Yes, in 2010 they came to an agreement to put a RIM network there so they could route their own traffic. However, no outside mail gets routed there.
You have to be in the UAE to use that network. The reason for this was because the UAE wants to be able to monitor ALL encrypted data leaving it's
networks. They couldn't do that when it was routing through the UK and eventually Canada (the final stopping point for all RIM traffic).