Miss Anne Thrope

Anyone heard anything about this? Two guys shot dead yesterday (Friday) in their car in broad daylight in the middle of traffic... Many things very odd about this. Omanis in a Qatari car?. Somebody carrying an AK47 in an FJ Cruiser?

Only the Khaleej Times, among the English language papers seems to have much about it:

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-artic...&section=crime

Peremptory mentions in 7Days, The National and Gulf News (which has some details contradicting the KT version).

My local contacts (in Al Ain) so far suggest it must be some organised crime thing but that sounds like speculation rather than any inside knowledge. KT seems to be going out of its way to push the road rage angle with all those details that the others don't have.

Above all else, why is this not dominating all the local news?

Miss Anne Thrope

I'm talking to myself here obviously, but since I can't bear to watch Chelsea fluke their way to an undeserved FA cup (and god forbid the other one), I'll carry on.

This interesting update from KT seems to confirms the local suspicion and overturns KT's original road-rage take (which did seem a bit breathless and hasty):

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-artic...&section=crime

While typing this I have heard some more local updates. Apparently this was revenge for the murder of the brother of the killer by the brother of one of the guys killed (are you following this?). The killer in this case was from a notorious Bedu family in the UAE. His brother was killed in Oman last year by an Omani Balushi after some (unspecified) criminal activity. The Balushi guy was caught and imprisoned but as Oman does not execute in these cases, the Bedu family refused to accept the matter was closed and this killing was carried out in revenge. The Alawi guy was collateral damage apparently. Of course UAE does execute for these kinds of crimes so now there will be 4 dead people!

Tragic but fascinating (to me anyway) insight into some local sub-cultures.

hnd

You're not on your own in finding this incident interesting - just don't have anything pertinent to add. Apart from the fact that tribal rivalry persists and perhaps boundaries don't exist when this is an issue.

flares

One for CSI Al Ain

GypsyCat

Heard this on the radio this morning and thought it sounded kind of odd. Thanks for the information Miss Anne Thorpe.

Miss Anne Thrope

But my source is unconfirmed local scuttlebutt (if extremely detailed, plausible and extraordinarily consistent with the confirmed facts). So I am very interested to know what others may have heard or picked up.... And again, why this has taken so long to become big news: think if it happened in most other places.....

Meow

News about locals misbehaving being supressed? Never...

GypsyCat

Isn't unconfirmed local scuttlebutt the best way of finding out the truth in this region?

Miss Anne Thrope

But there are Locals and there are locals...

I had thought when there was complete media silence about this initially that perhaps somebody Important was involved (not that any high ranking member of UAE society would ever go off on one and ever just shoot some people ever).

But this appears to be the work of what would be described at home as a well known criminal clan, or at least chronic ASBO cases. And Bedu in general are not very far up the scale of Emirati society (maybe one above the poor old Bidoons). Remember, at least according to myth, at UAE independence it was originally proposed to have 5 classes of UAE nationality until Baba Zayed (of course) stepped in and said we are all one nation....

Anyway, still interested in any other tidbits anyone might pick up.
Yes, yes and any more stories about this case as well

flares

That's an interesting myth, Miss

shiva

ironic as baba zayed raided dubai from al ain in the old tradition of the bedu and in the company of the bedu and as ruler of the UAE his bodyguards were originally the same bedu he had ridden and fought with

OriginalSunshine

Ah. Yes, this case. Known about but little talked about unless you know people who know. The Bedu refused to accept blood money, and wanted the high up guy who did the killing to be imprisoned for life, not just released as he has done this before and got away with it. So now the family of the imprisoned guy is pressurising (euphemism alert) the family of the victim to accept the blood money, which of course they react to in the opposite direction, and so it goes on.

Miss Anne Thrope

Very interesting thanks OS. One thing though: the target of the Al Ain killing was a Balushi (name even reported in some papers originally before being shortened to his initials, interestingly leaving out the final B) who was the brother of the guy in prison. Balushis do not generally occupy a high level in Omani society though I guess some have become rich. The exertion of influence spurned by the supposedly stubborn and headstrong Bedu is a plausible twist though...

I hear Saif bin Zayed (the interior minister) is to make a visit to Buraimi as some kind of conciliation gesture. Mind you what I hear from both sides of the border is along the lines of a pox on both their houses. To paraphrase not too loosely, let the two families go into the desert and kill each other and do everyone else a favour.

Ethos83

Funny.

No, I mean it.

It took me about two years before realising not all locals were the same and that there was a distinct pecking order among the various locals, which would explain why some Emiratis live in big villas whilst others lived in crappy courtyard houses in Satwa.

Despite the generous welfare state and preferences in the UAE it's interesting to note that some families still persist in being violent, criminal trash.

Paracletus

Happens everywhere, including among upper class people you'd like to think were lovely... It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.