Barbara Surk

The official said that any asset sale needed to be in a “commercially fair manner in order to achieve (Dubai World’s) long-term strategic objectives, away from … economic pressures.”

The statement in the newspaper adds little in the way of explanation as to how company officials, and indeed Dubai’s ruling family, planned to tackle a debt crisis that could destroy the reputation of Dubai Inc., as the city-state’s government-affiliated businesses are known.

Dubai officials have headed down to neighboring Abu Dhabi, ostensibly to discuss the debt issues, and expectations are that the United Arab Emirates’ central bank will issue some sort of statement on Monday.

The company had said last week that it was seeking the delay as it continued its restructuring — a plan under which it has already laid off 15 percent of its work force in a bid to streamline costs.

The opaque wording of the company’s announcement for a payment extension was amplified by its timing — coming on the eve of a three-day Islamic holiday in which markets in the region would be closed and officials largely unavailable.

The news was a blow to the reputation of Dubai, once seen as the Gulf Arab region’s answer to Las Vegas, Wall Street and Los Angeles rolled in one.

With little oil, the emirate — one of seven semiautonomous city-states making up the UAE — focused its growth efforts on finance, tourism and real estate. It bankrolled that dream, which included indoor ski-slopes, man-made islands and the world’s tallest tower, on cheap credit and borrowed time.

A sale of the company’s assets is one possibility being floated by analysts to cover the debts. But the more likely scenario being discussed is that Abu Dhabi will engineer another bailout — even partial — in a bid to minimize damage to the country’s bank and the economy.

Several UAE banks are on review by international credit agencies for their exposure to Dubai World’s debts.

The announcement came in tandem with another from Dubai’s government that two banks majority owned by neighboring Abu Dhabi — the oil-rich home to the United Arab Emirates’ federal government — had fully subscribed a $5 billion bond issuance.

That issuance was part of a broader $20 billion bond program launched earlier this year to help Dubai meet its mounting debts. The UAE’s central bank had already bought $10 billion in bonds, but officials were quick to say that the latest issuance was not linked to Dubai World’s problems.

After a celebratory bash and a two-week break from tennis, Djokovic has set his sights on doing it all again next year.

“Why not? I think it does not make sense to be anything else than optimistic,” Djokovic before an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 29.

“I need to believe in my qualities, in my abilities. I need to believe I can repeat this year again. Of course it’s going to be an incredible and a difficult task to achieve, but you never know. Nothing is really impossible.”

Not surprisingly, Djokovic said he wouldn’t be changing his preparations, which last year included the introduction of a gluten-free diet. He partly credits the diet for his stunning improvement.

“I am sticking with the same regime, and my diet and the same way of practicing,” Djokovic said. “Nothing has changed.”

Djokovic had won only one Grand Slam title heading into 2011. For the previous couple of years, the Serb had been firmly entrenched behind the established of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Although he was consistently going deep at the majors, Djokovic’s lone big title came at the 2008 Australian Open.

He had also retired from a series of matches with fitness problems.

The turnaround in 2011 was dramatic and left everyone guessing just how he did it. Djokovic said the biggest change was in his head.

“You cannot just have mental strength at the start of your career,” Djokovic said. “You have to develop. You have to work. You have to be patient. It took me four, five years in a professional circuit to really understand myself, to perfect my game as much as possible and to be mentally experienced and confident enough that I can win major titles.”

He says he’s not a finished product.

“There’s still room for improvement,” said Djokovic, adding his focus in the upcoming years will be winning more Grand Slams titles.

“That’s something that I am aiming for. The game that I have is good enough to be one of the best on all surfaces, so I just need to maintain that level and always improve certain strokes in my game by certain percentage.”

Djokovic will begin his preparations for the new season at the two-day exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, alongside Nadal and Federer.

He will play Gael Monfils of France in the opening match.

The UAE5, as they’re known, want reform, and that could be a recipe for future confrontations.

Political activity is severely restricted in the Emirates, an alliance of seven semiautonomous city-states, each ruled by a hereditary sheik. There are no official opposition groups in the country, and political parties are banned.

Along with at least 130 other Emiratis, the five men signed an online petition in March, calling for constitutional changes and free elections. That led to their arrest in early April.

On Sunday, after being held in prison for almost eight months, the five were convicted of insulting the UAE’s leadership, endangering national security and inciting people to protest.

Then a day later, they received a presidential pardon and were freed.

One of the five, Ahmed Mansour is a prominent blogger. Another, Nasser bin Gaith, is an economics professor who has lectured at Paris’ Sorbonne university in Abu Dhabi.

The two told The Associated Press that they spent days in solitary confinement in Abu Dhabi’s Al Wathba prison. The rest of the time they were held with convicted killers, terrorists, rapists, adulterous, drug dealers and pirates.

Abu Gaith said he was repeatedly harassed by other prisoners and frequently put in solitary confinement, once even after he had demanded to see a doctor. He spent weeks shackled and handcuffed in his cell day and at night.

“Whenever they asked me what my crime was, I told them my case is not criminal, it’s political,” Mansour told the AP. “I was calm in jail because I knew I did not do anything to deserve a single day in prison.”

If the government’s intention by arresting, convicting, sentencing and then releasing them was to intimidate the five, it appears to have failed.

“I have not committed any crime,” bin Gaith said. “I only offered advice to make my country better. And that’s what I will continue to do.”

For years, bin Gaith was part of the ruling elite’s inner circle. The 42-year-old U.S.-educated economist and lawyer is a decorated UAE air force pilot and served as a legal adviser to the country’s armed forces until he was detained.

He has often criticized Gulf rulers for rejecting all but the most limited of political reforms and for failing to provide a legal framework for the fast-paced economic development of the past decade. Just days before his arrest, he questioned the cash-for-stability remedies by Gulf rulers to blunt Arab Spring-inspired demands.

“It’s beyond me why they arrested me or the other four,” bin Gaith told the AP in an interview. “And why was I treated in such a way? Because I said the wind of change is blowing, and we need to do something?”

Though they were released on the strength of a presidential pardon, the five still maintain the status of convicted criminals, their defense lawyer said.

Bin Gaith said that alongside the reform campaign, he will fight to clear their names.

Mansour said he hopes their ordeal will inspire people to seek reforms in their country’s political and legal system that remains a mix of Islamic laws and tribal rules.

Mansour, 41, worked as an engineer for a communications company until he was taken into custody from his Dubai home in April. In addition to writing a blog, Mansour also led an online forum that was popular with Emiratis who were unhappy with their country’s fast-paced development at the expense of traditions.

Authorities blocked the site in February last year, and the court on Sunday ordered it shut down as part of the verdict against Mansour that also included a three-year prison sentence. The site remains blocked.

“They did everything to make me a criminal, but I consider fighting for human rights and free speech as part of my patriotic duty,” Mansour said.

The other four, including bin Gaith, were sentenced to two-year jail terms each by a federal security court that normally tries terrorism suspects and has no recourse for appeal.

“It’s a mixed feeling to be out,” bin Gaith told the AP after his release. “I am with my family, but our arrests mark the beginning of a police state in the UAE.”

The UAE has not been hit by the Arab Spring unrest that has spread across much of the rest of the Middle East, including neighboring Bahrain. Authorities moved aggressively against any signs of dissent that could pose a challenge to the tight political controls in country.

Ahmed Mansour, a prominent blogger was sentenced to three years in prison. The other four activists, including an economics professor who has lectured at Paris’ Sorbonne university in Abu Dhabi, Nasser bin Gaith, received two-year jail terms on Sunday in the Gulf country’s security court in the capital Abu Dhabi.

On Monday, they were pardoned and released.

“I feel happy because I am back with my family, but I also feel ashamed and have deep sorrow for my country,” bin Gaith told The Associated Press in an interview after his release. “All I can say is that it’s a sad moment for our homeland, a beginning of a police state that has tarnished the image of the UAE forever,” bin Gaith said.

The UAE state news agency said in a brief report that the five were ordered released by the Gulf union’s president, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The presidential pardon was issued “on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the UAE national day,” the WAM report said.

Presidential pardons for convicted criminals and others offenders before major national or religious holidays are part of governance in the traditional and deeply conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf. Their legal system is deeply rooted in tribal laws of the Arabian Peninsula.

Defense attorney Mohammed al-Roken said the charges against all five remain, despite the pardon.

Bin Gaith told the AP that the five would continue the struggle to clear their names.

“We have just spent eight months in jail for crimes we have not committed. This is not the end. It’s a beginning,” bin Gaith said.

In addition to teaching at the Sorbonne in Abu Dhabi, bin Ghaith is a decorated air force pilot and has served as a legal adviser to the UAE armed forces until he was taken into custody by federal security agents from his Dubai home in April.

The five were arrested in April after signing an online petition demanding political reforms, including free elections for parliament. UAE’s current parliament serves as an advisory body, and its 40 members are either directly appointed by the ruling sheiks or elected by voters hand-picked by the rulers.

The charges against the five also included urging a boycott of the existing, limited form of elections. The last vote, held in September, was only the second election since the founding of the UAE 40 years ago.

The UAE has faced an outcry from rights groups over the trials, which were held in the country’s highest court that normally tries terrorism suspects and has no recourse for appeal.

Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an oil-rich alliance of seven semiautonomous states, each ruled by a hereditary sheik. There are no official opposition groups in the country and political parties are banned.

In an unprecedented move for the politically quiescent country, 130 people in March signed a petition demanding constitutional and parliamentary changes, free elections and a more equitable distribution of the country’s oil wealth.

The five activists in custody were among those who signed the petition.

They were sentenced to up to three years in prison by the Gulf country’s security court in the capital Abu Dhabi. They had no right to appeal the verdict, which along with the activists’ trial has been harshly criticized by international human rights groups.

Among the activists are blogger Ahmed Mansour and economics professor Nasser bin Gaith, who has lectured at Paris’ Sorbonne university in Abu Dhabi. Bin Gaith also served as a legal adviser to the UAE’s armed forces until he was taken into custody by federal security agents from his Dubai home eight months ago.

The five were arrested in April after signing an online petition demanding political reforms, including free elections for parliament. UAE’s current parliament serves as an advisory body and its 40 members are either directly appointed by the ruling sheiks or elected by voters hand-picked by the rulers.

The charges against the five included insulting the country’s top leadership, endangering national security, inciting people to protest and urging a boycott of the existing, limited form of elections. The last vote, held in September, was only the second election since the foundation of the UAE 40 years ago.

The UAE has not been hit by the Arab Spring unrest that has spread across much of the rest of the Middle East, including neighboring Bahrain. But the activists’ trial appeared to have reflected Abu Dhabi’s strategy of snuffing out any sign of dissent that could pose a challenge to the tight political controls in country.

On Sunday, a three-judge panel sentenced Mansour to three years in prison. Bin Gaith and other received two-year jail terms.

The UAE has faced an outcry from rights groups over the trials, which were held in the country’s highest court that normally tries terrorism suspects and has no recourse for appeal.

Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an oil-rich alliance of seven semiautonomous states, each ruled by a hereditary sheik. There are no official opposition groups in the country and political parties are banned.