Dubai's secret tunnel

As the article tells us, even the RTA is unaware of the tunnel and doesn't know when it was opened, well I can tell them.  The tunnel isn't a secret to people who work in the area.  On the day it opened, at least 3 months ago, the roads in the area were changed without any warning, there was no announcement that there could be something as unexpected as a tunnel and as a result, along with many others, I ended up driving through it wondering (a) where the tunnel had come from (it wasn't there yesterday) and (b) where the *&^ it was going to take me.  Was I going to come round a corner and find a 40 foot trench and then have to back up the way I'd come (this is quite a reasonable concern, its Dubai after all)?  The other drivers must have had the feeling as a group of cars drove carefully through the tunnel on full alert expecting to find a guy in the middle of the road painting the road markings by hand or some other hazard.  On emerging into daylight I found myself well past the Marooj heading away from where I worked.  %&$^#!!  I joined the Queue of the Confused, made an illegal u-turn and headed back through the tunnel for a second attempt. 
Source & graphic: Gulf News Express
=============
You can't help feeling a bit like Batman while driving into an apparently secret, subterranean car tunnel coursing under the Downtown Burj Khalifa area.
There are no street signs or nameplates, just four empty lanes of asphalt divided by a concrete divider and two long ceiling slots to allow in air and sunlight.
Several visits by XPRESS to the completely unknown 1.1-kilometre bypass tunnel revealed an empty thoroughfare save for a couple of straggler cars clipping through the concrete passageway.
A Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) official said they weren't aware of the tunnel which links Downtown Burj Khalifa to Al Mafraq Road and bypasses heavy Dubai Mall traffic congestion on Financial Centre Road (formerly Doha Road).
"We may have announced this already, but I'm not aware of it," said the official. "It sounds like it will save drivers a lot of time."
The official couldn't say when the tunnel had actually opened.
A Dubai Taxi driver said he was overjoyed when he stumbled upon the find by accident.
Using the underground tunnel instead of braving the construction work at Defence Roundabout and Financial Centre Road southerly towards Dubai Mall has saved him many times in recent weeks, he said.
"On busy traffic days, it can take a lot of time to go from Shaikh Zayed Road past Dubai Mall and down the road behind (Al Mafraq Road) to get to Dubai Exhibition Centre," he said. "There is so much traffic at the [Dubai] Mall. This tunnel has made life much easier."
To access the tunnel from a westerly direction on Shaikh Zayed Road, drivers can turn in to the Downtown Burj Khalifa exit before the Defence Roundabout exit. Once inside Downtown Burj Khalifa, motorists proceed to the second small roundabout and then turn left towards Emaar Square. The road directly enters the tunnel at the foot of Emaar Square office towers.
It takes about a minute to pass through the tunnel and exit directly onto Al Mafraq Road with the Al Murooj Rotana hotel on the driver's side.

Hamas death in Dubai: Officials say suspects identified

Source:WAM (the Dubai govt media office), 29 January '10
Photo: Associated Press
===============
Dubai Government media office has announced that Dubai police have identified suspects in the murder crime of Palestinian Hamas member Mahmoud Abdul Raouf Hassan and that they would soon track them down and refer to court in conjunction with International Police (Interpol).
The suspects were reported to have left the country before the murder crime was reported. The deceased's body was later discovered at a hotel in Dubai.
An official security source in Dubai said that the initial investigations suggest that the murder was inflicted by experienced criminal gang, who had been tracking down the movements of the victim before entering the UAE. "Despite quick skill exhibited by murderers, yet they left behind evidence at the scene of crime that would help in tracking them down at earliest. Dubai police no longer believe in ambiguous or unknown crime".
The source further disclosed that the investigations revealed that the suspects hold European passports, adding that Dubai police would embark in arrangements with Interpol to arrest the suspects and bring them to books. "The evidence will speedily help competent authorities to track down the suspects".
Known as Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, the deceased, a Palestinian, entered into the UAE at 3.15PM, on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010, from an Arab country. His body was found the following day at afternoon on Jan. 20, 2010, at a hotel he resided at in Dubai.

Hamas commander killed in Dubai

Source: Reuters by Khaled Yacoub Oweis
==============
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Israel on Friday of assassinating one of its top military commanders in a Dubai hotel, and the Dubai police chief said he could not rule out the involvement of Mossad.
Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, an Israeli target since engineering the capture of Israeli soldiers in the 1980s during a Palestinian uprising, was killed on January 20, a Hamas official told Reuters in the Syrian capital Damascus.
"I cannot rule out the possibility of Mossad involvement in the assassination of Mabhouh," Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told Al Jazeera television, referring to the Israeli intelligence agency.
He said he could not announce the nationalities of those involved.
Dubai police had earlier said that a "criminal gang" had been following the victim's movements before his arrival in the United Arab Emirates.
An official statement said most of the suspects had European passports and left the country after the killing.
The United Arab Emirates does not have a peace treaty with Israel but has hosted Israeli officials and does business with Israeli companies.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made an impassioned speech to thousands of mourners at Mabhouh's funeral on Friday at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk outside Damascus. A green Hamas flag covered the body as it was lowered into the grave.
Meshaal described Mabhouh as a "great man" who fought the Israelis for 30 years.
"I say to you Zionists, do not rejoice. You killed him but his sons will fight you," he said. "God already took our leaders and loved ones, but resistance goes on. Palestine is a blessed land. It will not remain patient."
Mabhouh's death lengthens Hamas's list of what it describes as "martyrs," and is a setback for the group in its fight against the Jewish state.
RESISTANCE MOVEMENT
Israel has killed dozens of leaders and military figures in Hamas, founded two decades ago as a religious resistance movement against Israeli occupation.
"I cannot reveal the circumstances (of the killing)," said Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's politburo.
Rishq said Mabhouh, 50, was an important member of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam brigades, Hamas's military wing.
He said the brigades "will respond (against Israel) in the appropriate time and place," but added that Hamas would not let the killing derail efforts to arrange a prisoner exchange with Israel, which has run into difficulties.
Mabhouh, who was born in the Gaza Strip but had lived in Syria since 1989, was killed a day after he arrived in Dubai, Rishq said.
A Hamas source in Gaza said Mabhouh was an active commander "until the moment of his assassination." He did not elaborate.
Another Palestinian source said Mabhouh was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai. He had barricaded the door of his room with chairs, a standard precaution by a man who believed Israeli intelligence had been after him for 20 years.
"It seems that an autopsy was ordered and found traces of poison in his body. Mabhouh was also ill. Hamas controls the information on this," the source said. "He was one of their main military guys, although not a crucial figure," the source added.
Mabhouh's brother Fayek told Reuters in Gaza his brother was killed "by strangulation after receiving an electric shock" and that two people were involved in the killing.
Syria and Iran are the main backers of Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Rishq, who lives in exile in Damascus along with several of Hamas's main figures, said Mabhouh engineered the capture of two Israeli soldiers during the Palestinian uprising in the 1980s. The soldiers were later killed.
Mabhouh was imprisoned several times by Israeli forces, who also razed his home in Gaza, Rishq added.
The United States, which has started a rapprochement with Damascus, wants Syrian authorities to help neutralize Hamas as an armed force.
Syria, which is seeking peace with Israel, resisted U.S. pressure several years ago to expel the Hamas leadership.

Stop, stop, stop all the dancing

A couple of days ago, a letter to the Editor was published in 7 Days, a free English language paper distributed in Dubai.  The letter was from a mother who was spoken to by the police at Global Village for having danced in public with her young son.  For readers outside Dubai, 'Global Village' is like a State Fair/Easter Show/Expo where different countries have pavilions selling their products and displaying their culture, which includes live dance shows by cultural groups.  These shows are well worth seeing and the music and dance at the Egyptian and Yemeni pavilions are great.   Anyway, it seems the mother made the mistake of having a dance with her young son while watching one of the dance shows.  The crime of dancing with her little boy, and remember that all the while there were dancers performing on stage only metres away, resulted in her being publicly and, by her account aggressively, reprimanded by the police. 
Another letter in '7 Days' followed a few days later telling of a 15 year old who was apprehended by the police at Global Village after being spotted dancing in the crowd during an Indian cultural dance performance.  After being taken by the officers to the head office she was lectured and finally let off with a warning. 
One needs only to refer to Clause 1.5 of the Dubai Code of Conduct: "Dancing and music: Loud music and dancing are forbidden in public places like parks, beaches or residential areas and must be restricted to licensed venues only."  So be warned, when out in public please refrain from any action that could be construed in any way, shape or form, as moving in a dance like manner.  Some head nodding is ok, maybe a bit of subdued handclapping but other than that keep it behind locked doors.
===============================
Here's the letter from '7 Days':
Sunday 24 Jan, 2010
A word of warning. I visited Global Village on Thursday evening with my elderly mother, another female friend and our three young children, all under the age of seven.
Having braved the crowds, paid exorbitant prices for our children to ride on the fairground rides (costs range from dhs10 to dhs25 each per ride!), and visited the many country pavilions, we stopped to watch a display of African music and dance outside the Africa pavilion.
It was a fabulous sight, with beautiful music. The children loved it and were dancing, and I danced briefly with my seven-year-old son.
A few minutes later, three - count them - three plain clothes police officers physically surrounded our party and aggressively informed us that dancing was not allowed anywhere.
They were extremely intimidating and forceful, and the children were openly frightened of both them and the situation we were forced into. I felt like a criminal.
We were horrified and our evening was ruined. We left immediately.
There are no signs or information leaflets at GV telling tourists and visitors that dancing is not permitted. I was not dancing suggestively or dressed provocatively, I was having fun with my children. I have lived in the UAE for many years and am well aware of the need to respect local culture and religion.
Perhaps the solution is for Global Village organisers to publicise the rules for visitors outside before they enter the park to avoid any misunderstandings in future.

[Signed] A Resident
Dubai

Dubai hotel rape case dismissed

Hmmm, why wasn't the hotel's CCTV footage checked immediately?  Hmmm, the couple concerned have consistently been reported as being in Dubai to celebrate their engagement yet now it seems they forgot they were married on 19 November last year, and suddenly they have the marriage certificate to prove it.  Hmmm, how is it that the couple are standing trial for consuming alcohol when they were inside a 'licenced' hotel?  Are tourists in Dubai being made aware that they risk arrest if they have an alcoholic drink in a hotel bars in Dubai?  Is it entrapment for the hotels to provide bars which serve alcohol when surely they must be aware that their customers risk arrest for partaking? 
Source: WAM/Arabian Business
======================
Dubai's public prosecution on Thursday said a case of a British woman who claimed she was raped in the bathroom of a top hotel in the emirate on New Year's Eve had been closed.
The woman alleged that she was sexually attacked by an Indian hotel worker at The Address Hotel in Dubai Marina.
Attorney General Essam Al Humaidan said the investigation into the allegations had been completed and prosecutors had decided to close the charge against the Indian worker "as the incident didn't happen", news agency WAM reported.
He said the public prosecution had also decided to dismiss the count of consensual rape against the British girl and her friend after the duo showed the court a marriage certificate dated November 16 2009.
He said that they would only stand trial for consuming alcohol without a permission.
The Dubai Attorney General attacked the way the case had been reported in some sections of the international press.
"All these untrue reports have not, in any way, affected resolutions the Dubai Public Prosecution has taken in the case as these measures have been taken after thorough investigation in virtue of the criminal procedures law which is being enforced on all without discrimination in regards to nationality, religion or race," he added.
The British woman had claimed that she was attacked by a waiter while semi-conscious in a hotel toilet.
However, the police said closed-circuit television footage has confirmed that the suspect did not enter the bathroom after her

Easy come, easy go: Abdullahs sell tower to pay back Damas debt

Source: The National 20 January 2010
Photo: Khan Tours website
================
The Abdullah family has sold one of its twin high-rise towers on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai to raise money to pay back part of the US$165 million (Dh606m) it owes shareholders of the jewellery giant Damas International for "unauthorised" investments.
The sale of the tower, to a private investor, marks the first efforts by family members to meet their debt payment schedule, which requires them to pay Dh200m by April this year. The unauthorised investments were made with company money.
The two 49-storey buildings were known as Angsana Hotel and Suites until late last year, when Damas Hotels cancelled its contract with Banyan Tree Hotel and Resorts. Banyan Tree said in a statement at the time that the building would be "converted to residential use" and sold.
Yesterday, a temporary sign hung outside one of the buildings, proclaiming the new name "Emirates Grand Hotel".
Staff in the building said the tower had been sold to an Emirati investor for an undisclosed sum in October last year and would reopen next month with Iberotel, a German hotel company, as the operator.
The second tower is still for sale.
"We just signed a contract last week," said Alaa Hanna, a sales director at the Iberotel Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah. "It previously belonged to Damas International but it was sold because of all these problems."
Construction on the two towers started in 2004. The tower that became the suites section of the hotel was opened last year, while the second building, with 364 hotel rooms, did not open despite being scheduled for completion late last year.  A spokesman declined to comment yesterday but a source close to the company said this week that the family had begun liquidating assets to meet its obligations. The brothers have recently been promoting the sale of their largest yacht to raise more cash.
Prices of residential property in Dubai have fallen by more than 50 per cent since their peak in 2008, which could be an obstacle to liquidating the investments the family made with the proceeds from the Damas International
public share offering in 2008. Almost 70 per cent of the transactions were investments in the property sector, with about 90 per cent of those in the UAE.
Blair Hagkull, the head of the regional office for the property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, said yesterday the sale was among the only major transactions in Dubai in recent months.
"We are seeing a situation where cash-rich organisations are finding attractive deals in this market," Mr Hagkull said. "The market has been quiet, but there are many purchasers and potential investors that are waiting in the wings for the prices to get to the right levels."
The Abdullahs face the risk of losing control of their 103-year-old family jewellery business. The brothers signed an agreement on November 4 to pay back the amount of the unauthorised transactions within 18 months.
They have also pledged to return 350 million of their 515 million shares if they fail to pay Dh200m within six months, Dh400m within 12 months and the full amount within 18 months.  If they were to default on these payments back to Damas International  and the shares were taken back by the company, their holding in the firm would fall to 16 per cent, from 51 per cent.

Jail and fine for Dubai Lagoons' former CEO

Jail and fine for "A.M." the former CEO of Lagoons.  The Lagoon site languishes on the outskirts of Dubai surrounded by huge hordings that were once covered with colourful pictures of the proposed site and the lifestyle it offered.  Most of the large posters have now gone, removed by wind, sand and sun, while the tattered remains of others cling to the boards.
Source: Gulf News
Picture: Sama website
===============
The former CEO of Lagoons, a Sama Dubai project, faces three years in jail after the Dubai Appeals Court scrapped his acquittal of committing financial irregularities yesterday.
Presiding Judge Mustafa Al Shennawi on Tuesday convicted the 43-year-old Emirati former CEO, A.M., of abusing his duty as a public servant and accepting bribe. He will be jailed for three years and has been fined Dh2.89 million and ordered to repay the same amount (the bribe amount) to Lagoons.
The Appeals Court overturned A.M.'s primary judgment, who had been pronounced innocent by the Dubai Court of First Instance in July last year.
Al Shennawi also sentenced Lagoon's former executives, 42-year-old Emirati M.M., his 23-year-old compatriot N.Q. and 28-year-old M.S. (who doesn't carry documents), to three years in jail each. They were also slapped a joint fine of Dh4.8 million and ordered to repay the amount to Lagoons.
M.M., Lagoon's former sales manager, M.S., the ex-sales executive, and Damac's former property development director, 32-year-old Syrian, A.H., will each spend a year in jail after the court convicted them of exchanging bribe worth Dh650,000. The Appeals Court ordered slapped them a joint fine of Dh650,000. Al Shennawi acquitted A.H. of aiding and abetting M.A. and M.S. collect a bribe worth Dh2.3 million over a three-land deal.
Moreover, the appeals court confirmed the acquittal of M.A. and N.Q. of revealing the company's secrets by providing an investment house with details about their clients, as well as information and prices of properties owned by Sama Dubai.
Defence lawyers are expected to appeal yesterday's judgment before the Cassation Court within 30 days.
At an earlier hearing, a prosecutor submitted an official letter stating that the funds of Sama Dubai are public and informed the Dubai Appeals Court that five executives of the company charged with financial irregularities are in fact public servants.
"We received an official letter from the Financial Control Department [FCD] at the Rulers Court confirming that the funds of Sama Dubai and Lagoons are public and that their employees are public servants," said the Public Prosecution's representative when he handed FCD's letter to Al Shennawi.
The five executives had earlier pleaded not guilty and refuted their charges.
According to the charges sheet, prosecutors had charged M.A., N.Q. and M.S. with taking Dh4.8 million in bribe against unlawfully selling/reselling lands belonging to Sama Dubai.
Lagoons' former CEO was charged with breaching his duties by requesting from one of his company's clients, five apartments worth Dh2.7 million and a cash sum of Dh200,000 in bribe against failing to preserve the rights of Sama Dubai and causing it to incur a loss of Dh137 million.
Charge
The Public Prosecution charged A.M. with preventing Sama Dubai from gaining a Dh4.6 million in ownership transfer fees.
A.H. was accused of accepting Dh650,000 in bribes from M.A. and M.S. and aiding and abetting them. M.A. and M.S. were charged with aiding and abetting A.H. in committing the bribe crime.
An Egyptian financial controller, from Dubai Government's Financial Control Department, testified that A.M., when he was Lagoons' former chief executive, should have preserved the company's rights and increased its earnings. "He caused Sama Dubai to incur a purported loss of Dh137 million," claimed the Egyptian.
An Emirati senior executive from Sama Dubai testified that A.M. failed to take the proper action against the company which was late in paying the instalments of certain properties.