BUSINESS | Page 1

INDEX
QATAR

2 8, 28

REGION
ARAB WORLD
INTERNATIONAL

8, 9
9, 10
11 25

COMMENT

26, 27

BUSINESS 1 10, 16 20
CLASSIFIED
SPORTS

11 15

Qatar
will act to
maintain
liquidity
if it is
needed

1 12

SPORT | Page 1

Cavendish
and Kristoff
headline
the field at
Tour of Qatar

DOW JONES

QE

NYMEX

16,131.00

9,620.57

30.89

-197.00
-1.21%

-63.05
-0.65%

-0.83
-2.62%

All set for

Sport Day
The Emiri Diwan yesterday
announced that tomorrow would
be an official holiday to mark Qatar
Sport Day which is marked on the
second Tuesday of February every
year. All leading public and private
companies and establishments
have announced special
programmes for the day. Katara
the Cultural Village will organise
more than 80 events to celebrate
the day. Ooredoo will host an event
at the Museum of Islamic Art Park.
The Qatar Tourism Authority has
partnered with 47 hotels in the
country to launch an initiative
that will help residents take the
first and sometimes difficult step
towards living an active and healthy
lifestyle. Pages 7, 8, 26, 28

UAE ready to back

coalition against IS

More than 100 people were

missing a day after a 6.4-magnitude
earthquake killed at least 29 in
southern Taiwan, authorities said
yesterday. Interior Minister Chen
Wei-zen, who heads the Central
Emergency Operation Centre,
said all emergency crews would
continue to search for survivors,
state-run Central News Agency
reported. Page 15
BUSINESS | Energy

Saudi and Venezuela

oil ministers confer
Saudi Arabias Oil Minister Ali
al-Naimi discussed co-operation
between Opec members and other
oil producers to stabilise the global
oil market with his Venezuelan
counterpart yesterday, state news
agency SPA reported. Business
Page 20

www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Supporters of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Mohamed al-Qiq hold portraits as they demonstrate in solidarity with
him outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday. Qiq
will keep up his hunger strike despite Israel suspending a detention without trial order against him, according to his lawyer.
Qiq rejects any conditional release. Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Executive Committee secretary-general Dr Saeb
Erekat held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for the life of Qiq who is on hunger strike for more than 75
days in a protest against his administrative detention. He was arrested on November 21, 2015 when Israeli soldiers blew up
the front door of his house and took him in for interrogation at a detention centre.

MoI completes more than

53mn transactions in 2015
M

ore than 53mn transactions were completed by the

Ministry of Interior (MoI) in
2015, highlighting the efficiency of its
services, according to an official report.
The total number of transactions
were 53,298,980, amounting to a
monthly average of 4,441,582 and a
daily average of 148,053 transactions.
The average number of completed
transactions every hour was 6,159
with 103 transactions every minute.
The MoI also provided 3,900 services for the elderly people and persons
with special needs during last year.
The MoI provides over 120 e-services. There are about 18 MoI service
centres across the country, offering
various services of the ministry.
During 2015 there was 25% growth
in the services through self-service
kiosks, MoI web portal and Hukoomi
website. There has also been 24% increase in the number of individual
subscription to Metrash2 portal as
well as 14% increase in company sub-

scription. The total number of transactions made through Metrash2 has

reached 1,276,326.
The MoI services include immigration, traffic, criminal evidence and information and nationality and travel
documents. The MoI highlighted that
the customer satisfaction level of the
services at its centres ranges between
86-93%, as per official surveys.
The percentage of transactions
made through service headquarters
showed a decrease in 2015 which, according to the MoI officials, is a direct
outcome and success of the decentralisation of the services.
The ministry launched a number
of e-services and projects such as the
new Residency System, Security Coverage of Commercial Streets and other electronic services last year. There
are a number of ongoing projects,
such as developing the new website of
the ministry, paperless transactions
project, Talaa Smart Traffic Camera
project and renovating company registration.

Vol. XXXVI No. 9992

February 8, 2016
Rabia II 29, 1437 AH

Under the agreement with

Chevron, Qatar Petroleum will
acquire 30% interest in three deepwater offshore leases in Morocco

REGION | Offer

Taiwan quake
toll goes up

in

QATAR | Event

ASIA | Disaster

MONDAY

QP and
Chevron in
exploration
agreement

In brief

The UAE said yesterday it was

ready to supply ground troops
to help support and train an
international military coalition
against Islamic State (IS) in Syria
provided such efforts were led by
the US. Asked whether the UAE
could be expected to send ground
troops to Syria, and if so under what
circumstances, Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash
said: I think that this has been our
position throughout ... that a real
campaign against Daesh has to
include ground elements, he said,
referring to Islamic States name
using the Arabic acronym. Page 9

Solidarity demonstration

he R
is
bl TA 978
A 1
Q since

GULF TIMES

pu

Latest Figures

As for its social media activities,

there was 80% increase in the number
of social media activists who engaged
with the MoI through the digital media. The online campaigns held on
social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in six languages
amounted to 65 campaigns. It reached
almost 17mn people, in addition to the
518,851 engagements including likes,
shares, retweets and comments.
The ministry held about 1,447
community programmes in 2015, including meetings, visits and discussion sessions on different topics and
issues to make closer relation between
ministry and different segments of
the society.
Many educative and awareness
programmes on safety and security
measures and ght against crimes
were also held. Awareness lectures
were held with the public and private
sectors and in expatriate gatherings
in different languages such Arabic,
English, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam and
Nepali.

atar Petroleum (QP) has

reached an agreement with
Chevron Morocco Exploration,
a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation,
to acquire a 30% participating interest from Chevrons 75% share in three
deep-water offshore leases in Morocco.
Under the agreement, which was approved by the Moroccan government,
Qatar Petroleum will acquire the 30%
interest in the deep-water leases, while
Chevron will retain a 45% interest and
remains the operator and Moroccos
Office National Des Hydrocarbures Et
Des Mines will continue to have a 25%
interest.
The three offshore areas are Cap Rhir
Deep, Cap Cantin Deep and Cap Walidia Deep.
Qatar Petroleum president and CEO
Saad Sherida al-Kaabi expressed
pleasure at the nalisation of the
agreement, which he described as an
important step towards building a
mutually benecial relationship with
Chevron with particular emphasis on
international upstream activities.
It is no coincidence that Qatar Petroleums international presence is
now extended to Morocco, a country,
which Qatar enjoys special relations
with, he added.
Ali Moshiri, president, Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and

Production, said: The agreement is a

milestone in both companies efforts to
maximise the value of exploration and
production assets through long-term
relationships. We are pleased to partner with Qatar Petroleum in offshore
Morocco and are looking forward to
use our joint capabilities in this exciting sub-salt play for the benet of Morocco.
The three offshore lease areas are
located between 100-200km west
and northwest of the Moroccan city
of Agadir. They encompass approximately 29,200sq km with average
water depths ranging from 100m to
4,500m.
Qatar Petroleum is a state-owned
public corporation established by Emiri
Decree No 10 in 1974. It is responsible
for all phases of the oil and gas industry
in Qatar.
The principal activities of QP, its
subsidiaries and joint ventures are the
exploration, production, local and international sale of crude oil, natural gas
and gas liquids, rened products, synthetic fuels, petrochemicals, fuel additives, fertilisers, liqueed natural gas
(LNG), steel and aluminium.
The operations and activities of Qatar Petroleum and its affiliates are conducted at various onshore locations,
including Doha, Dukhan and the Mesaieed and Ras Laffan Industrial Cities, as well as offshore areas, including
Halul Island, offshore production stations, drilling platforms and the North
Field.

UN vows robust measures after

North Korean missile launch
DPA
Washington

he UN Security Council yesterday vowed to expeditiously

pursue measures to punish
North Korea after its launch of a longrange rocket, which Pyongyang said
was carrying a satellite, but the council
condemned as a missile test.
The launch strengthened the councils determination to take the further
signicant measures, it had promised if
North Korea continued to violate inter-

national sanctions, the council said.

The missile launch comes one month
after North Korea conducted a nuclear
test.
In line with this commitment and
the gravity of this most recent violation,
the members of the Security Council
will adopt expeditiously a new Security
Council resolution with such measures
in response to these dangerous and serious violations, the council said.
Samantha Power, US ambassador
to the UN, said that Security Council
members would pursue a swift and
aggressive response. Page 15

First palm tree planted in Sheikh Abdullahs original palace

T
he rst palm tree was planted
yesterday inside the gardens of
Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim alThanis original palace, which is now
part of the under construction National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ).
The palace, built at the end of the
19th century, was the residence and
the ruling Seat Palace for Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim al-Thani and his
family.
The decision to preserve the palace,
which was renovated in the 1970s to
serve as the Qatar National Museum
at that time, aims to build the bridge
between Qatars heritage and its rapid
development and modernisation.
The palace, an integral part of the
NMoQ, will be surrounded by a semipublic park and an articial lagoon.
The rst palm tree was planted by
Qatar Museums acting CEO Mansour

The palm tree being planted at the palace by al-Mahmoud and al-Khalifa.

The palace of Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim al-Thani with the first palm tree planted
yesterday.

bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud along with

project supervisor Astad Project Man-

moud reiterated Qatar Museums

commitment to reecting the full

agements CEO Ali al-Khalifa.

Speaking on the occasion, al-Mah-

vitality, complexity and diversity of

the arts and traditions of Qatar, while

partnering and fostering relationships

to support the development of local
culture.
This was the rst palm tree plantation for Qatar Museums and there will
be many more to come, reecting on
the historical support of the local heritage and culture in Qatar.
Al-Khalifa observed that the growth
of the palm trees will reect Astads
continued growth and collaboration
with Qatar Museums. The National
Museum of Qatar will further build
upon the regions heritage and will
prove to be a cultural icon within Qatar.
The ceremony was attended by senior staff and engineers from Qatar Museums and Astad. More palm trees are
to be planted in the perimetre of the
NMoQ as part of the projects sustainable scheme.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR
Emirs message to Saudi king

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has sent a written
message to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman
bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, dealing with bilateral ties and the
latest developments in the region. The message was handed over
by HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman
al-Thani during an audience with King Salman in Riyadh yesterday.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince and Second
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Prince Mohamed
bin Salman met HE the Foreign Minister. They discussed bilateral
relations and the means to enhance them.

Lawyers panel meets

QNA
Doha

he Lawyers Admission
Committee met yesterday
under the chairmanship of
HE the Justice Minister Dr Hassan
Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi who is
also Chairman of the Committee.
Dr Reem al-Aansari took the
oath before the Committee.
The Committee discussed topics on the agenda and took the following decisions:
zAcceptance of the registration

of lawyers Ayidh Faraj al-Marri

and Abeer Riyadh Rohani before
the Court of Appeal.
zAcceptance of the registration
of lawyers Khalid Hamid Mayqa
al-Ahbabi and Ibrahim Mohamed
Ahmed al-Mohannadi at the register of lawyers appearing before
the Court of First Instance.
zAcceptance of the registration
of Khalifa Faraj al-Mohammed
in the register of lawyers under
training.
The Committee discussed other
topics and took appropriate decisions.

Dialogue basis
of cultural
diplomacy,
says envoy
QNA
Washington

atar considers dialogue

and cultural exchange as
the basis of its cultural
diplomacy, Qatars ambassador
to the US Mohamed Jaham alKuwari said.
Speaking at a reception hosted
at the Qatari Embassy in Washington in honour of the Global
Ties US organisation, al-Kuwari underlined Qatars keenness to educate and enable the
youth as its support the principle
of global citizenship.
Global Ties US president
Jennifer Clinton and members from all over America

attended the reception.

Ambassador al-Kuwari highlighted the challenges facing diplomacy and international relations, stressing the importance
of the efforts made by Global
Ties US to overcome some of
these challenges by promoting
exchanges and encouraging participation in experiences.
He underlined the strong relations between Qatar and the US,
especially in education, pointing
out to the study visits organised
by the Qatari embassy for American students from various US
universities and schools.
The nine-day visit allows students to visit universities and exchange information with Qatari
and Arab students, in addition to

visiting the Museum of Islamic

Art and Katara the Cultural Village.
The ambassador highlighted
the importance of higher education in Qatar and the signicance
of the Education City which include branches of six prestigious
American universities, referring to the visit of US First Lady
Michelle Obama to Doha where
she took part in the WISE summit.
Al-Kuwari shed light on Qatars contributions to the education and health elds in the US,
such as Qatar Katrina Fund
which was established in 2005 to
provide direct assistance to people and institutions in need in the
wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Minister meets US official

Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim Seif

Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday met in Doha with US Under
Secretary for International Trade Stefan Selig. Talks during the
meeting dealt with bilateral relations in the fields of transport,
communications and information technology and means of
enhancing them. The meeting was attended by US ambassador
to Qatar Dana Shell Smith, the delegation accompanying the
US officials along with a number of Ministry of Transport and
Communications officials.

Ties reviewed

HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif

Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday met Saudi Arabias Ambassador
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Aifan. They discussed co-operation
between the two countries in the field of transportation and
communication and means of enhancing them.

QDF delegation reviews QRCS projects in Gaza

QNA
Doha

delegation from the Qatar Development Fund

(QDF) visited the Qatar
Red Crescent Societys office
in Gaza, as part of its official
mission on the enclave to re-

view some of the humanitarian projects undertaken by

Qatar to improve the living
standards of Palestinians in
various aspects.
The delegation comprising Ali
A Al-Dabbagh, QDF Executive
Director, and Sultan Alasiri, visited QRCSs office to know more
about its achievements in the

service of the Palestinian people

of Gaza.
Dr Akram Nassar, director of
QRCS Office in Gaza, welcomed
the guests and gave them a
presentation about the key accomplishments in the fields of
healthcare, water and sanitation.
The meeting explored pro-

posed projects to enhance these

vital sectors, helping alleviate the
suffering of the Palestinian people of Gaza.
Dr Nassar pointed out that
QRCS has been working in Gaza
since 2008, conducting almost
$100mn worth of projects.
Al-Dabbagh
commended
QRCSs work in Gaza, stressing

the importance of partnership

between QRCS and other Qatari organisations working in the
Strip.
Both parties agreed to further
pursue their co-operation in the
future, which will contribute to
the basic services provided for
Palestinians.
QRCS has many major hu-

manitarian interventions funded by QDF, under their strong

partnership and QRCSs role as
an auxiliary to Qatar in its humanitarian efforts locally and
abroad.
Among the notable QRCSQDF joint projects are the
$4mn intervention to support
the medical sector in Yemen

and treat war injuries; the

$1mn relief programme in water and sanitation and cholera
control for the war-affected
communities in South Sudan;
and the $10mn programme to
provide food, shelter, medical
aid, drinking water, and health
education for displaced Libyan
families.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR

HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani with Saudi Minister of Economy and
Planning Adel bin Mohamed al-Faqih in Riyadh yesterday.

Qatar, Saudi ministers

review economic ties
QNA
Riyadh

E the Minister of Economy and

Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin
Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani
yesterday met in Riyadh with Saudi
Minister of Economy and Planning
Adel bin Mohamed al-Faqih.
During the meeting they discussed
co-operation between the two countries and means of developing them as
well as the exchange of expertise for the
benet of the two countries particularly in the economic sector.
The accompanying Qatari delegation
made a presentation on the macro economic analysis of the Qatari economy.

The rst phase of the project was carried out by the ministry last year which
is viewed as pioneering.
Later, Qatars experience in publicprivate sector partnership and the
ministrys efforts in investment promotion in different sectors were also
reviewed.
HE the Minister of Economy and
Commerce explained that such meetings assume signicance as they seek
to exchange expertise of the two countries.
Such meetings are also useful in reviewing the experiences, challenges
and solutions, he said adding the region is witnessing challenging times
which require exerted efforts to nd effective and long-term solutions.

The Saudi side praised Qatars presentations and underlined the importance of exchanging experiences in the
economic eld for the good of the two
brotherly countries.
After the presentation by the Qatari
delegation, the Saudi side made a general presentation on the ministry and
the programmes of its affiliated centres.
A delegation from the Ministry of
Economy and Commerce received an
invitation from Saudi Arabia to review the joint experiences of the two
countries and to exchange expertise
in the different fields such as trade,
economy, consumer protection, and
means of enhancing mutual co-operation.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR
French ambassador visits Gulf Times

French ambassador Eric Chevallier visited the Gulf Times office yesterday and held talks with editor-in-chief
Darwish S Ahmed. They discussed ways to enhance bilateral co-operation in the field of media and culture. The
envoy expressed happiness at the remarkable support the embassy and the French community in Qatar have been
receiving from Gulf Times. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil.

Shrek the Musical

coming to Doha
B

ased on the DreamWorks

blockbuster
which has enchanted
millions of audiences of all
ages from across the world,
Shrek the Musical is now set
to entertain families in Qatar with its lavish costumes
and great music.
We are excited to bring
to Qatar this theatre spectacle which features a much
loved character, TripleTwo CEO Hussein Fakhri
said. Featuring all new
songs as well as Shreks
famous anthem, Shrek the
Musical brings the muchloved DreamWorks characters to life, live on stage, in
an all-singing, all-dancing

A scene from Shrek the

Musical.
extravaganza.
Tickets are now on sale
for Shrek the Musical,
which will visit Doha for the
very rst time from March 9
to 19 at Qatar National Con-

vention Centre (QNCC).

As part of its vision to
help make the state a tourism and entertainment hub
in the region, the Qatar
Tourism Authority (QTA) is
a partner for this production.
The animated movie was
released in 2001, and the
three sequels have grossed
far more than $2bn during
their worldwide run.
In 2002, a creative team
around writer David Linday
Abaire and composer Jeanine Tesori began to develop
a live stage musical version
which premiered in 2008.
Since the premiere in
Seattle in summer 2008,

the show has played with

immense success for more
than a year on Broadway in
New York and in the London
Westend.
Shrek the Musical tells
the touching story of a hulking green ogre who, after
being mocked and feared his
entire life by anything that
crosses his path, retreats to
an ugly green swamp to exist in happy isolation.
Early bird tickets are
available at discounted
prices until February 13.
Tickets will also be available
at Ticketmaster outlets in
Carrefour branches in City
Center Doha, Villaggio and
Landmark from today.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR
Strong winds forecast

trong winds are expected in some parts

of the country after
midday today, the Qatar Met
department has said.
Offshore areas, too, are
likely to see strong winds
and high seas by this
evening, according to the
weather report.
The forecast for inshore
areas says it will be hazy
to misty at rst, followed
by moderate temperatures
during the day with slight to
blowing dust in some plac-

es. It will be cold by night.

The wind speed in these
areas may go up to 20 knots
after midday.
Offshore areas, meanwhile, will see some clouds
today, with the wind speed
expected to reach 28 knots
by the evening. The sea level
may rise to 7-9ft.
The minimum and maximum temperatures in the
country today are expected
to be 12C and 26C, respectively, with the forecast for
Doha being 17C and 26C.

Ministry recalls Mercedes Benz

GLC and CLA 2015 models
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Nasser
Bin Khaled (NBK) Automobiles, has announced the recall of Mercedes
Benz GLC and CLA 2015 models to replace the exhaust camshaft.
The Ministry said the recall campaign comes within the framework
of its ongoing efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car
dealers follow up on vehicles defects and repair them.
The Ministry will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on
the maintenance and repair works and communicate with
customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.
The Ministry has urged all customers to report any violations
to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud
Department through the following channels: Hotline: 16001,
e-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram:
MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar

QDF celebrates
Chinese New Year
Q

atar Duty Frees (QDF)

Chinese pavilion has
opened its doors inside
Hamad International Airport
(HIA), inviting passengers to
celebrate Chinas most important festival the New Year
- with discounts of up to 20%,
spending rewards and a range of
promotions.
Mandarin holiday greetings,
decorative red lanterns and staff
dressed in traditional Chinese
costume will welcome travellers
to QDFs red-and-gold, 180sqm
pavilion located behind the
Lamp Bear in the departures hall
of HIA.
Passengers will discover an
array of gift ideas once inside the
elaborate Chinese pagoda, perfect for those shopping for fes-

tival items and presents, as well

as for travellers who are simply
inspired by the customary New
Year celebrations, QDF said in a
statement yesterday.
Savings of up to 20% will be offered on QDF fragrances, cosmetics, skincare, confectionery, luxury
watches, ne jewellery and other

gift items in the Chinese pavilion.

Customers who buy items
valued at QR1,000 ($274) and
above, using a UnionPay credit
card, will receive a traditional
Chinese red envelope containing a QR100 QDF gift voucher.
Discount vouchers will also be
distributed to passengers in HIA
by QDF staff throughout the
Chinese festive season.
Keith Hunter, senior vicepresident of QDF, said: Chinese
New Year is a time to revel in
holiday festivities, observe traditions and enjoy family reunions. Qatar Duty Free recognises
the importance of this festival
for many of our customers travelling through HIA during the
seasonal period.
With this beautiful pavilion,

Al Khaliji hosts staff gathering

Al Khalij Commercial Bank (Al Khaliji) has hosted its annual staff gathering in Doha. The
event is a gesture of gratitude for the efforts of the banks staff and a celebration of its
achievements as an institution in 2015. It celebrated a year marked with milestone
achievements, organic growth and remarkable performance for the group, as a result
of staff determination and commitment, who also enjoy an environment of prosperity,
innovation and creativity, according to a statement. Al Khalijis annual gathering allows
staff members to socialise in an informal atmosphere, fostering and deepening the sense
of goodwill and creating an atmosphere of relaxed interaction, the statement adds. This
year, the event provided an opportunity for the Al Khaliji team to celebrate the banks
several accolades, including 2015s Best Private Bank in Qatar by Global Finance
magazine, and Best Premium Bank by the Banker Middle East, among others.

Two jailed for

stealing money
by using fake
bank website
Two African expatriate men
have been sentenced to three
years in jail for creating a fake
website to steal money from
clients of a bank.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah
reported yesterday that the
Criminal Court also ordered
their deportation upon
serving the sentence.
According to the chargesheet, the local bank was
notified by some of its
clients about suspicious
withdrawals and money
transfers from their
personal accounts through
the website without their
approval.
Upon investigation it turned
out that all such transactions
were conducted in August
2013, as the defendants had
created a fake website that
resembled that of the bank
concerned and managed
to steal the information of
some of its clients. Then,
they used such information
on the original website of the
bank and manipulated the
accounts of some clients.
Most of the funds so
transferred were diverted to
the bank account of one of
the defendants.
When the authorities
concerned investigated
the case and seized the
computers used in the crime,
it turned out that they were
also attempting to steal the
money from other banks
using the same techniques.
Accordingly, the court
convicted them based on
investigations and evidences.
Jail term for theft: A Doha
criminal court has sentenced
a Sri Lankan expatriate to six
months in jail and ordered
his subsequent deportation
for stealing QR2,350 from
the vehicle of his paternal
half-brother.
Local Arabic daily Arrayah
reported yesterday that
the defendant followed
the victim as he was going
to the mosque to perform
prayers. Then, he opened
the car and grabbed the
money and fled. The
defendant admitted his guilt
at the police interrogation
but denied any wrongdoing
at the court hearing.
However, the court
convicted him based on
investigations.

we are telling Qatar Duty Frees

own story through Chinese New
Year and providing our customers with exclusive promotions
across an extensive range of gift
items.
Additional Chinese New Year
discounts of up to 10% will
also be available on brands at
selected boutiques in HIA.
Passengers can choose from
a variety of duty-free products at amazing prices, including promotions from Tiffany,
TAG Heuer, Chopard and Bulgari. Popular products available
within the Chinese pavilion include Godiva chocolates, Prada
perfume, La Prairie skincare,
Swarovski jewellery, Harrods
bags and Marmalade Market gift
items, the statement added.

Expat ned
for attacking
neighbour

Doha criminal court has

ned an Egyptian expatriate QR1,000 for insulting
and threatening his neighbour
with a knife, local Arabic daily
Arrayah reported yesterday.
The defendant was accused
of knocking on the door of his
neighbour, whom he never knew
before, one afternoon and tried
to attack him. However, the
other neighbours intervened and
drove him away. At the time, the
defendant insulted the victim
and threatened him with a knife
and warned him not to talk to his
wife again or approach her.
In the police investigation, the
defendant justied his action by
claiming he was trying to keep
the neighbor away from his wife.
He claimed that the neighbour used to try to nd different
excuses to talk to his wife and
follow her at the entrance of the
building and the staircase.

Indian embassy holiday tomorrow

The Indian embassy will remain closed tomorrow on account of the Qatar National Sport
Day, it was announced yesterday.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR

AZF lines up activities

for National Sport Day
A

spire Zone Foundation

(AZF) has announced
that its venues and facilities are ready to receive
thousands of participants on
National Sport Day.
Full details of the activities
on offer can be found through
the Life in Aspire mobile app,
www.aspirezone.qa or any of
AZFs social media channels.
The National Sport Day programme at AZF consists of a
wide variety of sports activities,
which suit all ages, from early in
the morning.
A number of family activities have been lined up for the
occasion. At 7am, registration
opens for the Fun Run. Visitors
can take part in the 3K Fun Run
around Aspire Zone, between
9am and 11am.
Then, from 8am, there will be
the Family Bike activity. Families will be able to enjoy the bikes
in Aspire Zone, situated behind
the childrens playground area
next to Aspire Dome. The activity will run until 11.45am and no
registration is required.
The 5,000 steps journey starts
at 9am at Aspire Park, next to
the Burgeri restaurant. The walk
consists of 12 stations where
participants will receive tips and
advice on physical activity and
leading a healthy lifestyle.
Also from 9am, there will
be the Aspire Zone family activities. Families can take their
children to pitch 10, opposite
Aspire Park, to enjoy basketball,
volleyball, football tournaments
and more sporting activities.
Mens activities will run from
8am until 12noon.
There will be beach soccer for

Businessman
addresses
CNA-Q class
L

The National Sport Day programme at AZF consists of a wide variety of sports activities, which suit all ages, from early in the morning.
men above 18 years. Eight teams
will compete for the championship on Aspire Zones sand pitches.
There will also be basketball
for men above 16 years. A halfbasketball court will host 3x3
matches, organised under the
supervision of the Qatar Basketball Federation.
Ladies activities, meanwhile,
will run from 9am until 10.30am
at the ladies club.
Women can enjoy their share
of AZF activities on National
Sport Day, including the opportunity to enjoy exercising to the
beat of Zumba. This exclusive

action will take place in a private

space at the ladies club. No registration is required.
Children arriving early will also
be able to enjoy their share of the
activities, which will run from
8am until 12noon on pitch 10.
AZF will organise judo training for boys and girls, aged 8-12
years. Following a number of
warm-up exercises, those taking
part in the training will be able to
learn more about judo techniques
under the guidance and supervision of professional instructors.
There will also be football for
kids (7-12 years), featuring mini-

competitions under the supervision of coaches and referees.

The afternoon activities will
take place from 10am to 4pm.
A wall climbing activity will be
held under the supervision of licensed instructors on an outdoor
climbing wall. It will take place
near the outdoor pitches.
For those who want to exercise
indoors, Aspire Dome will host
activities for the entire family.
One of the attractions will be
Beat the champion, featuring
a variety of indoor activities. At
the end of each test, participants
will receive a certicate record-

QRCS personnel trained on

neonatal resuscitation skills
Q

atar Red Crescent

Society (QRCS) ofce in Turkey recently organised a course
on neonatal resuscitation
programme (NRP) to develop scientic skills and
experience among the personnel of its health projects
in Syria as well as other
medical institutions.
Held at the Union of Syrian Civil Society Organisations (USYCSO) in Bab Alhawa, Turkey, the two-day
course was directed to the
nurses and midwives who
work at obstetrics and gynaecology departments, to
update their information
about NRP techniques.
The course was attended
by 72 midwives and nurses,
including 23 from QRCSs
healthcare centres in Syria
and 10 from other partners such as the Syrian
American Medical Society
(SAMS), the Syrian Expatriate Medical Association
(SEMA), International Humanitarian Relief (IHR),

Yousef bin Jassim al-Darwish at CNA-Q.

