Excerpts: Carter Blocked From Meeting Darfur Tribal Chief, Saudi inflation 4
October 2007

+++Carter Blocked From Meeting Darfur Tribal Chief
Associated Press (Arab News)

KABKABIYA, Sudan, 4 October 2007 - Former US President Jimmy Carter got in a
shouting match yesterday with Sudanese security services who blocked him
from a town in Darfur where he was trying to meet representatives of ethnic
African refugees from the ongoing conflict. The 83-year-old Carter walked
into this highly volatile pro-Sudanese government town to meet refugees too
frightened to attend a scheduled meeting at a nearby compound.
Carter was able to make it to a school where he met with one tribal
representative and was preparing to go further into the town when Sudanese
security services interrupted. "You can't go. It's not on the program!" the
local national security chief, who only gave his first name as Omar, yelled
at Carter, who is in Darfur as part of a delegation of respected
international figures known as "The Elders."
"We're going to anyway!" an angry Carter retorted. "You don't have the power
to stop me." UN officials told Carter's entourage that the Sudanese state
police could bar his way. "Let's go, or somebody is going to get shot," said
one UN official, as an increasingly tense crowd gathered.
Billionaire businessman Richard Branson and Graca Machel, the wife of former
South African President Nelson Mandela, tried to ease Carter's frustration
as his US secret service security urged him to climb into a car and leave.
"I'll tell President Bashir about this," Carter said, referring to Sudanese
President Omar Bashir.
Carter later agreed to a compromise by which tribal representatives would be
brought to him at another location later in the day. But the refugee
delegates never showed up. Most ethnic Africans appeared too frightened to
speak in Kabkabiya, a North Darfur town that has long been a stronghold of
the pro-government Janjaweed militia.
Branson, who along with Machel was traveling with Carter, said some refugees
had slipped notes in his pockets. "We (are) still suffering from the war as
our girls are being raped on a daily basis," read one of the notes,
translated from Arabic, that Branson handed to The Associated Press.

+++Editorial: Pressure of Inflation
3 October 2007 Arab News

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has highlighted an issue
which has become a major concern for virtually everyone in the Kingdom. His
asking chambers of commerce and industry why inflation is happening and what
can be done about it should not be in vain. Everyone is talking about it. It
hits us all - whether we are Saudis facing soaring home rentals and shopping
bills or expatriates who have had the added pain over the past few years of
a 40 percent drop in the value of money sent home thanks to a slide in the
value of the dollar to which the riyal is pegged. Inflation is now almost 4
percent, compared to near zero two years ago. Looking at the causes is one
thing; instant fixes are, on the other hand, another matter.
Governments, no matter where, have rarely been able to deal with inflation
other than by resorting to draconian measures, such as price fixing,
completely at variance with the free market principles at the heart of the
Saudi economy. It was less of a problem in the past, when the authorities
were more willing to subsidize commodities. But, as everywhere else, there
has been a move away from that. Even if that had not been the case, rents,
which have seen a major hike because of bottlenecks in the housing market,
were never subsidized.
The blame for the present inflation has been attributed by many to the fall
in the value of the dollar. Certainly, that has caused a rise in food
prices, imports of which are often priced in dollars. There are other
imports too that have to be paid for in increasingly expensive euros,
pounds, rupees or whatever. There is nothing that the chambers of commerce
and industry can do about that. The government's hands too are tied. The
only thing they could do is delink the riyal and the dollar. While there are
strong arguments in support of it, it is not a cost-free solution. Moreover,
a revaluation of the riyal would hit inbound investment and undermine the
competitiveness of the growing nonoil export market.
It is, in fact, folly to imagine that if the link went, inflation would end.
Rising rents are not caused by the dollar's fall. They are a specific
response to a specific Saudi problem - not enough accommodation for a
growing population; there the government is already responding with the
creation of new cities. Ironically, that also fuels inflation. High oil
prices have resulted in a surge in construction projects but the boom is
itself inflationary. The problem is exacerbated by the relatively limited
investment opportunities for repatriated Saudi wealth. Surging money supply
also forces up prices.
So what can be done? There is an answer. We need to shop around a great deal
more in search of cheaper prices. Shops and businesses have to be
competitive. If they are more expensive than their rivals, customers will
desert them. That is the market mechanism that can keep prices down. It is
up to the customer to work the system and get the best price. We have the
power to force prices down. We need to use it.
==========
Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA