Egyptian troops beat, shocked and strip-searched women arrested during the protest in Cairo and forced them to submit to virginity tests.

How many were abused in the custody of the army and police, and were then marked down as no longer being virgins?

The treatment of Mona Eltahawy is not likely an isolated incident.

Egyptian authorities initially denied requiring virginity tests, but in May, a senior general who asked not to be identified acknowledged the practice...

Thousands demonstrate in Maldives over Islamic law From the Associated Press, December 23

MALE, Maldives (AP) — Thousands in the Maldives protested Friday, calling on the government to halt what they called “anti-Islamic” activities, including a plan to allow direct flights to Israel. More moderate supporters of the president rallied as well as debate swells over the future of the state’s religion.

The Indian Ocean archipelago of 300,000 Muslims prohibits practicing any other faith.

The protesters want authorities to stop the sale of alcohol in the islands, shut down brothels operating in the guise of massage parlors and demolish monuments gifted by other countries marking a South Asian summit last month because they see them as idols.

More than 3,000 people heeded a protest call by the opposition Adhaalat, or Justice, Party and several other groups that accuse President Mohammed Nasheed’s government of compromising principles of Islam and call for strict Islamic law.

Debates on religious issues have emerged since a group vandalized a monument gifted by Pakistan marking a South Asian summit last month with the image of Buddha. Buddhism was part of the present Islamic republic’s history. An angry protest last month followed a call

by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay for the Maldives to end the punishment by flogging of women who are found to have had sex outside marriage.

Other residents also rallied Friday in support of the president, who said he stands for a brand of moderate Islam traditionally practiced in the country and that it is vital to preserve the country’s economic lifeline, tourism....

World NEWS a mannequin showcasing a brown coat cut well above the knee. Ranjbar was hired by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, the organizer of the fashion show, to advise young women on proper dresses. She wore a chador herself, but “only because I was told to by the ministry,” she admitted.

Ranjbar said more variations of Islamic dresses are needed to keep women interested in covering up. She fully supports “regulations” to clarify what can be worn and what cannot, she said, arguing that such clarity helps not only women, but also the police who enforce the dress code...

“Doctors said my fingers could be reattached within six hours but he refused to give them. After that time, another relative of my husband threw the fingers in a dustbin.

The attack follows an incident in June in which a university lecturer lost one eye while the other was badly wounded in an attack allegedly carried out by her husband....

Image - Vahid Salemi/AP

Ahmadinejad steps into Iran’s dress-code debate -

By Thomas Erdbrink for the Washington Post, December 26 TEHRAN - In the Islamic republic of Iran, the law requires women to cover their hair and bodies in public. But how to do so remains up to them, and the result is persistent confusion in the streets.

Though leading Shiite Muslim clerics advise women to wear chadors - the traditional head-to-toe cloak, usually black - Iran’s urban fashionistas increasingly prefer tight-fitting coats and scant head scarves.

Now, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is stepping into the dispute.

He wants to settle it by promoting government-approved apparel for women, garments intended to introduce an array of clothes that are “Islamic and beautiful” at the same time.

Hard-liners are not amused. They say that the new designs encourage “Western values.” But at a recent government-sponsored fashion show, young women and their mothers gazed approvingly at the plastic mannequins showcasing the new coats and scarves.

To many of those attending the government exhibition, the middle road between the chador and some of the Lady Gaga-like creations that some women make of their obligatory coats and scarves seemed to offer a solution to their fashion dilemmas.

“Oh lord, isn’t this beautiful?” exclaimed Zahra Ranjbar, an expert on Islamic clothing, as she walked passed

Bangladesh man ‘admits’ cutting off wife’s fingers -

By Anbarasan Ethirajan for BBC News, December 15 Human rights groups in Bangladesh have demanded a severe punishment for the husband of a young woman who allegedly cut off most of her right hand.

Police say Rafiqul Islam, 30, attacked her because she pursued higher education without his permission.

They say Mr Islam, a migrant worker, admitted to the crime shortly after returning home from the Gulf.

The incident is one of a number of acts of domestic violence targeting educated women in recent months.

Police say that Mr Islam, who works in the United Arab Emirates, tied up his 21-year-old wife, Hawa Akther Jui, earlier this month. He then taped her mouth and cut off the five fingers.

Doctors say the fingers cannot be re-attached and it appears that Ms Akther will have to live with permanent disfigurement.

Rafiqul Islam Rafiqul Islam is reported to have confessed to the crime “After he came back to Bangladesh, he wanted to have a discussion with me.

Suddenly, he blindfolded me and tied my hand,” Ms Akther told the BBC from the town of Narsingdi.

“He also taped my mouth saying that he would give me some surprise gifts.

But, instead he cut off my fingers.”

She said her husband, who is not well educated, did not approve of her enrolling in a college for higher studies.

Saviour of 2,000 Afghans who saved a baby’s life executed by the Taliban -

By Rebecca Evans in the Daily Mail, December 15 A British doctor shot dead by the Taliban was part of a humanitarian mission that had helped 2,000 Afghans, an inquest heard yesterday.

Dr Karen Woo was executed alongside nine other aid workers after they tried to cross a mountain river in August last year.

The 36-year-old, who was due to get married a fortnight later, suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries from two gunshot wounds in the attack.

Shortly before her death she had helped to save the life of a baby boy who was struggling to breathe.

Her team had been halfway through a 120-mile, three-week expedition in the northern Nuristan Province when they were ambushed....

Gulf Insider February 2012

29

World NEWS

For Somali Women, Pain of Being a Spoil of War - By Jeffrey Gettleman for the New York Times, December 28

Name of Arab talent show stirs controversy, raises religious questions - From Al

Arabiya, December 18

Arab Idol, the name of the talent show broadcast on MBC1, has unexpectedly stirred much controversy as different interpretations of the word “idol” which focused on its religious connotations started surfacing resulting in a fierce campaign against the channel.

Clips posted in the video sharing website You Tube and online articles have slammed MBC1 for using the world “idol” in the title of one of its programs and explained the meaning of the word and its contradiction with Islamic principles in the way it refers to gods worshipped by “heathens.”

The program with its different regional and local variations airs in 44 countries around the world and in all of them the word “idol” is never changed. American Idol and British Idol are among the most famous examples.

Naked images of Pharaohs are heresy, says Salafist leader From Al Ahram Online, January 12 Images of naked Pharaohs on Egypt’s temples are tantamount to heresy, prominent Salafist Abdel Moneim ElShahat said on Wednesday. Speaking to Moataz El-Demerdash on El-Hayat 2 Channel on Wednesday evening, ElShahat also reiterated his controversial comments about Egypt’s renowned novelist Naguib Mahfouz, stressing that his novel Awlad Harretna (Children of the Alley), one of the books that earned him a Nobel prize in 1988, violated the principles of Islam.

Speaking about women, El-Shahat spoke about his dream for all Egyptian women to wear the niqab (full veil) and claimed Salafists are not the enemies of women.

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Gulf Insider February 2012

Mogadishu, Somalia — The girl’s voice dropped to a hush as she remembered the bright, sunny afternoon when she stepped out of her hut and saw her best friend buried in the sand, up to her neck.

