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From the pages of Gulf News dated October 28 to November 2, 1978

From the pages of Gulf News dated October 28 to November 2, 1978

  • Compiled by Abdul Rahim Abdul Kareem, Head of Archives
  • Published: 01:20 November 2, 2007
  • Gulf News

October 28

Nobel Peace prize for Sadat and Begin
The 1978 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded jointly to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

The Norwegian Nobel committee said it had a dual purpose in presenting the prestigious prize to the two Mideast leaders, who for 11 months have been engaged in an often difficult drive to end 30 years of Arab-Israeli hostility.

Ironically, the award comes at a time when Israel and Egypt have once again hit a snag in their negotiations and prospects are uncertain for peace by mid-December, the deadline Sadat and Begin promised to meet after their historic Camp David summit with Carter in September.

October 29

Crackdown on labour smugglers
Dubai Police are to take a tougher line with illegal immigrants caught re-entering the emirate after being deported and the people who try to smuggle them back in.

Immigration officials are worried about the large sums of money the emirate spends every year repatriating people who find jobs with no sponsor or work permit. The Immigration Department believes the answer lies in stiffer sentences for people who employ and bring the illegal workers into the country.

UAE revalues the dirham
The UAE revalued the dirham, by half a percentage point against the US dollar.

A spokesman for the United Arab Emirates Currency Board said the step was taken to combat the shrinking value of the dollar. Following the revaluation the US dollar will now sell for 3.840 dirhams as against 3.860. The buying rate will be 3.836 (as against 3.856).

October 30

America freezes peace talks
The United States has frozen the Israeli-Egyptian negotiations on a peace treaty while Washington awaits a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to US President Jimmy Carter.

The US State Department is meanwhile analysing the Israeli and Egyptian positions, which include "far-reaching changes" in the draft worked out by the two sides prior to the Israeli delegation's return home last week. The Americans would prepare a new draft treaty to bridge the differences separating the two sides once Begin's letter arrives in Washington.

October 31

Second baby dies in polio scare
A three-and-a-half-month old baby boy from Jumeirah is the latest victim to die in a two-week old polio outbreak in Dubai, which has claimed two lives and put five other children into hospital.

But Dubai health officials stressed there was no danger of an epidemic, although they did warn parents to have their children vaccinated at the nearest clinic or by their own doctor as soon as possible. And following the Jumeirah boy's death the lower age limit for vaccination — normally four and a half months — is to be reduced to two and a half months.

November 1

Troops take control of oil fields
Troops are reported to have taken over control of all Iran's oil fields and given striking workers three days to return to work or be dismissed. Sources said troops moved into the oil fields and refineries mainly in an attempt to prevent sabotage of installations, and to protect those workers who are not on strike. The strike, which has shut off all exports of oil from Iran to the rest of the world, is said to be costing the country 57 million dollars a day. The strike was called to press wage claims and to try and force the replacement of foreign experts by Iranian nationals.

Wall Street hit by October Massacre
They're calling it the October Massacre on Wall Street — a devastating market decline that has cut the paper value of stocks by well over 100 billion dollars in just a little more than two weeks.

The current sell-off hasn't reached crash proportions. But in 11 trading days since mid-October, the Dow Jones average of 30 industrials has fallen more than 11 per cent, from 897 to 782 at the low point on Monday. Behind the slide, most analysts agree, are wide-spread fears among investors of worsening U.S. inflation, and speculation that another bad recession is on the way.

November 2

UAE States cut back federal cash funds
The seven-member United Arab Emirates boasts Dh30,800 million in annual revenues from oil sales, but its federal monetary authority appears to be on a starvation diet of foreign exchange.

The reason: member states are reluctant to place their petrodollar earnings with the Federal Currency Board. They prefer to channel their money through their own commercial banks. The currency board, operating as the UAE's central bank, regulates monetary trading, issues currency notes and protects the strength of the dirhams. Banking sources said some rulers in the federation fear that pouring their money into the currency board, in Abu Dhabi, would mean forfeiting control over their own economy.

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