UAE and Saudi Arabia unveil Blackberry restrictions

Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns.

The United Arab Emirates is to block sending e-mails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry-to-Blackberry instant messaging service.

Jim Crane, an expert on the Gulf states, discussed the background to the "spat".