A trainer conducts a demonstration on neonatal resuscitation.

and others. There were also
39 nurses from the Academy
of Medical Sciences, Eastern
Ghouta, Rif Dimashq, who
attended the training via
videoconference.
Several signicant topics
were discussed in the event,
including NRP basics, initiation of resuscitation, nasal

Applications invited for

Unlimited Doha Design Prize
The British Council and its partners have invited
Gulf-based designers to participate in the Unlimited
Doha Design Prize 2016. The contest offers an
opportunity to come together with UK counterparts
for a week-long design residency in Doha.
The Unlimited Doha Design Prize is open to
architects, urban designers, engineers, 3D
designers, technologists and researchers.
Twenty participants 10 each from the Gulf and
the UK will take part in the live design residency
between March 18 and 26.
They will work in teams to research and explore the
theme of The Open City and develop new ideas
and innovative design solutions that will improve
the experience of movement and accessibility
within the 21st-century city.
Under the patronage of HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint
Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, chairperson of Qatar
Museums, and in partnership with the Supreme
Committee for Delivery & Legacy, the design
residency will give shortlisted participants the
opportunity to work in Doha.
At the end of the residency, a winning team will be
awarded the Unlimited Doha Design Prize and a
grant of 15,000 to be used to further develop the
project proposal as a team.
For more information, one can visit http://tinyurl.
com/Unlimited-Doha-Design-Prize

intermittent positive pressure

ventilation (NIPPV), closed
chest cardiac massage, endotracheal intubation, use of
drugs in resuscitation, and
ethical issues of resuscitation.
Such courses give the
medical and technical personnel a lot of medical skills
and knowledge introduced

by the latest scientic research and journals in the

world, enhancing their experience and prociency.
Neonatal asphyxia is responsible for 20% of the overall neonatal mortality rate.
This course was crucial for
the trainees to integrate NRP
best practices in their work.

Food fest to feature celebrity chefs

Celebrating culinary culture
under the theme A Different
Side of Food, the Qatar
International Food Festival
(QIFF) will be staged for seven
days (March 22 to 28) this year at
the Museum of Islamic Art Park
and in satellite venues including
Katara the Cultural Village and
The Pearl-Qatar.
The annual festival, organised by
Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA)
and Qatar Airways (QA), will see
the return of signature events
such as Dinner in the Sky and
Cooking Theatre, featuring
celebrity chefs from Doha and
around the world.
Chinese food lovers will also have
plenty to look forward to with a
showcase of Chinese cuisine as
part of the Qatar-China 2016 Year
of Culture celebrations.
The event is an important part
of our strategy to grow and
diversify the countrys tourism
offering in partnership with
the private sector, QTA Chief
Marketing and Promotion Officer

Rashed al-Qurese said in a press

statement.
QIFF showcases our countrywide five-star culinary and
hospitality offerings, giving
visitors a taste of the countrys
most authentic experiences, he
added.
QA senior vice president
Marketing and Corporate
Communications Salam alShawa said QIFF, on its seventh
year, has proven to be one of the
most popular city-based events
in the world.
We are pleased to join with QTA
to create an experience for the
residents of Doha. In addition,
we are very proud of our role
in bringing the world to Doha
to taste the countrys finest
culinary and cultural offerings,
she added.
Following its success last year
with around 170,000 visitors,
the QIFF is expected to attract a
large number of people this year
with new offerings designed for
the whole family.

ing how their results compare to

a number of athletes and world
champions.
The Multi-Sport Skill Development programme will comprise challenges and activities,
including gymnastics and aerobics, for all family members.
Aspire Active will include
a number of exercises for the
whole family, designed to help
build up endurance and muscle
mass and enhance exibility.
A series of football-related activities will also be held.
These are open to everyone.
Pages 8,26,28

eading Qatari businessman Yousef bin Jassim

al-Darwish has addressed students at College
of the North Atlantic Qatar
(CNA-Q).
During the talk, he brought
lessons in entrepreneurship as
well as laughter to an auditorium full of CNA-Q Business
Studies students.
Al-Darwishs
questionand-answer style talk is part
of CNA-Qs efforts to inspire
students to be leaders of Qatar
National Vision 2030 by hearing from successful business
professionals who have helped
build todays Qatar, according
to a statement.
Al Darwish United Co was
established in 1994 as part
of a family business set up in
1935. Al-Darwish assumed
chairmanship of the company
in 1994.
The company has grown
into a conglomerate enterprise
with interests in construction, industrial supply, travel,
real estate and media. It grew

in lockstep with the growth of

Qatars oil and gas sector and
has been involved in developing some of Dohas biggest
landmarks such as Education City and the State Grand
Mosque, the statement notes.
I am glad to visit CNA-Q,
the States premier technical college, and meet these
young people who are thirsty
for knowledge, said al-Darwish. It is our responsibility
to share the expertise we have
learned over the years, and to
direct the youth, who will be
the next generation of leaders
in Qatar.
Mr al-Darwishs heartfelt
answers resonated with our
students, and you could see
by the look on their faces that
they aspire to be like him. It is
important that we show our
students business role models, so they can see for themselves the success that can be
reached through a quality education and hard work, said
David King, dean, School of
Business Studies, CNA-Q.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR/REGION

QTA partners with

47 hotels in Sport
Day initiative
Residents and visitors will
have the chance to get free
access to hotel gyms and
join gym classes during the
Qatars National Sport Day
celebration tomorrow
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter

he Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) has partnered with 47 hotels in

the country to launch an initiative that will help residents take
the rst and sometimes difficult
step towards living an active and
healthy lifestyle.
Residents and visitors will
have the chance to get free access to hotel gyms and join gym
classes during the Qatars National Sport Day celebration tomorrow.
Announcing the initiative yesterday, QTAs international cooperation director Saif al-Kuwari
said that hotels would also offer a
number of health packages that
include (up to 50% discount)
on gym membership, healthy
brunch buffets, free gym classes,
and special room packages.
We want to encourage people
to take the rst step on National

QTAs International Co-operation director Saif al-Kuwari, right, and

National Sport Day Committee chairman Abdulrahman Mosallam alDosari announcing the healthy lifestyle initiative yesterday.
Sport Day, he stressed, as he
thanked hotels for making their
sport facilities and healthy foods
widely available for people during the offer period.
QTA held a series of brainstorming sessions with four and
ve-star hotels in Qatar which
supply 16,000 rooms and all have

excellent spa and gym facilities.

QTA is the government agency
that regulates the hospitality
sector, ensuring they operate at
the highest standards and continuously perpetuating Qatars
culture.
The initiative encourages all

entities both public and private,

as well as leaders of various communities, to ensure that National
Sports Day is taken advantage of
the way it is intended to, according to al-Kuwari.
He advised residents to check
a detailed listing of hotel offers
online since each participating
hotel has a different package.
The number of hotels participating is an evidence for the
growth of the hotel sector, especially in the four and ve star
categories, he said.
As part of its National Sports
Day celebration, QTA also
launched the #QatarInMotion
social media campaign. People
can capture their view of Qatar
while doing various physical activities such running, jumping
rope, swimming or doing yoga.
Videos must be posted on Twitter or Instagram with the campaigns hashtag.
QTA added that Qatar has a
thriving hospitality sector with
119 hotels and hotel apartments,
and more than 20,000 rooms. In
2015, the sector posted a steady
occupancy rate of 70%.
The new hotel and classication system raises the bar further
for hotel facilities and services,
al-Kuwari added. Page 26, 28

An opportunity to make lifestyle changes

By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter

large number of people in

Qatar had been missing a
big part of their lives due
to increased mobility and the advent of modern gadgets, National
Sport Day (NSD) Committee
chairman Abdulrahman Mosallam al-Dosari said yesterday.
Qatar is among the countries
with very high obesity cases
along with Western and other
GCC countries such as the US,
the official pointed out, while explaining that 17% of adults in the
country are battling diabetes.

He said that such illnesses had

been causing a lot of damage to
society on a daily basis, reducing
the percentage of work efficiency.
Many people do not take the
time to exercise and this is the
reason why we have Sport Day to
remind them of its importance,
al-Dosari noted. It is a special
day to be taken seriously, an opportunity for people to make
changes in their lifestyle.
He also said the country had
built enough facilities for physical activities, sports and recreation for its residents. Some
people complain about the lack
of facilities and this is not true.
Al-Dosari lamented that some

entities took advantage of the

annual celebration to sell lot of
unhealthy food items.
This was the reason why the
Qatar Tourism Authority and 47
hotels launched an initiative that
offer residents healthy packages
such as free gym use and gym
classes, among others.
The committee also asked entities to focus on not wasting
resources. We want the private
sector to develop something
more innovative that can have a
bigger impact on a larger group
of people and not just on their
staff, al-Dosari said.
The committee is also doing a
study, in collaboration with Qa-

Signals at Al Thumama
intersection partially open

he newly-installed traffic signals at

Al Thumama intersection became
partially operational from yesterday. Work on the project, which is part
of a major expansion, will take at least
four more months to be completed. The
widening of E-Ring Road, which is being
turned into a four-lane-a-side road, construction of the median, widening of Najma Street between the Mall Signal and Al
Thumama intersection and installation of
new traffic signal (Oqba bin Nae Street)
towards the Mathar Qadheem area are the
other works to be completed as part of
the road development under the ongoing
project.

tar University, to investigate the

habits of residents with regards
to sport and exercise. They found
out that walking is the most popular physical activity for them.
The nding has inspired the
committee to work with the
Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the Ministry of
Transport and Communications
to nd ways of building more avenues for walking in the city.
They are working to develop
the Sport for all initiative and
will be announcing soon ways
to make the NSD more effective
so it will not just be one day in a
year but a long term initiative,
al-Dosari added.

A workshop session in progress.

QEERI holds workshop on

on photovoltaic innovation
T
he advantages and resources available for
Qatar to integrate photovoltaics (PV) technology in the
urban environment, allowing
buildings to be converted from
energy users to energy producers, was discussed at a workshop.
Titled Building-Integrated
Photovoltaic (BIPV) technologies and their application to
Qatar and the Mena Region, the
event was hosted by Qatar Environment and Energy Research
Institute (QEERI), a national
research institute of Hamad Bin
Khalifa University (HBKU).
Architects and building engineers learnt how PV systems
can be introduced in buildings
with good design, structures
and energy concepts, as well as
how BIPV products can be multifunctional such as electricity
generation, weather protection,

heat insulation, sun protection,

noise protection, modulation of
daylight, and security.
BIPV are photovoltaic materials used to replace conventional building materials in
parts of the building such as the
roof, skylights, or facades. They
are increasingly being incorporated into the construction
of new buildings as a principal
or auxiliary source of electrical
power, although existing buildings may be retrotted with
similar technology.
A roundtable discussion on
BIPV opportunities and needs
in Qatar highlighted the challenge of promoting the use of
solar energy in Qatar when
the cost of energy in domestic buildings is free of charge
for Qataris and subsidised for
expats. It was noted that there
is a big need for sustainability
awareness, a task where Kah-

ramaas Tarsheed programme is

taking the lead.
Dr Ahmed Ennaoui, research
director of the Solar Energy
Group, QEERI explained: Qatars desert environment poses
unique challenges for PV; the
dust and high temperatures
decrease their efficiency, in addition, to the challenges of integrating solar energy to the grid.
QEERIs research addresses
these issues, so collaborating
with both local stakeholders
and international experts in this
eld is vital to our success.
The BIPV workshop included
research posters from local and
international scientists.
The workshop concluded with
a ceremony for the Young Contest
Award, where ve students from
Hamad Bin Khalifa University and
Qatar University received awards
for their innovative projects in solar photovoltaics.

LuLu expands Oman presence

Audit Department team

reviews Seha bills
A team from the Audit Department is reviewing the
bills and invoices paid within the National Health
Insurance Company (Seha), which was stopped on
December 31 last year, local Arabic daily Arrayah
has reported. The team started its work last week
at the Ministry of Public Health. They are reviewing
and auditing all the amount spent through Seha,
estimated to be QR8bn.
According to the daily, some reports suggest that
the suppliers of Seha had manipulated the cost of
treatment and medications to deliberately increase
the amount of bills through unnecessary tests and
oversupply of drugs without any real need.
Besides, the Advisory Council has demanded that a
special committee should evaluate and assess the
system to find a better alternative. The decision of
the cabinet to stop the work of Seha came as a result
of mounting complaints about inflated amounts
charged for the medical services offered to Qataris
by private providers, Arrayah added.

Middle East retail major LuLu Group has further expanded its presence in Oman by opening its
latest 100,000sq ft hypermarket in Suwaiq, a coastal town in the north east of the country. The
LuLu Groups 122nd hypermarket and the 16th in Oman was officially inaugurated by Shaikh
Muhna bin Saif bin Salim al-Lamki, governor of North Al Batinah, in the presence of several highranking officials from various government departments and representatives from local business
communities. Speaking on the occasion, LuLu Group chairman Yusuffali MA, announced that the
group would open seven more hypermarkets in various regions of Oman in the next two years.
LuLu Group CEO Saifee Rupawala, executive director Ashraf Ali MA and Oman regional director
Ananth A V were present.

Honda Qatar Facebook page reaches a milestone

onda Qatar Facebook page

reached a
milestone with
100,000 fans.
Keeping in line with Domascos philosophy, the Facebook page had been
created to promote customer engagement and attract as many Honda fans
as possible in Qatar.
Launching the Honda Qatar Facebook page was an integral part of our
strategy to create a new way of interacting with Honda clientele, promote
customer engagement and build an active brand community, said Domasco
managing director Faisal Sharif.
Since its commencement, the page
has clearly generated signicant online
interaction and succeeded in creating a
two-way communication channel with
our fans online, he added.
Interesting online content and visually appealing photos cover key insights,
which allow the brand to reach across to
a wider target audience in Qatar.
The page highlights information on
the range of Honda innovations and

products including cars, motorbikes,

marine, power products, and Honda
racing.
Regular contests with amazing giveaways and information about the latest
offers from Honda are also featured on
the brand page.
Honda ensures that the engagement is not restricted to just the online space, and makes special efforts
to translate these efforts to the offline
arena as well.
To bring together the online com-

munity, Domasco organises special

events and in-store celebrations that
have traditionally witnessed a high attendance.
As part of our strategy, we constantly interact with our fans, providing them with exclusive benets for
being a part of the Honda brand community. We encourage all the Honda
customers and fans to join our Facebook page and stay connected with us,
Domasco Honda sales and marketing
head Greig Roffey said.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

REGION/ARAB WORLD
Clashes leave vehicles stranded in Yemen

UAE ready
to support
anti-IS
coalition
Reuters
Abu Dhabi

he United Arab Emirates (UAE) said yesterday it was ready to

supply ground troops to help
support and train an international military coalition
against Islamic State in Syria
provided such efforts were led
by the US.
Asked whether the UAE
could be expected to send
ground troops to Syria, and if
so under what circumstances,
Minister of State for Foreign
Affairs Anwar Gargash said:
I think that this has been
our position throughout ...
that a real campaign against
Daesh has to include ground
elements, he said, referring to
Islamic States name using the
Arabic acronym.
Saudi Arabia, one of several Gulf states, including
the UAE, who are opposed to
Islamic State, said last week
it was ready to participate
in any ground operations in
Syria if the US-led coalition
ghting Islamic State mili-

tants decided to start such

operations.
Gargash said that any potential supply of troops would
not be particularly large.
We are not talking about
a thousand troops but we are
talking about troops on the
ground that will lead the way,
that will train, that will support ... And I think our position remains the same and
we will have to see how this
progresses.
Of course an American
leadership in this effort is a
pre-requisite, Gargash said.
He added that the UAE had
been frustrated at the slow
pace of the international efforts against Islamic State although there has been some
progress in Iraq recently, of
confronting Daesh.
Gargash said the UAE had
always stated there also needed to be a genuine political
process in Baghdad that will
encompass the Sunnis in
Iraq, which has a Shia-led
government.
Saudi Arabia and most other
Gulf states are opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi king cautions

against interference
Reuters
Riyadh

audi Arabias King Salman yesterday called on

other countries not to
interfere in the kingdoms internal affairs in what appeared
to be a rebuke to main foe Iran,
which it accuses of attempting
to stir unrest.
It is our right to defend
ourselves, without interfering in the affairs of others. We
call on others to not interfere
in our affairs, Salman said in
a speech opening the annual
Janadriya cultural festival in

Riyadh, state news agency SPA

reported.
We co-operate with our
Arab and Muslim brothers
in all areas in defending our
lands and ensuring their independence and guarding their
government systems as sanctioned by their peoples, he
added.
Salman did not elaborate,
but his remarks seemed aimed
at Iran, which Riyadh accuses
of destabilising Arab states
and spreading sectarianism
by backing militias in Syria,
Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen and
fomenting unrest in Bahrain
and Saudi Arabia.

LEGAL

Dual citizens face espionage charges

There are several detained dual citizens in Iran, most of whom face
espionage charges, the judiciary spokesman was quoted as saying
yesterday, although he did not give details of any individual cases.
The comments come after an Iranian-British former BBC journalist,
Bahman Daroshafaei, was detained last week in Tehran. His family
said on Saturday they had not been informed of any charges against
him. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif said in London
on Thursday that he did not know about the case.
Tehran released four Iranian-Americans on Jan 16 in a prisoner
swap deal with Washington, including Jason Rezaian, the Washington Posts Tehran bureau chief who was arrested in July 2014 and
accused of espionage. We have several dual citizens in jail. Their
charges are mostly the same (as Rezaians), the judiciary spokesman
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying by the Fars news
agency.

Trucks are seen stuck on a road due to fighting between pro-government forces and Houthi rebels in Yemens volatile northern province of Marib yesterday.

Algerian lawmakers nod

for constitutional reforms
AFP
Algiers

lgerias parliament adopted a package of constitutional reforms yesterday that authorities say will
strengthen democracy, but opponents doubt it will bring real
change.
The reforms are meant to address longstanding public grievances in the North African nation, and possibly to prepare for a
smooth transition amid concerns
over the health of 78-year-old
President Abdelaziz Bouteika.
The package was passed by
499 votes to two, with 16 abstentions, Senate speaker Abdelkader Bensalah said.
A two-term limit on the presidency lifted in 2008 to allow Bouteika to run for a third
time will be reintroduced and
the president will be required to
nominate a prime minister from
the largest party in parliament.
Bouteika whose public
engagements have become rare
since suffering a stroke in 2013
will be allowed to nish his
fourth term, which ends in 2019,
and run for a fth if he wishes.
The package also prevents
Algerians with dual nationality
from running for high posts in

Algerian parliamentary group leaders vote on a package of

constitutional reforms yesterday, in the capital Algiers.
public office, which has sparked
criticism among the Franco-Algerian community.
It foresees the creation of an
independent electoral commission and recognition of the roles
of women and youth. Freedoms
of assembly and the press will be
explicitly guaranteed.
The Amazigh language spoken
by the indigenous Berber population will also be recognised as
official, alongside Arabic.
After the vote, Prime Minis-

Arab Israeli MP gets suspended

sentence for police insult
AFP
Jerusalem

n Arab Israeli lawmaker known for her sharp criticism of Israeli policies has been given a six-month
suspended sentence for insulting police officers, ofcials said yesterday.
The incident dates to July 2014, when Hanin Zoabi called
two Arab Israeli police officers traitors.
Her comments were made at a court hearing in the city
of Nazareth for young Arabs arrested after protests to denounce the burning alive of Palestinian teenager Mohamed
Abu Khdeir by three Israelis.
She was also ordered to pay a fine of 3,000 shekels
($770, 690 euros), the Nazareth magistrates court decision read.
Zoabi is a member of the Balad party which is on the Joint
List, a coalition of Arab Israeli parties in parliament.
The Joint List has 13 seats out of the parliaments 120, including three for Balad.
She was one of three Arab Israeli lawmakers who recently
met relatives of Palestinians killed after attacking Israelis, a
move that drew harsh condemnation from Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.
Basel Ghattas, Jamal Zahalka and Zoabi attended a meet-

File photo shows Israeli Arab member of parliament, Hanin

Zoabi, who has been given a six-month suspended sentence.
ing initiated by a Palestinian committee seeking to retrieve
the bodies of attackers killed by Israeli security forces, Balad
said.
Israel has returned the bodies of some attackers but retained others since a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and carramming attacks erupted in October.
Zoabi also sparked outrage in Israel by taking part in a
Gaza-bound aid otilla in 2010.

ter Abdelmalek Sellal hailed the

president as the architect of the
new Algerian republic.
But critics disagree, saying
the reforms are little more than a
show and will do little to reduce
the inuence of the powerful
elite, including Bouteikas National Liberation Front party and
army generals.
Former lawmaker and regime
opponent Djamel Zenati said
that with the current revision,
our countrys constitution -

nally brings together the main

elements necessary to build a
democracy.
But as violating laws has become the law in Algeria, it is
hard to believe those in power
are being even the slightest bit
sincere, he wrote in El Watan
newspaper.
Former prime minister Ali
Benis, who was Bouteikas
rival in the 2014 presidential
polls, slammed the reforms as a
constitutional power grab to
solve only the regimes not
the countrys problems.
The president and his supporters have moved in recent
months to take control of the
security services, dissolving the
powerful Department of Intelligence and Security and jailing or
sidelining top officials.
Bouteika and his inner circle
have held a rm grip on power
since 1999 and, as the end of his
rule appears to close in, there are
fears of instability in the mainly
Muslim country of 40mn, a key
energy producer.
This project crowns the
process of political reforms
promised by the head of state,
Sellal told parliamentarians.
The
reforms
guaranteed
democratic change by means
of free elections and were a
bulwark against the vagaries of

political change, he said, referring to parts of the constitution

that cannot be altered if Islamists form a majority.
Unlike many countries in the
region, including its neighbours
Libya and Tunisia, Algeria has
been relatively stable since the
2011 Arab Spring.
But it is facing a range of challenges, including regular jihadist
attacks, sporadic outbreaks of
violence between Berbers and
Arabs, and a precipitous drop in
state revenues as oil prices have
plummeted.
The High Council of the
Amazigh affairs (HCA), set up
in 1995 to promote teaching the
Berber tongue in public schools,
has welcomed the Berber language becoming official.
It will allow the state to dedicate more means and measures
to make up for shortcomings,
HCA secretary-general Si El
Hachemi Assad said.
Around a fourth of Algerians speak regional variants of
Amazigh, but less than 3% of
students learn it at school, the
HCA says.
Algeria hopes to create an
Amazigh language academy to
address its standardisation and
transcription into one of the
Berber, Latin or Arabic alphabets.

10

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

ARAB WORLD
Deadly air
strike hits
hospital in
east Libya

Turkey delivers aid as Syrian

forces step up Aleppo assault

AFP
Benghazi

Tens of thousands mass

on Syrian side of border;
Erdogan says Aleppo
assault threatens Turkey

n air strike hit a hospital

in Derna in eastern Libya
yesterday, killing four
people including a woman and
her child and two anti-government ghters, a doctor said.
There are four dead a
nurse, her 10-year-old son
and two members of the Shura
Council, radiologist Dr Mohamed al-Jeddayimi at Al Wehda hospital said.
In its own statement, the Mujahedeen Shura Council said the
attack was in the area of the Faculty of Medical Technology Science in the Bab Tobruk district
of eastern Derna came at 0400
GMT. The Mujahedeen Shura
Council of Derna is a coalition of
militias in the city.
It was formed to oppose forces of the controversial General
Khalifa Haftar, head of forces
loyal to the internationally recognised authorities based in the
east.
Jeddayimi said the nurse and
her son were killed in a direct
hit on Al Wehda hospitals urology department, adding that
the unit was completely destroyed.
The hospital is near the medical faculty in Bab Tobruk.
No claim of responsibility has
been made, and forces loyal to
the recognised government did
not report any air strike in the
area yesterday. The coastal city
of Derna is 1,100 kilometres east
of the capital Tripoli.
The
Mujahedeen
Shura
Council of Derna that controls
it is a motley mix of militias that
include Ansar al-Sharia, which
is close to Al Qaeda.

Reuters
Oncupinar, Turkey/Beirut

id trucks and ambulances entered Syria from

Turkey yesterday to help
tens of thousands of people who
have ed an escalating government assault on Aleppo, as
air strikes targeted villages on
the road linking the city to the
Turkish border.
Rebel-held areas in and
around Aleppo, Syrias largest
before the war, are still home to
350,000 people, and aid workers have said they could soon fall
to the government.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights, which monitors
the war, said air strikes, thought
to be from Russian planes, hit
villages north of Aleppo yesterday including Bashkoy, Haritan
and Anadan, the latter two near
the road to Turkey.
Russias intervention has
tipped the balance of the war in
favour of President Bashar alAssad, reversing gains the rebels
made last year. Advances by the
Syrian army and allied militias,
including Iranian ghters, are
threatening to cut the rebelheld zones of Aleppo off from
Turkish supply lines.
In some parts of Aleppo, the
Assad regime has cut the northsouth corridor ... Turkey is under threat, Turkish President
Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by
the Hurriyet newspaper as telling reporters on his plane back
from a visit to Latin America.
Turkey has given refuge to ci-

Ambulances enter Syria from Turkey at Oncupinar border crossing in the southeastern city of Kilis, Turkey yesterday.
vilians eeing Syria throughout
the conict, but is coming under
growing pressure from the US to
secure the border more tightly,
and, from Europe, to stem the
onward ow of migrants.
It is already sheltering more
than 2.5mn Syrians, the worlds
largest refugee population.
But at the Oncupinar gate,
which has been largely shut for
nearly a year, the newest arrivals were being shepherded into
camps on the Syrian side, where
Turkey says they are safe for

now. The local governor of Oncupinar said on Saturday that

around 35,000 had reached the
border in the space of 48 hours.
If needed, we will let those
brothers in, Erdogan was quoted as saying.
Aid officials at Oncupinar
said they were focusing for now
on getting aid to the Syrian side
of the border, where Turkish
agencies have set up new shelters.
Were extending our efforts
inside Syria to supply shelter,

food and medical assistance to

people. We are already setting
up another camp, an official
from the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) told
Reuters.
At a camp at Bab al Salama,
on the Syrian side of the border, children played in the
muddy lanes between rows of
tents lashed by rain. Some were
ripped and caked with mud, but
others appeared to be newly set
up.
A ag of the opposition Free

Syrian Army uttered over the

road leading out towards the
Syrian city of Azaz, along which
many of the displaced have
travelled in recent days. Opposition ghters armed with Kalashnikovs wandered nearby.
Syria is nished now, said
Dilel Cumali, who has been
sleeping at the camp for the past
month. All we want is to get inside Turkey.
Taking full control of Aleppo
would be a huge strategic prize
for Assads government in a

ve-year conict that has killed

at least 250,000 people across
the country and driven 11mn
from their homes.
Assad teaming up with Russia is trying to annihilate us,
said Kasim, 21, an opposition
ghter lying in hospital in the
Turkish town of Kilis, one of a
few dozen wounded combatants and civilians let in through
Oncupinar in recent weeks.
But they wont succeed. I
will get better and go back to
war and ght to the last drop
of my blood to see Bashar toppled.
While areas to the northwest
of Aleppo are held by Syrian
opposition forces and Kurdish
groups, the territory to the
northeast is held by the militant
group Islamic State.
The Observatory said there
had been erce clashes in that
area, and state media said government forces had wrested
a strategic hill in the eastern
Aleppo countryside from Islamic State.
The United Arab Emirates
(UAE) said it was ready to send
ground troops into Syria as part
of an international coalition
ghting Islamic State, provided Washington took the lead,
echoing an offer made last week
by its fellow Gulf power Saudi
Arabia.
Erdogan said Turkeys armed
forces had the full authority to
counter any threats to its national security, although senior officials have said the Nato
member does not intend to
mount any unilateral incursion
into Syria.
Syrias foreign minister said
on Saturday it would send
any invading forces home in
coffins.
CONFLICT

Egyptian police shoot four

suspected militants in raid
Reuters
Cairo

gyptian police shot dead four suspected militants inside a house

a few miles from central Cairo,
the interior ministry said yesterday, the
third such incident in as many weeks.
It said the men belonged to Ajnad
Misr, a group that emerged in January
2014 and has targeted security forces in
and around Cairo.
The suspects had opened re rst, it
said.
Engagement resulted in the death of
four known elements and the uncover-

ing of an assault rie, a 9mm pistol, an

improvised rearm, a car previously
used in many terrorist attacks, and a
motorcycle without licence plates, a
ministry statement said.
The men were suspects in the killing
of two policemen, a soldier and a civilian
and they were also suspected of blowing
up a police vehicle and bombing a security checkpoint, it said.
Egypt is ghting an insurgency in Sinai that gained momentum in mid-2013
when the military ousted Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Mursi after
mass protests against his rule.
Hundreds of soldiers and police have
been killed.

UNREST

Civilians fleeing Darfur clashes in dire conditions

Tens of thousands of civilians fleeing weeks of clashes between troops and rebels in Darfurs Jebel Marra area face dire humanitarian circumstances, the UN said yesterday.
Fighting in the Jebel Marra has flared between forces loyal to President Omar al-Bashir,
wanted on war crimes charges relating to the Darfur conflict, and the Sudan Liberation
Army led by Abdelwahid Nur (SLA-AW), which has been battling him since 2003. Conditions for the recently displaced are pretty dire. They are basically in need of everything,
said Marta Ruedas, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Sudan.

Sudanese man who

stabbed Israeli
soldier shot dead
A Sudanese man stabbed and
wounded an Israeli soldier
yesterday before being shot dead
in southern Israel, with police
investigating whether the attack
was carried out in solidarity with
Palestinians. Police initially said
the incident near a bus station
in the southern city of Ashkelon
was suspected to be part of a
wave of Palestinian knife, gun and
car-ramming attacks that erupted
in October. Later police said they
suspected that the Sudanese
national acted in solidarity with the
Palestinians, but had not ruled out
other potential motives.
The incident saw 32-year-old Kamal
Hassan stab the soldier and flee,
according to police. Another soldier in the area grabbed the lightly
wounded soldiers gun and chased
Hassan before shooting him. A
witness told Israeli public radio
the soldier shot three times at the
Sudanese man, but he continued
to run. He then fired three more
times, according to the witness.
A wave of violence that erupted
in October has claimed the lives
of 165 Palestinians, 26 Israelis, an
American and an Eritrean.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

11

AFRICA

Ex-general defends
French response to
Rwanda massacre
AFP
Paris

French general has defended Frances response to the

1994 Rwandan genocide,
saying his troops did not give so
much as a bullet to the perpetrators and did not immediately grasp
the scale of the killing, sources said
yesterday.
General Jean-Claude Lafourcade
was questioned over claims that
Frances UN-mandated Operation
Turquoise, which he led, left ethnic
Tutsis to be slaughtered by Hutu killers in the western Bisesero hills in June
1994, sources close to the case said.
French soldiers had been deployed in Rwanda a few days earlier
under UN instructions to stop the

genocide that had begun in April,

and which three months later had
left at least 800,000 people dead,
most of them Tutsis.
Lafourcade, who appeared as an
assisted witness - meaning he
has not been charged but can be
summoned for questioning at any
time - again refuted the accusations during lengthy hearings on
January 12 and 14, the sources said.
The retired general, now 72, dismissed as completely false allegations that French soldiers supplied arms to the Hutu extremists.
I will say it again here. No munitions, not even a bullet, was given by
Operation Turquoise to the Hutus,
Lafourcade told a judge. Where
the French soldiers were, there were
no massacres nor abuses.
It took some time for the reality

of the genocide to sink in seeing...

the presence of mass graves, burned
villages, he added.
There was a general underestimation - French and international
- of the involvement of local and
government authorities.
In 2005, survivors led a complaint in France, saying the French
troops had on June 27, 1994, vowed
to return to Bisesero, but when they
came back three days later, it was
too late for hundreds of Tutsis who
were massacred.
Lafourcade said he was short
staffed, with a unit of 120-130 soldiers and had as priority the evacuation of the sisters of Kibuye
nuns in western Rwanda.
He was concerned about
thoughtlessly launching patrols
in the countrys interior, fearing the

kind of attack on troops that had

befallen American soldiers in Somalia in 1993.
I can only regret the death of the
Tutsis who died during these two days,
he said. We were very much alone.
His lawyer Pierre-Olivier Lambert told AFP that Lafourcade was
very glad to have nally been able
to testify before the French justice
system as he has been asking to do
for many years.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame
has accused Paris of complicity in
the genocide because of its support
of the Hutu nationalist government
that carried out the mass slaughter.
Paris has repeatedly denied the
accusations and insists that French
forces had worked to protect civilians.
Bilateral relations, completely frozen
from 2006 to 2009, remain tense.

In southern Africa, an illusion built on

aid heralds both hope and hunger
Reuters
Lilongwe

s she walks along a dirt road

in central Malawi, Louise Abale carries her precious maize
wrapped in a brightly coloured cloth
and balanced on her head.
Because of drought in Malawi and
across southern Africa the grain has
doubled in price in the space of a year,
and now costs around 200 kwacha
($0.28) a kilo.
Like many, Abale is struggling to pay
for maize, a staple of the diet, and says
her own - stunted - crop will not be
ready for harvest for two months. Its
too expensive, I have almost no money, she said.
In all 2.8mn people in Malawi, or
17% of the population, now face hunger, according to the UN World Food
Programme (WFP).
Drought and oods have hit the
maize crop, exposing the fragility of
gains which had seen Malawis rates of
malnutrition slashed in the past two
decades.
That progress was partly rooted in a
fertiliser grant for small-scale farmers.
But now the government, starved of
donor funds following a graft scandal
over two years ago, can ill afford such
payments and says it must scale down
the programme.
Ironically, policies aimed at ensuring
basic food security are partly to blame
for a cycle of rural poverty and aid dependency in this land-locked African
nation, leaving the population vulnerable to climate shocks, economists say.
There is no doubt that the fertiliser
subsidy was only feasible due to donor
support, said Ed Hobey, an analyst
at Africa Risk Consulting. At best, it
was unsustainable without continued
donor support. At worst, it was an illusion built on aid.
Launched in 2005, the Farm Input
Subsidy Programme (FISP) provides
qualifying farmers - those with limited
income but a plot of productive land
- with two coupons which can be redeemed for two 50kg bags of fertiliser.
The recipients make a modest contribution, with the government footing
most of the bill.
Because the government is subsidising the production of maize - the
main source of calories for many poor
households - it also bans the export of
the grain.
The programme is credited by the
government and some aid agencies
with lifting maize production and cutting hunger.
The data appear to back that up.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says the percentage
of Malawis malnourished population
fell to 21.8% in 2012-14 from 45% two
decades earlier.
But FISPs role here is difficult to
untangle as most of those gains were
made before 2005. Still, there is evidence of benets, including indirect
ones.
Stunting among Malawi children - a
key nutrition measure - fell to 42.4% in
2014 from 49% in 2002.
But the programme has also had unintended consequences.
The focus on food security, including the ban on maize exports, has discouraged investment in more productive commercial farming methods.
Our concern with the export ban
is that it limits the scope to expand

A subsistence farmer works his field of maize near Lilongwe, Malawi.

production among more medium and
large-scale farms if they are unable
to market the surplus, said Richard
Record, World Bank senior country
economist in Malawi.
In the long run such a ban stunts
food production, especially in an age of
increasingly high-tech farming, economists say.
FISP also diverted state funds from
other areas. In all, FISP has accounted
for as much as 9% of government expenditure and over half the agricultural
budget, leaving scant funds to invest in
rural transport links and other projects
that would benet the countryside.
The FISP was not matched by increased investment in rural infrastructure especially roads and irrigation,
said Hobey of Africa Risk Consulting.
This retards development of other
sectors in the farm value chain, such as
canning, which can kick-start industrialisation, economists and analysts
say.
Initially FISP met its objective: providing calories to the rural poor. Between 2007 and 2014 Malawi produced
bumper maize crops, with surpluses
recorded since 2007 - until last year.
A study in the The American Journal of Agricultural Economics found a
15% boost in maize production under
FISP coincided with a 15% decrease
in the amount of land devoted to the
grain.
This suggests small-scale farmers
diversied to cash crops such as tobacco and cotton.
Today FISP is no longer viable, government officials and analysts say.
Donor funds for the budget have
dried up in the wake of a scandal over
two years ago dubbed cashgate, in
which state officials siphonedmns of
dollars.
We are going to have to be scaling down expenditure on FISP, we are
reacting to diminishing resources of
funds for the budget, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe told Reuters.
Belt tightening is underway, though
the number of FISP recipients has remained unchanged at 1.5mn.
Instead of paying 500 Malawian
kwacha ($0.70) toward the two 50 kg
bags of fertiliser subsidised, Gondwe
said farmers would now pay 3,500
kwacha. The cost of a bag is around
20,000 kwacha.
Several subsistence farmers interviewed by Reuters in their elds
said they could not afford the 3,500
kwacha, let alone the full cost.
The price for fertiliser has surged as

it is imported and the kwacha has been

sliding against the dollar, losing 63% in
the past 12 months.
Gondwe said the programme this nancial year would cost 54bn kwacha
instead of an original estimate of 40bn,
plus an additional 8bn rand for seeds.
To be sure, FISP has helped individual farmers, such as Salome Banda.
Five years ago, Banda made the transition from subsistence farming to producing a surplus of maize for market
because she received the grant once.
I have not had it since 2010 but I
can buy my own fertiliser now, she
told Reuters as she stood proudly by 50
kg bags of her maize stacked in a warehouse north of Lilongwe. She said one
FISP grant tripled her production that
season.
For others, the benets have not
translated into such gains - and even
Banda, while she produces surpluses,
has hardly made the leap to more productive, technical farming.
When I got FISP, I fed all my children, said Matezenji Watsoni, a
35-year-old mother of seven, as she
waited outside a World Food Programme relief station in a rural Lilongwe suburb for a 50 kg bag of maize.
But this is the third year I have not
had it, and it has brought hunger to my
house, she said.
This year a perfect storm is brewing after a decade of maize surpluses
turned into a decit of 225,000 tonnes
in 2015, in a country that consumes
3mn tonnes annually. The harvest this
season looks set to be even worse.
Another unintended outcome of
the FISP is that by subsidising peasant farming, people have an incentive
to remain on the land, adding to rural
population pressures.
Late rains have clothed central regions in simmering shades of green but
this idyllic image belies the late start
to the summer planting season and
the grinding poverty of rain-fed, hand
tilled agriculture.
Malawi, which has done little to
industrialise, is also barely urban. In
1990, 88% of the population was rural, a number that was 84% in 2014,
according to World Bank data. SubSaharan Africa as a whole is 63% rural.
Asked about industrialisation, nance minister Gondwe, a jovial septuagenarian, looked almost bemused.
It will take time to industrialise.
But dont forget this country cannot
even make a needle. So to base your
policy on that probably is asking too
much.

Carnaval time

A performer takes part at the annual Carnaval celebrations in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau.

Australian taken in Burkina Faso

released in neighbouring Niger

ne of two Australians
abducted in Burkina
Faso about three
weeks ago has been released,
Australian and Burkinabe
authorities have conrmed.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
yesterday conrmed the
release of Jocelyn Elliott to
broadcaster ABC.
Burkinabe Foreign Minister
Alpha Barry said the 84-yearold has indeed been released
and handed over to the Nigerien authorities.

Elliott was freed on Saturday in neighbouring Niger, whose President Mahamadou Issoufou announced
her release, Radio France
Internationale reported.
She was kidnapped with
her husband by suspected
Al Qaeda militants in the
northern Burkinabe town
of Djibo, where the couple
runs a clinic.
It was not known what
role Niger played in the
negotiations to release her,
RFI said.

Child killed in Burundi attack

our people, including a child, were killed in grenade

attacks in Burundis capital Bujumbura, which has
been wracked by political violence, an official and
witnesses said yesterday. The four were killed by an attack
late Saturday in a bar in the working class Kinama neighbourhood, said Bujumbura Mayor Freddy Mbonimpa.
Among the victims was a young boy selling eggs. Ten others were wounded, according to a hospital source.
In another attack late on Saturday armed criminals
threw a grenade at a police patrol, injuring eight civilians,
Mbonimpa said. Another grenade thrown at a military patrol, but no one was hurt.
Burundi has been in crisis since April when President
Pierre Nkurunziza ran for and won a controversial third
term, sparking street protests, a failed coup, regular killings and a nascent rebellion. The opposition and the government yesterday traded mutual accusations over the attacks, though no group claimed responsibility.

12

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

AMERICA

Doctor gets
30 years jail
in landmark
overdose case
Reuters
Los Angeles

Southern California doctor was

sentenced to 30 years to life in
prison on Friday for over-prescribing drugs that caused the fatal
overdose of three patients in a murder
case capped by the rst conviction of
its kind in the United States.
The case against Dr Hsiu Ying
Lisa Tseng, 46, comes amid what
public health officials describe as
a national epidemic of drug abuse.
The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention has said the trend
is fueling nearly 17,000 overdose
deaths annually, as well as a rise in
heroin addiction.
A Los Angeles jury in October convicted Tseng of three counts of second-degree murder in a case prosecutors said showed she put greed above
patients wellbeing.
She was also found guilty of 19
counts of unlawfully prescribing a
controlled substance and one count
of obtaining a controlled substance by
fraud.
Her sentence requires Tseng to serve
at least 30 years in prison before she is

Hsiu Ying Lisa Tseng

eligible for parole. The defence sought
a 15-years-to-life term.
Addressing the court just before
she was sentenced, Tseng expressed
remorse for her patients deaths and
their families loss, saying, I know I
cannot turn back the clock, according
to a courtroom account by City News
Service.
Defence lawyers argued at trial that
her patients put themselves in jeopardy by taking drug dosages far in excess of what Tseng prescribed.
Criminally prosecuting physicians
for patients deaths is relatively rare,
with one notable case being the 2011
involuntary manslaughter conviction

of Dr Conrad Murray for giving pop

star Michael Jackson a fatal dose of a
surgical anaesthetic to help him sleep.
Prosecutors said Tsengs conviction after a six-week trial marked the
rst time in which a US physician was
found guilty of murder for over-prescribing drugs.
Licensed to practice in 1997, Tseng
opened a storefront medical office in
2005 in Rowland Heights, a hillside
community east of Los Angeles that
is home to many upper-middle-class
and wealthy immigrants from China,
Taiwan and South Korea.
At trial, prosecutors pointed to
nine overdose deaths associated with
Tsengs practice in less than three
years, during which they said she had
made $5mn from her clinic, dispensing addictive medications to patients
unnecessarily.
The drugs included powerful narcotics such as oxycodone, methadone
and hydrocodone, and sedatives like
Xanax and Valium.
Tseng, a Michigan State University
medical school graduate who specialised in internal medicine, surrendered her doctors licence prior to
arrest. Her licence to prescribe drugs
was revoked.

ONE SMOKER.
TWO PATIENTS.
TOBACCO KILLS

Marc Anthony at the Square

Marc Anthony performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Prison chief quits over

release of inmates
Reuters
Seattle

he head of Washington states

prison system resigned yesterday six weeks after his
agency said thousands of inmates
may have been mistakenly freed early from state custody since 2002, including two men blamed for deaths
when they should have been behind
bars.
In a resignation letter to governor
Jay Inslee on Saturday, Dan Pacholke
defended his three-month tenure as
department of corrections secretary
and praised his staff s efforts to x errors that have been blamed on recent
deaths.
Pacholke, who had served as deputy
secretary since 2014, began his career
with the agency some thirty years ago

as a corrections officer, Inslees office

said.
It is my hope that with this resignation, the politicians who would use
this tragic event for their political purposes will have satised their need for
blood, Pacholke wrote in a letter provided by Inslees office.
In December, state officials said as
many as 3,200 inmates may have been
mistakenly released early from Washington prisons since 2002 because of
errors in calculating sentences.
So far, two deaths have been blamed
on prisoners freed by mistake. One
inmate was arrested on suspicion of
rst-degree murder over an attempted
robbery 12 days after he was wrongly
freed. Another inmate was charged
with vehicular homicide in November.
The status of these cases was not
immediately known.
State corrections authorities learned

of the problem in 2012 but failed to x

it, Inslee said. He has retained an independent law rm to investigate the
problem, which he has called maddening.
Republicans agree. A senate panel
in January hired their own lawyer for
a separate probe after saying its committee would seek subpoenas in the
case.
Pacholke in his letter said that the
agencys leadership failed in its response to a sentencing calculation error in 2012, and he apologized for the
tragic consequences of this error.
Inslee, a Democrat who appointed
Pacholke to the post in October, said he
doubted the mans resignation would
mollify Republicans, that a transition
plan for the agency was in the works,
and that he was sorry to see a dedicated public servant end his tenure this
way.

Policeman in Akai
Gurley case to testify
Reuters
New York

New York City police officer

charged with fatally shooting an
unarmed black man in an unlit
Brooklyn stairwell is expected to take
the stand in his own defence today at
his trial for manslaughter.
Peter Liang was conducting a routine patrol inside a public housing
project on the night of Nov. 20, 2014,
when he red his gun once. The bullet ricocheted off a wall and struck
the chest of Akai Gurley, 28, who was
walking one oor below with his girlfriend.
Prosecutors have said Liang, at the
time a 27-year-old rookie police ofcer, spent minutes arguing with his

patrol partner, officer Shaun Landau,

about whether to report the shot to
police headquarters while Gurley lay
dying downstairs. Once Liang and
Landau realised someone had been
hit by the bullet, they failed to provide
medical assistance despite their training, prosecutors claim.
The shooting helped to iname tensions in New York and across the United States over the use of force against
minorities by police officers, though
Liang, who is Chinese-American, has
not been accused of deliberately ring
at Gurley.
Prosecutors have said Liang acted
recklessly in unholstering his gun in
the rst place and then ring unnecessarily. Liangs defence lawyers have
said Liang was justied in having his
gun out as he patrolled a crime-ridden

building without adequate lighting.

That defence was underscored on
Thursday night, when two police officers were shot during a similar vertical
patrol inside the stairwell of a public
housing complex in the Bronx.
Jurors will weigh Liangs own account with versions of the story offered
by Melissa Butler, Gurleys girlfriend
who described frantically trying to administer aid while Liang stood by, and
Liangs partner Landau, who testied
last week under an immunity deal with
prosecutors.
Liangs lawyers have said he was in
shock following the shooting and unable to render medical assistance to
Gurley.
Liang could be the nal witness at
the trial, which began two weeks ago in
Brooklyn state Supreme Court.

Probe ordered after radioactive leak

Reuters
New York

Issued in Public Interest by

GULF TIMES

nuclear power plant north of

New York City has leaked water
contaminated with radioactive
tritium into the groundwater below
the facility, sparking an investigation
by state officials, governor Andrew
Cuomo said on Saturday.
Cuomo said he learned on Friday of
alarming levels of radioactivity at
three monitoring wells at the Indian
Point plant in Buchanan, about 65km
north of New York City on the east
bank of the Hudson River.
The governor has previously asked
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to

shut down the plant because of doubts

over the safe evacuation of the area in
the event of an accident.
Cuomo said in a statement the
plants operator, Entergy Corp, has
informed him the contaminated water
has not migrated off the site and poses
no public health risk.
The governor said he has directed
the state departments for the environment and health to investigate the leak.
Our rst concern is for the health
and safety of the residents close to the
facility and ensuring the groundwater
leak does not pose a threat, Cuomo
said.
Entergy in a statement said the tritium likely reached the ground at Indian Point during recent work at the site.

While elevated tritium in the

ground onsite is not in accordance
with our standards, there is no health
or safety consequence to the public,
and releases are more than a thousand
times below federal permissible limits, the company said.
Cuomo, in his letter ordering the
state investigation, said Indian Point
has previously had a problem with the
release of radioactive water, and this
time the levels of radioactivity reported by the company are worse than in
past incidents.
One monitoring well showed a nearly 65,000% spike in radioactivity, from
12,300 picocuries per liter to more than
8mn picocuries per litre, the governor
said.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

13

AMERICAS

Use of waterboarding divides

Republican poll hopefuls
Trump was outrageous as usual
Reuters
Washington

even years after the United States

banned waterboarding as an interrogation tactic, two Republican presidential candidates said on
Saturday they would revive its use and
one of them, billionaire businessman
Donald Trump, would go even further.
I would bring back waterboarding
and Id bring back a hell of a lot worse
than waterboarding, Trump said during
Saturday nights Republican debate on
ABC, days before New Hampshire holds
its primary for the Nov. 8 election.
Trumpss rival and a fellow leader in
the opinion polls, senator Ted Cruz of
Texas, said he would only allow limited
use of the practice.
Waterboarding - the practice of
pouring water over someones face to
mimic drowning as an interrogation
tactic - remains controversial in the
United States even after Democratic
President Barack Obama banned use of
the method days after he took office in
2009.
The Senate Intelligence Committee
released a report in 2014, despite the
objection of Republicans, that detailed
what it called torture tactics used by the
Central Intelligence Agency, including
the extensive use of waterboarding.
Waterboarding came into more common use by the United States during
the early days of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. American interrogators
utilised the tactic to try to garner more
information from captives, but critics argued the method never actually
yielded any intelligence information.
Republicans have been critical of
Obamas decision to eliminate the

Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Donald Trump
greet one another following the Republican Presidential Candidates Debate.
practice, saying it telegraphs a position
of weakness to the nations enemies
and concedes that the United States
erred in using waterboarding.
Cruz said he would not bring it back
in any sort of widespread use and noted that he doesnt believe waterboarding meets the international denition
for torture.
If it were necessary to, say, prevent
a city from facing an imminent terrorist attack, you can rest assured that as
commander in chief, I would use whatever enhanced interrogation methods
we could to keep this country safe,
Cruz said.
Florida senator Marco Rubio declined to say denitively whether he
would reinstitute the use of waterboarding.
We should not be discussing in a

widespread way the exact tactics that

were going to use because that allows
terrorists to know to practice how to
evade us, Rubio said.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush
said he would not employ waterboarding.
Congress has changed the laws
and I... think where we stand is
the appropriate place, said Bush.
Republican contender Marco Rubio
struggled at a presidential debate on
Saturday at the worst possible time,
potentially confounding his bid to
emerge as Donald Trumps chief rival
in New Hampshire and giving hope
to three rivals desperate for a strong
showing.
Under assault from New Jersey
governor Chris Christie over his
level of experience as a rst-term US

senator from Florida, Rubio retreated

time and again to canned statements
from his stump speech and looked
uncomfortably rattled for the rst time
after seamless performances at seven
prior debates.
Marco, the thing is this, Christie
said during one heated exchange early
in the night, when youre president
of the United States, when youre a
governor of a state, the memorized
30-second speech where you talk
about how great America is at the end
of it doesnt solve one problem for one
person.
While Rubio recovered later in the
debate, the timing of his performance
was terrible, coming three days before
New Hampshire Republicans register
their choices on Tuesday in the nations
second nominating contest. The debate
at St Anselm College was the last faceoff of the candidates before the vote.
Rubios tough moments may breathe
new life into the campaigns of Christie,
former Florida governor Jeb Bush
and Ohio governor John Kasich, three
experienced politicians who, like Rubio,
represent establishment Republicans.
All three have suffered from the
dominance of front-runner Trump in
the Republican race. They are badly in
need of a breakout moment to change
the trajectory of the battle in New
Hampshire, where the polls show
Trump in the lead, Rubio in second and
Texas Senator Ted Cruz in third place.
Trump did not have his best debate.
He looked ustered in a ght with
Bush over the use of eminent domain
in advancing the interests of public use
projects and private industry.
But he seemed to do well enough
to possibly win on Tuesday in what
would represent his rst victory of the
2016 race, erasing the pain from a loss
in the Iowa caucus last week, where he

Fiery start

nished second to Cruz and just ahead

of the surging Rubio.
A victory in New Hampshire could
put Trump on track for more wins in
South Carolina on February 20 and
beyond on the way to the November 8
election.
For the second debate in a row, Bush
looked polished and sounded like
the candidate many establishment
Republicans had pinned their hopes on.
His problem is it may be too late.
Kasich, likely to end his candidacy if
he does not do well tomorrow, delivered
a positive message that could appeal to
New Hampshire Republican voters,
who famously make up their minds late
and never seem in the mood to follow
the lead of the Iowa caucuses, won by
Cruz.
The trouble for Rubio began soon
after the debate started when the ABC
News moderators asked Christie about
Rubios experience in the US Senate,
and Christie pressed his case.
Rubio critics have made much of the
fact that his experience is akin to that
of much-derided Democratic president
Barack Obama, elected in 2008 when a
rst-term senator.
Rubios defence was that his and
Obamas world views are different, not
that Obama has simply led the country
down the path it is on because of
inexperience.
Lets dispel with this ction that
Barack Obama doesnt know what hes
doing. He knows exactly what hes
doing, Rubio said.
When Rubio repeated the same line
again, Christie sought to reinforce the
charge that Rubio is so inexperienced
that he relies on well-worn talking
points and cannot think on his feet.
There it is. There it is. The
memorized 25-second speech. There it
is, everybody, Christie said.

Rubio repeated the line enough that

someone created a Twitter prole
called @RubioGlitch that repeated his
line about Obama.
Bush attacked Trump for using
eminent domain, which allows
governments to seize private lands for
projects for the public good, to help him
build casino complexes in Atlantic City.
Eminent domain is a frequent target of
criticism from conservative and antigovernment groups.
What Donald Trump did was use
eminent domain to try to take the
property of an elderly woman on the
strip in Atlantic City. That is not public
purpose. That is downright wrong, he
said.
Trump said eminent domain was
a good thing and was necessary to
building roads, bridges, schools and
hospitals. Certainly, its a necessity for
our country, he said.
He wants to be a tough guy, and it
doesnt work very well, Trump said
of Bush, telling the son and brother of
former presidents to be quiet.
When the crowd booed, Trump
said, thats all his donors and special
interests out there.
Trump, known for his tough
stances with calls to ban Muslims
from visiting the United States and
deport immigrants without the proper
documents, also called for a more
empathetic view of the Republican
call to repeal Obamacare insurance
coverage for Americans.
There will be a certain number of
people who will be on the street dying,
and as a Republican I dont want that to
happen, he said.
Trump captured the biggest share
of the conversation on Twitter during
the debate, winning 33% of the
conversation followed by Rubio at 20%
and Cruz at 15%.

Economy, security
woes dent Trudeau
AFP
Toronto

Fireworks burst over the New York skyline, the Empire State Building lit in red and gold in honour of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as
seen from Weehawken, New Jersey.

Rubio springs back from debate glitch

Agencies
Washington

arco Rubio, the young Republican

senator fast building momentum in
the race for the White House, came
back swinging yesterday after a mauling in
the latest presidential debate for his lack of
experience.
The charismatic Florida senator oundered
at the start of the Saturday night showdown,
just days before the crucial New Hampshire
primary on Tuesday. He was mocked for repeating the same rehearsed line over and over.
On Sunday he fought back, telling ABC
News that his campaign had raised more
money last night in the rst hour of the debate precisely when he appeared to come
undone than in any other debate.
Lets dispel with this ction that Barack
Obama doesnt know what hes doing. He
knows exactly what hes doing, Rubio said on
a loop in clips seized upon by Democrats and
doing the rounds on social media.
As far as that message, I hope they keep
running it and Im going to keep saying because its true, Rubio told ABC.
Next stop was a town hall event in the
town of Londonderry, New Hampshire to
address a crowd of hundreds packed into a
school hall. Initially advertised as a pancake
breakfast, his campaign took pleasure in
announcing it was so oversubscribed they
were forced to reclassify it as a town hall,

where coffee and muffins would be served.

