Eye on Dubai

Dubai is making more headlines than Paris Hilton these days. And unsurprisingly, there's as much dirty linen as glittering party frocks hanging on the line.

The Sunday Times exposes the victims of the "Light House Affair", a multimillion dollar property fiasco. Due to be finished last month, the planned Marina tower is a few abandoned foundations in the sand:
“We could lose our money, our flat, our future — everything,” says Roger Blakeley, 46, from Lancashire, who has put down £90,000. “We chose Dubai because Sheikh Mohammed (the emirate’s ruler) assured western investors their money would be safe. It’s time for Dubai to show that foreign buyers have rights and are protected when things go wrong.”

The admittedly partisan and patchily written DAFKA comes up with the bizarre theory that falconry is funding Al Qaeda. According to former UAE falconer "Alan Parrot":
“The Sheiks fly into hunting camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan on C-130 military cargo planes filled with SUV’s, supplies and even steamer trunks full of cash. They meet with al Qaeda leaders or bin Laden himself while in these camps and discuss their Muslim obligations and unity. When they leave, they leave all the vehicles, supplies and any other useful equipment behind as donations to al Qaeda for its efforts at jihad."

The Sun reveals the details of Naomi Campbell's million-quid birthday bash at the Burj:
"The party, starting on Sunday, is being hosted by Naomi’s boyfriend — multi-millionaire Dubai playboy Badr Jafar. Each of the three days will be themed, with Sunday dubbed “All White”."

And the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wades through the gleaming hotels, booming business and mega projects to reach the stunning conclusion:
"So beneath the glitz and gleaming skyline Dubai is a theocratic Islamic state that no American would want to be a citizen of for more than an hour."

Well, as they keep kindly pointing out to us, none of us non-dishdash will ever be citizens here or have any political rights. We're just "guests", temporary people, visitors, here to make a few, increasingly worthless oily dollars, so move along, move along.