According to the Gulf News, the government is to set up a special technical committee to oversee sales of the little blue drug. It should be on sale by the end of the year.

Viagra has created interest around the world, despite reports from the US that it may be implicated in the deaths of up to 30 men.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating the deaths.

Mail order Viagra

In the Gulf states, foreign mail order companies have been sending the drug through the post at a cost of $985 for 30 pills - four times their price in the USA, where they are manufactured.

The UAE government says drugs sent through the post will be confiscated. Doctors have also warned against media hype about the drug's effectiveness. It has been credited with giving elderly men the libido of 20-year-olds.

Unprecedented demand

Other Arab states are also in line to approve the drug after unprecedented demand, although confusion reigns about what stage different governments are in the approval process.

Saudi Arabia said at the weekend that Muslim men could use the drug as long as it was not harmful or intoxicating.

The country's grand mufti, Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, said: "Using a drug that helps sexual intercourse is permitted and there is no legal Islamic prohibition, provided it does not contain ingredients that may harm health and intoxicate."

The Saudi press say the government is planning to approve the drug which has been selling at $80 a pill.

Kuwait is also likely to approve the drug soon. A Kuwaiti source said he thought the government would give the go-ahead for sales of the drug, pending doctors' advice.