Gonu leaves $3.8bn cloud over Oman

by Dylan Bowman on Sunday, 17 June 2007

Cyclone Gonu has cost Oman's economy almost $4 billion, according to initial government estimates.An official source at the Ministry of National Economy said reconstruction could cost the country between $3.24 billion and $3.89 billion, and that the ministry is currently working with various governmental authorities to repair infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the cyclone, WAM reported today.Cyclone Gonu wreaked havoc on the country earlier this month, battering its coast for three days and killing around 50 people.
The cyclone halted Oman’s oil and gas exports and damaged main roads and bridges connecting the eastern provinces with the capital Muscat, and caused floods and landslides across all regions.In Muscat's centre, streets were turned into turbulent rivers, trees uprooted and power lines cut. Cars were left piled on top of each other, stuck in rubble and mud.The country also suffered from power outages for days after the storm left its coast and moved up to southern Iran. At its peak, Gonu was measured as a maximum-force Category Five hurricane.Oman's weather centre, which has been keeping records since 1890, says Gonu could have been the strongest storm to reach the coast since 1977.

Oman Cyclone Hits Kashmir Handcraft Industry

Srinagar, June 12 : The cyclone that struck Muscat, the capital of the gulf state of Oman, last week, killing at least twenty-eight people, has also cast its shadow on the Kashmir handicrafts industry.
People connected with the industry say that Kashmiri traders at Muscat have suffered severely due to the cyclone which heavily damaged the Gulf state’s infrastructure.
Though the exact loss suffered by Kashmiris trading in the country was not immediately know, well informed sources said that at least twenty-five outlets have suffered severe loss, while some others were partially damaged.
“There are more than one hundred outlets owned by Kashmiri handicraft traders in Muscat, while about 200 Kashmiris are directly or indirectly connected with the trade in the country,” Altaf Ahmed Baig, a handicraft exporter said.
He said that the details pouring in from the country were shocking as most of the infrastructure owned and possessed by Kashmiris has suffered extensive damage and loss, which has a direct impact on the handicraft industry at the domestic level.
“The communication system there has collapsed, and as such we do not know the exact details of the losses as yet”, he said adding that the trading community here expected the state government to intervene and enquire about the whereabouts of Kashmiris in the country.
Baig was of the opinion that the cyclone in Oman was likely to have its impact on Kashmir’s export industry as the gulf state had a great import potential for handicraft products.
“Oman is one of the favorite countries for handicraft exporters in Kashmir, who are now a worried lot after the calamity,” he said.
Though there are thousands of Kashmiris in Oman, the state government was yet to respond and enquire about their whereabouts. Sources said that no step has been taken yet to ensure the safety of the residents of the state in the calamity struck country.
The fiercest storm to hit the region in 30 years forced thousands of people from their homes and left a trail of destruction along the east coast of a country unaccustomed to such violent weather.
The cyclone initially packed winds of 260 kms an hour and was the strongest to lash the Arabian Peninsula since 1977.

Saudi prince defends US accounts

by Reuters on Wednesday, 13 June 2007

Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, facing accusations he personally received 1 billion pounds ($2 billion) under a British arms deal, said on Tuesday the funds were transfers between official Saudi bank accounts.Britain's Guardian newspaper reported last week that Prince Bandar, a former ambassador to Washington, received secret payments into U.S. bank accounts for facilitating the al-Yamamah oil-for-arms deals, in which Britain's BAE Systems sold aircraft and equipment to Saudi Arabia."These articles have given readers the impression that these funds were transferred by BAE as secret commissions as part of financial and administrative corruption during my work as the ambassador," Prince Bandar said in a rare statement published on the Saudi state news agency SPA.
"The allegations of the Guardian are not only as far from the truth and reality as can be, but they also represent a zenith in fabrication," he said.A spokeswoman for the British newspaper declined to respond to the comments.He said all the funds mentioned by the Guardian originated from Saudi government accounts in the kingdom and were transferred into official Saudi accounts in the United States."The funds the newspaper referred to were from the accounts of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and have been transferred to other Saudi government accounts in the United States and not to my personal accounts," Prince Bandar said."Although all the transactions between relevant parties are confidential as they are government dealings... any sane person cannot believe that transfers that are subject to the regulations of the American and British banking systems could be kept secret or ... away from the knowledge of the relevant governments."He denied any link between the account and BAE."Additionally these accounts by no means belong to the British aerospace firm," he said. "The aforementioned accounts are audited and reviewed annually by the Ministry of Finance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Al Jazeera English wins more creative awards

