QATARGROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Qatar Said to Mull Treasury’s Citi Shares [May 26]
“The Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund, has displayed interest in acquiring some of the stake in Citigroup owned by the United States Treasury, The Financial Times said, citing people familiar with the matter. The interest the authority is showing in Citi, which received a government bailout after crisis losses of $50 billion, goes against a trend of cash-rich state funds avoiding investments in banks — generally because of past losses in the sector, The FT said. The authority, however, made profitable investments in Credit Suisse and Barclays while the crisis was under way and is looking to purchase a part of the Treasury’s 27 percent stake in Citi, people familiar with the matter told the newspaper..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Negotiating With German Institution Over Partnership [May 26]
“Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani said Wednesday the Gulf Arab state was in talks with a German institution over a partnership deal. “We are talking to a German institution to be a partnership,” Al Thani said at a press conference alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is visiting the gas-rich state Wednesday and Thursday on a whistlestop tour of the Gulf this week to promote trade and business relations. The Qatari prime minister said that the Persian Gulf state, which earlier in the month bought flagship London department store Harrods, was also “discussing an opportunity in Europe”, without giving further details. Qatar is pouring its vast hydrocarbon revenues into buying overseas assets to diversify its economy away from oil and gas. Its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority controls an estimated $60 billion worth of assets and has stakes in the London Stock Exchange and U.K. bank Barclays..” [Complete Report]
Vodafone Qatar Says to Sue Regulator Over Virgin [May 26]
“Cellphone network operator Vodafone Qatar said on Wednesday it is taking legal action against Qatar’s telecoms regulator, after it allowed Virgin Mobile’s entry, saying it represents a third service provider. The firm, a unit of Vodafone, said in a statement it saw Virgin Mobile’s entry as a violation of the conditions to its licence, which cost shareholders 7.7 billion Qatari riyals, and the telecoms law in Qatar. Earlier in May, Virgin Group signed a partnership with Qatar Telecom (Qtel) to launch Virgin Mobile Qatar in a brand licensing agreement to offer a prepaid mobile phone service. “We are taking legal action for the damages this has caused our shareholders,” said Chairman Sheikh Abdulrahman Bin Saud al-Thani in a statement..” [Complete Report]
Qatar-based News Broadcaster Al-Jazeera Arrives in the Balkans [May 26]
“Qatar-based international news broadcaster Al-Jazeera will have a new headquarters in Sarajevo, from where it said it will cover the whole Balkans Peninsula for regional-based news, Bulgarian media reported on May 26 2010. Al-Jazeera representatives will arrive in the Bosnian capital city the week beginning May 31 when they will finalise the takeover of the local television channel Studio 99 and set up their own television network in its place. Studio 99 has been rumoured to be facing closure since the turn of the year. Eventually the takeover became all but imminent, reports said. The Qatar company is said to have completed the deal worth 160 000 euro, according to information, released by local media. For the moment, however, the takeover is not confirmed by the official website of Al-Jazeera itself. Spokespersons for the television network channel have also declined to comment, when approached by Radio Free Europe. Reportedly, the new television channel in southeastern Europe will be called Balkan Al-Jazeera..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Steps Up Arrests of Bahraini Fishermen [May 26]
“Qatar has stepped up arrests of Bahrain-based fishermen in recent weeks and will put dozens of sailors on a mass trial next month, a Bahraini rights group said on Wednesday, as tensions rose between the Gulf Arab neighbours. The two countries have long had strained ties despite settling a territorial dispute in 2001. Tensions escalated after Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said Qatar’s coast guard shot and wounded on May 8 a Bahraini fisherman who had entered Qatar’s waters. “The arrests became more after May 8. Since then, every two days or so they arrest fishermen,” said Faisal Fulad, the general secretary of the Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society who says he has met the fishermen in Qatari prisons..” [Complete Report]
