- Title: WEST BANK: LARGEST CASINO IN MIDDLE EAST OPENS IN JERICHO.
- Date: 16th September 1998
- Summary: JERICHO, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 15, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV: EXTERIORS OASIS CASINO 0.08 2. SV: VARIOUS OF SECURITY CHECKS OUTSIDE CASINO (2 SHOTS) 0.31 3. GV: GUESTS ENTERING CASINO 0.37 4. MV: JOURNALISTS AND GUESTS GOING THROUGH METAL DETECTORS (2 SHOTS) 0.50 5. CU/TILT/CU: GUESTS PLAYING AT ROULETTE TABLES (3 SHOTS) 1.05
- Embargoed: 1st October 1998 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JERICHO, WEST BANK
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVATIDIBG9XB4G2XH3HPDENUT7V
- Story Text: The largest casino in the Middle East has opened in the West Bank town of Jericho with ritzy Israeli and Arab guests rubbing shoulders at the roulette tables.
The 50 million United States (U.S.)-dollar Oasis Casino, will open to the general public on Wednesday (September 16), but on Tuesday (September 15) hundreds of invited guests took to the roulette tables to try their luck.
The casino which is located in the Palestinian self-ruled area, will be off limits to Palestinian citizens, but gambling-loving Israelis are expected to flock to the desert oasis.Gambling is banned in Israel.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has approved the money-spinning project over the objections of Moslem leaders in Jericho, a sleepy town of 20,000.
The casino, ringed by a robust steel fence on the dusty plain between Jericho and the Dead Sea, will be operated by Casinos Austria, the world's largest casino chain.
The Oasis Casino, has 35 U.S.dollar-only gaming tables and 220 slot machines.
The European operators of the casino said they were confident gamblers would not be put off visiting the casino by bursts of Israeli-Palestinian unrest.
The first phase of a planned 150 million U.S.dollar tourism complex billed as the largest in the Middle East, the casino is aimed at Israelis, tourists and non-Palestinian Arabs from Jordan and farther afield.
The casino is located on the edge of Jericho opposite the squalid Aqabat Jaber refugee camp and can be reached along an Israeli-controlled highway in 30 minutes from Jerusalem.
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