DOHA/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Qatar, which has taken a lead in arming the Syrian opposition, is coordinating with the CIA and has tightened control of the arms flow to keep weapons out of the hands of al Qaeda-linked Islamist fighters, according to rebels and officials familiar with the operation.

With Britain and France discussing lifting an EU ban on arming the rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, Western countries are concerned about making sure no arms end up in the hands of groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, which has pledged support for al Qaeda and which Washington considers a terrorist group.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Islamist-ruled Egypt is open to visitors who drink alcohol and wear bikinis as it sets out to boost numbers by at least a fifth this year, the tourism minister said on Sunday.

Tourism is a pillar of the Egyptian economy but has suffered since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and set off two years of periodic rioting and instability.

DOHA/KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban leaders living in Qatar have held no Afghanistan peace talks with U.S. officials in the Gulf state for more than a year and see no prospect of any soon, Taliban sources say.

A team of envoys from the Islamist insurgent group flew to Qatar in early 2012 to open talks with the U.S. government, which has laid a greater emphasis on negotiations before a handover of security to Afghan forces in 2014.

DUBAI, April 2 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund
is discussing fresh financial aid to Yemen with the government
of the impoverished country, a senior IMF official said on
Tuesday.

Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central
Asia department, told reporters that the talks focused on a new
financial programme for Yemen.

DUBAI, April 1 (Reuters) – Tunisia expects to sign a $1.7
billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund next
month after a delay due to the crisis that followed the killing
of an opposition politician in February, its finance minister
said on Monday.

“We have the last round of discussions. It will take place
in the week from 8-15 April in Tunisia,” Elyess Fakhfakh told
Reuters, adding that he expected a deal to be reached in the
“middle of May”.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday he has been granted bail in advance to avoid being arrested upon his planned return home on Sunday following nearly four years of self-imposed exile.

Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, resigned in 2008 when his allies lost a vote and a new government threatened him with impeachment. He left the country a year later.

KHOBAR/DUBAI, March 7 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell
is set to pull out soon from a joint venture that has searched
for gas in Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter for years, due to
disagreements with the government over terms, four industry
sources familiar with the matter said.

The gas search has been a top priority for Saudi Arabia as
it struggles to keep pace with rapidly rising domestic demand
for energy, but the shale revolution has opened up more
lucrative opportunities for energy companies elsewhere.

DUBAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Pakistan is yet to ship any wheat
to Iran from a 1-million tonne barter deal agreed last August
due to government disagreements, an executive from Pakistani
grain exporter Seatrade Group said.

International and local trade sources said progress on the
deal could be slowed further by Iran’s finding ways to work
around sanctions with food purchases and looming elections in
Pakistan.

DUBAI, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Pakistan is yet to ship any wheat
to Iran from a 1-million tonne barter deal agreed last August
due to government disagreements, an executive from Pakistani
grain exporter Seatrade Group said.

A first shipment of 100,000 tonnes was supposed to be
delivered to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas in mid-Feburary,
said the executive who declined to be named.

DUBAI (Reuters) – Finding jobs for United Arab Emirates citizens is one of the government’s top priorities, the prime minister told hundreds of state officials on Monday during a forum to discuss his economic policies.

The unusual event underlined the urgency with which leaders in the UAE and other oil-rich Gulf states are trying to boost employment among their citizens, to avert political discontent and prepare for any future downturn in oil prices.