Doha to Dubai for NYE

We left Doha at 6:20am and arrived at the border to exit Qatar just over an hour later.  Painless process which took 10 minutes maximum, then a drive through no-persons land to the Saudi border post.  We arrived at the Saudi border to find one side blocked because two locals in big 4x4s had had an accident in one of the customs inspection lanes!  You stand in a queue at the little window to get a number, then if you're woman you have to get a number written in your passport and then walk over to another building to have your fingerprints done and a photo taken.  This was only done 6 weeks ago but I had to be fingerprinted and photographed again.  Why the Saudis wanted to do my fingerprints again I don't know, they can't have changed *that* much in 6 weeks surely?
The drive through Saudi takes about 1.5 hours, there is nothing to see except for truck tyres in various states of burial in the sand on the side of the road. They are known as 'desert dolphins'.  The condition of the road is, umm, suboptimal.  Customs will give you a small piece of paper that looks like a supermarket checkout receipt.  Guard this little piece of paper as, even though nobody tells you this, you will need it later on and heaven help you if you don't have it as, first off, you need to show it to the official at the final Saudi exit point who'll give it back to you.
Entering the UAE involves parking your car, going inside (do not feel tempted to use the loo around the back, its a health hazard) the UAE official will stamp your entry visa into your passport and ask to see the Customs paper that looks like a supermarket checkout receipt.  Show it to him and make sure when he gives you back your passport that he gives you the little piece of paper too.  Now you have to buy temporary car insurance from one of the bored gents in the insurance company booths around the corner from the immigration building, its 70 dirhams for a week.  You get back in the car and if you're a woman you can get behind the wheel again at this point, only to have to muscle your way through the queue of trucks down to the final exit check where the man will give your passports the onceover and takes the Customs paper that looks like a supermarket checkout receipt from you.  He keeps it this time and you can get on your way.

Meanwhile, back in Saudi Arabia.....

UAE to Qatar in 2.20 minutes

When the KSA driving ban bites....

The driving ban in Saudi: when it really bites.


I thought you might be interested in getting a personal story on how the KSA driving ban can affect a woman in the region. So here's my story:

We've recently moved to Qatar after a long stint in the UAE and we want to bring our car over from Dubai. The transit route UAE-Qatar is all overland, reasonable roads (though shocking drivers). As you know its the law that women cover in Saudi so I'd change into abaya and sheyla just before the Saudi border and keep them on until I'm in Qatar. I have a cupboard full of abayas so no problem there. The simplest way would be for me to fly back, get the car and drive it over. The trip is just 680kms (422 miles) and if I left Dubai in the morning, even with border crossings, I could be back in Doha by dinner time....but I can't do that. Why? Because for 125kms (that's a mere 78 miles) the transit route passes through Saudi so for that tiny distance I can't drive nor can I hire a driver to do that leg of the trip for me because I can't be in the same car as a man who's not a relative. End result, my husband has to take a day off work, fly back to Dubai, pick up the car, and he'll do the driving within the Saudi borders.

Changes to visa rules for Saudi Arabia

Anyone who’s ever applied for a Saudi visa will know that the rules change on a fairly regular basis.  It seems that at present Saudi visas are only being issued for 30 days validity.  As a result, its a fairly regular process to prepare all the documents just like you did last time, take them into the typist to be translated and typed up for the KSA authorities, only to find that the rules have changed and now you need a different type of application form, or a pre-registration email from MOFA in Riyadh, or a letter of authority from someone else or the company stamp on a document, all/any of which you didn’t need last month..  This week, we have discovered that no Saudi visa will be issued without a signed copy of a form below which is now required for all applications processed in Dubai (could be the entire UAE but the typist’s English was a bit limited) and it is required for all nationalities.  ----------------I hereby undertake to give my fingerprints and my eye iris pattern images and comply with the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

I, the undersigned, hereby agree to have my fingerprint & iris data (biometrics) captured as part of the application procedure for an entry visa to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I further agree and declare as follows:
1. If granted the visa I shall abide by all the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and respect the Islamic customs and traditions of its people.
2. I am aware that all alcoholic beverages, narcotics and other illegal drugs, pornographic materials or publications, which violate the social norms of decency and all other publications, which are disrespectful of any religious belief or political orientation, are prohibited and shall not be brought into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
3. I am also fully aware that the crime of smuggling narcotics and other illegal drugs into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is punishable by the death penalty.
4. I have never been removed, excluded or deported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or from any other Gulf Cooperation Council member state or charged with violation of any law or regulation thereof.
5. I agree to depart the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on or before the expiration date of my visa. I am well aware that any violation of the laws and regulations of the Kingdom or any engagement in prohibited activities such as the activities mentioned herein or in the entry visa documentation are subject to the penalties, which are described in the "Dealing with Persons on Entry Visas" statute as enacted by Royal Decree No. 42, dated 10/18/1404AH.
6. I acknowledge and reaffirm my declaration that this application and the evidence submitted with it are all true and correct. I also understand that if I submit any false information or if my name was found to be listed as banned from entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia my application will be denied or my visa, if already granted, revoked. Moreover, I may be turned back from any Saudi port of entry at my own expense while I shall have no right to demand compensation.


