How is this in general....is it quite liberal as I suspect..?

Perhaps Saeed or others can chime in and enligthen me/us..?

Just join the Taliban !!

As an Expat we certainly didn't try to bring any firearms to the Middle East, but that was the situation in general throughout our world. The only foreign country I owned firearms in was Venezuela. I sold my Browning Citori 12ga when I left.

That was always the big deal for us. If we got a firearm into a country, what would happen if our next assignment was somewhere that wouldn't allow importation.

I borrowed a 7.62mm in Indonesia. Other than that, I only shot guns when back in the U.S.

Probably much easier / safer for a local citizen. The more important, wealthy, influential, that person is, the better. Like many things in foreign countries, it's who you know and who you blow.