Citigroup sees Saudi, UAE as top Mideast markets for deals this year: executive

February 12, 2019

By Hadeel Al Sayegh

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Citigroup expects the majority of investment banking opportunities in the Middle East to come from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates this year, said Miguel Azevedo, Citigroup’s head of investment banking, Middle East and Africa.

The U.S. lender, which is working towards a full banking license in Saudi Arabia, ended a five-decade presence in the kingdom in 2004 but in 2015 won permission to invest directly in the local stock market and last year gained approval to begin investment banking operations.

“I can see real interest awareness and potential demand for Saudi exposure,” Azevedo told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Abu Dhabi.

He said a number of companies in Saudi Arabia were working on initial public offerings and that he was optimistic on the level of demand for Saudi stocks.

Foreign investors dumped Saudi equities at the end of last year amid worries over the blow to Saudi Arabia’s relations with the West following the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi – a critic of the Saudi leadership – in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

But demand for Saudi securities has picked up this year, ahead of the kingdom’s inclusion in the emerging-market indexes of MSCI and FTSE Russell later this year. Last month foreigners bought a net 4.36 billion Saudi riyal ($1.2 billion) of Saudi stocks, according to stock exchange data.

The Saudi index is up nearly 9.5 percent this year.

Azevedo said market sentiment towards Saudi Arabia was “neutral to positive.”

The inclusion in the indexes is expected to attract $15 billion of benchmark-linked funds and billions more in active funds.

Citi expects business in the region to come from the chemical sector, as well as real estate, retail, diversified industrial companies, and banking, said Azevedo.

(Writing by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Mark Potter)

On historic trip, pope meets UAE leaders, gets royal welcome

February 4, 2019

By Philip Pullella and Sylvia Westall

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Pope Francis, the first pontiff to set foot on the peninsula where Islam was born, met United Arab Emirates leaders in Abu Dhabi on Monday in a historic trip he hopes will foster peace through religious dialogue.

Arriving at the sprawling presidential palace with its many domes of gold and glass, Francis was greeted with a flyover by UAE air force jets spewing out plumes of smoke in yellow and white – the colors of the Vatican flag.

He rode to the main courtyard in a small car escorted by a dozen flag-bearing Emirati guards on horseback. He shunned bulletproof cars or limousines since the start of his papacy.

Once inside the palace, a 370 acre (150 hectares) maze of buildings, gardens and fountains, Francis held private talks with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and other UAE leaders.

Writing in the palace guest book, he asked that God grant the UAE “divine blessings of peace and fraternal solidarity”.

The visit takes place in the shadow of the war in Yemen, the poorest Arabian Peninsula nation, where the UAE military has a leading role in a Saudi-led coalition fighting on the side of the internationally recognized Yemeni government that was ousted by the Iran-allied Houthi group.

Francis was due to deliver his only public address of the day later at an inter-religious meeting following a visit to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the Islamic world.

The visit received some positive media attention in neighboring Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and where churches are banned. The main English daily, Arab News, ran a picture of the pope and Abu Dhabi’s crown prince calling it “the moment that made history on the Arabian Peninsula.”

It ran an article citing Muslim and Catholic officials saying Saudi Arabia could feature in a future papal visit.

Priests and diplomats describe the UAE as one of the least restrictive environments in the Gulf for Christian worship, which is allowed in church compounds with special licenses. But like other Gulf states it outlaws unsanctioned religious gatherings and non-Muslims must not proselytize.

SHADOW OF YEMEN WAR

Vatican officials said before the trip that it was not clear whether the pope would address the subject of the nearly four-year Yemen war in public or private during the trip.

The United Nations is trying to implement a fragile ceasefire deal in Yemen’s main Hodeidah port, a lifeline for millions and the site of some of the war’s fiercest battles. It hopes the deal will pave the way for political negotiations to end the conflict.

Shortly before departing for Abu Dhabi on Sunday, Francis said he was following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern, using his regular Sunday address in Vatican City to urge all sides to implement the deal and help deliver aid.

“Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don’t have medicine and they are in danger of death,” he said.

