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Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Chairman, Nur Misuari called on Manila to set a "specific" time frame for granting "genuine" autonomy to the Bangsamoro people in the southern Philippines, "led by the MNLF".

There is excitement in the air for the tiny state's 550,000 plus population of Qataris and expatriates as the summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference nears, the first gathering of this size here.

Qatar's first e-commerce Website has flickered into action introducing online shopping for over 6,000 products including electronic goods, home appliances and computers, manager of the Website told Gulf News.

Qatar's first e-commerce Website has flickered into action introducing online shopping for over 6,000 products including electronic goods, home appliances and computers, manager of the Website told Gulf News.

Eager for an incident-free event, Qatari authorities have imposed tight security ahead of the Organisation of Islamic Confe-rence summit when leaders of Islamic countries and other state representatives begin meetings on Sunday.

Qataris are set for serious shopping experiences with one major international chain opening its hypermarket in Doha, soon to be followed by several Dubai-based stores keen to expand into the neighbouring Gulf state.

A four-day international exhibition of arms and security equipment concluded in Doha yesterday with several participating companies reporting keen interest from Gulf countries for their wares on display.

Hoteliers here yesterday called for scrapping the recent changes in tourist visa rules to encourage more people to visit Qatar.

Qatar, which will host the 2006 Asian Games, yesterday expressed confidence that all facilities for the second-largest multi-sport event in the world after Olympics, would be ready ahead of schedule.

The leader of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an umbrella group of separatist Kashmiri parties, called on the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to grant the APHC permanent observer status “providing great credibility to the voice of Kashmiri people around the world”.

An international military and security exhibition, which will showcase the latest arms, security equipment and systems, opens in Doha today with the participation of 169 international companies.

The suspense was palpable in the air as the fate of the biggest gathering of Muslim leaders in three years hanged in balance.