UAE slams Iran over control of islands

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip arrived in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, 31 years after their first visit to the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, the state news agency WAM reported."During the visit Her Majesty will attend the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and pay her respects at the tomb of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan," the UAE founding ruler who died in 2004, the British embassy said.She was hosted by Sheikh Zayed on her first visit in 1979, and was invited this time by his son and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan.

The United Arab Emirates Sunday recognised the National Transitional Council in Benghazi of the rebels battling to oust Moamer Kadhafi, the official WAM news agency reported.The decision to recognise the NTC as the "sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people" was announced by Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, who said the UAE would soon open a provisional office in Benghazi.

The United Arab Emirates has pledged $3 billion in financial assistance to Egypt during a visit to the oil-rich Gulf state by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, state media said.UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan "has issued directives to allocate an aid package of $3 billion for Egypt," the official WAM news agency reported late on Monday.

The president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan broke his arm on Monday while exercising, his office said.Sheikh Khalifa will rest for a few days, his office said in a statement carried by the state news agency WAM.The statement said the president was doing his morning exercise, without elaborating as to the exact cause of the injury.The UAE president is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi, which sits on almost all the rich oil reserves of the OPEC member state.

The United Arab Emirates president said on Tuesday that his country's economy is "healthy," even as global markets remained edgy over the debt woes of Dubai, a member of the UAE federation."We would like to comfort everyone that our country today is stronger and better, and that our economy and society are healthy," Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan said in a speech, quoted by state news agency WAM.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, a brother of the United Arab Emirates president, is missing after his glider crashed in a lake in Morocco, the state news agency WAM reported on Friday.Sheikh Ahmed is managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which is considered the world's largest sovereign wealth fund with assets estimated at more than 600 billion dollars.The pilot has been rescued while a search continues for Sheikh Ahmed, WAM said, without giving further details.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan was re-elected president of the United Arab Emirates for a second five-year term on Tuesday, the official news agency WAM announced.The Supreme Federal Council, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates in the UAE, selected Sheikh Khalifa, 61.He first rose to the presidency as oil-rich Abu Dhabi's ruler in 2004 on the death of his father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, who founded the Gulf state in 1971.The council designates both the president and vice president.

The United Arab Emirates will respect any sanctions imposed by the United Nations on key trading partner Iran, UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said on Saturday."The Emirates will respect any international sanctions that could be imposed by the UN Security Council on Iran," he said at a news conference with visiting Cyprus Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou.But he nevertheless said he hoped the international community will solve its row with Iran "through diplomatic means ... before reaching this phase" of imposing fresh sanctions on Tehran.