A reporter in the Middle East sent me this (I cite with her permission): "Hi As`ad,

You may find this interesting. Thousands of houses were sold in Dubai, Ajman and Abu Dhabi since 2001, when it became possible for foreigners to own property in the UAE. These houses were sold as a package with a life-long residency visa, allowing the buyer to live in the UAE without having a job or a sponsor. This visa is renewed every 3 years. Suddenly, the government changed its mind. Not only are buyers not getting the visa promised and paid for, those who already bought houses and got their visas will not have their visas renewed upon expiry. This has been happening for a year now without an official announcement, except a few statements here and there saying the government is considering the issue. Now, there are many guesses as to why this happened. Some said the country was of full of Russians, Chinese and Indians (which is true) who bought houses and came to practice all kinds of illegal activities. The other is that one of the emirates is said to have sold a whole island to Iranians. This can be nothing more than a rumour, but no one really knows. anyway, here's the story from [a] the newspaper."