Kuwait

My last two years in Kuwait have been enlightening and dangerous. This is not a safe country, especially on the roadways. It has been interesting to live in an Arab culture for a time though I have not interacted with many Kuwaitis. It seems that their are more people from other countries than from Kuwait. I am looking forward to leaving and will spend some time thinking more about what I have seen and experienced in Kuwait.
I have also traveled to Afghanistan, Qatar and Bahrain during the last two years and especially enjoyed the beauty of Afghanistan.

Who & What is an Arab?

Anyone care to take a shot at answering who and what is an Arab? Someone who speaks arabic, yes. Most likely Muslim. Belief in the "Arab World" of old. More to follow...

Doha, Qatar

Well I'm in Qatar now, been here for a few days. Its been hot and humid, big surprise. Attending a conference which has been great in terms of meeting old friends and new friends. Lots of good information being presented and good working sessions.

The Peral

I am going to Qatar next week to attend a conference. In doing some research on Qatar I came across this project called the Pearl-Qatar. Talk about the rich and they think they are famous crowd. A short summary from their web page which you can visit by clicking on the title to this blog entry. I've been to Qatar before so my goal is to learn something new about the country. Which I did via the wonders of Google.

Riviera Arabia
The atmosphere of the Riviera within the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf. A rediscovered island off the coast of one of the world's most rapidly expanding economies. An investment in a place of outstanding beauty and cosmopolitan charm. This is The Pearl-Qatar, an island, which will redefine an entire nation; a destination of qualities that are unique in the region.

The Pearl-Qatar will be talked about around the world. It is founded on a determination to position Qatar as a place of superlatives - a country that welcomes guests with openness and friendship and encourages investment for all in a location of incredible potential.

GCC, EU wrap up anti-terrorism forum in Doha

Date : 5/23/2007

DOHA, May 23 (KUNA) -- Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU) member states wrapped up here on Wednesday their fourth forum on combating terrorism funding.Experts who participated in the seminar agreed that the informal financial sectors should be accorded more attention and that more thought should be put into finding new ways of accessing the formal sectors, especially banks. They also agreed on the importance of KYC (Know Your Customer) and customer due diligence measures, considering a risk-oriented allocation of monitoring resources promote the efficiency of combating money laundering and terrorist financing while ensuring the necessary flexibility to keep step with changing market conditions. The experts agreed on the necessity of continuing and enhancing the concerted international efforts, including a regular and an interdisciplinary exchange of information between the investigative authorities, the financial intelligence units and the financial regulators at an informal level. The experts also stressed the important role of the UN and the need to implement all relevant UN instruments. They welcomed the UN s recent efforts to improve the transparency of the international sanctions regime through the establishment of the UN focal point. Finally, the participants agreed on the need to go on with the joint seminars on combating money laundering and terrorist financing and welcomed the announcement of Slovenia to arrange the 5th joint seminar in Brussels during their presidency of the EU in spring 2008.
att.tg KUNA 231900 May 07, 2007

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So will this international cooperation result in fewer deaths of innocent people? Can reasonable people control crazy people?

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Doha (Arabic: الدوحة, transliteration: Ad-Dawḥah or Ad-Dōḥah), population 400,051 (2005 census[citation needed]), is the capital of Qatar and is at 25.3° N 51.5333° E, on the Persian Gulf. Doha is located in the Ad Dawhah municipality, sometimes also known as the capital municipality. The city is Qatar's largest city, with over 80% of the nation's population residing in Doha or its suburbs, and is the economic center of the country. Doha is home to the Education City, an area devoted to research and education.

Trip to Qatar

So I just returned from a trip to Qatar, a small country jutting out into the Persian/Arabian Gulf. Lots of construction going on, roads and new buildings. On the flight down we took a small plane which was great since we flew at around 10,000 feet which gave us a great view of the Gulf waters and coast line. Very beautiful. Bahrain is very impressive from the air from all the building going on. On the day we were scheduled to return their was a huge sand storm which grounded all planes for about 12 hours but we finally took off and made it back to Kuwait in the late evening. So now I have had the opportunity to visit Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.