Al Jazeera English has been awarded three awards at the BDA World Gold Awards.
Al Jazeera English was presented with three Bronze trophies at the 2007 PROMAX & BDA International Conference in New York 14 June 2007 in the categories of Art Direction & Design: Topical Campaign; Art Direction & Design: Image Campaign and Website-News. 'I am delighted that our 'Clear& Simple' Brand strategy has been recognised. Everyone has worked very hard in all four centres to help us forge a consistent, coherent and confident Al Jazeera English identity across all our output online and on-air, so everyone deserves the credit,' said Director of Creative, Morgan Almeida. This follows Al Jazeera English receiving one Gold and two Silver trophies for their innovative and fresh Creative Direction at the Promax/BDA Global Promotions & Design Conference in Dubai on the 28 March 2007. Earlier this month Al Jazeera English channel came in second position at the Broadcast Digital Channel Awards receiving 'Highly Commended' in the category of 'Best News Channel of the year'. 'I am delighted that Al Jazeera English, in such a short period of time of being on air, is accruing worldwide recognition. It is a testament to the strength of the Al Jazeera brand. We look forward to building on these early successes into the future.' said Wadah Khanfar, Director General of the Al Jazeera Network. Al Jazeera English was also nominated for awards at the One World Media awards in the categories of Broadcast Journalist of the Year: Nadene Ghour; Popular Features: 48 in Damascus, Amanda Palmer; MDGs Award: Malaria Week, The News Team.

Mugabe’s academic mugs

So, Edinburgh University has finally stripped Robert Mugabe of the honorary degree it awarded him in 1984. It is the first time in the university’s 425-year history that it has revoked an honorary degree - and Mugabe will be afforded a right of appeal.
The university’s sanction came about after a sustained anti-Mugabe campaign by its student body and alumni, local newspapers and MPs. In order to carry it out, the university’s senate first had to alter its rules and then empanelled three professors to examine whether there were grounds to penalise Mugabe.
On June 6, the senate duly announced that there were such grounds. Not a difficult decision to arrive at, I’m sure, if 23 years late. More troubling than the time lag is that the university has been less than honest about the circumstances under which it conferred the honour.
Edinburgh’s recent official announcement read: “After examining evidence relating to the situation in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s - evidence that was not available to the university at the time the degree was conferred [my bold] - the group recommended that the degree should be withdrawn.”
One of the “three wise men” on the investigating panel, Professor Sir Neil MacCormick, emphasised that the university’s offer of the honorary degree had been made “in good faith” and that evidence of Mugabe’s human rights abuses - namely, the massacres in Matabeleland, in which as many as 20,000 civilians are believed to have been murdered - only came to light later, and “was not known to the senate when in 1984 it confirmed its decision to proceed and award the degree”.
Indeed? Let’s look at the timeline: Edinburgh University conferred the degree (at the initial suggestion of Lord Carrington, the former foreign secretary) upon Mugabe on July 20, 1984. But more than three months previously, on April 8, I had started reporting the massacre. The Sunday Times ran my first piece (to which we appended two other bylines to protect me) under the headline, “Mass murder in Matabeleland: the evidence”.
The first line read: “Robert Mugabe’s government in Zimbabwe has launched a new campaign of extraordinary brutality in Matabeleland, in the south of the country.” I reported from inside the curfew area (from which journalists were banned) using my own testimony and other eyewitness accounts of the Balaghwe “death camp”, run by the fearsome 5th Brigade, a North Korean-trained army unit fiercely loyal to Mugabe.
These reports were backed up by local priests - at least one of whom was already openly calling the killings “genocide” - and by the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission.