Abu Dhabi

The longstanding sibling rivalry between the two biggest members of the United Arab Emirates, always complex, has taken a remarkable turn in recent months. For years, as its neighbor on the Persian Gulf, Dubai, engaged in a frenzy of construction and deal-making, Abu Dhabi -- the capital of the UAE and owner of its deepest petroleum reserves -- was mostly content to keep its ambition in check.

Citigroup Inc., suffering huge losses on mortgage-related securities, said late Monday that an arm of the Abu Dhabi government would invest $7.5 billion in the giant U.S. bank. The cash infusion would give the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority a stake of as much as 4.9% in Citigroup.

The investment arm of the government of Abu Dhabi bought an 8.1% stake in Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for more than $600 million, breathing financial life into the struggling chip maker as it battles Intel Corp. The purchase made Mubadala Development Co. AMD's third-largest shareholder. AMD said Mubadala wouldn't take a seat on the board or exert influence over its business. Mubadala is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, one of seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates.

You're on Paradise Beach overlooking a crystal-clear turquoise sea. The gentle breeze rustles the fringes of palmed ramadas and there is the smell of tortillas wafting under your nose. No, no, no. We're not in Mazatlan. We are in Abu Dhabi, 12 time zones from Los Angeles--a world away. And somewhere, back in the kitchen at the Abu Dhabi Sheraton, which stands on Paradise Beach, somebody is cooking Mexican.

Members of the Abu Dhabi government, which owns the majority share in the discredited Bank of Credit & Commerce International, knew the institution was operating fraudulently, according to details of an auditor's report published in newspapers here Saturday. Price Waterhouse, an international accounting firm, told the Bank of England that its investigation of BCCI "revealed widespread fraud and manipulation of accounting records . . .

A unique Picasso retrospective has gone on display in Abu Dhabi, bringing some of the Spanish artist's favorite works to this Persian Gulf city-state that aspires to become the region's cultural capital. The show was put together by Madrid's Reina Sofia art museum, but many of the pieces come from the Picasso Museum in Paris. The Abu Dhabi collection includes 186 paintings, sculptures and drawings by one of the 20th century's defining artists.

A key figure in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal will be extradited for prosecution by the Justice Department under an agreement with the government of Abu Dhabi. Justice Department officials confirmed the agreement Sunday and said they expect Swaleh Naqvi, the top deputy to the founder of BCCI, to be brought to the United States from Abu Dhabi within four months to face bank fraud charges.

Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio struck a multibillion-dollar joint venture deal Wednesday with two Abu Dhabi companies that would bring such American icons as Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner and Scooby-Doo to the Persian Gulf region. The partners have agreed to build a theme park, a hotel and multiplex cinemas in Abu Dhabi, the leading power in the United Arab Emirates.

Britain's special white-collar crime prosecutors said Monday that they will investigate the Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA, whose operations have been closed in 11 countries because of fraud allegations. The disclosure by the Serious Fraud Office coincided with word that Abu Dhabi's ruler, Sheik Zayed ibn Sultan al Nuhayan, who holds a controlling interest in the bank, has scheduled visits to Britain and Luxembourg over the affair.

They wear hard hats and rags over their faces; they hammer in the dust and, at night, they are silhouettes in the blowtorch light. They are the migrant workers turning Abu Dhabi and Dubai into metropolises of skyscrapers that uncoil from the desert sands like exotic plants of steel and glass. These futuristic cities along the Persian Gulf in the United Arab Emirates have been criticized by human rights groups and threatened with labor strikes over the low pay and poor living conditions faced by Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans and other workers from across Asia.