ABU DHABI // Yehya Ali was arrested for a third time last year – on his doorstep.
“It’s as if we are wanted for murder,” the Emirati said. “I picked up my son from the park right across of our house and as I was walking into the door they arrested me. There were police everywhere. They surrounded the house and were on the roof.
“I begged them to not do this in front of my children and the neighbours.”
Mr Ali, 37, has debt of about Dh2 million for unpaid wages, rent and bank loans.
“I opened several pet shops and took a loan for the business and housing loan. I was fine but it all started crashing down when I was fired from my job because of an injury.”
Initially Mr Ali couldn’t pay a car and housing loan for Dh240,000. While in jail, he said he couldn’t run his business or pay his employees. He was pardoned for the Dh240,000 while in jail but his employees and the landlords had already filed cases against him.
“I had my sentence increased and couldn’t settle things or see that the shops be sold while I was inside. The employees also took off with everything but not before filing a case against me for late wages. I begged the judge to let me go to settle my business but he refused.”
Only after completing his sentence was he released for one month to settle a debt for more than two million. “There was no way I could pay that. I begged again for more time but they said I had to pay.”
He fled but in September he handed himself in to the police and was in jail for six months.
“My children had to be enrolled in school and need my passport and their passports renewed. As long as I was wanted then I could not do that.”
He was released for three months to settle his debts but could not. Police are again looking for him.
“I cant go to my children’s school graduation and have missed every event in their life but what option do I have? I can’t step outside the house. So my wife buys the groceries, fixes the car, takes the children to the doctor. I stay home but at least I can see my kids and be with them and put them to bed. I can’t imagine going to jail and being away from them again – this time it will be for three years.”
SAlNuwais@thenational.ae
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
The specs
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Abu Dhabi World Pro 2019 remaining schedule:
Wednesday April 24: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-6pm
Thursday April 25: Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, 11am-5pm
Friday April 26: Finals, 3-6pm
Saturday April 27: Awards ceremony, 4pm and 8pm
Recent winners
2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)
2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)
2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)
2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)
2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)
2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)
2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)
2011 Maria Farah (Canada)
2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)
2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)
2014 Lia Saad (UAE)
2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)
2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)
2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)
2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now