Desire for peace behind king’s stance on Egypt

Source: Arab News (Read full story)

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s firm support for Egypt at its hour of crisis reflects his desire to reinforce peace and stability in the Arab and Islamic world, said Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed Kattan on Sunday. Speaking to the heads of Egyptian associations abroad at the Saudi Embassy in Cairo, Kattan said there is nothing surprising about King Abdullah’s stance on Egypt. “Whatever the king does for the Arab and Islamic Ummah shows his love and affection for them,” the ambassador said, adding that the king’s noble stances were inspired by the teachings of Islam. The Egyptian groups abroad had previously sent messages of greetings and gratitude to the king in appreciation of his historic support for Cairo against terrorist designs.

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Government strongly desires cooperation with parliament

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

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His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al- Sabah yesterday affirmed the government strong desire to establish cooperation and reach understanding with the National Assembly. This approach is intended to meet aspiration of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and the Kuwaiti people, “and this is how matters are supposed to be,” the prime minister stated. Speaking to journalists after a meeting with NA Speaker Marzouk Al- Ghanim and a number of MPs, HH the prime minister said, “I’ve heard from the MPs assuring words,” expressing confidence that the legislative and executive authorities would succeed in fulfilling their duties and meet aspirations of HH the Amir and the Kuwaiti people.

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HM holds talks with Rowhani

Source: Oman Tribune (Read full story)

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His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said and Iranian President Hassan Rowhani held talks at the Iranian Presidency in Teheran on Sunday. His Majesty is on three-day private visit to the country. Both the leaders discussed cooperation in political, economic, cultural, trade and investment fields and the ways to enhance them. They also discussed international issues. His Majesty’s visit aims to enhance the strong historical relations between the two countries. The visit shows His Majesty’s keenness to cement good-neighbourly relations between the Sultanate and its neighbours in the region and His Majesty’s interest to support the existing bilateral ties between Iran and the Sultanate.

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GCC single tourist visa likely from next year

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

A senior official at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said the six member states are currently working on setting up an automatic system for exchanging information online, to facilitate enforcing a single tourist visa system. Abdullah Al Shobaili, Assistant Undersecretary at the GCC for Economic affairs, told Saudi-based daily Al Hayat that an agreement between the AGCC countries requires enforcement of different technical elements, especially the presence of an automatic system that links the member countries, a matter involving several entities at the government machineries in every country. “The issue had been discussed at the joint meeting between the Tourist Cooperation Committee in the AGCC and the GCC Tourist counterpart in the AGCC Chambers of commerce and industry, which was held in Fujairah last year,” he said, noting that, the meeting had been subjected to extensive study.

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 Dubai shares at 5-year high

Source: Khaleej Times (Read full story)

Led by two leading property developers, Dubai shares jumped to the highest since November 2008 on Sunday. The benchmark Dubai DFM General Index surged 1.8 per cent to a five-year high to 2,748.27 points at the close as Deyaar Development and Union Properties surged amid a significant bounce back in property prices over the past few months in Dubai. In the first half of 2013, a stead upswing in Dubai property prices continued along with a surge in rents as more buyers from turmoil-hit countries entered the market amid increased investor confidence and mortgage availability. Year-on-year apartment rents and sales prices jumped 20 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. Villa rents were up 17 per cent as sales surged 24 per cent. According to market analysts, the price of luxury homes in Dubai rose by more than six per cent in the second quarter of 2013. Prime real estate prices in Dubai have increased by 21.6 per cent over the past year, making it the second best performing market in the world.

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Yemen, GCC, Saudi Arabia prepare for Friends imminent meeting

Source: Yemen News Agency (Read full story)

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During the meeting attended by representatives of donor States and regional and international organizations to Yemen, director of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) office in Sana’a Saad al-Arifi underscored that coordination is still underway between the GCC’s General Secretariat, Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government to tie up the final arrangements for the 6th meeting of the Friends of Yemen Group in New York on September 25.
The GCC General Secretariat and Saudi Arabia have made the initial arrangements for the imminent meeting of the Friends of Yemen, al-Arifi said, adding that “they have been submitted to the Yemeni government and coordination is ongoing to finalize the preparations to hold the meeting on time.

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