Hot Middle East Interviews & lifestyle Articles
Mohammed Al Rasheed says that a change is as good as a rest
Finally Mr Brown is out of 10 Downing Street. Nothing against the man personally, but he was not elected, his behaviour while in power was suspect, and his hold on the position was rather in tune with the manners of men-of-the-cloth and their progeny. That is, they love power more than they love their vows. An un-elected politician in Britain holding on to the Premiership for such a long time is simply not acceptable. After all, England had its Charles chopped off long before Louis was paraded in France - all in the name of liberty. God bless.
Regardless of what it brings, change is good. I have a personal aversion to those who sit in their positions forever.... Read more.....
Our resident environmentalist, Rehan Ahmed, explains what we can all do to mark World Environment Day on 5th of June.
World Environment Day (WED) will be celebrated globally on 5th June this year. It is hosted every year by a different city with a different theme and is commemorated with an international exposition. The US city of Pittsburgh has been selected by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the host city for celebrating World Environment Day 2010. This year’s WED theme is "Biodiversity - Ecosystems Management and the Green Economy."
On WorId Environment Day, heads of state and government officials deliver statements and commit themselves to care for the Earth. Pledges are made which lead to the establishment of permanent governmental structures dealing with environmental management... Read more.....
Mohammad Al Rasheed looks through a violent history and finds worrying parallels with today
Many times you have read me on these pages complaining about our social practices and our moral behaviour on the ground, in opposition to our stated aims. And probably, there are still volumes to be written on this subject without giving it its full due. Today, however, I will stop complaining and try and give solutions. Consider this a refresher course rather than a manifesto of sorts; I am, after all, hardly in a position to conjure up an alternative scheme or two (though I probably can!). So I will resort to history and recount some episodes that might light the way ahead and even entertain the reader. Read more.....
Arabia's Best Kept Secret!
Camping in Saudi Arabia By Rebecca Cooksey
It all started with an email from Dr Al Rasheed inviting Nick and me to join him on his annual camping expedition to the Nafud desert. With little idea of what we were letting ourselves into we bordered a flight to Riyadh.
Upon landing in Riyadh I slipped on my abaya before disembarking, leaving my magazines for the crew as I was expecting to have them confiscated at customs. But it didn't happen, nor was every woman covered. I grew up in Saudi, and still regularly travel back to the Eastern Province, yet was under the impression that Riyadh was extremely strict about women covering themselves. It didn't appear so.
Let me warn anyone about Riyadh airport – there is nothing to do there! We had to get a connecting flight to Hail, but boarding was quite some time away and we had several hours to kill. As it was a beautiful spring day outside we decided to get a cab to central Riyadh and have a look around. We experienced wide and open roads, and nearer to town there were boulevards that reminded us of Dallas, Texas. Upon entering Riyadh, shops displaying high end brands such as Cartier and Chanel lined both sides of the street, and half dressed mannequins appeared in the windows of the high end fashion shops. It appeared that a Mall was on every street corner.
Luckily for my bank balance it was Friday morning which in Saudi means that all shops were shut. We instead settled for a delicious buffet lunch at one of Riyadh's five star hotels, after which we went for a walk, heading towards the Kingdom Shopping Mall, only to latter turn back before we arrived there. Discretion being the greater part of valour, we realized that we were the only people in the street and judging by the amount of security surrounding the hotel – it was certainly intended to stop something from getting in. The emptiness of the streets I found quite eerie and I began to think of the BBC's Frank Gardner, who I knew, and who had been ambushed, shot at, and left for dead in Riyadh just a few years before, for no other reason than he was a westerner in the wrong place at the wrong time. We quickly strolled back to hotel to get a cab back to the airport and board our internal flight to Hail.
Back at the airport we met up with a fellow camping companion, Peter Harrigan, a close friend of Dr Al Rasheed for years, and extremely knowledgeable about the region.
The flight to Hail was chaotic – hysterical even. Passengers sat where ever they wanted and argued with the crew. Babies were screaming. One chap even got out of his seat and walked down the aisle insisting on being served a coffee as we were about to take off! Of course our seats had been taken so we ended up in the back, behind a nanny and 3 children who kept passing rancid wind throughout the 45 minute journey.
We landed gasping for fresh air and to a disorganised little airport that looked like a throwback from the 70's. Dr Mohammad was waiting for us outside and after a big hug we clambered into his Toyota Land Cruiser and set off for the desert. Hail was exactly how I remember Damman as a child. It was almost as if we had entered a time warp.
Just before entering the desert we stopped to reduce the air in the tyres which makes off road driving easier. There was no moon so it was pitch dark. At times the journey was quite nerve racking as Mohammad navigated his way around and down the dunes. At one point he momentarily lost control and we hit a dune – I really thought we were going to topple over. We had blown a tyre which had contributed to the near accident but we soldiered on. Mohammed being the perfect host he decided that as there was only another eleven kilometres to go he would not inconvenience us by stopping to change the tyre, resulting in it's total destruction by the time we reached camp.