Ambassador appalled after bodies of 3 Indians returned from Delhi to Abu Dhabi

Dubai, Jun 29: Saeed bin Ahmed Al Lootah, a pioneering Emirati businessman and the founder of the world's first Islamic bank, is no more. He breathed his last on June 28.

Born in 1923, Saeed was instrumental in setting up the Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) in 1975 to provide the community with a Sharia-compliant alternative to conventional banking.

He established several companies, organisations and societies, including the Dubai Consumer Cooperative. He also established the Islamic Education School in 1983 and the Dubai Medical College for Girls in 1986.

In 1992, Haj Saeed established the first College of Pharmacology in Dubai. Later he launched the Dubai Centre for Environmental Research, the Dubai Specialised Medical Centre, and the Medical Research Labs for health control and research into medicinal herbs and Islamic (Nabawi) medicine. He also set up an orphanage.

Saeed bin Ahmed Al Lootah was a self-made businessman who progressed from being a seafarer and trader to an accomplished tutor, author, economist, banker, entrepreneur, businessman and visionary community leader.

According to details available on the S.S. Lootah Group website, his "fervent adherence to the core values of education, cooperation and economy" helped empower "people to excel at everything they do".

"He realised the need to build permanent houses and ventured into construction. His 'capital' at that time were his skills, knowledge and hard work," the website said.

He laid the foundation of S.S.Lootah Contracting Company as a joint venture with his brother Sultan in 1956. "With the enduring values of education, cooperation and economy set as the foundations of his work, Haj Saeed started a number of businesses as well as not-for-profit education and research ventures, with an aim to serve the people of the UAE.

"Thanks to his vision and leadership, our home grown ventures continue to demonstrate unique values that extend well beyond its functional benefits - creating greater economic, social and environmental benefits for people in UAE and beyond."

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, took to Twitter on Sunday to offer his respects.

Sheikh Mohammed said: "He was a trader who started with nothing. His touch is visible in several aspects of the Dubai economy."

Calling the deceased a "wise and smart man", Sheikh Mohammed said: "May Allah bless his soul and grant his family the strength to endure and persevere."

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, also paid his respects. "He combined economic leadership with charitable work. He launched charitable educational institutions and sponsored many orphans. His memory will live on. May Allah have mercy on him and grant his family patience."

حط رحاله عند ربه اليوم الحاج سعيد أحمد آل لوتاه.. أنشأ أول بنك إسلامي في العالم، وكان تاجراً عصامياً له بصماته في اقتصاد دبي..له يد طولى في الخير.. وهو أب للكثير من الأيتام .. عرفت فيه عقلاً راجحاً وحكمة وسكينة.. رحمك الله.. وتقبل عملك .. وألهم أهلك الصبر والسلوان .. pic.twitter.com/SOKzXl9meq

— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) June 28, 2020

Al-Jawf, Feb 16: At least 31 people were killed and 12 others were injured here in the al-Maslub district in airstrikes by the Saudi-UAE-led military coalition on Saturday.

"Preliminary field reports indicate that as many as 31 civilians were killed and 12 others injured in strikes that hit al-Hayjah area of the al-Maslub district in al-Jawf governorate," said a statement from the office of the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.

According to Al Jazeera, the airstrike was conducted hours after the Yemeni Houthis said that they downed a Saudi fighter jet in the same region.

Commenting on the air raids, Lise Grande, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said: "We share our deep condolences with the families of those killed and we pray for the speedy recovery of everyone who has been injured in these terrible strikes."

"So many people are being killed in Yemen - it's a tragedy and it's unjustified. Under international humanitarian law, parties that resort to force is obligated to protect civilians," Grande was quoted as saying.

Dubai, May 7: Saudi Arabia will emerge as the victor of the oil price war that sent global crude markets into a spin last month, according to two experts in the energy industry.

Jason Bordoff, professor and founding director of the Center for Global Energy policy at New York’s Columbia University, said: “While 2020 will be remembered as a year of carnage for oil nations, at least one will most likely emerge from the pandemic stronger, both economically and geopolitically: Saudi Arabia.”

Writing in the American publication Foreign Policy, Bordoff said that the Kingdom’s finances can weather the storm from lower oil prices as a result of the drastically reduced demand for oil in economies under pandemic lockdowns, and that it will end up with higher oil revenues and a bigger share of the global market once it stabilizes.

Bordoff’s view was reinforced by Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and one of the longest-standing directors of Saudi Aramco. In an interview with the Gulf Intelligence energy consultancy, he said that low-cost oil producers such as Saudi Arabia would emerge from the pandemic with increased market share.

“Oil is the only commodity where the lowest-cost producers have contained their production and allowed high-cost producers to benefit. When demand recovers this year or next, we will emerge from it with the lowest-cost producers having increased their market share,” Moody-Stuart said.

Bordfoff said that it would take years for the high-cost American shale industry to recover to pre-pandemic levels of output. “Depending on how long oil demand remains depressed, US oil production is projected to decline from its pre-coronavirus peak of around 13 million barrels per day.

“Shale's heady growth in recent years (with production growing by about 1 million to 1.5 million barrels per day each year) also reflected irrational exuberance in financial markets. Many US companies struggling with uneconomical production only managed to stay afloat with infusions of cheap debt. One quarter of US shale oil production may have been uneconomic even before prices crashed,” he said.

Moody-Stuart said that recent statements about cuts to the Saudi Arabian budget as a result of falling oil revenues were “an important step to wean the population of the Kingdom off an entitlement feeling. It means that everybody is joining in it.”

The former Shell boss said that other big oil companies would follow Shell’s recent decision to cut its dividend for the first time in more than 70 years. But he added that Aramco would stick by its commitment to pay $75 billion of dividends this year.

“When a company looks at its forecasts it looks ahead for one year, so for this year it (the dividend) is fine,” he said.

Bordoff added that Saudi Arabia’s action in cutting oil production in response to the pandemic would improve its global position.

“Saudi Arabia has improved its standing in Washington. Following intense pressure from the White House and powerful senators, the Kingdom’s willingness to oblige by cutting production will reverse some of the damage done when it was blamed for the oil crash after it surged production in March,” he said.

“Only a few weeks ago, the outlook for Saudi Arabia seemed bleak. But looking out a few years, it’s difficult to see the Kingdom in anything other than a strengthened position,” Bordoff said.