We couldnt gure out how to make pancakes for 800 people, quipped a relaxed and
condent Rubio, warming up the crowd with
jokes about the Super Bowl and making no
mention of his debate drubbing.
He spoke eloquently about his parents
struggle as young immigrants from Cuba
and the pride they took in being able to own
a house and watch their children grow up to
have more opportunities than they had.
His personal narrative is a key part of his
appeal, reaching out to other immigrant families and tapping into his promise to revive the
American dream at a time when the middle
classes are more squeezed than ever.
Gathered in the school were young families, visitors from out of state, ardent Rubio
supporters, others yet to make up their minds
and opponents drawn to the political theatre.
I think he was dead on, said Derek Lafleur, a Ted Cruz supporter, who felt New Jersey governor Chris Christie had been right to
savage Rubio.
I think Marco Rubio sounds very rehearsed, very polished. He doesnt seem very
genuine. Like he said, the 25-second speech, I
agree wholeheartedly with Christie.
Outside two Democrat campaigners made
hay by dressing up as robots until Rubios
team asked them to move aside, but few in the
crowd seemed that bothered.
The latest 7News/University of Massachusetts Lowell poll also suggested that the glitch
had not impacted him in the polls, putting

him unchanged at 14 percent behind Donald

Trumps 35 percent lead.
Steven Marchand, a consultant from Portsmouth, New Hampshire and a rst generation American, said it was a message that resonated strongly with his family despite him
being a registered Democrat.
Hes a highly charismatic guy. Hes highly
articulate. He has a personal story which is
compelling to a lot of Americans, he told AFP.
Banker William Lionhood, who brought his
wife and three young children, said Rubio was
the best hope of expanding the voter base for
the Republican Party beyond the divisiveness
of Trump. He dismissed Christie as a little
rambunctious but admitted it hadnt been
the 44-year-old Rubios nest hour.
Even if Rubio losses three or four points
its going to be split over so many different
people that are running in the same lane that
it probably wont make a huge impact, said
Lionhood.
Danny Mahoney, professor of political science at a college in neighbouring Massachusetts, agreed.
I dont think Cruz can win a general election, and I think Trump is a clown and a demagogue, and the governors have no chance of a
snowball in hell of being elected president, so
that leaves Rubio.
The last two thirds of the debate he was
terric. There were ve brutal minutes where
he got ustered by Christie. They were unfortunate but you know you shouldnt score a
debate simply by a gaffe.

ne hundred days after Justin Trudeaus

Liberal government was sworn in, the
still-popular Canadian prime minister
faces mounting criticism, against the backdrop of
a oundering economy and terror fears.
The 44-year-old Trudeau a former schoolteacher and the son of a popular prime minister
immediately saw his international prole rise
upon taking office on November 4, and he still enjoys strong support at home.
He has touted a multilateral foreign policy, and
a more transparent governing style than his predecessor Stephen Harper, who was seen as prickly,
awkward and more at home plowing through economic theory than glad-handing voters.
Canada is back! the youthful-looking prime
minister with a broad smile, a twinkle in his eye
and a thick mop of curls told world leaders at summits, looking to recast the image of the worlds
fth-largest oil producer from climate laggard to
environmental champion.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon is expected to praise
Canadas shift in a visit to Ottawa on Thursday.
The economy, however, has cast a pall over Trudeaus self-professed sunny ways.
Canada emerged from a mild recession in September in the middle of the election campaign,
but consumer condence soon faded as oil prices
and the Canadian dollar sank to new recent lows,
leading to thousands of job losses in the countrys
oil and gas sector.
Attacks in Jakarta and in Burkina Faso in January that left seven Canadians dead, meanwhile,
raised fresh security concerns.
The new government was forced to backpedal
on its pledge to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by
the end of 2015 and on its scal plans, while taking
heat over its climate and counterterrorism strategies.
In parliament, opposition leader Rona Ambrose
accused the government of stepping back from
the ght (against the Islamic State group) when
our allies are stepping up.
The reality is that when we talk about Canadas new approach to ghting ISIS, Canada is not
back, Canada is backing away, she said.
The husband of a Quebec woman shot dead by
Islamist gunmen last month in Burkina Faso hung
up on Trudeau when he called to offer condolences, while criticising the prime ministers dovish
world view in the local press.
I hung up in his face, and it felt good, Yves Richard told a local radio station.
The Liberals were able to push back their Syrian
refugee intake without much controversy because
of widespread calls to slow resettlement amid domestic and US security concerns in the aftermath
of deadly attacks in Paris.
But ordering the pullout of ghter jets from Iraq
and Syria without so far announcing a new strategy to combat the Islamic State group has left them
vulnerable on security.

Justin Trudeau attends the funerals on February

6 in Quebec of six Canadians killed in deadly
attacks in Ougadougou last month.
Still, polls show a majority of Canadians are
satisfied with Trudeaus performance in office. Nanos weekly surveys show a 15 percentage point bump in support since the election, to
50%.
I dont think voters blame the government for
the economic situation, commented University
of British Columbia Sauder School of Business
economist Werner Antweiler. They realize much
of it is due to outside inuences.
He noted, for example, that the government
cant x the oil price.
The Canadian energy sector accounts for 10%
of nominal GDP and 300,000 jobs, according to
Natural Resources Canada estimates based on
2014 Statistics Canada data.
Observers say the real test will be when the
rookie government unveils its rst budget in the
coming months.
Trudeau pledged to run several small decits
in order to build new bridges, transit and other infrastructure before returning to balance at the end
of his four-year mandate.
But a dimmer economic outlook since the October 19 legislative elections has raised the specter
of ballooning decits.
The budget will be key, Duff Conacher, a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa and cofounder of Democracy Watch, told AFP.
The Liberals have to signal in the budget that
theyre addressing all the problems they promised
to address.
The Liberals have so far reduced taxes for middle income earners, assigned an ex-cop to draft
rules for legal marijuana, announced an inquiry
into missing and murdered aboriginal women as
part of a rapprochement with indigenous peoples,
and signed a Pacic trade pact negotiated by the
previous administration.
A further 200 pledges are either in progress or
have not started yet.
Conacher noted the Liberals won the largest
majority (54.5% of seats in the House of Commons) with the smallest number of votes (39.5%)
in Canadian history.
Theyre going to have to walk the talk or they
will be accused of selling false hope to people and
Canadians will turn on them, he said.

14

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

ASEAN
Lunar New Year

Firebrand
monks still
a force in
Myanmar
Agencies
Washington

Malaysian-Chinese devotees at the Thean Hou temple in Kuala Lumpur, on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The Lunar New Year will mark the start of the Year of the Monkey.

Malaysia Twitter police

target critics of Najib
Reuters
Kuala Lumpur

igitally savvy Malaysian police have

been taking to social media to issue
warnings to critics of scandal-hit
Prime Minister Najib Razak in an unusual
online campaign that critics say is unlikely
to work.
Najib is facing the biggest political crisis in his seven-year premiership over a
multi-billion dollar scandal at state fund
1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)
and over deposits of $681mn in his private
bank account.
Najib, chairman of the 1MDB advisory
board, has denied any wrongdoing and
says he did not take any money for personal gain.
Attorney general Apandi Ali last week
closed investigations of Najib and said the
$681mn was a donation from a Saudi Arabian benefactor and most of it had been
returned.
That has not stopped Malaysians taking
to social media to voice their exasperation.
A caricature of Najib with a clown face
and the words in a country full of corruption, we are all seditious, was widely
shared recently.

Bootleg
liquor
kills at
least 24

The police responded within hours,

with an online warning to the artist who
drew it, Fahmi Reza, telling him they
were watching his Twitter account and he
should use it prudently and in line with
the law, he said.
The ruling elite of this country has always been intolerant to dissent. Theyre
always afraid of losing their throne, Fahmi
said.
But the people have changed. The culture of protest and resistance is growing
stronger.
Fahmi was not the rst person to be
warned over social media comment as
the police for the rst time make use of
Twitter to identify people who are being
watched and caution them about repercussions.
Action will be taken against individuals
who spread false information, is a typical
warning to appear on Twitter, often accompanied by the Twitter handle of the
person it is being directed at.
Responding to criticism of the attorney
generals decision to drop the investigations of Najib, police told another Twitter
user: Investigations will be carried out on
the posts made by the owner of this Twitter account.
A police spokeswoman conrmed that

the Twitter account issuing the warnings was an official Malaysian cyber unit
account but she declined to comment on
specic warnings, such as the one issued
to Fahmi.
She referred queries to the head of the
police cyber unit but he declined to make
any immediate comment. The Home, or
interior, Ministry which is in charge of the
unit, did not respond to a request for comment.
Najib has taken steps that critics say are
aimed at stemming opposition.
He sacked a deputy prime minister who was critical of him, replaced a
former attorney-general and authorities
have suspended some media and blocked
websites.
Asked to comment on criticism of suppression of dissent, minister of communications Salleh Said Keruak said police
and the communications regulator were
enforcing the law.
It is not a crackdown. We are just doing
the ordinary enforcement, he said, adding
that authorities had taken action in nearly
3,000 cases last year under a telecommunications and multimedia act.
Human Right Watch said last month
that Malaysias human rights situation
had deteriorated sharply in 2015, as the

government stepped up a campaign of

harassment and repression.
The government did not respond directly
to that report but it denies violating rights.
Fahmi responded to his warning by reposting the clown and with a new sketch
of the police with hashtag #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou.
No further action was taken against him
while other artists expressed solidarity by
sharing the clown sketch with the hashtag
#KitaSemuaPenghasut, or we are all seditious in Malay.
Najibs Facebook page has over the
months been ooded with criticism and
calls on him to resign.
A former cabinet minister, Radah Aziz,
said in a Facebook post on Monday that
cracking down online would not work.
It is so very naive to think that shutting
down blogs and intervention in social media will actually stop people from talking,
she said.
Salleh said the authorities took the law
seriously.
It is an offence ... to upload any comment, request, suggestion or other communication which is obscene, indecent,
false, menacing or offensive in character
with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or
harass another person, Salleh said.

Shan state parade

Reuters
Jakarta

ootleg liquor has killed at

least two dozen people in a
village in Indonesias Central Java province over the last
few days, MetroTV said yesterday quoting police. Police have
arrested two people in the village
of Sleman for selling homemade
liquor that was believed to have
contained harmful substances.
Twenty-two others are being
treated at hospitals.
Police have sent the hard liquors mixed with harmful substances to the laboratory in Semarang to be tested, MetroTV
quoted Sleman police chief
Yulianto as saying.
Deaths from moonshine are
common in Indonesia, particularly in rural areas where many
villagers are unable to afford licensed spirits.

Ethnic Shan woman, wearing the colours of the Shan National flag, at the Shan State Army-South military parade celebrating the
69th Shan State National Day at Loi Tai Leng, the groups headquarters, on the Thai-Myanmar border.

ark-skinned
and
bearded men jump a
young woman after
she prays at a Buddhist shrine.
They push her to the ground
and rape her. Then they cut off
her ear and slit her throat.
A lurid video recently posted online by a rebrand monk
in Myanmar purports to reenact the womans death at
the hands of Muslim assailants. Her killing in 2012 set off
widespread violence between
majority Buddhists and minority Muslims in the Southeast Asian nation.
Tens of thousands of people
viewed the video until Facebook blocked it on February 1,
a sign of the continuing reach
of Myanmars Buddhist extremists even as the country
moves toward civilian rule
after ve decades of military
dominance.
A new report by US researchers nds that a divisive religious group known
as Ma Ba Tha, which counts
the hardline monk Wirathu
among its senior members,
is likely to remain a force for
some time to come in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Ma
Ba Thas anti-Muslim prejudices resonate in the broader
Burmese society, according to
the report.
The conict and security
research group C4ADS spent
several months studying hate
speech in Myanmar. It focused
on Ma Ba Tha, or the Organization for the Protection of
Race and Religion, scrutinizing the social media accounts
of the groups leading monks
and followers.
We nd a decentralised,
but still highly organised,
group that operates with unrivaled freedom, the report
says. It cites the groups activist rallies, legislative campaigns, powerful media network and pressure directed at
judges and police to inuence
legal cases.
The report concludes that
the incoming government led
by Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy
party, or NLD, is unlikely to
confront Ma Ba Tha, despite
the religious groups support
for a rival pro-military party
that was trounced in November elections. The new NLDled parliament convened this
week.
While the (election) defeat
is embarrassing to an organisation whose key leaders had
openly advocated against the
NLD, it may prove to have little material impact over the
long run, the report says.
Experts say the NLDs victory was driven by support for
Suu Kyi and a desire for civilian rule. But the party did not
eld a single Muslim among
its 1,151 election candidates
a sign of the political sensitivities surrounding religion.
Also, there is popular support for Ma Ba Thas campaign
to deny rights to stateless Rohingya Muslims, who have
been targeted in the religious
violence and live in apartheidlike conditions in western
Myanmar, according to the
report.
Ma Ba Tha denies spreading
hate speech. We are not telling anyone to hate Muslims or
kill them or anything like that.
We are just trying to protect
our own race and religion and

showing love to our country,

central committee member
Ashin Parmoukkha told The
Associated Press in Yangon,
Myanmars main city.
Yet even the groups more
moderate leaders have espoused an ultra-nationalist
outlook in which Muslims,
who account for about 5 to
10% of Myanmars 52mn people, pose an existential threat
to the Buddhist majority.
Ma Ba Thas vice chairman,
the renowned monk Sitagu
Sayadaw, organised a peace
conference last month with
participants from more than
50 countries. He told a visiting US delegation in 2014 that
Buddhist countries are living
in constant daily fear of falling
under the sword of the Islamic
extremists.
The ability of Ma Ba Tha
leaders to simplify Buddhist
teachings has added to the
groups popular appeal. It has
a nationwide network of ofces, oversees newspapers,
broadcasts TV sermons and
does charitable work.
Wirathu, the monk who
posted the video, is Ma Ba
Thas most provocative voice.
He served several years in
jail for inciting deadly antiMuslim riots in 2003. In January 2015, he called a UN special envoy on human rights a
whore and a bitch after
she criticised a bill restricting interfaith marriage and
religious conversions in Myanmar. It was among four race
and religion bills championed
by Ma Ba Tha and signed into
law last year despite opposition from the NLD party.
The video posted in late
January on his Facebook page,
which has 131,000 followers,
was intended as a teaser for a
longer video portraying the
May 2012 killing of 27-yearold Ma Thida Htwe in western
Rakhine State. A court sentenced to death two Muslim
men for robbing, raping and
killing the woman. A third
man was charged; state media
reported that he hanged himself in custody.
The womans killing triggered the rst in several bouts
of Buddhist-Muslim violence
that has left more than 200
dead and 140,000 homeless.
Wirathu, 47, defended the
video in an interview with the
Myanmar Times newspaper,
saying he wanted to show the
incoming NLD government
that it needs to prioritize
protecting the race and religion of the country.
Facebook took down the
video after complaints from
activists, including Myanmar
scholar Maung Zarni, who
said its portrayal of Muslim
men as blood-thirsty and its
use of Buddhist symbolism
were clearly intended to resonate with Burmese racists.
The NLD and government
officials have also criticised
the video, but Maung Zarni
contended that authorities
have incubated Ma Ba Tha
and allow it to act with impunity.
Tina Mufford, East Asia
analyst for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the group
has grown rapidly in the past
two years and she expected its
warped anti-Muslim messaging would continue.
The elections may be over,
but Ma Ba Thas inner workings are still in place, she said.
Courtesy Malaysian Insider

Nationalist Buddhist monk Wirathu, marches in Mandalay, the

second largest city in Myanmar.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

15

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

N Korean launches rocket in

deance of global warnings
North Korea continues to test
global patience with its weapons
programmes
Reuters
Seoul

orth Korea launched a longrange rocket yesterday carrying

what it called a satellite, but its
neighbours and the United States denounced the launch as a missile test,
conducted in deance of UN sanctions
and just weeks after a nuclear bomb
test.
The US Strategic Command said it
had detected a missile entering space,
and South Koreas military said the
rocket had put an object into orbit.
North Korea said the launch of the
satellite Kwangmyongsong-4, named
after late leader Kim Jong Il, was a
complete success and it was making
a polar orbit of Earth every 94 minutes.
The launch order was given by his son,
leader Kim Jong Un, who is believed to
be 33 years old.
The launch prompted South Korea
and the United States to announce that
they would explore the feasibility of
deploying an advanced missile defence
system in South Korea, which China
and Russia both oppose, at the earliest
possible date.
North Koreas state news agency
carried a still picture of a white rocket
that closely resembled a previously
launched rocket, lifting off. Another
showed Kim surrounded by cheering
military officials at what appeared to be
a command centre.
North Koreas last long-range rocket
launch, in 2012, put what it called a
communications satellite into orbit, but

North Koreas rocket is launched.

no signal has ever been detected from it.
If it can communicate with the
Kwangmyongsong-4, North Korea
will learn about operating a satellite in
space, said David Wright, co-director
and senior scientist at the Global Security Program of the Union of Concerned
Scientists.
Even if not, it gained experience
with launching and learned more about
the reliability of its rocket systems.
The rocket lifted off at around
9.30am Seoul time (0030 GMT) on a
southward trajectory, as planned. Japans Fuji Television Network showed
a streak of light heading into the sky,
taken from a camera at Chinas border
with North Korea.
North Korea had notied UN agencies that it planned to launch a rocket

A Japanese soldier mans a unit of the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3)

missile at the defence ministry in Tokyo yesterday.
carrying an Earth observation satellite,
triggering opposition from governments
that see it as a long-range missile test.
The UN Security Council will hold
an emergency meeting to discuss the
launch, at the request of the United
States, Japan and South Korea, diplomats said.
Isolated North Korea had initially
given a February 8-25 time frame for
the launch but on Saturday changed
that to Feb. 7-14, apparently taking advantage of clear weather on Sunday.
North Koreas National Aerospace
Development Administration called
the launch an epochal event in developing the countrys science, technology, economy and defence capability
by legitimately exercising the right to

use space for independent and peaceful

purposes.
The launch and the January 6 nuclear
test are seen as efforts by the Norths
young leader to bolster his domestic
legitimacy ahead of a ruling party congress in May, the rst since 1980.
North Koreas embassy in Moscow
said in a statement the country would
continue to launch rockets carrying
satellites, according to Russias Interfax
news agency.
South Korea and the United States
said that if the advanced missile defence system called Terminal High
Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) was
deployed to South Korea, it would be
focused only on North Korea.
South Korea had been reluctant to

discuss openly the possibility of deploying THAAD.

North Korea continues to develop
their nuclear weapons and ballistic
missile programmes, and it is the responsibility of our Alliance to maintain
a strong defence against those threats,
general Curtis M Scaparrotti, US Forces
Korea commander, said in a statement.
THAAD would add an important capability in a layered and effective missile defence.
China, South Koreas biggest trading
partner, repeated what it says is deep
concern about a system whose radar
could penetrate its territory.
South Koreas military said it would
make annual military exercises with US
forces the most cutting-edge and the
biggest this year. North Korea objects
to the drills as a prelude to war by a
United States it says is bent on toppling
the Pyongyang regime.
The United States has about 28,500
troops in South Korea.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said
the United States would work with the
UN security council on signicant
measures to hold North Korea to account for what he called a agrant violation of UN resolutions on North Koreas use of ballistic missile technology.
South Koreas navy retrieved what it
believes to be a fairing used to protect
the satellite on its journey into space,
a sign that it is looking for parts of the
discarded rocket for clues into the isolated Norths rocket programme, which
it did following the previous launch.
China expressed regret over the
launch and called on all sides to act
cautiously and refrain from steps that
might raise tension. Chinas Foreign
Ministry said late on Sunday that it had
summoned the North Korean ambassa-

dor to make representations and make

clear Chinas principled position.
China is North Koreas main ally, but
it disapproves of its nuclear weapons
programme.
Russia, which has in recent years
forged closer ties with North Korea,
said the launch could not but provoke
a decisive protest, adding Pyongyang
had once again demonstrated a disregard for norms of international law.
We strongly recommend the leadership of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea think about whether a
policy of opposing the entire international community meets the interests
of the country, Russias foreign ministry said in a statement.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
strongly condemned the launch and
urged North Korea to halt its provocative actions.
South Korean President Park Geunhye said it was an unforgivable act of
provocation.
Australia condemned what it called
North Koreas dangerous conduct while
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
said the launch was absolutely unacceptable, especially after the Norths
nuclear test last month.
North Korea has said that its fourth
nuclear test was of a hydrogen bomb. The
United States and other governments
have expressed doubt over that claim.
North Korea is believed to be working on miniaturising a nuclear warhead
to put on a missile, but many experts
say it is some way from perfecting such
technology.
It has shown off two versions of a
ballistic missile resembling a type that
could reach the US West Coast, but
there is no evidence the missiles have
been tested.

312 blocked from

leaving Australia
Agencies
Sydney

T
A monkey at a monkey training school in a zoo in Dongying, eastern Chinas Shandong province.

China school sees monkey

business in New Year
AFP
Beijing

acaques in frilly dresses turn backips and answer maths questions

for crowds of screaming children at a
Chinese monkey school, where trainers teach
them to waltz and play rock drums.
Shows featuring performing simians, popular in China and throughout Asia, are expecting a boost in the Lunar New Year of the
monkey, which begins today.
But they are facing a growing backlash
from Chinese people concerned about animal
welfare.
Its like a human school, but using monkeys, said Takeshi Soma, the Japanese headmaster of the facility, at a zoo in Dongying in
the eastern province of Shandong.
His charges are about a dozen macaques
from snow-capped mountains near Tokyo,
who receive one-on-one tuition from a team
of live-in instructors.
This kind of training is the rst in China,
track-suited Soma said.
He watched as staff in sequinned waistcoats clothed the monkeys in multicoloured
gowns, leading them on stage in a mock Viennese ball.
I think this is the only place that does
that, he said.
Four of the animals are training as a mock
rock band, led by a monkey with a red bow tie
and pink toy microphone.
But a recent rehearsal ended with one
macaque walking on his hands away from a

miniature drum kit after a few tender taps,

and another slamming down her plastic guitar before running to stage left.
Our monkeys dont listen to us very well.
But thats what is funny about it all. Monkeys
being natural and being themselves, added
Soma.
Such performances have a centuries-old
history in China, and today monkeys are
often seen at country fairs catching knives
and riding bicycles. As Chinas economy has
boomed, the scale of the shows has increased.
More than a dozen zoos in the country now
offer monkey performances.
China has no laws protecting non-endangered species, but a growing animal protection movement has condemned the displays
as cruel. Their cause was aided when video of
a bear biting and clawing a monkey after the
two fell off their bicycles in an Animal Olympics in the eastern city of Shanghai, went
viral in 2013.
One staff member at the Yangjiaping zoo in
Chongqing told AFP that monkey shows had
been cancelled this year because of a complaint about animal cruelty.
Monkeys at the Dongying school sleep in
bare concrete-walled enclosures, and sometimes receive light slaps from their trainers.
Headmaster Soma admitted: How should
I put this? They are tough things. I dont think
monkeys like the school.
But the backlash has not deterred investors, with nearly 19mn yuan ($2.9mn) spent
on the school, said Xiao Jingxia, president
of the local government backed China-Japan
Friendship Association.

It is a partnership with Japanese monkey

troupe Nikko Saru Gundan, whose animals
regularly star on TV shows in their native
country.
We hope to attract audiences from all over
China, Xiao told AFP, as monkeys were led
around in front of her on leashes.
We would like to take advantage of the
monkey year for publicity... this will be a year
of promotion.
A crowd of several dozen children and parents gathered outside the theatre building
over an hour before the show started, mixing with the animals who wore nappies with
holes cut for their tails.
Mum, Ive seen monkeys! Ive seen Sun
Wukong, said three-year-old Zhao Yizi, referring to a hero of the classic Chinese novel
Journey To The West, and cajoling his mother
into buying a 30 yuan ($5) ticket.
Sun has cemented the image of monkeys in
China as mischievous but essentially loveable. The centrepiece of the schools afternoon
show was a mock mathematics class, with
animals in tunics and denim shorts sitting
behind miniature desks.
They raised their hands and showed their
ngers to apparently answer basic arithmetic
questions, as the young audience giggled and
clapped.Later the monkeys rode atop large
plastic balls and jumped over obstacles. And,
of course, waltzed.
I like the dancing best. They are like people, said four-year-old Ai Jiuqiu.
Happy monkey year! an announcer
boomed, before the animals were undressed
and led back to their cages.

he rate at which suspected jihadists are being blocked from departing Australia has
doubled in the past year, a report said yesterday, amid a government crackdown of its nationals travelling to Iraq or Syria to ght.
There were 312 people pulled off planes in the
seven months to the end of January, compared to
336 in the almost 12-month period before that,
Sydneys Sun-Herald newspaper reported.
The immigration department conrmed the
gures to AFP but it was not clear how many of
the suspected jihadists stopped from leaving the
island continent were actually heading to the
Middle East to ght, and some were eventually allowed to resume their journey.
In some cases, a person who was offloaded
may be allowed to continue with their travel plans
if they are no longer considered a risk, an immigration spokesman added in a statement.
Canberra has been increasingly concerned
about its citizens ghting with jihadist organisations such as Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, saying some 120 Australians had left the country to
join such groups.
Another 160 are actively supporting extremist
organisations at home through nancing and recruitment, the government has said.
Under sweeping counter-terrorism measures
aimed at blocking jihadists from going overseas,
Australia introduced laws in late 2014 that would
see anyone who heads to nominated areas face up
to 10 years jail.
Iraqs second city Mosul and the IS

stronghold of Raqqa in Syria have so far

been added to the nominated areas list.
Australia pledged up to A$500,000 ($354,000)
in aid for its Pacic island neighbours yesterday to
help combat the spread of the Zika virus after an
outbreak in Tonga last week raised concern in the
region.
The initial focus on strengthening the ght
against the mosquito-borne virus would be in
Tonga, Steven Ciobo, minister for the Pacic, said
in a statement.
Australia would work with World Health Organization (WHO) officials and the Tongan government to control the mosquito population and
increase access to testing, he said.
The tiny South Pacic island nation last week
declared an outbreak of the Zika virus after ve
cases were conrmed and 259 suspected.
Stopping the spread of Zika in the Pacic is
essential to protecting Australia from the virus,
which has seen a resurgence in our region, Ciobo
said.
The WHO declared Zika an international health
emergency last week, citing a strongly suspected relationship between the virus in pregnancy
and microcephaly, a condition in which infants are
born with abnormally small heads and can suffer
developmental problems.
Until last week, Tonga had never had any conrmed cases of the Zika virus, its chief medical
officer Dr Reynold Ofanoa told Reuters, so it was
likely brought into the country by an infected person and then spread by mosquitoes.
On Saturday, health authorities in the Australian state of Queensland conrmed that a child had
contracted the virus after a family trip to the Pacic island of Samoa.

Taiwan rescue

A rescue worker brings down a victim from the collapsed Wei Kuan complex building in Tainan,
southern Taiwan.

16

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

BRITAIN
OFFBEAT

Performers take part in the biennial Imbolc Celtic

fire festival, to celebrate the end of Winter and the
coming of Spring, in Marsden, northern England.
The festival culminates in a short Mummers
play where Jack Frost and the Green Man battle
for victory and which concludes with a firework
display signifying the emergence of the Sun.

INFRASTRUCTURE

CRIME

OFFBEAT

COMMENT

Firms urge govt to back

third Heathrow runway

Teen charged with murder

after man stabbed in park

Bus blown up in London

for Jackie Chan film

Lack of women LibDem

MPs embarrassing: Farron

Thirteen of Britains largest construction and

development firms have written to George
Osborne urging him to live up to his declaration
that we are the builders by supporting the
building of a third runway at Heathrow. The letter
to the chancellor stated that the west London
airport has provided a steady base of work
during the economic downturn and expansion
would bring a 15.6bn order book to the UK supply
chain. It also noted last years report by respected
international economic thinktank the OECD which
found that the UK has historically underspent
on infrastructure, partially due to long decisionmaking processes.

A teenager has been charged with the murder

of a 27-year-old man in an east London park.
The victim, who has not been named, was found
stabbed in Plaistow Park, Newham, on January
29. He was taken to hospital for treatment but
died of his injuries three days later. A post-mortem
examination found the cause of death was stab
wounds to the abdomen. Detectives investigating
the killing charged Kaleb Amponsah, 18, of Canning
Town, east London, with murder, on Saturday. He
will appear in custody at Thames Magistrates
Court today. Two 16-year-old boys were also
arrested in connection with the incident. They were
later released on bail until a date in mid-April.

