The Telegraph: Qatar asked Shell and ExxonMobil for donations
"Qatar wrote to major international oil companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, to demand up to $1.7bn (£1bn) in donations for a medical centre, according to leaked diplomatic cables.
The Middle Eastern nation is one of the world's richest countries per capita on account of its oil and gas wealth. However, it caused surprise by approaching a number of companies that work with Qatar Petroleum with a cash call in 2007. According to the Wikileaks documents, letters signed by Abdullah al-Attiyah, the deputy prime minister, told each company how much they were expected to donate."
El País: Periodismo a sangre y fuego en Yemen (Journalism, blood and fire in Yemen)
"Primero, el presidente de Yemen, Alí Abdalá Saleh, solía enviar al diario Al-Ayyam el mensaje de que la publicación de algún artículo le parecía "inaceptable". Después, el propio presidente llamaba al director del periódico, Hisham Bashrahil, para dictarle un artículo y pedirle que lo firmara con un nombre ficticio. El problema llegaba cuando el director se negaba a entrar en el juego. En el año 2005 el periódico grabó uno de esos dictados al periodista, según revelan los papeles de Wikileaks. (First, the president of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh, used to send the newspaper Al-Ayyam messages when the publication of an article was found "unacceptable." Then the president called the newspaper's director, Hisham Bashrahil, to dictate an article and ask them to sign a fictitious name. The problem came when the director refused to enter the game. In 2005, the newspaper recorded one of these dictates to the journalist, as revealed by Wikileaks papers.)"
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Hmmm??
Is this an indication of a different aspect of the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa?
Is this some sort of extortion; pay up or we will cut your oil concessions, and perhaps ship our oil to China instead??
Remember that Sadam Hussien's tribulations began, when he wanted to price oil in Euros and began negotiations with Chinese companies,,,just wondering??