Name:
Signature:
Date:

Men's dance from Saudi Arabia: 'Al Aardhah Al Najdyaah'

This is a clip from Dubai tv last week. The dance is from Saudi Arabia and is called "Al Aardhah Al Najdyaah". Al Aardhah means 'the dance', Al Najdyah is relevant to the land of Najd which includes Riyadh and its suburbs, where King Abdulaziz the father of the Saudi Kings was born and started the unification of his Kingdom. So, in the old days when there were lots of wars led by the founder of the Kingdom and this dance is usually performed after winning a battle... they usually will sing "Nehmadallh Jat Aala Ma Netmanna" which means "We are grateful to Allah that we have won such a war". After the wars ceased it became a Saudi traditional dance to be performed on national occasions such as National Day and at the culture festivals such as Jenadyriah. The King will also participate in such a dance as his father used to.
The drums, tassels, swords, outfits and the other decorations are derived from the old days.

Al Sanea/AHAB: 'The fall out from a falling out'

This piece from The Economist 17th July 09. There is also an earlier article on 9th July 09 which provides much background on the current events involving the Saad Group and AHAB in Saudi Arabia.
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A respected business family claims it has fallen victim to a spectacular swindle.
Of the merchant families that dominate Saudi capitalism, few are as respected as the Gosaibis, a "blue-chip" clan which could borrow on the strength of its name alone. It was, therefore, a shock when in May parts of the family conglomerate, Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers Company (AHAB), defaulted, prompting lawsuits in various countries. But on July 15th the shock turned to astonishment. In documents filed in New York's state Supreme Court and seen by The Economist, AHAB claims that it has been the victim of a "massive fraud" orchestrated for years by Maan al-Sanea, a Saudi billionaire who is married to a daughter of one of AHABs founders. The company says Mr Sanea "misappropriated" around $10 billion in the alleged swindle.
Mr Sanea has his own business, the Saad Group, a vast investment company once reckoned to hold over $30 billion of assets worldwide, including the second biggest stake in HSBC. He also used to work for the Gosaibis and, besides having married into their family, he freely admits he has "long had personal relations with the partners of AHAB". But he insists that the business ties between his Saad group and AHAB are now on an "arm's length commercial basis."However, AHAB claims that Mr Sanea was until very recently a "senior executive" of its financial-services arm, the Money Exchange, which chiefly handles remittances by workers inside and outside Saudi Arabia. It says Mr Sanea made use of this position to borrow from banks "using forged or falsified documents". He then "diverted the funds received to his own use."
AHAB has made these allegations in response to a lawsuit filed against it in New York by Mashreqbank, a lender based in the United Arab Emirates which was one of the first banks to admit openly to having an exposure to AHAB. Mashreqbank is going to court over a foreign-exchange deal on which it claims AHAB defaulted. It wired $150m to an AHAB account on April 28th and says it was due to receive 564.3m Saudi riyals a week later in return. But AHAB failed to pay. In its court document of July 15th AHAB responds that it knew nothing about this currency deal until the New York court sought to attach its assets over Mashreqbank's claim.
Having looked into the matter further, AHAB now says the transaction was one of many organised by Mr Sanea with "a variety of financial institutions in the United States, the Middle East, and elsewhere", while keeping them off the books to conceal them from AHAB's partners and directors. It says that Mashreqbank alone entered into 52 such deals, totalling $4.7 billion, between January 1st 2008 and May 1st 2009.
AHAB claims that having these huge amounts of cash constantly sloshing around in the Money Exchange's accounts allowed Mr Sanea to siphon off some of it by, among other things, writing fraudulent cheques, and transferring cash to people, companies and accounts that he "controlled directly or indirectly". It says Mr Sanea told AHAB employees not to record the transactions in the company's books and in July 2006, it alleges, he sent a memo to senior employees of the Money Exchange telling them to withhold any messages intended for the board of directors and "to deliver those communications to him instead". AHAB says Mr Sanea's manoeuvres allowed him "to continue looting AHAB and to conceal the massive scope of his thievery from AHAB and its Board".
AHAB does not accuse Mashreqbank or the other banks that engaged in the currency deals of knowingly participating in the fraud it alleges. However it does claim that in the $150m transaction at the centre of the court case, Mashreqbank stood to enjoy a "grossly inflated profit margin". And it argues that the transaction "had no legitimate commercial purpose which would have been obvious to both parties in the transaction." It says almost all the other transactions involving Mashreqbank likewise gave it a substantial profit. Mashreqbank's spokesman said on Friday that it felt unable to comment on the matter until it had consulted its lawyers.
A spokesman for Mr Sanea's Saad group, asked to comment on AHAB's accusations, said, "We have not seen or been served with this claim, although it appears from press reports to be a repetition of claims previously presented extensively to the press and elsewhere and which are baseless. If we are served with such a claim, we will respond to it vigorously through specialist counsel, confident in both the true facts and the judicial process." Last week when The Economist put similar allegations to Mr Sanea's lawyers, they described them as "scurrilous and utterly untrue".
Although their scale is spectacular, the nature of the allegations will not come as a complete surprise to some bankers in the Middle East. The Gosaibis had previously said that they had found evidence of "substantial financial irregularities" in their financial-services arm. And in a confidential creditors' meeting in Bahrain on June 24th the group disclosed the scale of the problem, according to sources familiar with the matter. They say it left creditors in little doubt about whom it suspected as the author of its misfortunes.
But to make this complaint in black and white, in a New York court document, is an extraordinary twist. Family businesses in the Gulf traditionally settle their disagreements behind closed doors, judging that "the preservation of the family reputation is of paramount importance," as a banker in the region puts it.
In this case, more is at stake. The Algosaibi group owes more than $9 billion to more than 120 banks all over the world. The uncertainty over its finances is making some of them wonder if it is worth lending to Saudi Arabia at all. The group's creditors had hoped that the Saudi monarchy would step in to broker a truce between Mr Sanea and his aggrieved in-laws. Instead, an internecine family feud in a normally secretive kingdom will now be pursued in the open through the American courts. Like Ahab's harpoon in "Moby Dick", the allegations that AHAB has fired off may drag Saudi Arabia's financial reputation into the vortex.

