THE latest Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, a lobby, does not make happy reading for those in the Middle East. Five Arab countries come among the bottom ten countries for corruption: Somalia, Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Syria. The highest ranking of the 177 states included in the study is the UAE at 26. Qatar comes two places further down. Israel fares slightly worse in 36th position. The other Gulf countries do best among the remaining Arab states: Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia follow the UAE and Qatar. Egypt. which desperately needs to kick start its economy after almost three years of turmoil, comes in at a lousy 114 (joint with Indonesia).
