From what I have been told, and others can correct me if I'm wrong, they are only looking at short course pilots right now, ie those that are current on the 737. That is a relatively new change, as about a month ago they took guys/gals as FOs that had only A320 time (as an example) and put them through the long course.
I believe the SOP is pretty developmental at this point. I believe that there are provisions to hand fly the aircraft, as I have seen profiles for it. Maybe pilots already on the line there can answer that one for you.
I know there is fog at DXB, and they do have cat2/3 aircraft with HUDs.
Hope that helps!
Randy