Kuwaiti cleric Jaber Al-Jalahma has been sentenced to 21 days in prison for inciting citizens to wage jihad against U.S. forces in Iraq. The Kuwaiti authorities have raised the level of alert at government institutions and oil facilities after an Islamist group called "the Guantanamo Returnees Association" threatened to target these facilities unless Al-Jalahma is released.

Source: Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, June 29, 2007; Al-Watan, Saudi Arabia, June 29, 2007

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad said in a meeting with clerics and imams that the government will not allow the mosques to become hotbeds of takfir and takhwin (accusations of heresy and treason).

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Palestinian Authority, June 29, 2007

Syrian Transportation Minister Dr. Ya'rub Badr said that U.S. sanctions prevent Syria from purchasing passenger planes. Owing to the sanctions, he said, bids by the Syrian airline have been rejected by airplane manufacture companies in France, Canada and Brazil.

Source: Al-Thawra, Syria, June 27, 2007

"Bashar [Assad] has taken all the gas... He said that he means to start fires from the Mediterranean to the Caspian Sea, and from Iraq to Lebanon, and even in Palestine."

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, June 29, 2007

The seated figure is labeled "Al-Zawahiri."

Source: Akhbar Al-Arab, UAE, June 28, 2007; Al-Watan, Qatar, June 28, 2007

A new design for the Palestinian keffiyeh.

Source: Al-Qabas, Kuwait, June 28, 2007

"Emissary of Peace." The sign says: "the Middle East." Blair is saying "I'm ready."

The writing on his nose says "The Iraq war."

Source: Al-Mustaqbal, Lebanon, June 28, 2007

The Egyptian foreign ministry has issued a warning to Egyptian citizens visiting the Gulf not to enter oppositionist websites and websites affiliated with terrorists, and not to post on these sites. This, after Egyptian consulates reported that citizens who visited such sites were arrested and had their computers confiscated by the security apparatuses in the Gulf states, on charges of harming the regime.

Source: Al-Ahram, Egypt, June 29, 2007

Abu Awdi, a top commander in the Fatah's Al-Aqsa Brigades, declares that the militia's commanders in Gaza and the West Bank unanimously refuse to disband and disarm it, since it is a legitimate force of resistance with legitimate weapons.

Source: Al-Ayyam, Palestinian Authority, June 29, 2007

Azzam Al-Ahmad, head of the Fatah party in the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that there will be no dialogue with putschists and murderers, but only with people who respect law and order, and no dialogue before Haniya resigns and hands over all his authorities to Prime Minister Salam Fayad.

Source: Al-Hayat, London, June 29, 2007

Egyptian Health Minister Dr. Hatem Al-Gabali has published a decree banning all medical facilities in Egypt – private as well as public – from performing female circumcisions. Al-Gabali stressed that any doctor or medical staff member who takes part in such a procedure is breaking the law, and risks losing his medical license.

Source: Al-Ahram, Egypt, June 29, 2007

Coming Soon-MEMRI Economic Blog. The blog will provide its readers with economic news from the Middle East as well as analysis of major developments and trends. The blog will draw on material published in the Arabic, Persian and Turkish press.

Islamic Sukuk Grows 20% Annually

Aqil Nat, the Executive Director of the World University for Islamic Finance, headquartered in Malaysia, said the Islamic Financial Services Sector is growing by 15% to 20% annually. The dean of the Economics School at the same University added that the Islamic capital will rise by 2010 to $4 trillion worldwide. He also said that the total Sukuk issued between 2000 and 2006 has reached $50 billion.

Source: Al-Watan, Kuwait, June 30, 2007

United Nations Urge Arab Countries to Formulate Development and Investment Strategies

The United Nations urged the Arab countries to formulate new economic and investment strategies for the coming years, since some countries in the region have adopted “obsolete plans that go back to before the industrial revolution”.

The Chairman of the UN Council for Economic and Social Development who is participating in the Seventh Global Forum on the restoration of confidence in government held in Vienna, said that the form of administration and development plans that currently exist in the Arab region “failed to keep pace with the rapid international developments, and led to a large gap between them and some other countries.”

However, the UN official did acknowledge that some Arab countries in the Gulf region “adopted new strategies and succeeded in diversifying their economy away from oil, and began to focus on the technical, financial and business sectors.”

The participants in the forum stressed that “spreading the culture of transparency and accountability in government institutions world over” is critical.

Source: Al-Hayat, London, June 29, 2007

Experts: Cheap Oil Gone Forever

At a meeting “On the Future of Gas and Oil and the Protection of the Environment,” held in London at the Kuwaiti Embassy and organized by Windsor Energy Group, speakers discussed the daily increase in the demand for oil and gas. The world, they said, will not soon witness the end to the use of these sources of energy that are essential for economic growth and human development. While the speakers emphasized the need to use these two energy elements wisely and efficiently to protect the environment, cheap energy is something of the past.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, June 29, 2007

Britain Encourages Investments According to Islamic Shari’a

Lord Alderman John Stuttard, Deputy Mayor of London for Financial and Enterprise Sectors, said the Treasury Department, which was headed until two days ago by the new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has encouraged investments that are in accordance with the Islamic Shari’a.