Her friend had made the mistake of refusing to marry a Shabab commander.

Now she was about to get her head bashed in, rock by rock.

“You’re next,” the Shabab warned the girl, a frail 17-year-old who was living with her brother in a squalid refugee camp.

Several months later, the men came back. Five militants burst into her hut, pinned her down and gang-raped her, she said. They claimed to be on a jihad, or holy war, and any resistance was considered a crime against Islam, punishable by death.

“I’ve had some very bad dreams about these men,” she said, having recently escaped the area they control. “I don’t know what religion they are.”

Somalia has been steadily worn down by decades of conflict and chaos, its cities in ruins and its people starving.

Just this year, tens of thousands have died from famine, with countless others cut down in relentless combat. Now Somalis face yet another widespread terror: an alarming increase in rapes and sexual abuse of women and girls.

The Shabab militant group, which presents itself as a morally righteous rebel force and the defender of pure Islam, is seizing women and girls as spoils of war, gang-raping and abusing them as part of its reign of terror in southern Somalia, according to victims, aid workers and United Nations officials.

Short of cash and losing ground, the militants are also forcing families to hand over girls for arranged marriages that often last no more than a few weeks and are essentially sexual slavery, a cheap way to bolster their ranks’ flagging morale.

Somalia is a deeply traditional place, where 98 percent of girls are subject to genital cutting, according to United Nations figures. Most girls are illiterate and relegated to their homes. When they venture out, it is usually to work, trudging through the rubble-strewn

alleyways wrapped head to toe in thick black cloth, often lugging something on their back, the equatorial sun burning down on them ...

Rezaei

Nosrati

Somali rebels kill local aid worker - By Abdi Sheikh and Feisal Omar for Reuters, January 13 Mogadishu (Reuters) - Somali Islamist militants have killed the head of a food distribution charity in central Somalia, a pro-government militia said on Friday, the latest blow to the relief effort in the famine-hit country.

“The rebels killed Abdikarim Hashi Kediye, the head of Towfiq ... and his driver yesterday afternoon between Dusamareb and Guriel,” Sheikh Abdullahi Sheikh Abu Yusuf, the spokesman of the Ahlu Sunna militia group told Reuters on Friday.

He said the rebels had used a rocket propelled grenade.

World NEWS

Afghan boy suicide bombers tell how they are brainwashed into believing they will survive - By Ben Farmer

for the Telegraph, January 13

The mission was as simple as touching two wires together, the little boy was promised. The resulting blast would obliterate the American infidels – but God would spare him from the flame and shrapnel. Abdul Samat would be unharmed and free to run back to the men who had fitted his bomb vest.

Blindfolded and rigged with his explosive payload, the boy, who was about 13, was driven to his target in the Afghan city of Kandahar, after being plucked from the streets of Quetta in neighbouring Pakistan. Minutes before he was due to execute the attack, however, Abdul realised the lies of his recruiters seeking to turn him into a human bomb.

“When I opened my eyes, I saw it was a very black thing they wanted me to do,” he later recalled.

“I began to cry and shout. People came out of their houses and asked what was wrong. I showed them I had something in my vest. Then they were

scared too and called the police who took the bombs off me.”

Afghan security officials say that Abdul’s story is not unusual. In the past year, insurgents have used a wave of child suicide bombers, some as young as ten, on the ruthless assumption that small boys can pass through checkpoints and security cordons more easily than men.

A senior Afghan intelligence official estimated that more than 100 had been intercepted in the past twelve months, including 20 from the Kandahar area in the south. The insurgents seek to exploit the innocence of their recruits and turn it into a weapon.

The Taliban denies using children as bombers, pointing out that its battlefield code forbids any military use of prepubescent boys. One Taliban facilitator from northern Afghanistan told The Daily Telegraph: “All our bombers are men and they are all volunteers. We never use boys.”

But Nato and Afghan security officials said the tactic has been widely adopted.

Child bombers had been used by the Haqqani network, an insurgent group aligned to the Taliban.

managed by locally-appointed councils, in parallel to the British legal system since 1982.

But the informal councils have no legal powers and they cannot impose any penalties.

They deal with civil cases alone, but many Muslims are choosing to voluntarily accept rulings made by the scholars.

Omar Hannan, 28, from Solihull, turned to Sharia instead of the British courts after an ownership dispute broke out between the British Muslim partners at his industrial cleaning company. ‘’It fulfilled my Islamic spiritual principles which was the main reason I went to a Muslim tribunal. ‘’But it was also very quick. We resolved it in three to four months,’’ he said. ‘’It only cost a couple of hundred pounds, and you can imagine how much it would have cost through the English legal system,’’ he added.

As a demand for Sharia thrives, a number of British law firms are starting to tap into the booming market.

Muslim Lawyer Aina Khan has launched one of the first Sharia departments at her London-based law firm.

She offers clients advice that is in keeping with both English and Islamic law...

Growing Use of Sharia by UK Muslims - By Divya Talwar for the BBC, January 16 The use of Sharia, or Islamic religious law, is growing in Britain, with thousands of Muslims using it to settle disputes each year, but women’s groups and some others are objecting.

An estimated 85 Sharia councils could be operating in Britain, according to a 2009 report by the think tank Civitas.

Several bodies like the Islamic Sharia Council have seen a large increase in their cases in the past five years. ‘’Our cases have easily more than tripled over the past three to five years,” says Sheikh al-Haddad. ‘’On average, every month we can deal with anything from 200 to 300 cases. A few years ago it was just a small fraction of that. ‘’Muslims are becoming more aligned with their faith and more aware of what we are offering them,’’ he explained.

Sharia has been operating in the UK,

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World NEWS

World’s biggest Koran with 7ft-high pages is unveiled in Afghanistan - From Daily Mail, January 13

The completion of the world’s largest Koran was hailed as a major achievement for Afghanistan when it was officially unveiled in the nation’s capital.

Measuring more than 7ft long and 10ft wide, the text’s 218 pages are decorated in 30 different calligraphy designs and took almost five years to finish.

Its inauguration ceremony was held yesterday in front of key religious figures, clerics, scholars and government officials to coincide with the opening of Hakim Nasir Khusraw Balkhi Cultural Center and arts exhibition in Kabul.

Calligrapher Mohammad Saber Yaqoti Hussaini Khedri and his students started the composition in September 2004, which involved at least two years of continuous work for the shafting and archiving.

All the 30 parts of Koran has been done in 30 different designs. It was finally completed in September 2009.

Speaking at yesterday’s ceremony, Mansoor Naderi described the completion of the book as a major achievement for the Afghan nation and all Muslims around the world, according to Khaama Press.

Those behind the project were then handed Appreciation Letters by Afghan Senate House speaker Fazal Hadi Muslimyar.

Image - AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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Egypt’s Women Find Power Still Hinges on Men - By

not as direct actors but as symbols of the military government’s repression. It is not a place where Egyptian feminists had hoped women would be, back in the heady days of the revolution, when they played an active role, side by side with men, to bring down a dictator.

But the stigma attached to victims of sexual abuse continues to force many to remain silent.

Her mother’s advice was to keep silent, if she ever hoped to marry, or even lead a dignified life in their village in rural Upper Egypt, Ms Ibrahim said in an interview.