The war pitting the Houthi movement against the Saudi-led coalition loyal to ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi has killed tens of thousands of people and left almost 16 million people facing severe hunger.

On Tuesday, before returning to Rome, the pope will celebrate an outdoor mass for some 135,000 Catholics in an Abu Dhabi sports stadium, an event with no precedent in the peninsula. He has said the trip would write “a new page in the history of relations between religions”.

The UAE is home to around 1 million expatriate Catholics, many from the Philippines. Another 1 million Catholics are believed to live in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella and Sylvia Westall; Additional reporting by Stephen Kalin in Riyadh; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Pope arrives in UAE for historic Gulf visit, condemns Yemen war

February 3, 2019

By Sylvia Westall and Philip Pullella

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday became the first pontiff to set foot on the Arabian Peninsula, just hours after issuing his strongest condemnation yet of the war in Yemen, where his host the United Arab Emirates has a leading military role.

Shortly before departing for Abu Dhabi, Pope Francis said he was following the humanitarian crisis in Yemen with great concern, using his regular Sunday address in Vatican City to urge all sides to implement a fragile peace deal and help deliver aid to millions of hungry people.

“The cry of these children and their parents rises up to God,” he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square.

“Let us pray strongly because they are children who are hungry, who are thirsty, they don’t have medicine and they are in danger of death,” he said before boarding his flight.

The UAE welcomed the Pope’s message on Yemen and believes the peace deal he referred to was a historic breakthrough, Foreign Minister Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter.

“Let us assure its implementation and make 2019 the year of peace in Yemen,” he said after the pope landed in Abu Dhabi.

Yemen’s warring parties agreed a ceasefire in December at the first major peace talks of the nearly four-year-old war, which pits Arab states backing an exiled president against the Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls the capital.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, and the United Nations says millions are on the verge of starvation. Their survival depends on the truce preventing aid from being cut off by all-out fighting for the country’s main port.

Francis was greeted by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who escorted him to meet Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Egypt’s Al-Azhar mosque and university, one of the main seats of learning of Sunni Islam. The pontiff embraced him.

Both men will hold meetings with Pope Francis on Monday.

The UAE plays a leading role in the Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen. The United Nations is trying to implement a truce and troop withdrawal deal in the main Yemeni port of Hodeidah, agreed at the December talks as a step that could pave the way for negotiations to end the conflict.

Vatican officials have said it is not clear whether Pope Francis will address the sensitive subject in public or private during his visit to Abu Dhabi, which is aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue.

“NEW PAGE”

The pope will meet Muslim leaders and celebrate an outdoor mass for some 135,000 Catholics, an event with no precedent on the Arabian peninsula. He has said the trip, which ends on Tuesday, is an opportunity to write “a new page in the history of relations between religions”.

The UAE, which named 2019 its Year of Tolerance, says the visit reflects its history as a “cradle of diversity”.

But it faces criticism from human rights groups for jailing activists, including Ahmed Mansoor, an Emirati who is serving a 10-year sentence for criticizing the government on social media.

“We are calling on Pope Francis to raise the issue of their incarceration with his hosts, and urge their immediate and unconditional release,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Saturday. UAE authorities did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The UAE is home to around 1 million expatriate Catholics, many from the Philippines. Another 1 million Catholics are believed to live in other countries in the Arabian Peninsula.

Priests and diplomats describe the UAE as one of the least restrictive environments in the Gulf for Christian worship. But like its neighbors, the UAE does not allow dissent or criticism of its leadership.

All Gulf states except Saudi Arabia allow Christian worship in churches or church compounds and other premises with special licenses. In Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims pray in secret gatherings in private homes and embassies.

Abu Dhabi’s crown prince is an ally of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has reached out to Christian representatives abroad as part of attempts to open up the conservative kingdom. Mohammed bin Salman’s international reputation has eroded since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

The pope has already visited half a dozen predominantly Muslim nations during his reign, using the trips to call for inter-religious dialogue and to condemn the use of violence in the name of God.

The UAE ambassador to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba, wrote in an op-ed in Politico magazine on Sunday that the pontiff’s visit sent a signal of co-existence and respect in the face of the “menace of extremism” across the Middle East.