A double decker bus dramatically explodes in the

heart of London - but it is all for a movie. Londoners
were left confused as they saw the bus go up
in flames as it drove along Lambeth Bridge in
central London yesterday. A spokesman for the
Port of London Authority confirmed it was a stunt
for a film and that the bridge was closed off. But
the scene took some by surprise. Author Sophie
Kinsella wrote on Twitter: Hey film types, next
time you blow up a bus on Lambeth Bridge maybe
tell us first so children in park arent freaked? The
controlled explosion was shot for a scene in new
action flick The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and
Pierce Brosnan.

The fact the Liberal Democrats have no female

MPs among its eight-strong rump in Parliament,
is frankly embarrassing, party leader Tim Farron
has admitted. Commenting on reports the party
was considering having shortlists for seats of
only ethnic minorities or only gay people or only
disabled people, Farron said it was important to
make sure you represent properly and reflect
the diversity of the society we live in. He said:
The Liberal Democrat conference in March will
be looking at a range of possibilities and its all
about trying to make sure that those people
who represent us reflect the diversity of the
communities that are out there.

Rape claims
linked to
dating websites
soar sixfold
Agencies
London

he number of allegations
of stranger rapes linked
to dating websites has
soared sixfold in ve years, Britains top crime-ghting body
has warned.
National Crime Agency (NCA)
gures show that 184 people reported being raped by someone
they had met on a dating app or
website in 2014 - up from 33 in
2009.
Sean Sutton, head of the NCAs
Serious Crimes Analysis Section,
said we could be seeing the emergence of a new breed of rapist as
these alleged sex offenders are less
likely to have a criminal record.
Twice as many people now
report being raped by someone
they met online dating than those
who are attacked by a bogus taxi
driver - a danger that has seen a
huge public awareness campaign
mounted to prevent it.
A new NCA report, Emerging New Threat In Online Dating,
highlights the growing problem
and the force is launching a campaign to raise awareness of the
dangers of online dating.
It comes after an investigation
by the Press Association revealed
that alleged crimes potentially
involving the use of so-called
hook-up apps Tinder and Grindr
increased seven-fold in two years
between 2013 and 2015.
Rape is signicantly underreported, and those attacked
by people they meet on dating
websites may be less likely to
come forward, meaning the actual number could be 10 times
higher than the 184 gure, Sutton warned.
He told the Press Association:
We think, anecdotally, that because of the nature of the cases
being on a dating website where
someone has put themselves forward, in their minds eye in a position of vulnerability perhaps, they
may feel more culpable than others in relation to the activity that

may have led to the stranger rape

case.
We absolutely wouldnt see
that, but we can understand the
rape mythologies that might feed
into that. So our concern is that
they are even more under-reported in this area.
Part of our campaign is to encourage people to come forward.
Our message is the police will take
them seriously and deal with them
sympathetically.
Discussing what could be fuelling this worrying rise, Sutton
said online daters often swap
sexualised messages and develop
a pseudo-closeness that can
skew expectations when they nally meet, but they do not actually know each other from Adam
or Eve.
This pseudo-closeness can
happen very, very quickly, and we
are saying you could be talking to a
14-year-old boy or a 60-year-old
woman, he warned.
Come back a step and take it
on a face to face basis when you
meet in public for the rst time.
Some 85% of the stranger rape
victims are women, and of these
42% were aged 20 to 29 and 24%
were between 40 and 49, meaning
that middle-aged daters are more
likely to be targeted by rapists online than in other arenas.
Police also warned their analysis suggested a new type of sexual
offender could be emerging online.
Whereas 84% of people convicted of stranger rapes have
previous convictions, for those
suspected of doing this through
a dating website the gure is far
lower at 49%, while the convictions they do have are less severe.
It is potentially quite a different type of character who is
perpetrating these offences from
our usual, if I can use that term,
stranger rape case, Sutton said.
Is it displacement or is it a new
breed? We couldnt say and we
wouldnt want to conjecture.
But he warned the phenomenon highlights that it is impossible
to spot a rapist.

Clowning around

Clowns pose ahead of the 70th annual Clowns International church service at the Holy Trinity church in Dalston in east London yesterday. The service takes place to
celebrate the father of modern clowning, Joseph Grimaldi, who died in 1837.

Plan to curb benets may

spark EU migrants surge
Agencies
London

avid Cameron has been

warned his proposed
deal to curb benefits
for European Union migrants
could lead to a surge in the
number coming to the UK before the emergency brake
mechanism is applied.
The prime ministers EU
referendum strategy has come
under fire from his own grassroots activists and he has also
faced reported unrest within
his top team as he prepares
for a crunch summit with his

counterparts in Brussels on
February 18.
In a further sign of the divisions on his own side, former
leadership contender David
Davis warned that coverage of
the proposed curbs on benefits
would act as an incentive to
workers to head to the UK over
the coming months before a
deal can be implemented.
Former Europe minister
Davis warned: The so-called
emergency brake that the prime
minister is attempting to negotiate with Brussels is very likely
to increase the number of people immigrating into the UK in
the coming year.

He said since the proposed

deal was set out Eastern European newspapers have carried numerous stories about
in-work benefits and the plans
to terminate them for the first
four years after a migrants arrival in the UK while Brussels
has suggested that the scheme
could take 12 months to implement.
Under such circumstances the incentive for anybody
wishing to come to live in the
UK will be to come as quickly
as possible to beat the deadline when any such restrictions come into effect.
Accordingly we are likely to

ormer prime minister

Margaret Thatcher would
have supported David
Camerons draft renegotiation
of Britains EU terms of membership, her closest advisor said
yesterday.
Lord Charles Powell said
Thatcher, whose fevered hostility
to Brussels in the latter part of her
premiership led to her downfall in
1990, would have backed Camerons new deal with the European
Union.
Writing in The Sunday Times
newspaper, Powell said Thatcher
might have raged more mightily at Brussels than Cameron, the
current Conservative leader and
prime minister.
However, She would have gone
along with what is on offer, indeed
negotiated something similar herself.
Thatcher stoked up animosity
over Europe which helped wreck
the premiership of her successor

John Major as he tried to heal relations with Brussels.

Margaret Thatchers heart was
never in our membership of the
EU. But l am convinced her head
would continue to favour staying
in on the conditions now on offer,
Powell wrote.
There were certainly times as
prime minister when her frustration with Europe boiled over.
The one thing I never heard her
propose was Britains withdrawal
from the EU. Perhaps she would
have persevered for longer before
settling than the present prime
minister and raged more mightily.
But... I am condent she would
have settled, and for something
very close to what is on offer now.
However her close cabinet ally
Lord Norman Tebbit slammed
Powells view.
I think it more likely that were
she alive, then she would be saying: No, no, no, he said, using her
famous refrain on proposed greater European powers. Thatcher,
Britains prime minister from 1979
to 1990, died in 2013 aged 87.
Cameron is allowing his Con-

servative MPs to campaign to either leave or remain in the EU.

But he will be mindful that divisions over Europe ripped the party
apart in the 1990s.
The Sunday Times said it had
heard back from 144 Conservative
lawmakers (330 sit in parliament),
of which 66 said they were committed to leaving the EU, while 50
said they would vote to remain in
the bloc.
The Sunday Telegraph newspaper said Cameron was also facing
a growing revolt from grassroots
Conservatives who are angry that
he told MPs they did not have to
vote according to their local constituency associations views.
In a letter to the broadsheet,
representatives of 44 local Tory
associations said Cameron had
undermined the goodwill of
loyal members and warned him:
No prime minister has a divine
right to rule.
A Downing Street spokesman
said Cameron was simply making the point that everyone should
ultimately vote with their conscience.

the emergency brake: Clearly as part of the negotiations

we have to ensure that that
doesnt happen.
He added: Weve got to
ensure that there isnt a new
influx.
Sir Eric played down the
prospect of the European Parliament rejecting the reform
proposals, claiming it would
be an appalling misuse of
trust that would fundamentally undermine the EU.
He said his own position
was not the result of any enthusiasm for Europe but the
lack of any decent idea that
wed be better off outside.

Corbyn: UK must stay

in European Union

Thatcher would have

backed staying in EU
AFP
London

see a surge in migrants in the

next 12 months.
Former cabinet minister
Sir Eric Pickles, a Eurosceptic who now looks likely to
support the prime ministers
deal, said: What we need to
be clear is, were not trying to
prevent people moving inside
the European Union.
Instead the reforms were
aimed at preventing people
gaining something for nothing by gaining benefits before
contributing to the UK.
The Tory MP for Brentwood
and Ongar said action would
be needed to prevent a surge
of migrants hoping to beat

AFP
London

Corbyn: gagged by moderate figures in party

pposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said

staying in the European
Union was in the countrys best
interests.
The left-wing veteran, who
has displayed a eurosceptic streak
throughout his political life, said
his party would make the case for
a social Europe during the referendum campaign.
Conservative Prime Minister
David Cameron wants to nalise
a renegotiation of Britains terms
of membership at an EU summit
on February 18 and 19. He has
committed to stage an in-or-out
referendum on the outcome of his
attempt, by the end of 2017.
Newspapers expect the referendum could come as soon as late
June. Corbyn said Labour wanted
Britain to stay in the 28-country
bloc. Our party is committed to
keeping Britain in the EU because
we believe it is the best framework
for European trade and co-operation and in the best interests of the
people of Britain, he told activists
in Nottingham, central England.

But we also want to see progressive reform in Europe: democratisation, stronger workers
rights, sustainable growth and
jobs at the heart of the economic
policy and an end to the pressure
to privatise and deregulate public
services. And we will be pressing the case for a real social Europe
during the coming referendum
campaign.
He said Labour would be standing up for public ownership
during the campaign and resisting potential threats to public
services posed by a trans-Atlantic
free trade pact being negotiated
between the EU and the US.
The Leave.EU campaign group
claimed Corbyn was a lifelong
opponent of the EU but had been
gagged by moderate, centrist
gures within his party. Jeremy
Corbyn voted to leave the EEC
(European Economic Community)
in 1975 and against the Maastricht
Treaty which transformed it into
the EU, saying it took powers to
set economic policy away from
parliament and handed them to
an unelected set of bankers, said
spokesman Jack Montgomery.
No one really believes his private opinion has changed.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

17

BRITAIN/IRELAND

Welsh MP seeks ban on singing Delilah at rugby matches

Chris Bryant wants Tom
Jones ballad banned from
Six Nations rugby matches
on grounds it incites
violence against women
Guardian News and Media
London

he shadow leader of the

House of Commons,
Chris Bryant, has joined
calls for the Tom Jones song De-

Family
hits out as
robbers
cleared of
murder

lilah to be banned from Six Nations rugby matches because he

claims it incites violence against
women.
Joness 1968 hit is an unofficial
anthem at Welsh rugby matches,
with male voice choirs and Jones
himself singing it before games
at the Millennium stadium. But
Bryant has insisted that an alternative should be found because
of the songs lyrics.
It is a simple fact that when
there are big international rug-

by matches on, and sometimes

football matches as well, the
number of domestic violence
incidents rises dramatically, he
said.
I know that some people will
say, Oh, here we go, hes a terrible spoilsport, but the truth is
that song is about the murder of
a prostitute.
Bryant, the Labour MP for
Rhondda, added that there were
thousands of other songs that
could be sung instead. I have

sung Delilah as well, everybody

loves doing the She stood there
laughing moment, but if we
are really going to take this issue seriously in Wales, we have
to change how we do things, he
said.
Delilah tells of a man who attacks the woman who cheated
on him.
Forgive me, Delilah, I just
couldnt take any more, Jones
sings. I felt the knife in my hand
and she laughed no more.

Duchess joins anniversary celebrations

London Evening Standard

London

he family of a teaching assistant stabbed to death

after he was ambushed
by Gumtree robbers told of their
heartbreak at injustice as three
men were cleared of murder.
University graduate Michael
Adegbite, 28, had advertised his
MacBook for sale on the online
marketplace but when he met
the buyers one pulled out a
knife. He and his friend Mohamed
Umer fought off the teenagers and
snatched back the computer.
The Old Bailey was told Adegbite later followed the trio who
had attacked him to try to identify
them, armed with an iron bar for
protection.
The talented football coach was
stabbed through the heart in the
ensuing confrontation in Lackmore Road, Eneld, last July, and
bled to death in the street.
Isaac Owen-Brady and Christopher Nzeh, both 18, and Montel
Ajayi, 19, whooped and congratulated each other in the dock after
being cleared of murder. The three
had admitted conspiracy to rob
and Nzeh, who stabbed Adgebite,
was convicted of manslaughter.
The court heard they had a history
of Gumtree robberies.
In a statement, the victims
mother, father and brother said:
We feel let down, it is an injustice. Throughout this his attackers
have shown nothing but blatant
disrespect.
Adegbite, of Chingford, was a
talented footballer who had trials for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He became a tness instructor at Leyton Leisure Centre and
was praised as a role model during
his time as a coach of youth team
Eastside United FC in Hackney,
and in his job as a teaching assistant at Heathcote School in Chingford.
He graduated from University of
East London and had been signed
up by a number of modelling
agencies.

Dafydd Iwan, a folk singer

and former Plaid Cymru president, has previously raised
concerns about the ballad ,
saying in 2014 it was a song
about murder and it does tend
to trivialise the idea of murdering a woman. Its a pity these
words now have been elevated
to the status of a secondary national anthem.
But the Welsh Rugby Union has defended the song by
comparing its subject matter

Agencies
London

ealth Secretary Jeremy

Hunt has acknowledged
the low morale and anger among junior doctors but
blamed the British Medical Association (BMA) for exacerbating the bitter dispute over new
contracts.
With thousands of junior
doctors in England set to go
on strike again on Wednesday,
Hunt accused the union of behaving in a totally irresponsible way and spreading misinformation about the proposed
deal.
He acknowledged that work
was needed to improve morale
but claimed the BMAs actions
over the contract dispute had
made medics feel devalued.
The government has threatened to impose a new contract
aimed at delivering the Tory
commitment to a seven-day
NHS if an agreement cannot be
reached with the BMA.
Hunt told BBC1s Andrew
Marr Show: What we will end
up with is a contract that is better for patients but also better
for doctors.
But confronted with quotes
from junior doctors raising issues about low morale and potentially unsafe working conditions, Hunt acknowledged there

Guardian News and Media

London

rmed garda checkpoints have been set up

over Dublin this weekend as fears grow over an allout gangland war following
the murder of a criminal at a
boxing weigh-in.
The Garda Siochana yesterday confirmed that armed
officers are being deployed at
major arterial routes around
the Irish capital after the fatal shooting of David Byrne in
the Regency hotel on Dublins
Swords Road on Friday.
The checkpoints are expected to be in place for
several days over fears of
retaliation, the force said.
Senior officers also insist
that progress is being made

in their investigation into the

killing of Byrne, a member
of a south Dublin crime gang
controlled by Irish gangster
Christy Kinahan who lives in
southern Spain.
Byrne was shot dead in a
highly organised assault on
the hotel by six gunmen loyal
to a north Dublin criminal
known as The Monk.
The gang, which included
one man dressed as a woman
in a blonde wig and grey dress,
failed however to wipe out Kinahans top gangsters during
the event.
Gardai also confirmed that
they have been working with
Interpol as well as police forces in the UK and Spain in relation to Fridays gun attack.
Police officers maintained a
strong presence at the Regency hotel yesterday. They are
now looking over a large volume of CCTV and television
footage as well as still photographs and collating that with
eyewitness testimony.
Six men were involved,

three of whom were dressed

in paramilitary uniforms with
a Garda logo and armed with
AK-47 assault rifles, while a
stocky man with a cap and a
man dressed as a woman each
had a handgun. The sixth man
drove the Ford transit van
used as a getaway vehicle in
the attack.
The owner of the hotel,
James McGettigan, revealed
that he repeatedly tried but
failed to contact the gardai as
he witnessed two hitmen gun
down their gangland rival.
He said he tried to raise the
alarm three times but when
his calls went unanswered, he
was forced to hang up and call
a garda friend instead.
The hotel owner and businessman witnessed Byrne
being killed during the attack. He told the Independent on Sunday: He was shot
three times, twice in the body
and once in the head. These
guys made sure he was killed.
There was smoke coming out
of his body.

was anger within the workforce.

Quite outside the contract,
we need to do a number of
things to improve the morale of
junior doctors. I think there is a
lot we can do in respect of the
training.
But what I would say is one
of the reasons for that anger
- and there is anger there - is
because they were told by the
BMA that their pay was going to
be cut. It isnt.
They were told that they
were going to be asked to work
longer hours. They arent, we
are actually bringing down the
hours they work.

What we will end up with

is a contract that is better
for patients but also better
for doctors
And if you are told by your
union that the health secretary
wants to do these awful things,
of course you feel devalued.
Now the way to restore morale in the profession is to sit
around the table, discuss what
is the right thing to do for doctors and for patients and also
to look at the bigger picture which is record resources going
in to the NHS, the sixth biggest
increase in funding in one year
in the history of nearly 70 years
of the NHS, more doctors and
nurses than ever, a total commitment by the government to
making the NHS the highest
quality, safest healthcare anywhere in the world.
There are always battles
along the way but what history
will ask is did the health secre-

tary, did the government that

has committed in its manifesto
to seven-day services, did they
do the right things for patients
to make care safer, better? If
they did, in the end doctors too
will say there was a big argument over it, but it was the right
thing for the NHS.
Hunt said that his choice of
language during the dispute had
been extremely careful but
claimed his words were often
distorted by the BMA which
is one of the cleverest trade unions in the book because they
know that in any argument between doctors and politicians ,
the public are going to side with
doctors .
He insisted that he was still
prepared to negotiate over the
deal: The single issue that we
are still at loggerheads on is this
question of unsocial hours on
Saturdays, I have said my door
is open, Im happy to do that.
The BMA are saying they
dont want to talk about that.
What I am saying is rather than
cancelling more operations,
come and talk.
Shadow health secretary Heidi Alexander wrote to Hunt urging him to make an explicit and
signicant public commitment
to further concessions over
Saturday hours.
If you are not willing to do
this, a new contract should not
be imposed, she said. Such a
decision on your part could lead
to protracted industrial action
and widespread anger among
other NHS staff at a time when
morale is already at rock bottom.

Irish minister sets

out income tax plan

Armed checkpoints across

Dublin after hotel attack
Garda Sochna fearing a
retaliation in capital for
shooting of Irish gangster
David Byrne at boxing
weigh-in on Friday

against women, saying it was

never a political statement.
This woman is unfaithful to
him and (the narrator) just loses
it ... Its something that happens
in life, Jones said. I love to hear
it being sung at Welsh games.
It makes me very proud to be
Welsh that theyre using one of
my songs ... I dont think the
singers are really thinking about
it ... If its going to be taken literally, I think it takes the fun out
of it.

Hunt blames
union for row
with doctors
over contracts
Hunt accused the union
of behaving in a totally
irresponsible way and
spreading misinformation
about the proposed deal

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, walks to a reception after attending an event to mark the
75th anniversary of the RAF Air Cadets, at St Clement Danes church in London yesterday.

to Shakespearean tragedies like

Romeo and Juliet.
Within rugby, Delilah has
gained prominence through its
musicality rather than because
of its lyrics, a spokesman said.
There is, however, plenty of
precedent in art and literature,
prominently in Shakespearean
tragedies for instance, for negative aspects of life to be portrayed.
Jones has rejected claims that
his song trivialises violence

Reuters
Dublin

Noonan: pledge to raise minimum wage

relands senior coalition party will ensure high earners do

not make extravagant gains
from planned income tax cuts
and also raise the minimum wage
by 15% by 2021 if re-elected, Finance Minister Michael Noonan
said yesterday.
Ireland votes on Februry 26 in
what promises to be a tight contest dominated by debate over
how the resources freed up by a
strong economic recovery should
be spent and how or whether an
unpopular additional tax levied
on income, the Universal Social
Charge (USC), should be unwound.
Noonans Fine Gael, comfortably ahead in opinion polls
that nevertheless suggest it may
struggle to form a coalition,
plans to abolish the tax brought
in during the nancial crisis.
Yesterday Noonan outlined
how the state would claw back
some of the gains with a new 5%
levy on incomes over 100,000
euros.
Personal taxes are too high

in Ireland but if you abolish the

USC completely without any
claw back, there would be very
extravagant gains for people on
the highest incomes, Noonan
told a news conference.
They will still gain very, very
signicantly but not disproportionately. We will reduce the
marginal rate of tax to 44% (from
49.5%) for middle income earners and to under 50% for everyone else.
The high income levy would
mean the gradual benet of USC
abolition for a worker earning
100,000 euros would be capped
at just over 5,000 euros versus
9,500 euros if there was no clawback, Fine Gael said.
The state body that attracts
foreign direct investment into
the country has warned that income tax rates are too high and
could make it difficult to keep
winning investments from the
multinationals that employ almost one in every 10 workers.
Fine Gaels junior partner Labour, which is struggling in the
polls, wants to scrap the USC on
the rst 72,000 euros of income,
a similar proposal to the opposition Fianna Fail party.

18

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

EUROPE

Bosnians protest against hijab ban in judiciary

AFP
Sarajevo

ome 2,000 people, mostly

women, protested yesterday in downtown Sarajevo
against a recent ban on wearing
a hijab headscarf in the majority
Muslim countrys judicial institutions.
We gathered to protest
against prejudices, discrimination and marginalisation, Samira Zunic Velagic, one of the protest organisers, told the crowd.
The ban of wearing hijab in
judicial institutions is a serious
attack against Muslim honour,
personality and identity, a violation ... aimed at depriving them
of their right to work, she added.
The protest was sparked by a
recent decision of Bosnias high
judicial council, a body tasked
with supervising the functioning
of the judiciary, to ban religious
signs in judicial institutions.
The decision which concerns
judges and other employees in
the sector, but does explicitly

Muslim women demonstrate in Sarajevo yesterday against the ban on the headscarf in the Bosnian judicial institutions.

Turkey insists
wont abandon
Syria refugees
AFP
Ankara

urkey said yesterday it would

not abandon thousands of Syrians stranded on its border after
eeing a major Russian-backed regime offensive, as aid agencies warned
of a desperate situation.
Tens of thousands of people, including many women and children,
have been uprooted as pro-government forces backed by intense Russian
anti-rebel air strikes advance near
Syrias second city Aleppo.
Turkey has reached the limit of its
capacity to absorb the refugees, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus
told CNN Turk television.
But in the end, these people have
nowhere else to go. Either they will
die beneath the bombings... or we will
open our borders.
We are not in a position to tell

them not to come. If we do, we would

be abandoning them to their deaths.
Turkeys Oncupinar border crossing, which faces the Bab al-Salama
frontier post inside Syria, remained
closed Sunday to thousands of refugees gathered there for a third day, an
AFP reporter said.
They waited desperately for the
moment the gate will open, as Turkish
aid trucks delivered food inside Syria.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said on Saturday night that Turkey
was ready to open its gates to Syrian
refugees if necessary.
Carrying what few belongings they
still have, Syrians queued in the cold
and rain in squalid camps near the
border, waiting for tents being distributed by aid agencies. Others are
reportedly sleeping in the open, in
elds and on roads.
A Turkish official said the Oncupinar crossing was open for emergency
situations.

7 arrested in
Spain over
militant links
AFP
Madrid

panish police said yesterday they

arrested seven people with suspected links to Al Qaeda and the Islamic
State groups and uncovered an operation
to smuggle arms to militants under the
guise of humanitarian aid.
The arrests were carried out in the
eastern cities of Valencia and Alicante
and in Spains North African enclave of
Ceuta, the police said in a statement.
Five are Spanish nationals of Syrian,
Jordanian and Moroccan origin, and two
are Syrian and Moroccan nationals, it
said.
The arrests were made in the context
of an investigation launched in 2014 into
foreign structures providing logistical support for Islamic State - also called
ISIL, ISIS or Daesh - and the Al Nusra
Front, an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, police said.
One of those arrested was a man who
dispatched military material, money,
electronic and transmission material,
rearms and precursors for making explosives to Syria and Iraq via a company,
it said.
This was shipped out in closed containers under the guise of humanitarian
aid, and nanced by hawala, an informal system of payment based on trust
that is far more difficult to trace than bank
transfers.
The leader of the network was in constant contact with a member of the Islamic State, who repeatedly asked him
to recruit women in order to marry them
off to IS militants in Syria, the statement
said.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis yesterday

urged the world community to make
every effort to revive the Syrian peace
talks and appealed for unstinting generosity for civilians eeing the conict.
I appeal to the international community to spare no effort to urgently
bring parties back to the negotiating
table, the pontiff said at his weekly
Angelus prayer.
A political solution to the conict
is the only way to guarantee a future
of reconciliation and peace for this
dear, suffering country, Francis said,
before asking worshippers in St Peters Square to join him in reciting the
Catholic prayer Ave Maria for Syria.
The Pope also said he was deeply
concerned about the plight of civilians forced to ee their homes as
ghting raged.
I hope that, thanks to generous
solidarity, there will be the necessary
help to ensure their survival and dignity, he said.

mention hijab - a scarf which

covers hair, ears and neck - was
strongly condemned by Bosnias
Muslim political and religious
leaders as well as numerous local
Muslim associations.
The protesters marched for
around an hour through the
capitals centre carrying banners that read Hijab is my Daily
Choice, Hijab is my Right or
Hijab is my Life.
We came here to say that
we are not the victims of this
scarf. We came to defend our
rights. It is our crown, our liberty, our honour, Elisa Hamovac, a 33-year-old stay-at-home
mother, wearing a light blue hijab, told AFP.
Muslims make up around 40%
of Bosnias population of 3.8mn.
The hijab was banned by the
communist authorities while
Bosnia was still part of the former
Yugoslavia until 1992 when it
proclaimed independence. Today many Muslim women wear
hijab, with some being completely veiled. However, most are
not veiled.

2 migrant women die

from cold in Bulgaria
AFP
Sofia

wo female migrants found dead

in a mountainous rural region
of Bulgaria died due to freezing
conditions, authorities said yesterday, as asylum seekers continue to try
to reach the EU despite harsh winter
weather.
The women were part of a group
of 19 migrants, including 11 children,
found late on Saturday by border police
near the southeastern town of Malko
Tarnovo. Their nationality was still
unclear.
Two women have died - one younger and another middle-aged. Our border guards made every effort to help
them, carrying them in their arms to
try to warm them up, but it happened
because of the cold, Interior Minister
Rumyana Bachvarova told private bTV
television yesterday.
The area was under harsh winter
conditions with high winds, some
30cm of snow and freezing temperatures.
A ministry statement said one of the
victims was a teenager - aged between
14 and 16 - and the other was between
30 and 40 years old.
All of the children, aged between
4 and 16, were taken to hospital with
frostbite and two adults were in critical

Over 68,000 braved sea route to Europe this year

Over 68,000 people have crossed the
Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece this
year, the UN refugee agency said yesterday, one day before German Chancellor
Angela Merkel was due to travel to
Ankara as part of her bid to curb migration to Europe.
An estimated 68,023 people travelled
from the Turkish coast to Greek islands
from the beginning of 2016 to February
6, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
At least 366 people lost their lives
while attempting the perilous sea journey in a bid to reach Europe.
Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu are to meet today to
discuss the implementation of a multilateral plan to crack down on smuggling
networks and curb migration.
The European Union has pledged

condition, a hospital spokesman told

Focus news agency.
This is the second report in Bulgaria
this winter of migrants succumbing to
cold, after the frozen bodies of two men
were found in a mountainous area at
Bulgarias border with Serbia in January.
As refugees continued to ow from
Greece through the Balkans on their
way to western Europe, aid workers

3bn euros ($3.3bn) to Turkey to improve

conditions for the millions of migrants
living there.
However, that country faces a new
wave of migration as violence in neighbouring Syria escalates, resulting in thousands of refugees from Aleppo gathering
at the Turkish border in recent days.
Meanwhile, strict entry policies at
Greeces border to Macedonia have resulted in crowds of over 7,000 migrants
amassing at the Idomeni-Gevgelija
railway crossing. Macedonian authorities are only allowing small groups of
Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan migrants into
the country.
Smugglers have been enjoying good
business there, according to local
officials, who said that traffickers tip off
migrants to unmanned border points in
exchange for cash.

have sounded alarms over inadequate

shelter from the current freezing temperatures and snowy conditions, particularly for children.
In January, almost 62,200 migrants
and refugees entered Europe through
Greece, most of them from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the International
Organization for Migration said. Close
to a third of them were unaccompanied
minors.

