Trilateral Persian Gulf Trade:

This one is so strange, it ought to be for some record books. An Iranian ship loaded with alcoholic drinks (booze, Texas iced tea, etc) from Port of Dubai (UAE) to Basra (Iraq) sank near a Saudi island in the Persian Gulf. Saudi border patrols were able to rescue the sailors- but presumably not the booze.  At least three of the countries involved ban alcoholic drinks.

Arab media (5/23/09)

There goes the tourist trade:

Speaking of which: Iraqi authorities have signaled their intention of cracking down on hotels and night clubs that serve alcoholic drinks. No report yet on whether the alcohol ban will extend to other establishments.

Some Iraqis have warned that this may lead to increased use of drugs, which are not covered by religious bans (they did not know about Maria Juana and her sistes in ancient Hijaz, where Islam started).

Another day, another story:

Egypt has announced that its security agencies have arrested members of an al-Qaeda cell responsible for an explosion a few weeks ago in the crowded Cairo area of al-Hussein. So far so good, except that two weeks ago the same Egyptian security agencies were emphatic that a Hezbullah cell was responsible for the bombings. I never believed it: Hezbullah is not an ‘international’ organization and rarely, if ever, engages in bombings outside Lebanon and Israel. None of those apprehended was Lebanese: all were Egyptians and other Arabs.

I suspect that two weeks ago Hezbullah was the flavor du jour for Egyptian security and Saudi media (and some hired Egyptian columnist-gunslingers in the Saudi media). Now, something must have changed. I vunder vas it vas?

The three Egyptian plagues:

Egypt is being hit with three major crises. First there is the bird (avian) flu, aka H5N1, which has destroyed the country’s poultry and bird industry (that is about the closest Egypt gets these days to an ‘industry’). Then there was the Swine flu, aka H1N1, which has nearly destroyed the country’s pig farming.

AS for the third plague: I will not name him, but you can guess. Can’t you?

“Analysts report that the decision of Oman and UAE to depart from the currency union plan is a clear indication that Saudi Arabia is losing clout in the Gulf region…” Arab media (with the exception of Saudi media).

Cheers

mhg