Climber conquers Abu Dhabi tower

A famous French climber, dubbed 'Spiderman', yesterday held Abu Dhabi captive for nearly two hours when more than 50,000 people gathered on the main streets to watch him climb the city's tallest building bare hand.

Alain Robert, an adventurer who has conquered the Empire State building and Eiffel Tower, emerged out of the giant National Bank of Abu Dhabi tower, smiling shyly, to the applause of a crowd that needed hundreds of policemen to control.

When asked whether he was afraid, Robert said: "Yes I am. But I think I will make it....you just watch me. I will see you after half an hour."

But it took him only 25 minutes to claw his way up to the top of the 200-metre-high NBAD tower that overlooks Abu Dhabi's famous Corniche and dwarfs surrounding buildings. Robert began his risky climb at around 5.10pm and was on the top of the newly-built tower at around 5.35pm. He stood on the top waving but could hardly be seen.

Robert started his adventure to a long round of applause and yelling by the crowd, who kept pushing their way through and raised fears of a stampede.