When she did speak out, Egyptian new media shunned her, she said, and only the international news media would cover her story. She received telephone calls at all hours threatening rape or death. But with the support of her father - an Islamist activist who was detained and tortured two decades ago - she persevered, and next week will go back to military court in an attempt to hold the perpetrators accountable as well....

David D. Kirkpatrick for the New York Times, January 9

Cairo - At first Samira Ibrahim was afraid to tell her father that Egyptian soldiers had detained her in Tahrir Square in Cairo, stripped off her clothes, and watched as she was forcibly subjected to a “virginity test.”

But when her father, a religious conservative, saw electric prod marks on her body, they revived memories of his own detention and torture under President Hosni Mubarak’s government.

“History is repeating itself,” he told her, and together they vowed to file a court case against the military rulers, to claim “my rights,” as Ms Ibrahim later recalled.

That case has proved successful so far. For the first time last month, an administrative court challenged the authority of the military council and banned such “tests.” Ms Ibrahim will ask a military court on Sunday to hold the officers accountable.

But nearly a year after Mr Mubarak’s ouster, Ms Ibrahim’s story in many ways illustrates the paradoxical position of women in the new Egypt. Emboldened by the revolution to claim a new voice in public life, many are finding that they are still dependent on the protection of men, and that their greatest power is

Iran Begins Internet Crackdown, Preps Countrywide ‘Halal’ Intranet By Ravi Mandalia for ITProPortal, January 7 The government of Iran, on Wednesday, introduced a new rule under which the residents of Iran must give their name along with their father’s name, telephone number, address and national ID to log in to access internet, reported UPI. Besides these rules, the government is also conducting various tests for a new countrywide network which is aimed at “substituting services” which operates through the internet. This move has lead to fears that the country is planning to withdraw itself from global internet.

In fact, just a week before the judiciary of Iran commented that the messages that are distributed through the social networks or e-mail asking for boycotting elections should be treated as “national security crimes”.

The domestic Intranet of Iran will be called “halal” which means pure and once it is activated the country will be shutting global web access to the 23 million internet users in the country.

World NEWS comment on bikinis. “It’s a ridiculous question. Tourism can’t be considered in terms of bikinis or such matters,” he said.

The party’s candidate in Sharm elSheikh, Ahmed Qassim, also appeared wearied by the topic. He said he has repeatedly assured voters the Islamists would encourage tourism.

“We are with tourism, and we are not against personal freedoms,” he said.

But along the beaches, hotel workers said they were worried, particularly about ultra-conservative Salafis who won more than 20 per cent of the votes in the election’s first two rounds.

Battle over bikinis looms for Egyptian tourism - From Agence France-Presse, January 5 On a barren hill in Sharm el-Sheikh, not far from the famous beach resorts with their bikini-clad patrons, Islamist activist Ahmed Saber ponders the fate of revealing swimwear if his party comes to power.

The swimsuit has been at the centre of a growing debate over the Islamists’ plans for tourism, one of Egypt’s key currency earners.

Speaking at a voting station, Saber seeks to present a liberal outline of his party’s position on the bikini. “You’re free to do as you please as long as you don’t harm me,” he says.

The Sharm el-Sheikh tour guide then goes on to explain that: “Some sights might harm me. For example, women wearing bikinis on the street. There are special places for bikinis”.

With ultra-conservatives poised to play a big role in parliament during an economic crisis, the Islamists’ thoughts on what tourists may wear or drink are being scrutinised amid fears they will harm the country’s vital tourism industry.

The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, poised to win the most votes in the country’s first election since president Hosni Mubarak’s February overthrow, has promised it would not hurt tourism.

But some of its candidates have exacerbated the fears with pledges to ban alcohol or bikinis on beaches, forcing their leaders to backtrack.

Essam al-Erian, the party’s vice president, said the FJP would no longer

Other resorts also charge similar amounts. The country’s tourism minister said the move has already prompted calls from resorts affected.

‘Several have raised concerns over our decision. We are considering allowing resorts to operate spas. They are also aware of the reasons that led us to take the decision,’ Tourism Minister Mariyam Zulfa said.

Luxury Maldives resorts set to close their health spas because Islamists say they’re ‘offensive’ - By Leon Watson for Daily Mail, January 2 Thousands of honeymoons will never be the same again after Islamists put pressure on the Maldives government to close them down.

The islands are a paradise holiday destination renowned for its pristine white sand beaches, turquoise waters and high-end luxury.

Honeymooners and celebrities from around the world flock there, often paying up to USD1,000 a night at hideaway resorts.

But now officials in the Maldives have ruled the Indian Ocean archipelago’s luxury spas, health centres and massage parlours must close.

The government has relented after sustained pressure from radical Islamist opposition parties claiming they were offensive.

It has led to fear the £1billion tourism sector in the Maldives will suffer.

The country’s president issued the decree on Saturday, saying the idea came from opposition parties angry at widespread sales of pork and alcohol.

Importation of alcohol is already severely prohibited in the Maldives and Islamists are now calling for a complete ban The Four Seasons Resort at Kuda Huras in the Maldives charges $600 for a two-and-a-half hour spa treatment, according to the resort’s website.

Iran cracks down on Barbie - By Mitra Amiri for Reuters, January 16 Tehran - Iran’s morality police are cracking down on the sale of Barbie dolls to protect the public from what they see as pernicious western culture eroding Islamic values, shopkeepers said on Monday.

“About three weeks ago they [the morality police] came to our shop, asking us to remove all the Barbies,” said a shopkeeper in a toy shop in northern Tehran.

Iran’s religious rulers first declared Barbie, made by US company Mattel Inc, un-Islamic in 1996, citing its “destructive cultural and social consequences”. Despite the ban, the doll has until recently been openly on sale in Tehran shops.

The new order, issued around three weeks ago, forced shopkeepers to hide the leggy, busty blonde behind other toys as a way of meeting popular demand for the dolls while avoiding being closed down by the police.

A range of officially approved dolls launched in 2002 to counter demand for Barbie have not proven successful, merchants told Reuters.

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BOOK REVIEW

THE GOOD SOLDIERS

By David Galland

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he Good Soldiers was written by David Finkel, a Pulitzer-winning author. It came to me via a friend.

Despite it going solidly against my literary preferences, I dragged the book along during a quick trip to Florida earlier last month. Out of courtesy if nothing else, I figured I’d read a few pages of the book before putting it down - and so was surprised when it sucked me in, and kept me in, pretty much until I was finished.

The background story is that author of the book travelled to Iraq with a battalion of US soldiers sent as part of the “surge,” then lived with them for the 14 months of their deployment. As far as I can tell, he approached his topic with no overt political intentions - rather, he just wanted to document the war as experienced by a battalion operating from a small base in one of the worst corners of Baghdad.

As one might expect, as they departed from the United States for Baghdad the soldiers and their brigade commander, Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, were full of fight, patriotism and the confidence that only a chosen people can possess. It was, in their view, a just war and they deeply believed that in no time at all they’d use their superior war-making capabilities supported by the sure knowledge that they held the moral high ground - to clean the bad guys out of Dodge and get the whole mess straightened out pronto.

Reality, however, turned out to be significantly different, starting with the fact that rather than being welcoming, the population was overtly hostile - so much so that almost every time the soldiers drove off the base (which was part of the daily routine), the locals would try to maim and kill them. And they had considerable success at it.

In addition to trying to kill them, the community’s leaders seemed uninterested in the outreach efforts the Colonel was instructed to make,

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including an initiative to rebuild the sewers and fix the power and water delivery systems in the area around his command. Of course, it didn’t help that it was the blunt-force approach used by the US military in capturing Baghdad that destroyed so much of the infrastructure in the first place. Regardless, all attempts at doing “good works” were stalled and disappointed at every turn, with billions of dollars wasted n the process.

As the book progresses, the author juxtaposes President Bush’s and General Petraeus’ rosy comments about how well the surge is working with the onthe-ground realities. And those realities are presented as raw and graphic as they are - with the tops of soldiers’ heads being taken off by IEDs, or burning

The background story is that author of the book travelled to Iraq with a battalion of US soldiers. to death in Humvees while friends watch helplessly.

So successful was the military and political leadership in convincing Congress and the media that the surge was a winning strategy that, to this day, it’s acceptance as a fact has become a meme throughout the body politic. Back on the ground in Iraq, however, the daily grinding down of the front line forces continues apace.

During the period of time covered in The Good Soldiers, the Iraqi insurgent attacks lightened up only slightly - but only because the ruling mullah in the battalion’s area of operation unilaterally called a ceasefire. The resulting dialing back of attacks on US forces was immediately pounced upon by the military

leadership and the Bush administration as proof that the surge was working.

That that wasn’t the case became clear the day the same mullah called off his ceasefire and hell opened up. One minute the area was relatively quiet the next, the streets were filled with armed gunmen and snipers and bombs were going off on what seemed like every corner.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the war, an aspect that largely goes unreported, was just how sophisticated the Iraqi opposition became in their attacks against the occupying forces. Not only did their roadside bombs become murderously powerful - so powerful that they could almost evaporate a fully armoured Humvee - but the Iraqis began attacking the US bases using everything from mortars to rockets and even homemade missiles.

The lob bomb, for example, was created out of propane tanks, filled with ball bearings and shrapnel, with a triggering device welded to the nose, and a rocket on the rear. In one instance, two large dump trucks drove near the base; after tilting up their back to drop their loads, they revealed rails which were then used to guide a barrage of lob bombs, resulting in millions of dollars of damage to the American base.

By the end of the battalion’s stay the soldiers were mentally and, in many cases, physically ruined. One chapter near the end of the book, which recounted Colonel Kauzlarich’s visits to some of his wounded soldiers back in the States - soldiers who suffered truly catastrophic injuries - I had to skip after just a couple of pages. It was just too painful to read. GFI

The Good Soldiers, by Alex Finkel.

Available from Amazon.com

INDIA

IS INDIA THE BROKEN BRIC? India has for years expressed pride in being part of the BRICs. If it doesn’t get its act together, 10 years from now people might still be praising the BRICs, except that the “I” in BRIC might stand for Indonesia, not India. - By Fareed Zakaria

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t is 10 years since the term BRIC was coined. The catchy acronym for Brazil, Russia, India and China used to describe the new powerhouse emerging markets. But the man who invented the moniker now says one of the four has been a great disappointment.

No, not Russia, with all its recent troubles; not Brazil, whose economy contracted in the last quarter; and certainly not China, which continues to power on.

Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill says that the country that has been the biggest letdown has been India. He pointed out last month that India’s inability to attract foreign investment could actually lead to a balance of payments crisis. From BRIC to basket case, “What in the World?” is going on?

Well, some numbers tell a troubling story. Growth has dipped below 7% for the first time in two years. The Indian rupee is Asia’s worst performing currency this year, falling to a historic low against the dollar.

India’s deficits are soaring and funding is drying up. India received less than $20 billion in foreign direct investment in the first six months of 2011. China got three times that amount. Even Russia, with the smaller GDP, took in more.

Why is India struggling? Sadly, the real problem isn’t economics. India has a very dynamic private sector - probably the most dynamic in the emerging markets. But it has a government that simply doesn’t work.

And it’s not for lack of knowledge.

India has the know-how. The government is, after all, led by a reform-minded world-class economist, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The problem is politics. The world’s largest democracy seems to be paralyzed.

Singh’s government recently announced a plan to open up India’s retail sector to foreign investors, a continuation of the reforms that jump started the economy 20 years ago. The

India’s inability to attract foreign investment could actually lead to a balance of payments crisis. proposal would have made it easier for big Western chains like Walmart to set up shop in India.

Now, Indian agriculture is hugely inefficient. Middlemen take huge cuts, and because supply chains are inefficient, up to a third of farm products, vegetables for example, rot before they reach the market. So the Walmart model would transform India’s agriculture and its retail sectors. It would empower farmers,

lower prices for consumers and create huge gains in productivity.

But it was not to be. India’s opposition turned this into a story of the big guy fighting the little guy, Walmart versus the mom and pop. Parliament was gridlocked for days, and politicians mobilized mass demonstrations. Small stores across the country were kept closed in protest.

So, what does the government do?

Instead of standing firm, it backtracked and canceled plans to reform the retail sector altogether.

This is a depressingly familiar pattern.

For two years now, India’s government has done nothing, hanging on to power, presenting no plans to open up the economy, raise living standards, build infrastructure or attract new investment.

Internationally, India’s leaders sell the story of a dynamic, “Incredible India.”

But, at home, they pander to populist protectionist sentiment, dole out subsidies and do basically nothing. That paralysis is hurting the economy.

India’s blessing and curse is that it has a messy, chaotic, decentralized democracy.

Unlike China, it has no unified sense of direction. But the prevailing view has often been that when the going gets tough, New Delhi gets its act together.

That’s what it did 20 years ago when it was on the brink of default and a balance of payments crisis. Well, once again, it’s time for urgent reform. GFI

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real estate

LUXURIOUS LIVING the aman at Porto Heli will be the first european property developers to feature villas of such standards in Greece. they will include the elements that aman is famous for and are set in a Mediterranean environment surrounded by olive groves and turquoise sea water…

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he Amanresort is set to open in Greece this year and along with 38 luxury pavilions and hotel facilities, two of the luxury villas at Porto-Heli will be completed and delivered along with the opening of the main Aman hotel.

The new villas have resulted from a collaboration with Aristo developers, owned by Dolphin Capital and the properties range between two to five bedroom homes. Most of the projects are extremely high end, catering to the upper echelon of the market, the exception being some of the earlier Aristo projects in Cyprus, which are still under development.

Amanresorts is an Asian brand that manages and markets 25 small luxury resorts worldwide and offers a guest experience that is intimate and discreet. Each resort and setting is unique, but certain elements characterise all of them – a beautiful natural location, outstanding facilities, exceptional service and a small number of rooms to ensure exclusivity and privacy.

The Aman villas at Porto Heli are

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The Site of the Aman Villas

real estate

generally only constructed once sold and five have already been purchased, they are also available to rent. The villas by the hotel offer the home owner all of the services and amenities at a hotel but the ultimate luxury of experiencing them in a property that they own.

Dolphin Capital owns the largest holiday home developer in Cyprus, Aristo Developers and have other exciting projects lined up for the year. Aristo has developed hundreds of residential projects throughout the country for the past 20 years, and currently has approximately 60 more in the pipeline.

With one golf course under operation, a Nikki Beach Club and different phases of branded and non branded residences, it is currently one of the most exciting developers in Cyprus, and probably the most luxurious.

Dolphin’s portfolio is currently spread over approximately 63 million m2 of prime coastal developable land and comprises 14 large-scale residential resorts under development in Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Turkey, the Dominican Republic and Panama. Dolphin Capital Investors have also partnered with some of the world’s leading hotel brands, including Aman

resorts, GHM hotels (Chedi), Oberoi Group, Kempinski and Waldorf Astoria.

All of their luxury leisure integrated resorts have a well known international brand as the main hotel operator. At the same time spas, golf courses

After the boxes are ticked, the management will ask themselves if they would personally want to vacation there.

In answering this question, many argued that there was no hesitation when it came to Porto Heli. and beach clubs are included to make projects more attractive. In the case of the Aman development, the Amanresort will include a spa, beauty center, tennis courts, beach club, swimming pools

and a boutique. The greater Porto Heli Collection will include an 18 hole Signature Jack Nicklaus golf course and spa facilities.

In terms of the price range of Dolphin residences, the larger Aman villas at Porto Heli are currently priced at €6 million, but prices are anticipated to rise once the hotel opens. In the same area there are seafront villas where prices start at around €1.8 million. In the case of Cyprus, there are properties available from 100,000 Euros all the way up to 5 million.

The key features examined by the developers prior to acquiring any of the sites, are access, proximity to the sea, unspoiled natural beauty, surrounding activities and available land.

After the boxes are ticked, the management will ask themselves if they would personally want to vacation there.

In answering this question, many argued that there was no hesitation when it came to Porto Heli.

Located by the sea, it has spectacular views over the rolling olive covered hills, secluded coves or deep in the horizon and combines island life with mainland conveniences and rich history. GFI

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CARS

McLaren MP4-12C Nick Cooksey drives (in Bahrain’s heavy traffic) the incredible British Supercar that many say is the best in the world today.

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cLaren claim that they don’t just design on the edge, but ‘on the edge of the edge’.

When I first heard this I put it down as just another cliché thought up by their PR department but now I’m not so sure.

The McLaren MP4 is extreme – from its beautifully lined appearance, to its frighteningly powerful 3.8-litre bi-turbo aluminium engine at the back of the car, ‘out of this world superior’ road holding and ability.

And how many cars can look this beautiful with its doors open? ... and to open these doors you literally ‘caress’ the door panel – yes really!

Getting in and out of the car is an art form, albeit an easily learned one – sit on the seat with your legs together outside and then swing your legs into the cockpit – just like they used to teach girls in deportment school.

This is a very easy car to drive and on Bahrain’s roads I got quite comfortable and at times even forgot I was in one of the world’s most unique cars and wondered (for a split second) why people were staring at me.

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I’m not going to say how fast I drove this beauty because I don’t want to get myself into trouble, but there is some fantastic and relatively empty roads out by the BIC that, although I was nowhere near able to test the car’s top end, was able to appreciate its road holding abilities and truly fearsome acceleration.

This is a very easy car to drive and on Bahrain’s roads I got quite comfortable and at times even forgot I was in one of the world’s most unique cars.

Driving most of the time on the outside lane, other cars would pull over enabling me to pass in a way I am not used to in the Middle East. Perhaps they did this in part out of curiosity to see what the car

was. Only one car the whole day sought to overtake me on the outside lane.

Ironically it was in slow driving traffic and was a wally in command of a big van full of labourers driving up my rear maniacally flashing its headlights. I let Mr Wally pass out of curiosity only to watch him get trapped behind the next car.

The MP4 has big shoes to fill on the heritage front. Its predecessor, the McLaren F1 is generally recognised as one of the ten greatest cars of the 20th century. Even today, twenty years after its production it is capable against its more modern rivals and looks brand new.

So what is this car’s main rival – the car it is most compared against? That has to be the Ferrari 458 Italia which is slightly wider and longer and has a lot more interior space (not that you feel particularly cramped in the McLaren which has enough room for driver and passenger (providing they don’t have any luggage of course).

There is a rather skinny centre console and tunnel which gives the driver extra leg room as half of what is normally found in the middle has been split off

CARS

and placed on the swooping and wideenough outer armrests. Not only does this make human comfort normal, but it also shifts that ballast of flesh toward the centre of the car, which can only benefit driving dynamics. Very clever.

Visibility is good all round. Slam on the breaks and a great big Air Break pops up and momentarily blocks your rear view. I think you would really have to be driving at very high speed for this to have any noticeable effect though The McLaren MP4 has been described as the best handling sports car in history.

Is it? Well to be honest, Bahrain’s roads were not the best place to put this properly to the test, and anyway I’m not really qualified to be able to say.

But, what impressed me was just how comfortable and easy the car is to drive.

There is much about the McLaren that’s working with the driver to make certain of a thoroughly amazing experience. GFI

Interested in buying one? Prices start at a little over BD94,000. Next step?

Contact Al Ghassan Motors for your own test drive on Tel. +973 1770 1307.

Gulf Insider February 2012

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Sailing race

BAHRAIN LAUNCHING POINT FOR EXCITING ARABIAN YACHT RACE

Sailing Arabia – The Tour starts February 12 at Manama.

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ahrain will be the host for the launch of the Sailing Arabia – The Tour yacht race which starts on 12th February from Amwaj Marina.

The fast Farr 30 yacht of Team Bahrain will be competing throughout the 15day event under the experienced eye of skipper Qassim Abdul Razaq, a sailing veteran of almost 30 years.

Qassim says that “competing in SATT is a great opportunity to reflect the local and regional sailing talents across the GCC. The tour sets a valuable scene to attract world class sailors into the region and test their skills in a unique and gruelling offshore race”.

Sponsored by the General Organisation of Sea Ports and the Economic Development Board of Bahrain, the nation’s pride will be up against eight other teams from UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Europe.

These include an all-women’s team skippered by record-breaking round-the-world yachtswoman Dee Caffari , who promises to be amongst the most competitive on the water.

The only Arabian Gulf race, the course will traverse the peninsula starting from

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Manama and ending in Muscat – visiting seven marinas on the way - Doha, Abu Dhabi, Ras al Khaima, Musandam and Mussanah. As the second edition of Sailing Arabia – The Tour, it is organised to allow more time for in-port racing and

The race brings the GCC countries together through their maritime history, with the sport of sailing and the related infrastructure being increasingly developed across the states. stopovers for both sponsors and fans to engage with the skippers and crew.

The race brings the GCC countries together through their maritime history, with the sport of sailing and the related infrastructure being increasingly

developed across the states. If this unique event produces the same challenges as it did in its inaugural year 2011, there will be storms, calm, wind, heat and shivering temperatures.

Competitors agreed that the route passed great venues with stunning sailing in the middle of the European winter, providing a good training ground for international sailors. No other race has tested them with all the elements in such a short space of time with every leg offering something different.

