UAE govt steps in to defuse US Ports row

DUBAI, Mar 9 (Reuters) The United Arab Emirates government intervened in the Dubai Ports row to defuse a growing political crisis over the company's plans to take control of six US ports, sources close to the deal said today.

''It is a political decision to ask Dubai Ports to defuse the situation. We have to help our friends. Our close ties with the United States are important,'' a UAE official told Reuters in Dubai on condition of anonymity.

A Dubai-based source said the company's plans to hand over the operation of US ports it has acquired from the British company P&O to a US entity would mark the end of the crisis.

''I think you will see that Dubai Ports is willing to sell.

It was a government to government decision,'' the source told Reuters in Dubai.

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