Football fans full mask pledge to monkey chant victim Koulibaly

AFP
Naples

housands of Napoli fans fullled a pledge yesterday to racism victim Kalidou Koulibaly
by lling the San Paolo stadium with
masks of the Senegal defender prior to
kick off against Carpi.
The latest in a long line of racist incidents hit Italian football last
week when France-born Senegal international Koulibaly was the victim
of monkey chants during a 2-0 win at
Lazio.
On that occasion, referee Massimiliano Irrati, in accordance with league
regulations, halted the match for
nearly four minutes to demand a stop
to the abuse.
Lazio were later handed a 50,000
euros ne and will see the Curva Nord
(North End) of the Stadio Olimpico
closed to fans for their next two home
games.
While Irratis decision to stop the
game was roundly applauded as one of
the leagues new initiatives to stamp
out racism, Koulibaly showed his disdain for his abusers by offering his
Napoli shirt to a young Lazio-supporting ball boy.
A supporters group, Quelli del
Sangue Azzurro (The Blue Blooded
Ones), later called on Azzurri fans to
show their full support for Koiulibaly
by holding up masks of his face.
And fans replied in their thousands,
lling almost the entire stadium with
masks of the Africans face prior to
kick-off against the visiting league
strugglers.
A statement from the group last
week said: Everyone in Naples is
offended by what happened to our
young star. Because of this, we want
to show our full support to Koulibaly.
We are all with you, Kalidou. Our

People hold flyers bearing the face of Napolis French defender Kalidou Koulibaly before the Italian Serie A football match at the San Paolo stadium in Naples
yesterday.
invitation to Napoli fans is to print a
photo of the defender and put it on
your face when the teams come on the
pitch.
The gesture was reminiscent of
the stance taken by Treviso play-

ers in 2001 to show their support for

18-year-old Nigerian player Schengun Omolade, who fell victim to his
own clubs notoriously racist Blue
Army supporters group.
At their next game, Trevisos start-

ing team ran out on to the pitch with

their faces blackened as Omolade
- who had not been informed of the
players plans - sat on the bench astounded.
Italys problem with racist support-

ers is well documented, with several

high prole players falling victim to
abuse over the years including Ruud
Gullit, Aaron Winter, Patrick Vieira,
Paul Ince, Mario Balotelli and KevinPrince Boateng.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

19

EUROPE

Dutch to probe
civilian deaths
in Iraq strikes
AFP
Amsterdam

he Netherlands is probing two

incidents in which civilians may
have been killed or injured in air
strikes against the Islamic State group
in Iraq, the government has said.
Two incidents in which there may
have been possible civilian casualties are being investigated in around
1,300 missions carried out by the
Netherlands, The Hague-based
government said in a letter to parliament late on Saturday.
Citing operational reasons, the
Defence Ministry said neither details
of the incidents nor the probe are being made public.
The probe was prompted by a raft
of questions raised by lawmakers in
parliament on the Netherlands role
in the ght against IS after The Hague
announced last month it would expand air operations into Syria.
Dutch F-16 ghters have been part

of the US-led bombing campaign

against IS in Iraq and The Hague
said the expansion into Syria came
following requests by the US and
France.
The incidents are being investigated by the Defence Ministry and details will be passed to the Public Prosecutors Office, said the letter, posted
on the Defence Ministrys website.
Because of several reasons its impossible to determine the regrettable
number civilian deaths as a result of
coalition operations, it added.
The Netherlands is participating
in the Iraq strikes with four F-16 aircraft specialising in close air support
of ground operations by Iraqi forces.
Late last year in the wake of the
November Paris attacks, the Dutch
government received a request
from American and French allies to
broaden its campaign against the IS
militant group - also known by the
acronym ISIS.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte
said the extended air operations will

now target eastern Syria in particular to stop the IS pipeline leading

from Syria into Iraq.
US air strikes in Iraq began in August 2014 after IS captured a swathe
of territory in Iraq and Syria in a
lightning offensive.
Washington and Arab allies broadened the strikes against IS in Syria a
month later in September 2014, with
the US also leading moves to build an
international coalition of some 60
nations against the militants.
The four Dutch F-16 jet ghters
which have been pounding IS militants in Iraq since October 2014 will
remain active until July 1 over the
enlarged zone, the government said
last month.
Dutch Foreign Minister Bert
Koenders has cautioned however that
bombing was not the whole solution
in a complex conict in Syria.
More than 260,000 people have
been killed in Syrias conict and
more than half the population has
been displaced.
Masqueraded revellers celebrate Carnival Sunday in Cologne yesterday.

Nobel medicine
board member
resigns over
surgeon probe

wedish genetics professor Urban Lendahl has

resigned from the body
which awards the Nobel medicine prize over an investigation
into controversial surgeon Paolo
Macchiarini.
Lendahl resigned on Saturday
as secretary general of the Nobel
Assembly, an independent body
of 50 professors from the Karolinska Institute which awards
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine.
He also chose to resign as a
member of the board of the Nobel Foundation, which manages
the Nobel assets, ahead of an investigation into the Karolinska
Institutes recruitment of Macchiarini.
Lendahl has not himself been
accused of wrongdoing.
As Professor Lendahl anticipates that he may be involved in
this investigation, he has resigned from his position as Secretary General out of respect for
the integrity of the Nobel Prize
work, Rune Toftgard, chairman
of the Nobel Assembly, said in a
statement.
Macchiarini, a visiting professor at Karolinska, rose to fame for
carrying out the rst synthetic
organ transplant in 2011.
The surgeon performed experimental transplants involving plastic windpipes coated
with the patients stem cells
and has been accused by several colleagues of overstating
the effectiveness of the procedures.
Two of the three patients he
operated on in Stockholm died,
and a third has been hospitalised
for more than three years.
An external investigation by
the Karolinska Institute University Board is looking into the hiring and work of Macchiarini.
Last week, the Stockholmbased institute announced Macchiarini would not have his contract extended and his lab would
be closed.

Spaniards would prefer

centre-left coalition: poll
Reuters
Madrid

majority of Spaniards favour

a coalition government led
by the Socialist party PSOE
and market-friendly newcomer Ciudadanos, according to a poll published yesterday by El Pais newspaper as Spains political deadlock
continues.
Spain has yet to form a government seven weeks after an inconclusive Dec. 20 election in which no
party won enough votes to govern.
Newer parties, particularly the anti-austerity Podemos and the liberal Ciudadanos, grabbed votes from
mainstream rivals.
A coalition led by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and
Ciudadanos is supported by 51% of
Spaniards according to the poll of
1,000 people, carried out shortly
after Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez
was given a mandate by the king last
Tuesday to try to form a government.
All other possible coalitions received an approval rating of less than
50%, the survey showed.
The Socialists started talks to form

a coalition on Wednesday, a task seen

as impossible unless several political
parties drop some conditions.
Sanchez was formally nominated
to try to replace the centre-right
Peoples Party (PP), which won most
votes in the election but acting Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy deferred a
parliamentary condence vote on
a new government as he lacked the
support to win it.
Given the fragmentation of parliament, the Socialists would need
the backing of at least three parties
to achieve a simple majority of seats
while several others would have to
abstain.
Sanchez, who has said he needs at
least a month before seeking a condence vote in parliament, has appointed a six-strong team to handle
the negotiations.
The failure to reach a coalition so
far raises the prospect of a new round
of elections later this year. However,
a new election would likely deliver
the same political deadlock.
Sundays survey, carried out by
pollsters Metroscopia, showed the
four political parties - PP, PSOE,
Ciudadanos and Podemos - running
very close in approval ratings.

Berlin senator slams left-wing mob after rampage

A Berlin senator said the citys streets
would not be handed over to the leftwing mob, after dozens of cars were
vandalised and windows smashed over
the weekend. Interior Senator for Berlin, Frank Henkel, yesterday slammed
the hooded rioters terrorist actions
and said that photos show that
left-wing anarchists only care about
destruction and have no respect for the
property of their fellow citizens.
On Friday night, about 20 to 40 people cycled through the city, wrecking
28 cars and smashing several windows.
From Saturday night to early yesterday,
masked hooligans trashed 20 cars in a
second wave of vandalism in the German capital. Witnesses said the gang

35 sex assault
charges led at
Cologne esta
DPA
Cologne

olognes annual street carnival has so

far been relatively peaceful, police in the
western German city said, despite having logged over 400 complaints by yesterday.
The complaints received over the course of
weekend celebrations were mainly regarding
pickpocketing and scuffles, although 35 cases
involve allegations of sexual assault.
Police presence has been bolstered for the
ve-day programme of street parties and parades after crowds of men allegedly robbed and
sexually assaulted in the city centre on New
Years Eve.
Although police said that this years carnival had so far been more peaceful than in 2015,
they were unable to give comparative gures
for that timeframe as no such crime report was
compiled that year.
On average, around 50 allegations of sexual
assault are placed each year over the course of
the festivities, during which revellers dress in
outlandish costumes and parties run late into
the night.
The celebrations culminate today in a grand
parade on so-called Rose Monday. However,
the event has been scaled down this year due
to stormy weather forecasts and the 500 horses traditionally seen in the procession will not
take part.

Members of rival teams fight with oranges during an annual carnival battle
in the northern Italian town of Ivrea. Dressed as Middle Age kings guards,
a group of men ride in a horse-drawn carriage and pelt foot soldiers with
oranges as thousands of people watch the re-enactment of a Middle Age
battle when the townsfolk of Ivrea overthrew an evil king. Instead of swords
and cross bows, these days the weapon of choice are oranges.

was made up of 50-100 people.

No injuries were reported and no
arrests made. A team of investigators
specialising in politically motivated
crimes is looking into the damage.
Tensions between the Berlin
authorities and the citys left-wing
anarchist scene have spiked since
January 13, when police squads raided
an occupied building in the Freidrichshain neighbourhood.
On Saturday evening, 4,000 people
protested in the area against gentrification and campaigned for squatters
rights. A police spokesman said that the
event was peaceful, although some demonstrators threw bottles and firecrackers
from a formerly occupied house.

France restricts transfusions

over Zika transmission fears
Reuters
Paris

ravellers coming back from

any outbreak zones of the Zika
virus will need to wait at least
28 days before giving blood to avoid
any risk of transmission, French
Health Minister Marisol Touraine
said yesterday.
Zika, which is rapidly spreading
through the Americas and has been
declared a global health emergency
by the World Health Organisation
(WHO), is primarily transmitted

through mosquito bites. However,

Brazil in the last week announced two
cases of transmission through blood
transfusions from infected donors.
Someone who comes from a zone
where there is Zika cannot give blood
for 28 days, Touraine said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, news
channel iTele and Le Monday daily.
She also advised pregnant women
to inform the authorities if they had
travelled to any of the zones.
Zika has been reported in more
than 30 countries since it rst appeared in the Americas last year,
where it has been linked to thou-

sands of babies being born with microcephaly. This is a condition where

infants have abnormally small heads
and often have underdeveloped
brains.
There is no vaccine or treatment
for the virus.
Eighteen cases have been reported
in travellers in France, Touraine said.
The mainland part of the country
has been spared by the virus, but it
has hit some of its overseas territories such as the Caribbean islands
of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and
French Guyana which neighbours
Brazil.

Carnival revellers dressed as Peliqueiros run along a street in Spains northwestern village of Laza. Peliqueiros, or ancient tax
collectors, pursued villagers through the streets ringing their cowbells and hitting villagers with their sticks.

20

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

INDIA
Tamil Nadu
Roundup
By Umaima Shafiq

Murder, bank
loot mystery
solved with
arrest of worker
Police arrested four people for
allegedly murdering an employee
and looting an agricultural
co-operative bank at Venmani
village in coastal Nagapattinam
district.
The masked gang entered the
bank at closing time when only
two employees, Kamaraj and
Ganapathy were present. They
killed Kamaraj, opened the vault
and looted Rs20mn worth of
jewels and Rs200,000 cash. They
also tied up Ganapathy before
escaping.
However police became
suspicious on finding discarded
surgical gloves at the crime scene
and Ganapathys contradictory
statements.
On interrogation, he confessed
he had plotted with his wife and
another couple to loot the bank
for quick money.
The jewels and cash were
recovered from the septic tank of
Ganapathys house.

Traditional coir industry embracing modernisation

IANS
Alleppey

ne of Indias oldest industries is steadily embracing modern machinery, and the men presiding over
the future of coir making say
there is absolutely no other way
out.
And for a state where trade
unions have often been accused
of derailing industry, workers
collectives in this hub of Keralas
coir appear to be at home with
the steady pace of modernisation.

Keralas Revenue and Coir

Minister Adoor Prakash explains
why.
This is a traditional industry
but the new generation is not
taking to it precisely because of
the traditional methods used in
the industry, the minister said.
We have no option but to go
for mechanisation to rectify this
situation.
Keralas coir is considered one
of the nest in the world, and
its products enjoy global appreciation and demand. It employs
some 350,000 people in the organised and many more in the unorganised sector across the state.

For decades, producing bre

from coconut husks was a tedious process. The husks would
be kept in water for six months,
and they would emit a foul smell.
Workers would nally get into
this stench to extract the husks and bre.
For all this back-breaking
work, the wages they got was a
pittance - as little as 70 paise a
day.
This is when Kerala decided
to deploy machines to do a better job. Although the process
began some time back, the pace
has quickened in the past few
years.

Cylinder blast causes fire

In a midnight accident, two

Erode-based leather businessmen
driving a luxury Audi car fatally
knocked down a hotel employee
returning home on his motorcycle
at Spencers Plaza junction on
Anna Salai in Chennai. Later police
found that the men were drunk
and were driving on the wrong
side of the road.
Kevin Rajs body was trapped in
the iron rails of a nearby metro
rail project. Meanwhile the
businessmen Mohamed Shafi,
31 and Mohamed Farook, 39,
continued driving and hit a van
but had to stop as their cars air
bags deployed and trapped them
in.
The van driver sustained minor
injuries and passersby alerted
police.
Investigations are underway.

BJP seeks to cash in on

credibility crisis in Congress,
CPM
By Ashraf Padanna
Gulf Times Correspondent
Thiruvananthapuram

Temple town gets

ready to receive
4.5mn devotees
The Tamil Nadu government
is spending about Rs133bn to
spruce up the temple town of
Kumbakonam where nearly
4.5mn devotees are expected to
gather for the February 22 holy
dip in the Mahamagam water tank
about 120km from Tiruchi.
The roads are being re-laid,
temples are being renovated,
water supply is being regulated to
all parts of the town and electricity
and power grids are being
refurbished. The government has
also deployed extra buses and
trains and cleared out space for
parking lots.
Besides this, medical, fire and
other emergency services and
extra police have been arranged
in the town.

Young singer
and composer
Shan Johnson dead

Factory fire
injures two
Two men were injured in a fire at
a phosphorus manufacturing unit
in the industrial town of Sivakasi in
Virudhunagar district about 45km
from the temple city of Madurai
last week.
Police suspect that combustion of
explosives in the factory caused
the fire.

Productivity has shot up because of mechanisation. Now, in

an eight-hour shift, we produce
1,200 sq km of bre per shift.
When output is more, we can sell
more. Income is more. Naturally,
wages also go up.
When Nair took charge of
the Kerala State Coir Corp Ltd
in January 2012, it was earning
Rs570mn. This had doubled to
Rs1.2bn in 2014-15, a period coinciding with growing mechanisation.
To produce machines within
the country for the industry,
the Kerala State Coir Machine
Manufacturing Co came up last

A fire breaks out at a shop-cum-residential complex after cylinder blast at Vikhroli in Mumbai.
At least three members of a family died in the tragedy on Saturday.

Kapu leader, wife continue

hunger strike on quota issue
IANS
Visakhapatnam

apu leader Mudragada

Padmanabham and his
wife continued their indenite hunger strike for the
third day yesterday in support of
the demand for reservation for
the community in education and
jobs in Andhra Pradesh.
The former minister and his
wife Padmavati have been fasting at their house at Kirlampudi
in East Godavari district since
Friday. The couple locked themselves up and refused to undergo
a medical check-up.
Though Joint Collector Satyanarayana and district Superin-

tendent of Police Ravi Prakash

along with a team of doctors
reached Mudragadas house yesterday, the couple sent them back.
The officers made a similar attempt on Saturday night as well.
The Kapu leader said there
was no need for check-up since
the couple had decided to dedicate their lives for the communitys cause. He also accused
police of preventing people from
visiting his house.
Meanwhile, police and paramilitary forces were deployed
near the house amid indications
that the fasting couple may be
forcibly shifted to a hospital.
They are demanding inclusion
of the Kapus in a list of backward
classes and reservation for the

year at Adoor, about 80km from

Alleppey. The earlier machines
were imported.
Minister Prakash said the
Kerala governments intention
was to spread the mechanisation process across the length
and breadth of the state where
coir making is the biggest cottage
industry.
We are helping all the cooperative societies to mechanise, he said, adding that Kerala
wanted to increase its share of
coir production vis-a-vis two
other states which too play a role
in the industry: Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka.

Candidates
hit campaign
trail early
in Kerala

Drunk men drive

on wrong side,
fatally knocks
down bike rider

Up and coming singer and

composer Shan Johnson, 31, was
found dead at her apartment at
Kodambakkam in Chennai last
week.
Police suspect that she suffered
a cardiac arrest. Shan was the
daughter of late Malayalam music
director Johnson and was working
as a marketing executive at a
shopping mall. She was a trained
Carnatic and Western musician
who has composed music for
several devotional albums and
some films.
She was a member of the band
The Sound Bulb. Her memorable
songs include Ravumaayave for
the Malayalam film Vettah.
Her funeral was held in Thrissur
in Kerala.

At one time, the workers

didnt appreciate mechanisation, G N Nair, managing director of the state-run Kerala State
Coir Corp Ltd, said at the venue
of the sixth edition of Coir Kerala
2016 here.
There was a lot of opposition to the introduction of machines. This was akin to the way
computers were rst received by
people who feared they may lose
their jobs, Nair explained.
But work now has become
easy, more humane, more decent. Our machines are also used
to twist and twist the bre to
make ne yarn.

community in education and

jobs. They are also seeking Rs19bn for a Kapu corporation.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu earlier appealed to
Mudragada to call off his fast
and promised that the Andhra
Pradesh government was committed to fullling its promise to
include the Kapus in the BC list.
The government has said a
commission will make a detailed
study of the socio-economic
status of the Kapus and recommend the quantum of reservation to be provided.
Meanwhile, popular actor and
Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan
urged the Andhra Pradesh government to hold direct talks with
the couple.

ith authorities expected to announce the

dates for elections in
ve states in a month, potential
candidates in at least one constituency in Kerala have started a
door-to-door campaign.
Three candidates, including
sitting legislator M A Wahid of
the Congress Party, are visiting
homes of voters in the Kazhakkoottam, which is expected to witness a erce three-corner contest
this time.
This is one of the four assembly
segments where Bharatiya Janata
Party veteran O Rajagopal established a lead over his Congress
rival Shashi Tharoor in the 2014
parliamentary elections.
My party had asked me to prepare for the elections, and I have
started my work, said Wahid.
He will be seeking re-election
for the fourth time in a row. The
rst time he won as a rebel candidate against lm director M A
Nishad elded by key Congress
ally Indian Union Muslim League
in 2001.
He re-joined the Congress and
continued his winning streak in
the next two elections.
His predecessor Kadakampally
Surendran, the Communist Party
of India (Marxist) district secretary, will be pitted against Wahid
again, after a gap of ten years since
he lost to the lawyer-politician by
a whisker of 215 votes.
I visit at least 15 houses a day,
and thats part of my routine,
said Surendran, who refuses to
deny or conrm his candidature.
The CPM has vowed capture
the reins of the state, its last bastion after the northeastern state
of Tripura.

Wahid

Surendran

Rajashekaran
Surendran won the seat in 1996
by a huge margin of 24,057 votes
defeating IUMLs E A Rasheed.
However, the surprise performance of Rajagopal in the
parliament elections could send
shivers down the spine for both
the principal players.
BJPs former president V Muraleedharan landed in the constituency after a brainstorming
session in Kochi last week with
party president Amit Shah, who
addressed a massive rally in Kottayam, kicking off its campaign.

Book fair

Visitors throng a book fair in Kolkata yesterday.

Muraleedharan starts his work

at 6.30am and continues to be
there till late in the evening, concentrating on house visits.
I see a shift in our favour everywhere, he said.
Congress vice-president Rahul
Gandhi is arriving in the city tomorrow to address a party rally,
marking the culmination of a
statewide journey undertaken by
its state president V M Sudheeran
to keep the party machinery well
oiled.
Top leaders, including Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, are expected to descend on the pollbound state in the coming weeks.
Rajagopal is likely to contest
from Thiruvananthapuram while
BJP state president Kummanam
Rajasekharan is expected to seek
election from Nemam.
Vattiyoorkavu is another BJP
target for opening its account in
the assembly. It is the principal
opposition in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation.
It hopes to win at least 15 seats in
the 140-member assembly.
Rajasekharan says his party is
contesting this time to win and
rule the state.
He expects the major fronts to
crack if voters give a fractured verdict. In such a scenario, smaller
parties could switch sides and join
hands to form a new coalition.
In the 2011 assembly elections,
the BJP could muster only 6.06%
votes, which went up to 10.33 in
the parliamentary elections three
years later.
The party has been aggressively wooing backward Hindu
caste groups, including Ezhavas
and Dalits, who constitute around
40% of the states voters and considered to be the backbone of the
CPM.
They hope to change the political landscape forever if this social engineering works, which
many believe is farfetched, and
also cashing in on the credibility
crisis in the Congress and CPM
rivals.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

21

INDIA

Mobile kitchens upgrade street food in Kerala

IANS
Thiruvananthapuram

or a while now, street food

has been pass in most
middle-class and upper
middle-class households in Kerala. But lately, its making its way
back on to their dining tables.
One reason is the way street
food has undergone a transformation and the latest fad is the
mobile kitchens that appear
when dusk sets in on the main

roads in cities across the state.

There are more than 150 such
mobile kitchens which do business till 11pm in the state with
most concentrating in the 14
district headquarters of Kerala.
These mobile kitchens are
modied vehicles, mostly Tempo Travellers, from which all the
seats are removed and its just
the drivers section that remains
from the original.
While the concept has been
around in other parts of the
country, notably in north India,

Liability pact
removes major
irritant in
Indo-US ties
IANS
Washington

ndias ratication of an international convention on

nuclear energy accident liability has removed a major irritant in India-US relations and
would help them unleash the full
potential of a landmark nuclear
deal.
The US was quick to welcome
the development removing the
last hurdle in the way of American rms to build nuclear plants
in India and generate an estimated $100bn in business seven
years after the deal was signed
with much fanfare.
A deal between Toshiba Corps
Westinghouse Electric to build
six nuclear reactors in Gujarat
may well be signed in time for a
possible visit by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to Washington to
attend the March 31- April 1 nuclear security summit.
Westinghouse is reported to
be negotiating with the staterun operator Nuclear Power
Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) with
the hope of making a commercially signicant announcement during Modis expected
US visit and sign a nal contract
later in the year.
Another US company GE Hitachi is said to be in talks about
the techno-commercial viability
of its reactors at sites in Andhra
Pradesh.
American rms had been allocated sites in the two states
under the nuclear deal signed
in October 2008 after the then
prime minister Manmohan
Singh staked his government
over it.
However, the two US companies were reluctant to go ahead
in the face of Indias tough 2010
nuclear liability law that made
the suppliers of nuclear plants
liable for damage in the event of
an accident.
Though the deal otherwise
transformed India-US relations, Washington was sore that
while it had done the heavy lift-

ing to get India a waiver from

the 48-nation Nuclear Supplier
Group to do nuclear business
with other countries, it had been
left high and dry.
Finally, it was during President Barack Obamas historic
visit to New Delhi last year as
chief guest at Indias Republic
Day that he and Modi reached
what was described as a breakthrough understanding to allay
US concerns about industry liability.
The understanding sought to
resolve Indias concerns about
inspections and US concerns
about liability for a nuclear accident with Washington saying
Indias laws and regulations do
not meet international standards.
On the rst, with India agreeing on administrative arrangements providing for tighter
checks by the International
Atomic Energy Agency, Washington dropped its insistence on
agging, or tracking, fuel consignments.
On the issue of liability, the
understanding endorsed the
principle of strict liability, which
channels costs arising from a
nuclear accident to the plant operator and requires it to pay nofault compensation.
To address another issue
posed by Indias 2010 nuclear
liability law that allows a plant
operator to seek secondary recourse against a supplier, an
India Nuclear Insurance Pool
(INIP) with a liability cap of Rs15bn ($222mn) was launched in
June 2015.
Now with India agreeing to
ratify the IAEA Convention on
Supplementary Compensation
for Nuclear Damage (CSC), it
would also gain access to international funds with risk shared
according to how many nuclear
plants a country has.
The February 4 submission of
the instrument of ratication to
IAEA in Vienna, according to Indian officials is the conclusive
step in the addressing of issues
related to civil nuclear liability
in India.

Syed Mohamed claims to have

pioneered the transformation in
Kerala. As dusk falls, his mobile
kitchen arrives in front of a leading foreign bank, situated a stones
throw from the Kerala governors
residence in this capital city.
This is my 14th year. This
vehicle which I use is modied
and we have a state-of-the-art
kitchen behind the drivers cabin. It has been beautifully done
up using different materials to
keep it very neat and clean. We
have made a makeshift water

tank thats xed at the bottom.

All the water that my clients use
to wash their hands is collected
in the tank. At the end of the day,
we empty the water on my land,
Mohamed said.
The mobile vans have an extended menu and it includes
mostly traditional dishes like
the popular thattu dosa (the
smaller version of the regular
one), chapaties, parottas, idiappom and appom. Some even
offer fried rice, while omelettes
and bulls-eye (fried eggs, sunny

side up) are the most sought after ones.

The curries on offer include
various varieties of beef and
chicken and also vegetable dishes.
I am a regular at this place as
I have found it very tasty, besides
being reasonably priced. If the
very same dish that I have from
here is eaten at a hotel in the city,
I have to pay a minimum of 30%
more. What I understand is that
these mobile vans have very little
overheads and what they save on
is passed on to people like me,

said John Thomas, a college student in Kottayam.

Illustratively, four pieces of
chicken fry and a couple of rotis
would cost Rs70. An egg curry
with rotis would be Rs30.
Sreekumar, a parotta maker at
a mobile kitchen in Kochi, said
they start around 7pm and serve
curries and other items.
Once we are here on the road,
we start working on the parottas and make the dosas. All the
fries (chicken and beef) are done
inside the mobile kitchen, while

the curries are all prepared at

our home kitchen. We use environmentally-friendly material,
which include plantain leaves
(placed on steel plates), paper
cups for water and also paper
plates. We also provide mineral
water, Sreekumar said.
The waste is also collected
and we use it in our biogas plant.
The Food and Safety Commissioner is the watchdog for these
mobile kitchens. Its chief, T V Anupama said the mobile kitchens
are classied as street vendors.

Safe road campaign

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and founder chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare Azad Moopen walk on the zebra crossing with school children
at the launch of Aster Safe Roads campaign in New Delhi yesterday.

No troop pullout from

Siachen, says Parrikar
Death of 10 soldiers painful,
says defence minister
IANS
Visakhapatnam

efence Minister Manohar Parrikar yesterday

termed the recent death
of 10 soldiers in an avalanche on
the Siachen glacier as painful,
but said withdrawing troops
from the worlds highest battleeld could not be a solution.
The soldiers were buried
on Wednesday after an avalanche hit their post located at
19,000ft on the southern side of
the glacier.
This incident is painful to
me personally, but the solution
that is suggested is not a proper

analysis, he said, referring to

demands that Indian soldiers be
withdrawn from the glacier.
Asked if the proposal to
convert Siachen into a peace
mountain still exists, the minister said: The decision (on
deploying troops) on Siachen is
based on the security of the nation.
He said the loss of human
lives on the Siachen had come
down in recent years due to improved facilities.
We have lost thousands of
soldiers to get control (of the glacier)... The loss of life is less in the
last few years, he told reporters
on the sidelines of an International Maritime Conference here.
He said the incident had
nothing to do with preparedness. I dont nd any loose

ends. Its an avalanche... These

are unpredictable in nature.
Parrikar said the search operation was continuing though
there was little hope of survival
of the soldiers.
The hope of any survival is
nil. They are covered in tonnes
of ice, he said.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh suggested in 2005
that the worlds highest battleeld be converted into a peace
mountain without redrawing
the boundaries between India
and Pakistan.
The two countries maintain
permanent military presence at
heights of over 20,000ft. Both
have lost many men to extreme
cold in the area where temperature can dip to minus 50 degrees
Celsius.

