I know I am one of the ones that you think posts fluff, but let me say this: What I see and what I know are two different things. When travelling to the UAE my team (coworkers) and I have our own basic set of rules: (1) NEVER, EVER be alone with a sheikh or a close aide/worker. (2) ALWAYS travel in groups of 3 or more. (3) NEVER accept a drink unless it is an unopened bottle of water. (4) ALWAYS fax ALL paperwork immediately. Send one of our aides out during a meeting if necessary. If the work is done on a computer then email immediately, as in right then and there. Hardcopies are FedExed directly from the hotel upon our return. (5) ALWAYS stay in the same hotel on the same floor with connecting rooms. (6) Stay in constant direct communication with the home offices. (7) The one with the least direct contact carries all passports. Less chance of them disappearing and more chance of getting out. (8) Get the work done and get the heck (just for you Warren) out. I know that in our disagreement earlier you thought I was infringing on your right of speech. Not so. Just because I don't know you does not mean that there is not a concern. This atrocity was over a disagreement of a grain shipment. Worse has happened to others that have only VOICED their dischord/dislike or who are too outspoken. And who would have believed me if the tape had not been released? Please don't anyone be naive enough to believe that a Western passport is protection. It only will provoke a faster response, if nothing else. And not close to the suffering of this poor man. The most common charge will be drugs. That one is like the catchall charge because it usually sticks. It doesn't have to be proven, just charged so they can hold someone.
Not all shiekhs would do something like this, but they will not stop it nor will they stand against it. Their inactions don't mean that they condone it, but they will not go against family. Remember that this is their brother, to convict him they will have to convict others.
You are incorrect. I said "when travelling to the UAE" not "just travelling to the UAE". I only mention the UAE as this is the area we are discussing. There are more extreme rules we use for the Baltic areas, but that area is not what we are discussing.
No problem.
The military personnel shown in the pictures and on tape were automatically court-martialed. One of them was a woman and when she was brought to trial she was pregnant (her boyfriend was the highest ranking military man on the tape). She admitted that someone had told her that if she was pregnant then the courts would be a little more lenient. She was mistaken. She was convicted and received 25 years, they took away her baby and her family gave away the baby in a private adoption to protect the baby. The rest received prison terms from 5 years to life. 
The Afghanistani and Iraqi natives that were hired as "regional consultants" disappeared, they were never seen again. And of course the "intelligence" personnel that was from a multi-national task force just moved on.
Lol, I know its a warning but it still made me chuckle.
I remember hearing of it in late 2007, then it just seemed to drift off the radar. The latest article from ABC News states that Sh Issa and the man, Mohammed Shah Poor, have settled out of court, and have settled their differences which means that neither one can decide to press charges against the other. Supposedly Sh Issa had the right to press chrges for theft and fraud, while of course Mohammed Shah Poor had the right to press charges for assault.
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