Organised by Oman Sail, with a selection of sponsors and governments supporting their national teams, the race challengers will be meeting visitors at each port and the short in-port races will enable enthusiasts to see the speed of the boats and how they are managed on the water.

School students and charity groups are encouraged to make contact to arrange visits. GFI

For further information, contact: Mohammed Al Eissa, Regional PR Manager, Oman Sail, Tel. +968 9633 0571 or email: mohd.ae@omansail.com

Airbus A380

First class on Airbus A380 looks like Starship Enterprise

By Rob Waugh

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he first class cabin of Qantas’s A380 super-jumbos looks astonishingly like the U.S.S. Enterprise in Star Trek.

The interior, designed by Marc Newson includes LCD touch panels, leather seating, plants, sheepskincovered full-length beds and more than 1,000 videos to choose from.

The interior was designed by Marc Newson and includes leather seating, LCD touch panels, plants and sheepskin-covered beds.

The Marc Newson-designed interior is fully touchscreen controlled, and all passengers have access to more than 1,000 videos on an LCD flatscreen.

Naturally, all the beds are full length: there are just fourteen berths in the first class section of each A380.

The central area (pictured top) is provided for flyers to stretch their legs and sit down for a drink.

Each berth even has a dresser for storing clothes - naturally, pyjamas are provided.

There are just 14 berths in the whole cabin.

Flyers are provided with noise-cancelling headphones, and the touchscreen-controlled LCD panels in every berth give access to more than 1,000 different programmes.

Each berth is equipped with a touchscreen-controlled LCD panel offering more than 1,000 different shows on demand. GFI

Gulf Insider February 2012

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People

Bon Appétit Jean-Pierre Renaud,the Executive Chef at Novotel Al Dana Bahrain talks to Gulf Insider about his professional life as a Chef.

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hat is your favourite type of cuisine, to eat and to cook?

Mostly French ‘terroir’ and I came to love it from an early age through my grandmother, as at that time it was the normal way of home cooking. I have a personal preference for Lebanese cuisine that I discovered during my tenure as an Executive chef in Beirut because of the freshness and the rusticity of the products used.

Where do you get inspiration from to develop innovative menus and have fresh ideas?

My first task is to identify which kind of products are freely available and to find the target market. In this part of the world the diversity of people is vast with a mix of cultures, so it is just a matter of trying different combinations. To keep our identity and exclusivity we often use themes in some of our restaurants.

Who has been the most exciting person you have ever met?

Being from an early generation of chefs, my role model was French chef Paul Bocuse. He had a big influence on me and I had the pleasure to meet him on several occasions. Today, because of all of the cooking shows on TV, this helps the younger generation of chefs to be influenced and inspired.

What is the best piece of advice you have been given?

When I was a trainee chef my mentor

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always used to tell us, “Keep things simple but make it tasty. Do not take things personally, you may fail a lot of the time but people sometimes need to be criticised in order to improve and become successful, that is the best learning process.”

You need to be totally committed to become a chef. I would advise people to work in as many different countries as possible and not to be impatient. It will take a lot of suffering but the rewards are great and it is worth the pain in the end.

What dishes at Novotel would you recommend to guests?

I recommend our Le Notre selection of pastries prepared by our Bahraini pastry chef who is sent to Paris on a regular basis to learn new trends. I also personally go to the fish market for La

Jean-Pierre Renaud Perle seafood restaurant where it is displayed and served.

What advice would you give to young aspiring chefs?

First of all I would ask them, ‘Are you totally committed?’ I would also advise them to work in as many different countries as possible to gain rich experiences. Finally, don’t be impatient.

It will take a lot of time and suffering to become a chef, but the rewards are great and it is worth the pain in the end.

What is your guilty pleasure?

I love eating pastries, all kind of tarts are great and this is why I would never think of becoming a pastry chef as I would eat all of the profits! Another pleasure is having a homemade meal cooked by my wife.

What are your thoughts on the food industry in Bahrain?

Being new in the country, I did not experiment much but I was told that Bahrain has an array of different places to indulge. There are many talented chefs with different styles and it seems a lot of new projects and ventures are opening soon, which can make only the industry more attractive for all. GFI

For more information about Novotel contact Tel. +973 1729 8008 or visit www.novotel.com

MIDDLE EAST

FORBES ME REVEALS TOP ARAB ECONOMIES

F

orbes Middle East revealed ‘2011Top Performing Economies in the Arab Region’ in its 15th issue (January).

According to the study, the high oil prices, witnessed during the past year, have contributed to the achievement of profitable revenue growth in the economies of the Arab oil-exporting countries, 7 of which topped the list of ‘2011 Top Performing Economies in the Arab Region.’

Saudi Arabia topped the list, followed by the UAE in second place, Qatar in third place and Oman in fourth place. The results of the study showed that those countries have taken advantage of the surplus revenues to increase spending on investments in domestic infrastructure and other vital sectors, such as health and education, in addition to raising their people’s standards of living, as most of those countries have approved significant increases in employee wages. For these same reasons, Kuwait occupied fifth place on the list, to be followed by Iraq and Algeria.

Morocco deserved to win, with distinction, the first place amongst Arab non-oil exporting countries. It occupied eighth place on the list as it achieved GDP growth rate of nearly 4.6%. Trying hard to get out of the cycle of the world’s poorest countries, Mauritania comes in ninth place on the list, achieving a growth rate of 5.1%. Jordan occupies tenth place, with its economic institutions working hard to implement a financial policy that can rescue the country, get it out of its debts that exceed $19bn, and improve its growth rate that reaches 22.5%. Given that the Arab Spring hasn’t

reached these countries, the internal stable security has proved beneficial.

On the other hand, Syria, Tunis, Egypt and Bahrain, have largely been affected by the popular revolts and the high oil prices as they are oil importers. Those two factors stand behind the decline in most of their economic indicators, such as foreign currency reserves and foreign investments. Meanwhile; those countries occupied places from 11th to 14th, respectively.

Lebanon occupied 15th place as it was affected by the events on its borders with Syria, granting the “Cedar Country” the title of “Master of Debts”, as Lebanon’s Public Debt rate reached 126% of its Domestic Product. We can understand why Sudan, which suffered much during 2011, occupies second place at the bottom of the list, especially, as the Khartoum government had lost more than half its oil supplies due to the disengagement of Southern Sudan from the North. Yemen occupies the last rank in the list, to be the poorest Arab country that possesses the worst economic policy performance at the level of the MENA region.

The study, that was conducted in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund in the USA, Washington, included 19 Arab countries, 17 of which were present, excluding Libya, for the lack of sufficient data, and Palestine, for the failure of its central bank to provide the IMF with its annual financial data.

In order to accomplish this list, Forbes Middle East’s research team depended on several financial and economic criteria, concerning the absolute figures

of the countries in 2011 and growth rates these countries have achieved in 2011 in comparison to 2010. Forbes Middle East believes that these criteria are the most important parameters to evaluate the performance of the economic policies of the countries, in addition to their primary and direct contributions to the growth in their economies.

The team also used the data of the following years 2010-2011 as follows: • Gross Domestic Product • Gross Public Debt of the GDP • General Government revenues • Gross Official Reserves • Total Investment expenditure of the GDP • Gross National Savings • Average of inflation • Total expenditure of the GDP, excluding investments.

Editor in Chief of “Forbes - Middle East” Khuloud Al Omian noted that “some” Arab governments still have an opportunity to implement the longawaited economic reforms, the first of which is to get rid of sovereign debts.

She says: “Ultimately, we know very well that the nations are not concerned with ascending or descending order of figures. They are more concerned with the establishment of security, safety and a better future. Libya was a good example, as its figures put it amongst the strongest Arab countries, whilst the IMF today tries hard to find one figure, revealing what is going on in the new Libya, but so far, in vain.” GFI

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Roudup

gulf roundup

By Annabel Kantaria

Is the UAE Really the World’s Least Friendly Country Towards Expats?

So the UAE has been judged to be the “world’s least friendly country towards expats”, according to research done by Forbes using figures provided by the annual HSBC Expat Explorer survey.

As soon as this story was posted on Twitter, it was followed by a flurry of Tweets from UAE residents keen to dispute the findings, and a hashtag, #UAE Friendly, was set up to allow people to vent their feelings. But, while residents in general were irritated by the story, UAE nationals were particularly offended that expats – who make up nearly 90 per cent of the UAE’s population – should view their country as so inhospitable.

I can understand why they felt so disgruntled. Hospitality is a lynchpin of the Emirati culture; ever since the days when a Bedouin would offer a traveller his last date or drop of water rather than see him go hungry or thirsty, showing guests the utmost of care has come as second nature to UAE nationals. One of the first things I was told on visiting an Emirati’s home here was not to mention that I liked anything in terms of knick-knacks or I’d find it being pressed upon me as a gift.

“Khaleeji [Gulf Arab] hospitality is so much more than serving Arabic coffee and dates,” says Elizabeth Percy, who runs a course teaching Arabic hospitality to hotel professionals. She describes the concept as, “I extend my home, my food, my well-being and my friendship to cover you at all times.”

So what were the criteria that lead to the UAE being judged as so “unfriendly” towards expats? Every year, the HSBC Expat Explorer survey asks expats to rate their host countries according to a variety of factors such as economics, raising children and overall experience. A Forbes journalist then used the Expat Explorer tool to filter the survey results with respect to four specific categories: Ability to befriend locals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture.

And these are the areas in which the UAE didn’t do well. But forgive me for pointing out an obvious fact here: Is it the fault of the host country if the expats don’t have success learning the local language? Is it the fault of the host country if the expats fail to integrate themselves into the community, don’t manage to befriend locals or don’t find it easy to fit in?

Does that make the host country “unfriendly”? Or does it make the expat “inadaptable”? On whom does the onus lie?

True, with UAE nationals outnumbered by expats nine to one, it’s sometimes difficult to meet a UAE national in a social setting. It may not be as easy for an expat to integrate truly into Emirati culture here as it is in, say, English-speaking New Zealand (which came top) but, for those who manage to do it, it’s likely to be far more rewarding.

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Why are Dubai residents being told to switch off their engines?

When I read the headline “Motorists told ‘turn off your motor’”, I thought it was something to do with the environment: You know, get on your bike, walk, take public transport, leave the car at home. I thought it was connected to last month’s annual CarFree Day. But no. It’s not an environmental issue.

Dubai traffic law now includes a fine of AED 300 for leaving an unattended vehicle with the engine running because, as police explain, your car’s more likely to be stolen if you’ve left it running than if the engine’s switched off. Over 50 per cent of the cars stolen in Dubai in 2011, say police, had been left running.

The new law comes after Abu Dhabi police warned drivers last September to lock their unattended cars following an increase in the number of thefts from cars left open. Dubai Police also recently warned residents not to leave their homes unlocked either, because to do so was “an invitation to criminals to enter houses and steal expensive items.”

Dubai has a population of two million people and, in 2011, police report that just 87 cars were stolen (47 of these were left open with the engine running). Burglaries are also rare compared to countries such as the UK. There’s so very little of that type of crime here that people – especially expats from more crime-ridden countries – become complacent. It’s not so unusual to see cars left outside shops, banks and schools with the engines running, especially in the summer when burning your fingers on the steering wheel of a car that’s been left in 48˚C heat is the alternative.

And then you get expats like an accountant, for example, who withdrew AED 600,000 in cash from the bank, counted it publicly in the lobby of the bank, left it inside his car while he stopped at a café for breakfast, and couldn’t believe it was stolen.

Roudup

Silent discrimination – a fact of life in Dubai

It wasn’t so long ago that classified job ads for secretaries, PAs and marketing executives in the newspapers here used to specify that applicants had to be “blonde and attractive” as well as “Western-educated”. Fresh off the plane from London, where such discrimination would most likely land the employer in court, I’d flick through the ads in disbelief.

Things have changed a little in the last 13 years, but not as much as you may think. Just last month, news emerged of an ad – admittedly never used – that was designed for a Dubaibased Chinese restaurant called China Times. The ad, which was created by leading agency TD&A DDB, approved by the restaurant and even entered into an advertising awards competition, showed the slogan, “Brings out the Chinese in you” underneath a picture of a Sikh, an Arab and a black man with slanted eyes. Shocking, no?

Yet, in a city that has over 200 nationalities living peacefully alongside each other, people aren’t as sensitised to racism as they are in the UK. While “politically correct” isn’t a term you often hear, racial hate crimes are rare. However, discriminatory job ads, racist door policies in bars and restaurants and stereotypical expectations are still everyday occurrences that – and I’m not condoning this at all – often slip by with barely a raised eyebrow.

While job ads these days don’t tend to mention physical attributes, photos are always required with the application, and it’s still common and accepted for employers to specify “Westerners only”, “Filipinas required” or “Indian national wanted”. Furthermore, there’s an unspoken understanding that the salary offered will depend on the nationality of the applicant.

An Indian passport-holder, for example, will be paid less for the same job than a similarly qualified man of Indian origin holding a British passport.

(Interestingly, housemaids, when placing ads seeking work, are also guilty of this: Many request a job with a “white” or “Western” family, the implication being that the terms will be better and the salary higher than from any other type of employer.)

On a daily basis, this “silent” racism translates as a European sometimes getting served ahead of an Indian in a queue; a taxi driver picking up a Westerner rather than the Filipino he saw first; a European biting her tongue when an Emirati pushes in front at the till. While perhaps not agreeing with it, over time, many expats become desensitised to it, which is presumably how the China Times ad – which would have been inconceivable in the West –slipped through the net.

Dubai’s often referred to as a successful melting pot of nationalities but, in reality, it’s more like a salad: Rather than blending together, the 200 different nationalities sit alongside each other, harmoniously but separately, like the cucumber, the tomato and the onion in a fattoush, together making the unique flavour that is Dubai.

A bad year for sorcerers

2011 was a bad year for witches and sorcerers in the UAE, with punished crimes up threefold in 2011, according to Lieutenant Colonel Salah Bu Aseebah, director of Dubai Police’s Anti-Economic Crime Unit, who spoke on the topic on Arabic-language radio station Noor Dubai last month.

