Economies in the Middle East and North Africa face a "shadow of uncertainty" from ongoing tensions in the region, a senior IMF official tells AFP. "We are in a context where the overall outlook is cast into shadows," the International Monetary Fund's director for the Middle East and Central Asia department, Jihad Azour, says in an interview in Washington. "We have concerns about the immediate and lasting impact of conflict," Azour says. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES