Apologies Buran

I feel so sorry for Buran. I know I am technically on holiday but I really can't help it.
Read this for a sneak preview of how our courts function in Wonderland.
The rise and fall of Buran could make a movie, a case study of justice delayed and denied and lots of other things.
I am glad Buran is not a human being who was left in limbo because of a system which doesn't know whether it is coming or going. I am glad Buran is not a child in the middle of a custody battle who had to endure three years not knowing whether he would be given to mummy or daddy or fed to the wolves. I am glad Buran carries a lot of memories for people around the world and that the humiliation it has been subjected to in Wonderland may generate some international publicity to show how things really work here.

Buran has been up there and its demise was in the Land of Immortality - where nothing changes - even in the era of democracy and reform ;)

Enough from me .. This is what appeared in today's GDN about Buran...

Shuttle dispute drags on
By ABDULRAHMAN FAKHRI
A JUDGE has ruled that a dispute over the ownership of a Russian spacecraft cannot be heard in Bahrain - three years and eight court hearings after the case was first brought here. Two parties are claiming ownership of the space shuttle Buran, which has been stranded in Bahrain since 2002.
However, the High Civil Court declared yesterday that the case could not be heard in Bahrain due to a clause in the contract between the two parties.
The clause states that any dispute between them should be referred to the London Court of International Arbitration.
Buran has been stored in parts at the Sitra storage yard of Pico, which negotiated with Singapore-based Space Shuttle World Tour to bring it here in July 2002.
Russian company NPO Moiniya originally sold the shuttle to Space Shuttle World Tour, which brought it to Bahrain to display it at the 2002 Summer Festival.
The two companies fell out over ownership of the shuttle when NPO claimed Space Shuttle World Tour failed to make all the payments.
Lawyer for the Singaporean company, Maha Jaber, claimed the Bahrain judiciary could not resolve the issue under the terms of the contract of sale.
A judge yesterday ruled in support of that argument, which means the case will now be moved to the UK.
However, lawyers for Space Shuttle World Tour have the option of appealing the decision within 45 days in the High Appeal Court.
If that is unsuccessful they can then appeal to the Cassation Court, which will issue a final verdict.
The case was first filed in the Bahraini courts by NPO in 2002 to prevent the shuttle being sent to Thailand as a tourist attraction.
Buran has been stranded here ever since after NPO requested that it remained here until the dispute was resolved.
Before coming to Bahrain, Buran was shipped to Australia in 2000 to become a tourist attraction, but failed to earn enough money to keep it open.
Russia's only large-scale reusable spaceship flew just once in 1988 in an unmanned mode.
The Buran arbiter has a mass of 75 metric tonnes, a payload capacity of 30 metric tonnes, a length of 36.4 metres and a wingspan of 24m.