Giving an example of the type of crimes that come to his attention, he outlined a case of two African “sorcerers” who claimed they could turn plain white paper into USD100 bills by feeding it into a special machine. They duped victims by pulling out a few USD100 notes to demonstrate the machine’s efficacy before presumably asking for money to use the machine.

According to Emirates 24/7, the radio programme went on to warn the public that sorcerers and witches of the 21st century no longer wear tattered clothes but target educated people via email and SMS scams.

But financial crimes and fraud are only a part of the sorcery cases we see in this part of the world. Some of my favourite cases from 2011 involve magic spells for other purposes.

First, there was the “Romeo” in Saudi Arabia who allegedly used a magic spell to get a girl to go out with him. Spotted out walking with the object of his affections, he was found to have a photograph of her daubed with blood and hairs in his pocket. After questioning by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the boy admitted he’d used a magic spell to persuade the girl to go out with him. She didn’t do much for his defence when she said she’d been going out him for a month but “didn’t know why”.

Then there was the family whose maid used magic to “hypnotise” them. Arabic language paper Alsaudi wrote at the time, “armed with her experience and deep knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery, the maid, with the Devil’s help, managed to cast a powerful magic spell on the family… this resulted in the family coming under the full control of the maid, who started then to give orders and to act as the employer… she was so powerful that the mother began to serve her, prepare her meals and make coffee and tea for her.”

My favourite, though, is the Saudi family who were “saved from a magic spell” cast by their maid last November. When their Asian housemaid left her job, the family started to suffer “endless problems.” While I’m imagining crumpled clothes, dirty floors and no-one to look after the children, these problems actually took the form of the daughter-in-law leaving the son, the son developing mental problems and the mother suffering nightmares.

But then the family had a “eureka!” moment: They found a “small, old piece of paper carrying unreadable language” in a disused bathroom and realised that it was a spell and that the spell was the cause of all their problems. They took it to the anti-magic section of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, who “dismantled” the spell. The son and the mother consequently felt better, the daughter-in-law returned home and they all lived happily ever after.

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Art

Mohammed Omar Khalil

A Talent Recognised Worldwide Albareh Art Gallery host a solo exhibition this month, showcasing artworks by prominent international Sudanese artist Mohammed Omar Khalil, who will present 15 artworks from his new collection.

B

orn in Khartoum, Mohammed Omar Khalil remained in his homeland until 1963 where he studied and later taught at the School of Fine and Applied Arts.

He pursued further studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy and by 1967 Khalil had moved to New York City, where he still lives, works and teaches at Parsons the New School for Design.

Having attained worldwide recognition, his works grace many collections including the Metropolitan Museum of

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Paulo V

Art

Snake Charmers of Jamaa Al Fanaa Marrakesh II

Bird Man of Alcatraz

Art, New York; Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris and the Brooklyn Museum, New York. His work has also been auctioned at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s in their sales of Modern and Contemporary Art from the Middle East and Arab world.

Many of his exhibits represent the victory of the Florentine army over the Sienese in 1432 and he will showcase a series of artworks on Morocco, his favourite country which he feels very strongly about.

The exhibition also features one artwork inspired by the film ‘Birdman of Alcatraz’, a story of a murderer sent to Alcatraz prison, who became fascinated by canaries, treating them, breeding them and observing their behaviors.

The exhibition opens it’s doors on 5th February and runs until 29th at Albareh Art Gallery, open Saturdays – Thursdays 10am-1pm and 4-8pm. GFI

The One-Eyed Kamel Gulf Insider February 2012

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FASHION

MEN’S FASHION All from Reiss

Oceans of Blue All from Topman

Bright blue ‘Wickham’ trousers

BD15

Cobalt Chunky Rib ‘Brookville’ Scarf

Federal Blue Skinny Trousers

BD51

BD20 BD78

BD19 BD35 Blue ‘Mason’ Penny loafers

Topman Ecru Baseball Cardigan

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Boggi canvas cotton trousers ‘old’ effect

BD17

Marks and Spencer Big and Tall Blue Harbour Chinos

Off-White

BD25

Blue slim fit ‘Brandon’ blazer

Burberry oversize car coat

Blue Lambs wool Elbow Patch Crew Neck Jumper

BD870 BD85 BD145 Burberry modern fit cotton trousers

BD38

Boggi cotton field jacket with lamb collar

FASHION

Coach ‘Transatlantic’ leather zip top brief

New Season Bags and Shoes

BD74

BD90

BD400

Coach Crosby leather flap business brief

Paul Smith Ryker Holdall

BD142 BD72

Paul Smith Miller Brogues

Paul Smith Blue Thorpe Trainers

Gucci Lace-up Shoe Gucci Slide with Horsebit

Products of the Month

BlackBerry Smartphone Porsche Design P’9881

BD730

Tag Heuer Carrera Heritage Calibre 16 Chronograph

BD1650

Gulf Insider February 2012

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LAST WORD

Quotes for Habit “We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle “First we form habits, then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.” Rob Gilbert “Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones.” Stephen R. Covey “Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Vince Lombardi “Habits? the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction?

You allow them to persist by not seeking any other, better form of satisfying the same needs. Every habit, good or bad, is acquired and learned in the same way - by finding that it is a means of satisfaction.”

Juliene Berk “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” Vince Lombardi “I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.” Charles Dickens “Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny.” Tryon Edwards

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“A man’s fortune has its form given to it by his habits.” Anonymous “Men acquire a particular quality by constantly acting in a particular way.”

Anonymous “1. Be Proactive.

2. Begin with the end in mind.

3. Put first things first.

4. Think win win.

5. Seek first to understand . . . then to be understood.

6. Synergize.

7. Sharpen the saw.”

Stephen R. Covey “Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steadily gains in strength. At first it may be but as the spider’s web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel.” Tyron Edwards “The long span of the bridge of your life is supported by countless cables called habits, attitudes, and desires. What you do in life depends upon what you are and what you want. What you get from life depends upon how much you want it? How much you are willing to work and plan and cooperate and use your resources. The long span of the bridge of your life is supported by countless cables that you are spinning now, and that is why today is such an important day. Make the cables strong!”

L.G. Elliott “We are what we think; as we desire so do we become! By our thoughts, desires, and habits, we either ascend to

the full divine dignity of our nature, or we descend to suffer and learn.”

J. Todd Ferrier “We’re worn into grooves by Time? By our habits. In the end, these grooves are going to show whether we’ve been second rate or champions, each in his way in dispatching the affairs of every day.

By choosing our habits, we determine the grooves into which Time will wear us; and these are grooves that enrich our lives and make for ease of mind, peace, happiness ? Achievement.”

Frank B. Gilberth “Those who have attained things worth having in this world have worked while others idled, have persevered when others gave up in despair, have practiced early in life the valuable habits of self-denial, industry, and singleness of purpose” Grenville Kleiser “The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones.”

William Somerset Maugham “Habits change into character.”

Publius Ovidius Naso Ovid “A large part of virtue consists in good habits.” Barbara Paley “Powerful indeed is the empire of habit.”

Publilius Syrus “Divide each difficulty into as many parts as necessary to resolve it.”

Rene Descartes

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