UAE CALLS FOR RUSSIAN, US ACTION ON ISRAEL
Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed al Nahyan received here yesterday the visiting Jordanian Prime Minister Dr Abdul Salam al Majali. The meeting covered bilateral relations, the latest developments in the Middle East, the stalled peace process and other issues of mutual interest. Sheikh Sultan stressed the necessity of achieving a just and comprehensive peace in he region, by giving the Palestinian people their legitimate rights of establishing an independent state on their lands, with Jerusalem as its capital. He also called for the implementation of the United Nations, UN, Security Council resolutions, the principle of land for peace and the Oslo agreements signed between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Sheikh Sultan also called for the resumption of the Middle East peace talks which have ceased due to the obstinacy of the new Israeli Government and the establishment of Jewish settlements at Jebel Abou Ghanem in Jerusalem, pointing out that the deadlock in the peace process does not serve the interests of the people of the region and their security and stability. He also called upon the US and Russia, the main sponsors of the peace process, to intervene and put an end to recent Israeli measures which aim at halting the peace process and annulling deals already concluded between the Palestinian Authority, PA, and Israel.
For his part, Majali said that he reviewed with Sheikh Sultan the brotherly relations between the UAE and Jordan and exchanged views on the peace process and pan-Arab relations. He expressed satisfaction over the development of bilateral relations with the UAE and added that he briefed Sheikh Sultan on the latest developments in the Middle East peace process and hoped for the resumption of talks on all tracks.
The meeting was attended by UAE Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Awqaf (Endowments) Mohammed bin Nakhira al Dhaheri, UAE Ambassador to Jordan Ahmed al Mil al Za'abi, members of the delegation accompanying the Jordanian Premier and the Jordanian Chargé d'Affaires Mohammed al Batayna, who all also saw Majali off at the Abu Dhabi International Airport when he left late yesterday, following the completion of his two-day visit to the Emirates. (The Emirates News Agency, WAM)
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, will be the patron of IPE '97, the Middle East's first exhibition to focus on industrial services, plant maintenance and environmental technology. Some of the world's leading industrial plant, maintenance and environmental control companies and associated consultants and specialists have already reserved space at IPE '97.
The show, to be held from September 14 to 17 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, DWTC, has also received the active support of major international industry trade associations and is backed by the expertise of renowned industry leaders, according to a press release. The IPE conference, to be held at the Hilton Hotel Dubai, will focus on environmental technology and its importance to the rapidly-developing UAE economy.
Sheikh Nahyan will deliver the opening address at the conference, which will include a series of technical seminars and case history profiles from world environmental experts. There will also be talks by leading local Government officials and companies' representatives. Sheikh Nahyan has welcomed the exhibition and conference as an important focal point in raising awareness about environmental issues in the UAE. It will help bring the key environmental protection message to a wider general audience, he said. Michelle Jungquist of Dubai RAI, organisers of the exhibition, said that IPE '97 will be an important focal point in raising awareness about environmental issues in the UAE. It will provide an opportunity for industrial manufacturing plants in the region to review leading-edge products and services from international suppliers, to improve profitability and also assist them in planning socially-responsible environmental protection programmes.
Dubai RAI is the Middle East branch of the Amsterdam-based RAI Group, a world leader in exhibition management, and IPE '97 is being held in conjunction with PipeTech '97, the first dedicated pipe and valve industry exhibition and conference, which will run on the same dates. (The Emirates News)
DUTY FREE TO SUPPORT ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT
The Abu Dhabi Duty Free, ADDF, is to provide sponsorship for a third successive year to the Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey Project, ADIAS, to help it in its task of studying the archaeology of the coast and islands of the Emirate, it was announced yesterday. The sponsorship will be used, in particular, to support the preparation of archaeological drawings of flint tools from the Later Stone Age found at a site adjacent to the Abu Dhabi International Airport, ADIA. The drawings will subsequently be published as part of a report on the site.
The Airport excavations, carried out in the summer of 1995, were funded primarily by the Abu Dhabi Duty Free, at the request of the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Aviation Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, while members of the Duty Free staff also assisted the archaeologists in their work, despite the summer heat. There were, too, many other keen volunteers of various nationalities, including UAE nationals, prepared to start work at 5:00am in order to avoid the onslaught of heat by 9:00am, or work from around 4:00pm until it became to dark to see.
During the excavations, part of the Civil Aviation Department's continuing programme of investigations into the natural environment around the Airport area, a large number of flint tools were found, dating back to a period around 6,000 to 7,000 years ago when the hills on which the Airport now stands formed the coastline.
Also found during the work was pottery providing evidence of occupation of the area during the Third Millennium BC, coinciding with the flourishing of the port of Umm al Nar, and during the first few centuries of the Christian era, the latter representing the first such evidence found along the Abu Dhabi coastline. The ADDF also provided sponsorship of the ADIAS project during its 1996-1997 season, to facilitate continued examination of the Airport site and further survey work in the Airport area.
Announcing the sponsorship, Sheikh Hamdan commented, "President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan has noted that "A people that knows not its past, has no present and no future." As the UAE and its aviation industry, of which the ADIA and ADDF are important parts, look towards the future, it is incumbent upon us that we investigate, record and protect the evidence of our past heritage. The work of the ADIAS is of great importance in discovering the past and we are pleased to be able, through the Abu Dhabi Duty Free, to provide it with support for a further year," Sheikh Hamdan said.
Welcoming the agreement on further support, ADIAS Director Dr Geoffrey King, said, "Since its inception, ADIAS has benefited from the interest and support of major companies and institutions in Abu Dhabi. Without this support, we would not have been able to carry out our work. We are delighted to receive further support from the ADDF."
The ADIAS project was established on the instructions of President HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan and operated under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan. Besides the ADDF, it is also sponsored by a number of other major local institutions and companies, including the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations, ADCO, the Union National Bank, UNB, British Petroleum, BP, and British Airways, BA. (The Emirates News, also covered in other papers)
FIRST COPYRIGHT VIOLATOR IMPRISONED
UAE authorities yesterday imprisoned the first Copyright Law violator in a landmark case that set a precedent in the fight against piracy, according to a press release issued by the Motion Picture Association, MPA. The Ministry of Information and Culture and the Criminal Investigation Department, CID, brought their first-ever prosecution leading to a prison sentence when M. A. M., a 31-year-old Indian national and proprietor of the Better View Video store, was sentenced to a month in prison for selling pirated video cassettes.
"This is a great boost in the fight against video pirates. The UAE Government is very active in their anti-piracy enforcement," commented Scott Butler, MPA's General Manager for the Middle East .
"This is definitely the first time that the UAE court system has handed down a prison sentence for this offence and it is also probably the first such sentence in the Arab Gulf Co-operation Council, AGCC. This should serve as a very serious warning to everyone involve in piracy," he added. "We are delighted by the outcome of this case - the UAE Government has been very helpful. We are not only fighting piracy to protect the film industry but because film companies believe that customers deserve a better deal," said Butler, adding that pirate videos are poorer quality and have been known to damage VCRs.
"More importantly, consumers have no way of knowing what was on the cassette before it was pirated. We have seen cases of children's cartoons being recorded over pornographic films - the pirates don't care," stressed Butler.
The court case follows a joint raid, conducted at the beginning of the year by the Ministry of Information and Culture and the CID, on the store where they discovered 31 illegal video cassettes. Surmising that there were more cassettes in existence, the CID continued their investigations leading to a raid on the duplication site where they found a further 339 illegal video cassettes - making a total of 370 cassettes - and four video recording machines, all of which have since been destroyed, the release noted.
"According to the UAE Copyright Law No. 40, Article 42, this offence is subject to a maximum of three years imprisonment and/or a fine of not less than Dh 50,000.00," said Essam al Tamimi, Managing Partner, Al Tamimi & Co, who were lawyers for the MPA in the case brought against the pirate. The lawyers were brought in to help try the case, since it was the first of its kind.
"Although this is the first time an offender has been sentenced to imprisonment, it is by no means our first successful prosecution. It highlights the fact that the courts are handing out harsher sentences and we firmly believe the trend will continue," al Tamimi said, adding that their role in the case was to support the judicial authorities as this was a landmark case.
"Not only did we make sure that the case went through the correct channels but we were also able to verify the documents to help bring about the prosecution," he explained. The fight against piracy began in earnest only five years ago, following the establishment of the UAE Copyright Law, Law no. 40, which was enacted in 1993 and actively enforced from the beginning of 1994. (Carried in most papers; this report is from the Emirates News)
Humidity levels are set to rise sharply in the second half of the month, according to a report by the Meteorological Department at the Ministry of Communications which predicted that the humidity level could reach 98.0%. The sticky conditions will be compounded by a predicted maximum temperature of 47.0°C with an average maximum of 40.0°C.
Not to be upstaged by the heat and humidity, rain could put in an appearance in the eastern part of the country, especially around Al Ain, which may be affected by monsoons that could create thunder clouds. Weather in Ras al Khaimah, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi may also be affected by the tropical weather system.
There are, however, few surprises in the long-range forecast. On occasion, the emirates will be affected by dry, hot waves brought on by desert depressions, originating in the middle of the Arabian Peninsula and the Rub' al Qali (Empty Quarter). These depressions will generate winds which will blow south to southeast, stirring sands and turning up the heat.
Determined not to be left out, fog might also appear on two to four days during the month. Winds, generally, will be southeast at the beginning of the day and turning northwest in the afternoons, at velocities of between 8.0 knots and 15.0 knots. (The Gulf News)
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