U.A.E. denies Israeli official visa for global trade summit

The United Arab Emirates has refused to grant a visa to Israel's representative on the International Chamber of Commerce's Banking Commission for a conference in Dubai. The move comes only three weeks after the gulf state denied a visa to Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer.

Sarah Younger, the official, is also the manager of Bank Leumi's international trade section. She was meant to attend a meeting of the commission on the global financial crisis in Dubai beginning Monday.

The chairman of the ICC in Israel, Oren Shachor, requested the Foreign Ministry's intervention in the matter in an attempt to press the U.A.E. to reverse its decision.

The conference on Saturday was scheduled to go ahead as planned, with 250 of the 300 participants already in Dubai.