(Editing by Gareth Jones)

Afghan Taliban reject talks with U.S. in Pakistan

January 19, 2019

By Jibran Ahmad

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – The Afghan Taliban rejected reports in the Pakistani media that they were prepared to resume meetings with U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad and repeated their refusal to deal directly with the Afghan government.

Pakistani newspapers and television stations reported that a meeting in Islamabad was in prospect following discussions between Khalilzad and Pakistani officials including Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday.

Senior Taliban leaders said that regional powers including Pakistan had approached them and wanted them to meet the U.S. delegation in Islamabad and also include the Afghan government in the peace process but that the approaches had been rejected.

“We wanted to make it clear that we will not hold any meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in a statement.

Talks between the two sides have stalled after the Taliban accused Khalilzad of straying from the agreed agenda and there is no clarity on when they may resume.

“We have made it clear again and again that we would never hold any meeting with the Afghan government as we know that they are not capable of addressing our demands,” said one senior Taliban leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United States says any settlement in Afghanistan must be between the internationally recognized Afghan government and the Taliban, who have so far refused to talk to an administration they describe as an illegitimate puppet regime.

The Taliban leader said peace talks with the U.S. delegation could resume if they were assured that only three issues would be discussed – a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, an exchange of prisoners and lifting a ban on the movement of Taliban leaders.

Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Thursday and met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other officials.

“The two sides reviewed developments post Abu Dhabi, in order to take the Afghan peace process forward,” a foreign office statement said. An Afghan Taliban delegation had a round of talks last month with U.S. officials in Abu Dhabi.

The statement didn’t give any further details on the talks, but several local TV channels reported that Pakistan agreed to host the next round of talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Islamabad.

Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran U.S. diplomat who served as George W. Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, was named by the Trump administration four months ago as a special envoy to negotiate peace.

Washington has long been pushing Islamabad to lean on Taliban leaders, who it says are based in Pakistan, to bring them to the negotiating table.

It often accuses the south Asian nation of covertly sheltering Taliban leaders, an accusation Islamabad vehemently denies.

The United States, which had more than 100,000 troops in Afghanistan at its peak during the first term of former President Barack Obama, withdrew most of them in 2014 but still keeps around 14,000 there.

(Additional reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Michael Perry)

OPEC is not the enemy of the U.S., UAE minister says

January 12, 2019

By Maha El Dahan and Rania El Gamal

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is not the enemy of the United States, United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

“We are complementing each other, we are not enemies here,” Mazrouei told an industry conference in Abu Dhabi, addressing the relationship between OPEC and major consuming countries like the United States.

OPEC, and other leading global oil producers led by Russia, agreed in December to cut their combined oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January in order to balance the oil market.

The decision came despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to oil exporters to refrain from cutting production, saying it would trigger higher oil prices worldwide.

Mazrouei said the average oil price in 2018 was $70 a barrel. His Omani counterpart Mohammed al-Rumhi, addressing the same event, said he expected a price of between $60 and $80 a barrel in 2019.

The 1.2 million bpd cut should be enough to balance the market, Mazrouei said, expecting the correction to start this month and to be achieved in the first half of the year.

He said there was no need for major oil exporters to hold an extraordinary meeting before the one planned in April.

“Things are working well,” said Oman’s Rumhi, whose country is taking part in the supply reduction agreement without being a member of OPEC. He also said there was no need for major exporters to meet before April.

(This story officially corrects to show that Mazrouei was talking about average oil price in 2018, not 2019 in paragraph 5.)

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Maha El Dahan; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

UAE energy minister says average oil price in 2018 was $70 a barrel

January 12, 2019

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Saturday the average oil price in 2018 was $70 a barrel.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other leading global oil producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut their combined oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day to balance the oil market starting from January.

“Today we look at an average year of around $70 for Brent,” Mazrouei told an industry news conference in Abu Dhabi, adding that this level would help encourage global oil investments. An energy ministry spokesman said the minister was referring to the average oil price in 2018.

(This story was officially corrected to show that Mazrouei was talking about average oil price in 2018 and not in 2019.)

(Reporting by Rania El Gamal and Maha El Dahan; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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