GCC monetary union 'dead' after UAE pull out

From ArabianBusiness.com 20 May 09
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The GCC monetary union is "dead" as a result of a decision by the UAE to pull out of the plan, leading UAE economists pronounced on Wednesday.

The UAE's move, which came just three weeks after a decision to base the bloc's central bank in Riyadh, was the result of a clash of egos, according to a Saudi expert, who urged Gulf politicians not to let egos get in the way of rational decision.

Dubai-based economist, Eckart Woertz, said that he was surprised by the decision, adding that the monetary union was “dead” without the UAE’s involvement.

In his opinion the decision to withdraw was due to the Saudi capital being named as the headquarters of the regional central bank, Woertz, an economist at the Gulf Research Center, told Arabian Business.

“I would guess they (the UAE) are upset at the decision to set-up the Central Bank in Riyadh instead of Abu Dhabi. There seems to be some connection.

“The monetary union is dead if the second largest GCC economy is not participating. Oman is already out, now the UAE, so it doesn’t justify the effort now and my guess it will not materialise now under these conditions," he said.

Analysts at EFG Hermes also believe that the monetary union project is now “effectively dead”, senior economist Monica Malik told newswire Bloomberg.

However, John Sfakianakis, chief economist at HSBC’s Saudi affiliate, Saudi British Bank (SABB), urged leaders of the remaining four states not to let one country “hijack” the project.

“I think that the egos and the politics should be put aside…I think the UAE should reconsider and not necessarily react in an emotional way,” he told Arabian Business.“It is unfortunate that the UAE at this point cannot join. They will be welcome to join at a later stage,” he added.

Meanwhile, Standard Chartered bank warned the withdrawal of the UAE from the GCC monetary union represented a serious setback to plans for a single currency, but added that the market impact of the decision would be limited.

It was questionable as to whether the proposed single currency would now go ahead, the bank said in a research note. The UAE’s decision to pull out follows the withdrawal of Oman from the monetary union plans in 2007.

There were growing concerns in the UAE over the dominance of Saudi Arabia in the common currency area, according to Standard Chartered.

“With the GCC secretariat already based in Saudi Arabia and with the decision to host the GCC central bank in Saudi Arabia as well, UAE concerns intensified,” said analysts Marios Maratheftis and Mary Nicola in the note.

The economic cost of the UAE’s withdrawal should be limited, with UAE trade with the rest of the GCC representing only about 10 percent of total trade, the bank added.

Simon Williams, regional economist at HSBC Middle East, said that the withdrawal of the Gulf’s second largest economy from monetary union was a major blow to the single currency project.

“However, we had long assumed that the single currency would not be launched on schedule at the start of 2010, and the UAE’s withdrawal therefore has no meaningful impact on our view on economic performance or on regional monetary policy,” he said.