Meanwhile, Parrikar said new

ways and better mechanism
need to be evolved to resolve
peacefully disputes related to
the seas.
In the changing economic
situation, the scenario of nding more and more resources in
deep seas is changing. Original
laws and treaties may not be
of much use... we need to nd
ways to resolve disputes more
peacefully, Parrikar said in his
keynote address at the Maritime
Conference.
...more land will go under
water and better mechanism
is (thus) needed to resolve
conicts, Parrikar said while
pointing out that the importance of oceans will increase in
future as land availability will
shrink due to a rise in water

levels due to global warming.

Oceans have always directly
or indirectly inuenced events
on land. At present too, besides
power projection, oceans are
increasingly being looked upon
as resource provider, he said.
The conference is being held
on the sidelines of the International Fleet Review that has
seen the participation of 50 navies from across the world.
The minister also pointed out
to the growing security challenges at sea.
Our strategic environment continues to pose wide
challenges... blurring of lines
between traditional and nontraditional threats remains a
concern, he said, adding that
the conference should deliberate on all these issues.

Cold is gold for tourism industry

IANS
New Delhi

icro light ying in

Mysuru, heli-skiing in
Auli, scuba diving on
Netrani Island, dune bashing in
Jaisalmer, zip lining at Neemrana
Fort, spelunking in Meghalaya,
bungee jumping in Rishikesh...
All this and more! The harsh
winter is no more an impediment to a great holiday.
Tourism industry comes alive
in winters, offering a wide range
of adventure activities for those
who do not shy away from experimenting.
Film editor Sandeep Singh
nds snow-capped landscape
and cold winds exhilarating. For
this travel junkie, winter is best
suited to pack bags and set off to
a new destination.
I love travelling during the
winter. I take off to the mountains. The biting cold seems to
open up all my senses and makes
them sharper, Singh, an avid
traveller, said.

Be it paragliding, trekking or
bungee jumping, I do it all. My
wife and friends are game for it.
Winter certainly is the best time
for such adventures.
Winter travellers are by no
means rare species any more.
More Indians are nding winter travel exciting. That is perhaps
the reason why men and women,
with children in tow, make a beeline for the Himalayan spots for
a glimpse of the rst snowfall, or
just to brave the chill.
The travel industry is exploiting the season with attractive
packages.
A winter break has become
almost as mandatory for Indians
as vacationing in the summer.
In fact, Indians have started exploring not only domestic but
also international destinations
during the shorter winter break,
Sharat Dhall, president of Yatra.
com said.
The popular travel portal
claimed that its bookings were
132% higher than the previous
year in the winter season.
Added Ranjeet Oak of Make-

MyTrip.com, Indias leading

online travel company: Winter
tourism as a concept has picked
up in India. With the growing
popularity of adventure tourism in India, winter snow sports
have become a hot tourist attraction. Gulmarg (in Kashmir) is
considered one of the best skiing
destinations in the world.
Yatra.com offers special packages like Alluring Gangtok
(starting from Rs10,650) to
Manali Super Saver (starting
from Rs5,999) and Hilly Escapades in Himachal (starting
from Rs10,900) to woo travellers.
The Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (Assocham) acknowledges that winter
is the best season for the tourism
industrys growth.
Assocham secretary general D
S Rawat said winters were ideally
the best season across India.
According to Assocham estimates, over 1.5mn domestic and
foreign travellers would have
visited tourist attractions across
India in the winter (DecemberFebruary).

Most demand has been for

Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Those going abroad prefer
Dubai, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the
Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka,
Singapore and other affordable
destinations.
Hari Nair, founder and CEO of
Holiday IQ, said that Thailand,
Malaysia and Singapore were
among the popular international
destinations for Indians in winter.
Indians on average spent
Rs82,000 in 2014. This rose to
Rs100,000 in 2015, said Nair,
adding that the average trip
length of an international destination has gone up by 14 days.
Adventure travel is the biggest
attraction among couples.
Nair said 52% of adventure
travel business goes to coupletravellers. Families comprise 21%
and only 9% are single tourists.
He said the top 10 winter activities included trekking, wildlife safaris, paragliding, skiing,
rock climbing, jet skiing, river
rafting and surng.

Tourists enjoy a spell of snowfall on the Ridge road in the heart of Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh
yesterday. Shimla and its nearby tourist spots received a spell of snow yesterday after a long dry weather.

22

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

LATIN AMERICA
CITYSCAPE

A bicycle taxi passes by a parked vintage

American car in Havana, Cuba.

Ex-maa
killer gets
another
chance at
freedom

TRAGEDY

CRACKDOWN

OFFBEAT

POLITICS

Two dead in oil rig

fire off Mexico coast

El Salvador ex-soldiers
held for priest killings

Breathalyzer tests for

town hall meetings

Haiti gets transitional

government

Two workers were killed and at least seven injured

yesterday in an oil platform fire off the coast of
Mexico, state petrol company Pemex said. The
blaze broke out in a compression area on the rig
located off the southeastern state of Campeche
in the Gulf of Mexico, Pemex reported on Twitter.
It said nine injured workers were airlifted away
for medical treatment and added later that two
workers died. The fire was brought under control
and the platform did not need to be evacuated,
Pemex added. Two Pemex installations in the
same area suffered explosions last year, one of
which killed four people. Pemex is a key source of
income for Mexicos government.

El Salvador said it had detained four former

soldiers accused of killing six priests during the
countrys civil war, and would keep searching for
12 other suspects who remain at large. In January,
the government said it would help arrest former
soldiers linked to the 1989 killings after a Spanish
judge sent a new petition for the soldiers arrest
to the international police agency Interpol. The
four were captured in a Friday night operation.
Another member of the group is facing extradition
to Spain from the US. Prosecutors say Salvadoran
soldiers shot the priests at their home to silence
their criticism of rights abuses committed by the
US-backed army during the 1980-1992 civil war.

Town hall meetings at a village in Brazil turned

into drunken brawls so often that the mayor
has resorted to breathalyser tests before the
councillors can take their seats. The sessions in
Pianco in northeast Brazils Paraiba state had
become so notorious the town council is known
among locals as the dog pound because of
all the fighting, news reports said. Mayor Pedro
Aureliano da Silva imposed the breathalyzer
tests late last year and since then the municipal
sessions have in fact become much calmer. One
city councillor, Antonio Azevedo Xavier, had a
bottle of whiskey fall from his coat pocket during
one session, but was not in the least embarrassed.

Haiti President Michel Martelly and leaders of

both chambers of the National Assembly have
agreed on how to govern the country after
Martellys term ended yesterday with no elected
successor. Under the plan, Prime Minister Evans
Paul will run the country until a provisional
president is chosen by the National Assembly.
That interim president will then oversee the
selection of a consensus prime minister whose
primary job will be to organise the postponed
legislative and presidential runoff elections
within 120 days. The plan is for the second
round of voting to take place April 24. The new
president is to be installed on May 14.

Macri wins praise

Church accused
of bending
marriage rules
for Pena Nieto

Tribune News Service

Los Angeles

convicted
killer
and
former shot-caller for
the Mexican maa who
developed an unusually close relationship with law enforcement
was again granted parole, a year
after the governor rejected his
previous bid for freedom.
During a hearing before a
California parole board, Rene
Boxer Enriquez spoke for more
than three hours as he made his
case for release, insisting he had
changed and promising that he
had stopped drugs and had gone
through several self-help courses.
He pointed to his extensive
collaboration with law enforcement, which began more than a
decade ago when he left the notorious prison gang.
The adult children of one
of Enriquezs murder victims
begged the board to keep their
mothers killer behind bars. After the decision was announced,
Cynthia Gavaldons children
said they felt defeated.
After just under 30 minutes
of deliberation, the two-person
parole panel announced its decision. Commissioner John Peck
acknowledged that Enriquezs
crimes were horric but said
they believed Enriquez had
changed since dropping out of
the gang. Rehabilitation classes
have helped reduce the threat
Enriquez posed to the community, Peck said. He had solid
parole plans and a signicant
amount of support, Peck said.
The commissioner also noted
the volumes of support letters
Enriquez had received.
We believe you have insight
into your behaviours ... and how
you can avoid those behaviors in
the future, he told Enriquez.
The second commissioner,
Nga Lam, said she felt Enriquez
had addressed the concerns the
governor outlined last year when
rejecting his parole. I wish you
luck, she said.
Thank you all so much, Enriquez said.

Guardian News and Media

Mexico City

Argentinas President Mauricio Macri takes part in a carnival celebration in the Argentine
northern town of Purmamarca. Investors praised the speed with which Macri made a
cash offer to holders of defaulted bonds aimed at ending a long and bitter dispute that
has strangled government finances. A financial markets pariah since defaulting on a
record $100bn in 2002, Argentina proposed on Friday a $6.5bn payment to settle the
legal battle and said two of the leading six holdouts in the case had already accepted
the discounted terms.

he Catholic church in
Mexico has been accused
of bending its own rules on
marriage to allow Enrique Pena
Nieto to enhance his image ahead
of his successful run for president.
Documents obtained by investigative reporters appear to
show that the church hierarchy
fast-tracked a marriage annulment for the actor Angelica Rivera, who became Pena Nietos
wife 19 months before he was
elected president.
The claims of ecclesiastical
irregularities come days before
Pope Francis makes a six-day trip
to Mexico , in which he is expected to address touchy topics such
as corruption, inequality and insecurity - matters on which the
Mexican government has mostly
stayed silent under Pena Nieto.
Reporters with the news
weekly Proceso and online news
organisation Aristegui Noticias
obtained the documents , which
were shared with the Guardian.
Pena Nietos rst wife, Monica
Pretelini, died in January 2007
after suffering an epileptic seizure. His subsequent romance
with Rivera, who had been hired
as the public face of Mexico state,
where Pena Nieto was governor,
produced a steady stream of puff
pieces and cover stories in the
countrys gossip magazines.
Rivera, a popular soap opera
star, was married to TV producer
Jose Alberto Castro from 2004 to
2008. They have three daughters
together, including two who were
born out of wedlock. The archdiocese of Mexico City annulled their
marriage in May 2009, noting
that the ceremony had taken place
on a beach in Acapulco and exhib-

Guardian News and Media

Brasilia

resident Dilma Rousseff

has called on all Brazilians to join a mega-operation against the Zika virus
later this month that will attempt to destroy the breeding
grounds of the mosquitos that
carry it.
The mass mobilisation on
February 13 will involve hundreds of thousands of personnel from the armed forces
as well as public officials in a
house-to-house campaign to
identify and eradicate the stagnant waters where the parasites
thrive.
This is a struggle to protect
our families, a struggle that
should unite all of us, Rousseff told the nation in a televised

address that was broadcast on

all of the main TV and radio
channels.
We cant admit defeat. The
victory depends on our determination to destroy the breeding grounds.

This is a struggle to
protect our families, a
struggle that should unite
all of us
Her message underscored
growing domestic and international concern about a virus
that was unknown in Brazil
until last April, but is now believed to have infected 1.5mn
people there and spread to
more than 20 other nations in
Latin America.
More worryingly, Rousseff
noted that the virus is suspected to have caused a dramatic increases in reported
cases of brain defects and
microcephaly in newborns.
Alarmed by the trends, the
World
Health
Organisation declared a global public health emergency earlier

this week, putting Zika in the

same category of urgency as
Ebola.
Rousseff said US President
Barack Obama had agreed that
American scientists would
collaborate in an international
attempt to develop a vaccine,
but until that was achieved,
she said, the most effective
course of action was to target
the insects that transmit the
virus.
The war against the breeding sites is complex because
they can be found everywhere
so it needs the engagement
of everybody, she said, urging people to consider water
tanks, flower vases, swimming pools, gutters, bottles,
tyres or any container thrown
away as rubbish.
We need continuous vigilance in our homes, our workplaces, our school, and public
places, she said. Lets prove
once more that Brazil is strong,
that we are a conscientious
people and that we will not be
beaten by mosquitos and the
virus they carry.

Rivera marriage. It cited Rivera

and three witnesses - all her sisters - who claimed they did not
understand they were signing
a church marriage certicate at
the ceremony in Mexico City.
A spokesman for the archdiocese of Mexico City, Father
Hugo Valdemar, denied there
had been any irregularities and
told the Guardian the annulment
followed the proper process.
He added that the original marriage in the Mexico City parish
was celebrated with the intention that it would be repeated in
Acapulco by a priest lacking the
proper permission to perform it.
Valdemar also denied any political motives for granting the
annulment.
Salinas died of cancer in October 2015. In 2012, a Vatican tribunal known as the Roman Rota
absolved him of any ecclesiastical wrongdoing in Riveras marriage. A letter to the Vatican in
2009 by Father Enrique Gonzalez
Torres, the prominent former
rector of the Jesuit-run Universidad Iberoamericana, condemned
the archdiocesan actions against
Salinas as full of irregularities.
It is very sad that to indulge
a lady, who wishes to marry
the governor of Mexico state,
Enrique Pena Nieto, in a
church wedding, a travesty
of justice is committed,
Gonzlez Torres wrote in a
December 18, 2009, letter defending Salinas.
The letter was sent
two days after Pena Nieto went to the Vatican
with bishops from his
home state. In an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, he introduced
the pope to Rivera and
made their marriage plans
public for the rst time.

Virus threat hits

tourist arrivals: poll

Rousseff urges Brazilians

to join ght against Zika
It needs the engagement of
everybody, president tells
nation in televised address,
urging individuals to check
water tanks, vases, pools
and gutters

ited defects of canonical form.

But the newly revealed church
documents cast doubt on the
archdioceses story that an improper wedding ceremony was
sufficient grounds to annul the
marriage.
A copy of Castro and Riveras
Catholic marriage certicate appears to show a proper church
ceremony took place in a Mexico
City parish on December 2, 2004
- before the Acapulco beach
service and in contradiction of
archdiocesan claims.
Annulments are available to
all Catholics, though the process is cumbersome and can take
years to complete, according to
a priest consulted by the Guardian. That is especially true for
those lacking the cash or connections to people in prominent
positions. Pope Francis has only
recently attempted to make annulments more accessible.
Working class Mexicans
would almost never be able to get
an annulment, said Father Robert Coogan, an American priest
in the city of Saltillo.
Documents show the archdiocese of Mexico City vigorously
pursued a priest popular with
telenovela actors, Father Jose
Luis Salinas Aranda, who
presided at the
Acapulco ceremony - which he
described as
a repetition
of vows.
O n e
archdiocesan document
proposes
punishing
Salinas
for
irregularities
in the Castro-

AFP
Brasilia

A soldier collects trash and debris as he takes part in cleaning of the

streets, gardens and homes as part of the citys efforts to prevent
the spread of the Zika virus vector, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, in
Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

he rapidly spreading Zika

virus is discouraging
many Americans from
travelling to Latin America and
the Caribbean, with 41% of
those aware of the disease saying
they are less likely to take such a
trip, a Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
The poll is the latest sign the
virus, suspected to be linked to
thousands of birth defects in
Brazil, could depress travel to
popular cold-weather getaways
in the coming months.
Airlines and cruise ship operators have yet to report drops
in bookings because of Zika,
and analysts have downplayed
the impact that newly sedentary
parents-to-be could have on
their revenue.
Still, awareness of the mosquito-borne virus has surged to
nearly two-thirds of Americans,
according to the poll of 1,595
adults in the US conducted from
February 1-5. That compares
with 45% who had heard of Zika
in a Reuters/Ipsos poll from late
January.

I am actively trying to get

pregnant with my husband, so
I am a little bit concerned, said
Erica, a respondent who said she
was bitten by a mosquito during
a January trip to the US Virgin
Islands, where Zika has been reported.
The US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
has advised pregnant women to
avoid travel to areas with an active outbreak of Zika, and the
World Health Organisation has
declared an international emergency over the disease.
Erica said she no longer plans
to visit Jamaica this summer to
celebrate her wedding anniversary.
Weve denitely gone back
to the drawing board on that,
she said, referring to the island,
which is on the CDC warning
list.
Of those aware of the virus,
41% said they were less likely
to travel to Puerto Rico, Mexico
or South America in the next 12
months because of Zika, the poll
found. Some 48% said Zika had
not changed the likelihood of
their visiting those destinations,
while others did not know.

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

23

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

PIA asco may bring PPP,

PTI closer against govt
Internews
Islamabad

he PPPs leaders, who

had so far been reluctant to join the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insafs
protests,
believe that the governments
handling of the PIA crisis may
lead to a larger co-operation
between the two opposition
parties outside parliament.
The main opposition PPP
says that since PTI chairman
Imran Khan has started behaving maturely and his party
is now playing its role inside
parliament, it cannot rule out
the possibility of the two parties
holding joint demonstrations.
Imran Khan has realised
that the PTI should play a role

inside
parliament. Therefore, we cannot rule out the
possibility of joining the PTI
on the streets, the PPPs information secretary Qamar
Zaman Kaira said yesterday.
According to PTIs deputy
parliamentary leader in the
National Assembly, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the two parties
have already started co-operation in parliament and he sees
no harm in joining hands with
the PPP outside too.
The two parties came closer
in parliament when the government introduced a controversial
tax amnesty scheme for traders
in the National Assembly last
month. After several meetings,
leaders of all the opposition
parties decided to adopt a joint
strategy against the govern-

ment inside parliament on public issues.

In a rare display of unity last
week, the PPP, the PTI and
other opposition parties submitted requisition notices to the
National Assembly and Senate
secretariats to convene sessions
of the two houses to discuss the
ongoing asco pertaining to the
Pakistan International Airlines.
Qureshi said the PTI had presented its new charter of demands on Sunday. Now my
question to the PPP leaders is if
it is acceptable to them or not,
he said.
The charter pertains to issues
that have a direct impact on the
life of the people, such as insufcient reduction in oil prices
and imposition of new taxes in
gas bills.

Kaira said the PPP had always

stood for the rights of the working class and would continue to
extend its traditional support
to PIA workers in their protest
against the governments plans
to sell the national ag carrier.
The PPP leader alleged that
the government had started using force and resorted to extreme
steps, including murdering
two PIA employees, adding that
his party would go to any length
to protect the workers rights.
He admitted that in the past,
the PPP had reservations over
joining hands with the PTI, but
said that the way the government had been handling the PIA
issue, the situation may lead to
a larger co-operation between
the two parties in the future.
Last week, the PPP held a dem-

Top clerics scramble to get

seats on advisory body
Internews
Islamabad

nuential religious scholars from across Pakistan

have begun muscling their
way into acquiring a seat on
the Council of Islamic Ideology
(CII) upon the retirement of 10
members of the advisory body,
it emerged yesterday.
A senior official of the council
said that seven members retired
on January 22 and three will retire on March 2. The council is
a constitutional body which offers recommendation to parliament regarding Islamic laws.
Currently, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani of JUI-F is
the chairman of the 20-member body. Members are handpicked by the PM Office for appointment on the council for a
period of three years.

The offer of a lucrative salary package and the perks of

protocol, expensive cars, staff
and such allure Ulema from all
schools of thought to vie for a
seat on the council, an official
of the CII said on the condition
of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
The official said that the CII
and the ministries of religious
affairs and law and justice have
sent recommendations to the
prime minister, the competent
authority for appointments on
the council.
The apex body of seminaries, Wafaqul Madaris, and the
President House, have also
sent names to the PM office for
appointment on CII.
When contacted, law and
justice secretary Raza Khan said
the ministry has forwarded a
list of 31 religious scholars to
the PM Office. However, Raza

Khan claimed he was not aware

of the inuential scholars using
contacts to get on CII.
Obviously, many are interested for this post, but I dont
know their names, he said.
Inuential people directly approach the PM Office and it is not
necessary that only the law ministrys list would be considered
for appointments on CII, he said.
Prominent among the names
sent to PM include Professor Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman, former director Dawah
Academy, who is relative of
Raja Zafarul Haq, senior leader
of PML-N and Leader of the
House in the Senate.
Interestingly, Professor Sahibzada Sajidur Rehman, when
contacted claimed that he did
not know who placed his name
in this list.
Other high-prole Ulema
recommended for appointment

on CII include Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi, director of Jamia

Naeemia, Lahore, Senator Haz
Hamdullah, of JUI-F, Qari Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari, Secretary General, Ittehad-i-Tanzeemat-i-Madaris-i-Deenia,
Habibur Rehman Sheikh, who
is additional secretary ministry
of law and justice, and Maulana
Abdul Wasay, senior leader of
JUI- F.
Also among these scholars is
the name of Mufti Saeed Jan,
who performed the short-lived
nikah of PTI chief Imran Khan.
The seven CII members who
retired in January are Mufti
Ghulam Mustafa Rizvi, Syed
Seed Ahmed Shah, Haz Tahir
Ashra, Allama Ibrahim Qadri,
Pir Abdul Baqi and Dr Farida
Siddiqui. The three members
retiring on March 2 include Allama Amin Shaheedi, Maulana
Fazal Ali and Dr Idrees Soomro.

onstration against the Orange

Line Metro Train Project in Lahore but did not allow PTI leaders
to become part of its show.
Led by Lahore PPP president
Samina Khalid Ghurki and information secretary Faisal Mir,
the protesters shouted slogans
against the Punjab government for depriving people of
their houses and businesses and
damaging the citys heritage.
Opposition leader in Punjab
Assembly Mian Mahmoodur
Rashid of the PTI faced embarrassment when a group of PPP
workers did not allow him to
join the demonstration.
Next day, the PPPs provincial
leaders contacted Rashid and
apologised over the incident,
putting the blame on some undisciplined workers.

akistani government ofcials seem least interested in initiating work on

a housing scheme involving the
construction of 500,000 houses
for low income people as the
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has
yet to approve the summary.
Such approval has been pending for the last eight months.
The prime minister announced the scheme - Apna
Ghar Housing Society - in November 2013 right after coming into the power but nothing

10 killed in
Sindh re

is coming out of the meetings,

mapping and follow-up huddles.
The PM office has yet to release Rs500 million for the
project. The housing and works
ministry has also not purchased
a single piece of land anywhere
in the country for the project.
As per the scheme, the provinces will provide the land free
of charge and the government
will construct 500,000 housing units at 1,000 places around
Pakistan in ve years.
The seriousness of the government about the project can
be gauged from the fact that
the housing society has yet to

get a permanent chief executive

and related staff to run the programme as another summary
for these appointments is pending with the PM for over four
months. Currently a joint secretary of the ministry is holding
acting charge.
The ministrys joint secretary
and acting head of the project
Akhtar Jan Wazir said that some
land had been identied for the
project in Jhelum, Gwadar and
other areas of Balochistan.
We are following up the matter but waiting for the approval
of summary from the PM,
he said.
Last week, in a Senate Stand-

ing Committee on Housing and

Works, Minister of State Akram
Durrani told the members that
for the last eight months they
were waiting for the approval of
summary from PM.
Interestingly, in the same
meeting the members with consensus set aside objection of
an audit report of 2003-2004
about a housing scheme started
in 1987.
According to documents, the
then prime minister Muhammad Khan Junejo launched the
Apni Basti project in 1987 to
build 130,000 housing units, but
eventually only 35,000 houses
were constructed.

Spokesman for Afghan foreign ministry Ahmad Shakib Mostaghani speaking during a press
conference in Kabul yesterday. The fourth round of four-party meeting on Afghan peace process
will be held in Kabul on February 23, the spokesman said.

The scheme could not be implemented due to several aws,

including unrealistic pricing,
and unsuitable locations where
there was no provision of water,
power and gas.
This is not the rst time
that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
has launched a scheme but
procrastinated over it.
Mera Ghar Scheme the biggest public sector housing
scheme involving an expenditure of billions of rupees was
announced in Nawaz Sharifs
second tenure in 1996 as well but
the desired objectives could not
be achieved.

Victim of suicide attack

AFP
Karachi

re started by a falling oil lamp

engulfed several huts in a Pakistan shing village and killed
10 people including women and children early yesterday, police said.
The tragedy occurred on Bachoo
island in the Thatta district of the
southern province of Sindh.
The re broke out after an oil
lamp in one of the huts fell to the
ground. The re later engulfed several huts, killing 10 people, a senior local police official, Fida Hussain, said.
He said nine people died on the
spot and another on the way to the
hospital.
Two children and four women
were among the dead, while two
injured children were transferred
to the Civil Hospital in Karachi for
treatment.

More than 2,000 Pakistanis were

stranded in Jeddah due to the
suspension of flights, and neither the
government nor Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) itself has approached
them since lodging them at a local
hotel in the city, Dawn online reported.
Many of these passengers were
particularly worried because their
visas expire in two days time.
We fear that the Saudi police will
arrest us on charges of visa expiry,
as most peoples visas will expire in a
week, or three or four days, Usman
Qureshi, a Pakistani stranded in
Jeddah, said over phone.
He said he has been stranded in
Jeddah for three days, and has not
heard a response from PIA officials or
the Pakistan embassy in Saudi Arabia.
My flight, PK-7135, was scheduled
to leave Jeddah on February 4, but
flight operations were suspended.
PIA brought me and my family, and
160 others, to a local hotel where 500
Pakistanis were already staying. Food
is served three times a day, but people
have to sleep in the hotel lounge
because the rooms are limited, he said.
Qureshi said they have received no
information regarding the next flight, and
PIA officials have not come to the hotel or
tried to contact the passengers in Jeddah.
The PIA officials took our tickets
and passports, so its difficult for us
to arrange tickets on other airlines to
come back home, said Mohammad
Adnan, who too is stranded in Jeddah.

Afghan talks on Feb 23

Housing scheme waits PMs approval

Internews
Islamabad

The two parties then managed to hold a joint protest in

Lahore over the train project.
Sources in the PPP said that a
number of PPP leaders and activists were unhappy over this
act and were even considering
staying away from the protests
in the future.
In October, the PPP had not
supported the PTIs candidate,
Shafqat Mehmood, in the election for the office of the National Assembly speaker and some
of its members had even voted
in favour of the PML-Ns Sardar
Ayaz Sadiq.
The PPP was not ready to
support the PTI because of its
previous role and uncalledfor criticism against the party
and its leaders during the 126day sit-in outside parliament.

Over 2,000 Pakistanis

stranded in Jeddah

Pakistani paramilitary soldiers carry a coffin during the funeral of their colleagues who were killed in Saturdays suicide attack in
Quetta. At least 10 people were killed and 40 others injured as a suicide blast hit a security forces convoy in Quetta on Saturday
afternoon, said local officials.

Govt invites bids for

new power projects
Internews
Islamabad

he Pakistan government has decided to

invite bids from the private sector for building new
medium-sized power plants
of 100 to 250 megawatts with
re-gasied liqueed natural
gas (LNG) as fuel and cumulative production capacity of
1,000MW.
The economic co-ordination committee (ECC) took the
decision in a meeting held on
January 29.
The ministry of water and
power told the committee that
the government was making
concerted efforts to eliminate
power shortages and was exploring all possibilities for a
substantial addition to the
countrys electricity generation capacity in the minimum
time frame.
To achieve that goal, the
government will stimulate
private-sector investment in
constructing new mediumsized power plants of 100 to
250MW and these will be run
with the help of re-gasied
LNG.
Their total production
capacity will be 1,000MW
and investors will be picked
through international competitive bidding.
These plants will either be
installed at the sites of old or
abandoned power generation
plants or in the vicinity of existing grid stations and transmission lines of the National
Transmission and Dispatch
Company (NTDC) or electricity distribution companies.
The bidders will be required
to offer a discount on the tariff
set for re-gasied LNG-based

power projects. Project sponsors must also start opencycle operations by March 31,
2017 and commercial operations in combined-cycle mode
by January 1, 2018.
The water and power ministry said the planned projects
would be processed and developed under the Power Generation Policy of 2015. The policy
provides for standardised security documents for power
projects developed by the
private sector.
The security documents
include an implementation
agreement and a power purchase agreement containing
provisions regarding legal and
contractual framework for
nancial close, engineering,
procurement, construction,
commissioning, operation and
maintenance on build, own
and operate basis.
Drafts of the implementation agreement and the power
purchase agreement are based
on the standards approved
earlier by the ECC for coalbased power projects of the
private sector.
These are also in line with
the specic requirements of
re-gasied LNG-based power
projects, the upfront tariff set
by the National Electric Power
Regulatory Authority (Nepra)
and the parameters specied
by the regulator.
The Ministry of Water and
Power asked the ECC to approve the initiative and the
framework for processing and
implementing the planned
power projects. It also sought
the ECCs go-ahead for the
standardised
implementation agreement and the power
purchase agreement under
the Power Generation Policy
of 2015.