This came in a speech at the Economic and Investment conference that was held in London for U.K. business people and their counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.

Lord Stuttard noted the economic strength enjoyed by the GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia. He said that the Saudi government is giving serious consideration to building cities and economic centers in the Kingdom to diversify economic activities instead of relying entirely on oil.

Source: Al-Iqtisadiya, Saudi Arabia, June 29, 2007

An Economic Perspective: Two Peoples-Four Governments

Writing under the above heading, Ghassan al-Abbash warns that the functioning of two governments in the Palestinian territories and the threat of a similar occurrence in Lebanon is tantamount to “economic suicide.” In the case of the Palestinian territories, the two governments will deepen the levels of poverty and the rate of unemployment, particularly in the Gaza Strip where it was estimated that 60% of the people live below the poverty line.

In the case of Lebanon, the establishment of a second government will dry up foreign investments in the country as investors will be reluctant to invest in a country where two governments claim legitimacy. [It should be noted that President Emile Lahoud who was intalled by Syria as the President of Lebanon and carries out its commands is leading the way for those who demand a second government in Lebanon.]

Source: Al-Hayat, London, June 30, 2007

Egypt Debates the Use of Energy and the Rights of Future Generations

In anticipation of a government decision regarding the price of energy the industrial sector has called on the government to reconsider its decision about not allowing the construction of new factories for cement, petrochemicals and fertilizers which consume a large amount of energy. The debate reflects conflicting assessments of the energy potential in Egypt. The scientists, on the one hand, warn of energy scarcity in the future while, on the other hand, the Ministry of Petroleum issues optimistic assessments of oil and gas reserves in the country.

Gas export by Egypt has been growing rapidly from 58 million tons in 2005 to 71 million tons in 2006 and is expected to hit a new high of 80 million in the current year. Egypt is estimated to have reserves of 70 trillion cu. ft of natural gas.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, June 29, 2007

Revenues Higher From the Suez Canal

Officials at the Suez Canal Authority said that the revenues from ships crossing the Suez Canal during the first five months of this year have increased to $1.77 billion versus $1.47 billion during the corresponding period of last year. According to the Canal Management, this increase is due to the continued commercial recovery in India and China and the tendency of most countries to transport their goods on container ships.

Source: El-Akhbar, Egypt, June 28, 2007

Palm Trees Are Future Biological Fuel in Oman

An Omani investor and his partners in The Oman Company for Green Energy have developed a method to transform date palms extracts into biological fuel.

The investor has been using the biological fuel for months. As a result, the company was approved to establish a factory for the production of ethanol in Oman, with an investment of $28 million and a production capacity of 900,000 liters a day.

The company expects to export up to 80% of its final product to meet the growing global demand for alternative energy, as well as to establish a number of filling stations for biological fuel in Oman by 2010.

Source: AL-Khaleej, UAE, June 29, 2007

IMF Official Warns Turkey of Slowdown

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) resident representative in Turkey warned the country of an economic slowdown after enjoying years of high growth.

Turkey has demonstrated impressive economic performance recently, reflecting the change in the country’s economic thinking and institutions. The IMF official predicted that the coming five years might present some difficulties in terms of growth.

Looking at the recent turbulence in the markets, the official commented that the Turkish economy has sensitivities and vulnerabilities, particularly that the overvalued currency is exposing Turkey to market fluctuations without enough shelter for protection.

Source: Today’s Zaman, Turkey, June 29, 2007

Standard Chartered Bank: Kuwaiti Dinar Will Rise 0.35% This year

Standard Chartered Bank said that Kuwait may allow its dinar currency to continue to rise by 0.35% against the dollar in 2007 after emerging out of the consensus of the other Arab oil-producing Gulf States and ended the policy of linking its currency to the American dollar.

Source: Al-Qabas, Kuwait, June 29, 2007

On June 28, 2007, Islamist websites posted a video titled "Message from the Islamic State [of Iraq] to the American People," issued by the Global Islamic Media Front (GIMF). The video, which is part of the ISI's "Battar Media Raid to Defend the Islamic State [of Iraq],"[1] combines excerpts from two previously posted films – an Al-Furqan clip showing an attack on an American Hummer in Iraq, and an Al-Sahab video featuring an address by Adam Yahya to the American people. The video also incorporates excerpts from an audio recording by bin Laden in which he says to the U.S.: "[Just] as you threaten our security, we threaten yours."

The link for the video is available from MEMRI upon request.

Below are images from the video: