Dubai ruler takes on critics, says economy is firm Dubai's ruler says city-state's economic base is stable in bid to counter 'media bombardment' Adam Schreck, AP Business Writer Sunday April 19, 2009, 10:27 am EDT Buzz up! Print DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Dubai's ruler, seeking to quash speculation the Middle Eastern sheikdom has gone bust, said the city-state has seen the worst of the economic crisis and remains on solid financial footing.
In rare public comments, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum speculated that global media outlets have turned on Dubai -- once hailed as a visionary globalized city but now increasingly mocked as an overextended symbol of boom-time excess -- because they do not want to see Arabs succeed.
"Let me assure you we are fine, we have overcome the crisis with the least amount of losses," Sheik Mohammed said.
The ruler's comments are a response to a rash of international media reports focused on the serious financial challenges Dubai faces because of the global downturn. The emirate is deep in debt, and struggling with fast-dropping property prices and a slumping economy weighted heavily toward hard-hit sectors like trade, tourism and banking.
The Dubai ruler, who is also vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, made the comments in an online exchange with local and international Arab news outlets. The digital question-and-answer session, posted over the weekend, was Sheik Mohammed's first such exchange in eight years.
In his lengthy written response, Sheik Mohammed said he is open to "objective criticism" that will help his country improve its services and address problems.
But he said what the UAE has received instead is a "media bombardment" that left Dubai under "daily attack" by some Western news outlets.
"As for the motives of the campaign, God almighty knows," Sheik Mohammed was quoted as saying. "But it seems ... that seeing distinct images of successful Arabs and Arab countries disturbs some people. They would rather stick with the distorted images of Arab stereotypes in their minds."
Stories abound about cars being abandoned at Dubai airport by indebted and out-of-work foreign residents fleeing the Gulf city-state -- claims authorities say are exaggerated. Thousands of foreign workers, whose residency visas are typically tied to employment, have been laid off in recent months.
Other reports have focused on plummeting property prices in dense high-rise developments popular with overseas investors, and on concerns about Dubai's ability to pay back some $80 billion in debt. International credit-rating firms have downgraded their outlooks on a number of Dubai's many state-affiliated companies.
There have also been rumors that Dubai would need to sell off some of its most prized state-owned assets like Emirates, the Middle East's biggest airline, and that Sheik Mohammed himself is in failing health.
The Dubai ruler countered the last suggestion head on, saying he is "in the best of health and peace of mind and soul."
He also challenged concerns that Dubai's growth and economy are under threat because of the global downturn, dismissing such claims as "wishful thinking" by the city's critics.
"We did not at any time feel that the financial crisis is a threat. The worst is over and behind us," Sheik Mohammed said.
The Dubai ruler, who rarely gives public interviews, said he last answered questions online eight years ago "when Internet communications were still in the nascent stage."
It was unclear if and when he would do so again, although he did promise to take questions from "everyday Emiratis ... in a subsequent communication."
The online exchange comes amid debate over a proposed federal media law that critics fear could muzzle the press.
Human Rights Watch recently warned the draft legislation, which carries hefty fines for offenses such as carrying news that hurts the national economy or insults government leaders, would further restrict free speech and increase self-censorship among journalists.
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