24

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

PHILIPPINES

Labour chief
favours modest
pension hike
By Nelson S Badilla
Manila Times

he
entire
Benigno
Aquino administration
is not at all opposed to
increasing the monthly pension of retired Social Security
System (SSS) members.
Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz is in favour of an
across-the-board
monthly
pension hike of P500, not the
P2,000 sought by the retirees, according to Jose Matula,
president of the Federation of
Free Workers (FFW).
Matula over the weekend
said Baldoz made her stand
when the SSS pension raise
was brought up during the
National Tripartite Industrial
Peace Council meeting at the
Department of Labour and
Employment in Manila on Friday.
The Labour chief presided
over the meeting, which was
attended by veteran labour
leaders, including Matula.
The FFW president and
lawyer Arnel Dolendo of the
Trade Union Congress of the
Philippines said they are amenable to a P1,000 increase, an
amount that was also backed
during the meeting by a representative of the Employers
Co-operatives of the Philippines. Another meeting on
February 15 will further discuss the SSS pension increase
for 1.8mn pensioners.
Matula said the SSS is capable of granting the P2,000
pension hike without the pension fund going bankrupt by
2029.
During the administration
of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, he noted, the SSS

had no capacity to raise members benets and yet did so

by slashing the bonuses of top
SSS officials.
At least seven more lawmakers have signed a resolution calling for an override of
the presidential veto on the
proposed P2,000 across-theboard increase for SSS pensioners, after Congress failed
to overturn the veto last week.
However, while opposition
lawmaker Neri Colmenares of
Bayan Muna party-list over
the weekend said there are already 64 lawmakers who have
signed the override resolution, the gure is still far from
the required 192 signatures
representing two-thirds of
the House of Representatives
membership.
We now have an initial
64 signatures so far collated
and we are still gathering the
signed resolution from the
offices of many congressmen
next week. By May 23, we hope
to have more than 192 signatures, Colmenares, who was
among those who principally
moved for an override of the
veto, said in a statement.
The initial 57 signatures on
the override resolution were
those of all members of the
Nationalist Peoples Coalition
as well as several members
of the Liberal Party, United
Nationalist Alliance, LakasCMD, House minority bloc
and House independent minority bloc.
Colmenares, who is running
for a Senate seat in this years
polls, principally authored the
bill that proposed the P2,000
SSS pension hike.He said the
pension for a retiree is P3,169
on average, with the lowest
being P1,200 per month.

Gunman shoots mayor

in pre-poll ambush
AFP
Manila

Philippine town mayor

was shot and wounded
in an ambush in the
conict-wracked south yesterday, two days before the
official campaign for general
elections in May kick off, police said.
A gunman riding a motorcycle opened re on Mayor
Jasper Que as he drove with
his two bodyguards in the port
city of Zamboanga at around
9am, city police spokeswoman Senior Inspector Helen

Galvez said. Que, who is not

seeking re-election, is mayor
of Bongao, a remote seaside
town in Tawi-Tawi, an impoverished island chain on
the countrys southernmost
tip. A relative is running to
succeed him, according to
election records.
Que, who suffered three
gunshot wounds to his arm,
leg and buttocks, is recovering
in a Zamboanga hospital while
his assailant escaped.
It was not immediately clear
if the attack was election-related, Galvez said. The mayor
is a member of President Benigno Aquinos Liberal Party.

Getting prepared for Chinese New Year celebrations

Lion dancers carry their costumes on the eve of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Manilas Chinatown, Philippines yesterday.

Governor and lawmakers

linked to illegal drug trade
By Joel M Sy Egco
Manila Times

t least one provincial governor and some members

of the House of Representatives are among government officials linked to illegal
drug trade, according to former
Philippine Drug Enforcement
Agency (PDEA) director general
Dionisio Santiago.
In an exclusive interview at his
residence in Taguig City (Metro
Manila), Santiago also disclosed
that he had sent a full report on
the involvement of the public gures to Defence Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin as early as 2010,
before he left PDEA.
I surmise Malacanang already has a copy of my report. It
contained everything, including
the whos who in the drug industry. The highest government
officials included in my report
were a governor and some active
lawmakers from Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon, he told
Manila Times.

He said he brought his report

to Gazmin as he was about to be
replaced at PDEA.
Both Gazmin and Santiago are
former military generals, but the
latter became chief of staff of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The former PDEA chief mentioned the names of the governor
and the lawmakers whom the
PDEA believed were involved in
illegal drugs.
He, however, asked that the
names be not printed in this report.
So if they want to know all
about the extent of the illegal
drug menace in the country,
they should ask Secretary Gazmin, PDEA or even Malacanang,
Santiago said.
When asked if he could support claims that there is active
narco-politics in the country,
the former military general replied, certainly.
Its where they get their
funds. The problem is this, even
if you have an A1 (highest) information about the involvement
of certain government officials,

it would be very hard to prove it

and it is most likely that the case
will not even stand in court. This
makes (prosecuting them) really
very hard, Santiago explained.
In fact, he said, he knew of
a top PDEA official, with the
rank of regional director, who
had been receiving P1mn from a
known drug lord in his area.
Sad thing is, according to my
former people who remain in the
agency, drug money crawled up
even higher in the PDEA hierarchy, Santiago added.
He said the regional director
used to be very close to him
but he lost trust in the official
when he learned of his illicit activities. That (expletive) is even
a relative of someone who holds
a top position in the office of one
senator, Santiago pointed out.
He named the regional director and the senator but again
requested not to publish their
names.
Santiago, however, said the
senator was not in any way involved in illegal drugs.
For purposes of this exclusive

story, Manila Times had sent a

quationnaire to Glenn Malapad, Officer-in-Charge, Public
Information Office, PDEA, for
comment and any input.
A staff member said she would
provide data and probably their
reaction to the article, but the
Manila Times has yet to receive
such as of press time.
Sen. Grace Poe, chairman of
the committees on public information and on illegal drugs, said
nobody can deny the fact that
government officials themselves are involved in the illegal
drug trade.
But denitely, we need to
be able to expose the names of
those people. And I would probably do so, Poe said in a statement released by her office.
According to the lawmaker,
she believes that the threats of
narco-politics are present and
active in the country.
If theres a rise in the incidence of violence and the sale
of drugs during this time, we
cannot help but associate that
perhaps to campaign funds. Re-

member that the government

has tightened its grip on election
expenditures, Poe explained.
She noted that the drug problem grew even worse after the
Supreme Court stopped the Priority Development Assistance
Fund (PDAF).
Since the PDAF is already
dead, it caused limitations on
discretionary spending by government officials.
So they obviously had to resort to some other means to fund
their campaign if local government or public officials are
involved, this could be the root
if they are involved, she added.
Poe said she plans to get all
the names of popular drug
lords who have not yet been apprehended and vowed to make
them public.
To show the involvement
of drug lords with politicians,
she cited a hearing last week at
the Senate where she named
a barangay (village) councillor
in Iloilo as being directly involved with alleged drug kingpin Melvin Odicta Sr.

Philippines raucous election season begins this week

AFP
Manila

he Philippines raucous
democracy cranks into
top gear this week as campaigning begins for national
elections, with familiar themes
of corruption, dictatorship and
celebrity star-power to dominate.
The three-month campaign
launches tomorrow with most
interest on a crowded contest
to succeed President Benigno
Aquino, who has won global
applause for six years of strong
economic growth and a bruising
anti-graft campaign.
There are myriad other subplots, including a bid by dead
dictator Ferdinand Marcos son
to take the vice presidency and
eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiaos run for a
Senate seat.
The jailhouse campaigns of
two politicians charged with
murder who are running in local mayoral elections, as well as
graft-tainted ex-president Gloria Arroyos run for a third term
as congresswoman while behind
bars, fuel a sizzling political atmosphere of chaos and chicanery.
There are four major contenders in the battle to move

Top contenders (from left): Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas, Grace Poe and Rodrigo Duterte
into the presidential palace
and most analysts predict the
deciding factors will - as usual be name recognition and
charisma rather than ideology
or policy.
In the Philippines, elections
are like a circus with the candidates trying to attract attention
with their performances, said
Earl Parreno, an analyst at the
Manila-based Institute for Political and Economic Reform.

Programmes and policies are

secondary... its a personality
contest. Aquino won in a landslide six years ago largely due to
the popularity of his parents,
who led the democracy movement that saw Marcos ee into
US exile in 1986.
Aquino, 56, is still relatively
popular but the constitution
limits him to a single term.
His preferred successor is
US-educated investment bank-

er Mar Roxas, a trusted ally with

many years governing experience who is vowing to continue
the pairs straight path agenda of steady reforms and ghting graft.
But Roxas, 58, is trailing in
polls and analysts say he has a
huge task to ignite an electorate
that generally perceives him as
having little charisma.
He is dry, he cant connect to
ordinary people, Parreno said.

In contrast is Jejomar Binay,

73, a natural campaigner who
grew up in poverty but rose to
become one of the nations most
powerful politicians.
Binay heads the main opposition party and is the current vice
president the nations two top
posts are elected separately in
the Philippines but he has had
to endure a barrage of corruption
allegations.
A Senate committee recently

recommended Binay be charged

with graft for kickbacks allegedly taken during his long stint
as mayor of the nations nancial capital, Makati. Binay denies
the allegations, insisting they are
part of a smear campaign by his
opponents and that his familys
new riches have been earned legitimately.
Meanwhile, he has sought via
slick TV and Internet video clips
to portray himself as the man of
the poor.
Another top contender for
the presidency is Grace Poe, 47,
the adopted daughter of a dead
movie star whose success so far
can largely be attributed to her
fathers enduring popularity.
However the Supreme Court
could knock her out of the race
before the May 9 elections, with
justices currently listening to arguments she is ineligible based
on citizenship and residency
laws.
The constitution requires
presidents have Filipino parents.
But Poe does not know who her
biological parents are. Complicating matters, she lived in the
US for many years and took US
citizenship before renouncing it.
Binay and Poe have over recent months swapped top spot
in popularity surveys.
The latest poll, released on
Saturday, showed Poe edging

back ahead by a small margin.

The wildcard contender is Rodrigo Duterte, 70, a controversial
gure nicknamed
The Punisher for his ruthless but successful tactics ghting crime as mayor of Davao, a
major southern city.
Human rights groups have accused Duterte of running vigilante death squads that killed
suspected criminals.
Duterte has denied leading death squads but gave a
speech late last year in which he
bragged about killing drug trafckers.
His vows to clean up crime
and end corruption in the nation
of 100mn people have won him
many fans, both rich and poor.
Meanwhile, Ferdinand Marcos
Jr, the son of the dead dictator,
has a strong chance to become
the Philippines next vice president, currently in second place
in polling.
His father and mother, Imelda, are accused of plundering
billions of dollars from state coffers and overseeing widespread
human rights abuses.
Marcos Jr, a senator, says he
has nothing to apologise for and
is counting on voters many of
whom were born after the 1986
People Power revolution to
cement a remarkable political
comeback for the family.

26

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed
Production Editor: C P Ravindran

P.O.Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
[email protected]
Telephone 44350478 (news),
44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery)
Fax 44350474

GULF TIMES

The importance
of becoming
more humane
As the world surges into the Fourth Industrial
Revolution a new age of interactive technologies,
articial intelligence and automation a key challenge
for individuals will be to understand and retain their
very essence, their humanity, leading scientists
and thought leaders on society and law said in the
closing panel session of the recent World Economic
Forum Annual Meeting 2016. Being able to master the
technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution must
be an essential part of that, the panellists agreed.
As pointed out by Henry T Greely, the Deane
F and Kate Edelman Johnson professor of law at
Stanford University, US, all of us need to begin to
understand and grapple with how we want to shape
these technologies. We are competing with articial
intelligence, asserted meeting co-chair Amira
Yahyaoui, founder and chair of citizens action group
Al Bawsala in Tunisia and a member of the World
Economic Forums Global Shaper community of
leaders in their twenties.
We really have to show we are the good ones. So
the discussion of ethics and value has never been
more essential than it is today. We should not think
of robots as competitors. To quote Justine Cassell,
associate dean, at the
School of Computer
Science at Carnegie
Mellon University, we
should consider them
as collaborators to help
us do what we wish to
do but cannot do alone
and help us to be part of
a larger community.
Robots and articial intelligence will force people
to hone human skills that were much more important
generations ago in the days of very low tech.
Empathy, respect those skills will be effective for
the workplace of the future, Cassell reckoned. It is
through comparison with robots that we will know
what it is to be human.
As rightfully declared by Jennifer Doudna, professor
of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology at the
University of California, Berkeley, what makes us
human comes from our brain chemistry. We are not
about our physical bodies but what is going on in our
brains.
As the panellists agreed, confronted by the rapid
technological advances of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, our goal should not be just to stay human
but to stay humane and become more humane. The
need of the hour is to become better humans.
To quote Klaus Schwab, founder and executive
chairman of the World Economic Forum: If we all
create self-awareness and, in our own personal and
collective lives, work towards improving the state of
the world, we would live out our human dimension.
It goes without saying that there needs to be a
concerted global effort to eradicate poverty, illiteracy,
lack of sanitation, improve access to technology
and healthcare, and put an end to the refugee crisis,
irrespective of the geographical distribution of the
human population.

A crash course in geopolitical

realism for German leaders
Germanys embrace of a
more active global role has
taken place within a rapidly
changing geopolitical
landscape
By Volker Perthes
Berlin

n the two years since Germanys

president, foreign minister and
defence minister signalled that
their country would take on a
larger role in international affairs, the
countrys leaders have received a crash
course in geopolitical realism. The
challenges Germany has had to face
include Russias annexation of Crimea,
the conict in eastern Ukraine, the
explosion of Syria, terrorist attacks in
Europe and an unprecedented inux of
refugees.
These crises have greatly increased
Germanys international prole. And
yet the countrys reemergence as a
major player on the world stage must
be tempered with the recognition that
its power depends on co-operation
with its partners and the development
of a strong, unied European foreign
and security policy.
Germanys embrace of a more
active global role has taken place
within a rapidly changing geopolitical
landscape one in which German
and other European leaders have had
to accept that most of the rest of the
world does not share their preference
for multilateral decision-making.
They have also had to come to terms
with the fact that the US is no longer
prepared to take the lead in every
crisis, and that rising global powers
such as China, India and Brazil
are not yet prepared to contribute
effectively to maintaining a stable
global order.
Meanwhile, the dividing lines
between domestic and international
affairs have become increasingly
blurred. The refugee crisis,
for example, demands policy
interventions in areas as diverse as
defence, development aid, European

German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking at the donors Conference for Syria
in London recently. To maintain a broader international footprint, Germany will
require co-operation with allies and partners around the world.
integration, domestic security, and
social-welfare policy.
Increasingly, the challenges
Germany is facing have become
intertwined; terrorism, the Syrian civil
war, Russian aggression and refugee
ows are interacting in dangerous
and unpredictable ways. Nor are
any of these crises likely to be easily
contained or quickly resolved; each
will have to be managed over the long
term.
And given its high degree of
integration into the global economy,
Germany is vulnerable even to
distant developments. For example,
preventing military conict and
maintaining maritime freedom in
the South China Sea is clearly in
Germanys interest.
To their credit, Germanys leaders,
recognising the important role their
country can play, have taken the
diplomatic lead with Russia over its
intervention in Ukraine.
Moreover, Germany was a key
participant in the nuclear negotiations
with Iran, and it has been deeply
involved in the effort to nd a political
solution to the Syrian civil war.
Germany also assumed the 2016
presidency of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.
On the military front, Germany has
beefed up its contribution to Nato
measures to bolster defences in the
Baltic region and Central Europe,
and it has become increasingly open
to contributing military forces to

interventions in crises outside the

alliances area.
It has participated in UN
peacekeeping efforts in Mali, prolonged
its engagement in Afghanistan,
supplied weapons and training to
forces in northern Iraq, and provided
reconnaissance ights and other
assistance to French military strikes
against the Islamic State in Syria.
German policymakers are aware
that their international partners
expect this type of leadership
to become the norm, and they
have demonstrated an interest
in expanding Germanys rising
inuence. As a medium-size power
however, Germany cannot be present
everywhere; maintaining a broader
international footprint will require
co-operation with allies and partners
around the world.
Indeed, the more Germany leads,
the more dependent it becomes on
other international actors most
notably its European Union partners
and the more exposed it becomes
to uctuations in the geopolitical
environment. For example, Chinas
regional posture and its strategic
relationship with the US will inuence
German efforts to nd multilateral
solutions to global challenges like
climate change or cyber threats.
As Germany continues to lean
forward internationally, it can be
expected to increase spending on
foreign policy and international
security. To be sure, Berlin has yet to

meet Natos target of 2% of GDP for

defence spending. Like most other
states, it has also failed to meet the
internationally agreed commitment
to spend 0.7% of GDP on official
development assistance.
But, unlike some of its partners,
Germany has not slashed its defence
budget, and it has substantially
increased funding for diplomacy.
Nonetheless, even as it has
increased its capacity to provide
military forces for UN, Nato, or EU
operations, Germany has made clear
that it does not view itself as a military
power. German policymakers continue
to believe that political and economic
means of inuence are more effective
than violence, implying further
development of soft-power tools,
including digital diplomacy.
They are also eager to develop more
networked national and European
foreign policies that take into
account the activities and possible
contributions of non-state actors.
For the time being, Germanys main
foreign policy priorities are likely to
remain the EU and the continents
eastern and southern neighbours
from which immediate security risks
are most likely to emanate. This would
be a wise choice. Germany and its
EU partners will be most effective
when managing conicts, stabilising
governments, or supporting economic
and political transitions in their
immediate neighbourhood.
Furthermore, given todays
extraordinarily turbulent geopolitical
environment, Germany has a
fundamental interest in championing
the development of the EUs foreign
policy and security institutions.
As much as German policymakers
might enjoy the growing demand for
their contributions to international
politics, the countrys membership
in the EU remains its most potent
source of power and security. - Project
Syndicate
zVolker Perthes is chairman and
director of Stiftung Wissenschaft
und Politik, the German Institute for
International and Security Affairs,
Berlin.

Empathy,
respect those
skills will be
effective for the
workplace of the
future

To Advertise
[email protected]
Display
Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811
Classified
Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811
Subscription
[email protected]
2014 Gulf Times. All rights reserved

The aim of National Sport Day is to raise awareness of the importance of sports and physical activity and the key role it can play in improving the quality of life of individuals, a workforce and society as a whole.

All fun and games National Sport Day

By Emma Higham, Yasser Shabbir
Doha

omorrow, the majority of

employees in Qatar will
celebrate the fth annual
National Sport Day, an
official paid public holiday which is
celebrated on the second Tuesday of
February in each year. National Sport
Day was introduced via Emiri Decree
No (80) of 2011.
The Decree provides that
ministries, government
departments, public sector
institutions, including the Qatar
Financial Centre (QFC), as well as
other organisations in the private
sector shall organise sporting and
interactive activities on this day
for their employees to participate
in. Employees should be able to
participate in activities in a way
which suits their age and condition.
The aim of National Sport Day is
to raise awareness of the importance
of sports and physical activity and
the key role it can play in improving

the quality of life of individuals, a

workforce and society as a whole.
In the last four years, organisations
in Qatar have embraced this initiative
such that now a diverse range of
sporting activities aimed at a wide
demographic take place throughout
the country.

Sport is integral to
Qatars national
vision
Sport is integral to Qatars
national vision. The countrys
success in hosting the 2006 Asian
Games, being awarded the World
Athletics Championships in 2019
and culminating in being awarded
the host country for the FIFA World
Cup in 2022 is testament to Qatars
commitment to sport.
National Sport Day brings the
total of public holidays enjoyed by
the majority of Qatars workforce to
11. These public holidays are set out
in the Qatar Labour Law, No (14) of

2004, the provisions of which govern

the employment of most of Qatars
expatriate workforce. The public
holidays are:
zEid al-Fitr, three working days
zEid al-Adha, three working days
zNational Day, one working day, being
December 18 (formerly the September
3 until 2008)
zThree oating working days which
the employer will determine for all
employees.
Note: Employees working in the
banking sector, including the QFC,
have an additional bank holiday on
the rst Sunday in March and the
employees of Qatari ministries and
other government agencies enjoy
extended Eid holidays.
It is important for employers to
note, that in Qatar, unlike in some
other GCC jurisdictions, if a public
holiday falls on a rest day, being
Friday where an employee works a
six-day week or a Friday or Saturday
where the employee works a five-day

week, a day off in lieu should be

given.
In addition, where an employee
must work on a public holiday, the
overtime provisions of the Labour
Law will apply, i.e. the employee
will be compensated as if he or she
had worked on a rest day, being a
day in lieu and a payment equal to
100% of total pay (i.e. basic pay plus
allowances such as accommodation
and transport etc) or 150% of basic
pay.
Note: All Qatari Laws (save for
those issued by the Qatar Financial
Centre (QFC) to regulate its own
internal business) are issued in
Arabic and there are no official
translations, therefore for the
purpose of drafting this article we
have used our own translation and
interpreted the same in the context of
Qatari laws and regulations. If you
would like further information please
contact either Emma Higham (emma.
[email protected]) or Yasser
Shabbir
([email protected])

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

27

COMMENT

Rebuilding the Muslim House of Wisdom

If the Muslim world is to
become a centre of
innovation again, it is useful
to recall the Islamic golden
age that stretched from the
eighth century well into the
fteenth
By Jim al-Khalili
Guildford

uslim governments know

that economic growth,
military power and
national security benet
greatly from technological advances.
Many of them have sharply increased
funding for science and education in
recent years. And yet, in the view of
many especially in the West the
Muslim world still seems to prefer
to remain disengaged from modern
science.
These sceptics are not entirely
wrong. Muslim-majority countries
spend, on average, less than 0.5%
of their GDP on research and
development, compared with ve
times that in the advanced economies.
They also have fewer than 10
scientists, engineers, and technicians
per thousand residents, compared
to the global average of 40 and 140
in the developed world. And even
these gures tend to understate the
problem, which is less about spending
money or employing researchers than
about the basic quality of the science
being produced.
To be sure, one should not be overly
hasty in singling out Muslim countries
for criticism; even in the supposedly
enlightened West, an alarmingly
high proportion of the population
regards science with suspicion or
fear. And yet, in many parts of the
Muslim world, science faces a unique

challenge; it is seen as a secular if

not atheist Western construct.
Too many Muslims have forgotten
or never learned about the brilliant
scientic contributions made by
Islamic scholars a thousand years ago.
They do not regard modern science
as indifferent or neutral with respect
to Islamic teaching. Indeed, some
prominent Islamic writers have even
argued that scientic disciplines such
as cosmology actually undermine
the Islamic belief system. According
to the Muslim philosopher Osman
Bakar, science comes under attack on
the grounds that it seeks to explain
natural phenomena without recourse
to spiritual or metaphysical causes,
but rather in terms of natural or
material causes alone.
Bakar is of course entirely correct.
Seeking to explain natural phenomena
without recourse to metaphysics is
exactly what science is about. But it is
difficult to think of a better defence of
it than the one offered almost exactly
1,000 years ago by the 11th-century
Persian Muslim polymath Abu
Rayhan al-Bir ni. It is knowledge,
in general, which is pursued solely
by man, and which is pursued for the
sake of knowledge itself, because its
acquisition is truly delightful, and is
unlike the pleasures desirable from
other pursuits, al-Bir ni wrote. For
the good cannot be brought forth,
and evil cannot be avoided, except by
knowledge.
Fortunately, a growing number of
Muslims today would agree. And,
given the tension and polarisation
between the Islamic world and the
West, it is not surprising that many
feel indignant when accused of being
culturally or intellectually unequipped
for competitiveness in science and
technology. Indeed, that is why
governments across the Muslim world
are increasing their R&D budgets
sharply.
But throwing money at the problem

is no panacea. Scientists do require

adequate nancing, of course, but
competing globally requires more than
just the latest shiny equipment. The
entire infrastructure of the research
environment needs to be addressed.
That means not only ensuring that
laboratory technicians understand
how to use and maintain the
equipment, but also and far more

important nurturing the intellectual

freedom, scepticism, and courage to
ask heterodox questions on which
scientic progress depends.
If the Muslim world is to become a
centre of innovation again, it is useful
to recall the Islamic golden age that
stretched from the eighth century
well into the fteenth. For example,
the year 2021 will mark a millennium

since the publication of Ibn alHaythams Book of Optics, one of the

most important texts in the history
of science. Written more than 600
years before the birth of Isaac Newton,
al-Haythams work is widely regarded
as one of the earliest examples of the
modern scientic method.
Among the most famous of this
eras intellectual epicentres was

Baghdads House of Wisdom, at the

time the largest repository of books
in the world. Historians may bicker
over whether such an academy truly
existed and what function it served;
but such arguments are less relevant
than the symbolic power it still holds
in the Islamic world.
When Gulf state leaders talk about
their multibillion-dollar visions of
creating a new House of Wisdom, they
are not concerned about whether the
original was just a modest library that
a caliph inherited from his father. They
want to reanimate the spirit of free
inquiry that has been lost in Islamic
culture and that urgently needs to be
recovered.
To achieve that, daunting
challenges remain to be overcome.
Many countries devote an unusually
large share of research funding toward
military technology, a phenomenon
driven more by geopolitics and the
unfolding tragedies in the Middle East
than by a thirst for pure knowledge.
The brightest young scientists
and engineers in Syria have more
pressing matters on their minds
than basic research and innovation.
And few in the Arab world are likely
to view advances in Iranian nuclear
technology with the same equanimity
as developments in Malaysias
software industry.
But it is nonetheless important to
recognise how much Muslim countries
could contribute to humankind by
nurturing once again the spirit of
curiosity that drives scientic inquiry
whether to marvel at divine creation
or just to try to understand why
things are the way they are. - Project
Syndicate
zJim al-Khalili is professor of
theoretical physics and chair in the
public engagement in science at the
University of Surrey. He is a speaker at
the World Government Summit, Dubai,
February 8-10.

Weather report

Letters

Three-day forecast
TODAY

A portent of
things to come
Dear Sir,
The Zika virus has now been
classied as a global threat as it
continues to migrate across intercontinental frontiers.
It is difficult to predict plausible
events that will guide or decimate
mankind in the decades ahead.
Earthquakes and oods will occasionally
kill tens of thousands of people in
developing countries; of greater
consequences would be a massive
earthquake in North America or Japan.
Such a quake could cause damage worth
a trillion dollars, triggering a worldwide
depression and setting back human
progress by a decade.
How much of humanity could be
wiped out in the future by a naturallyarising pathogen? The worldwide
inuenza of 1918 killed 30 million,
and Aids had killed thousands by
2000. New deadly viruses are likely to

emerge, with deadly consequences.

The earths magnetic-eld reverses
polarity every few hundred thousand
years. During the next reversal the
ozone layer will be unprotected from
charged solar particles that could
weaken its ability to protect humans
from ultraviolent radiation.
Nuclear power poses another threat;
it could result in radioactive pollution
and even a general nuclear war that
could kill millions of people. Bioweapons and Nanotech weapons will
be the next generation of weapons.
Fuel shortages could see civilisation
crumble. Without supplies of energy,
the worlds economy would collapse,
and, more importantly, we will not
be able to grow and transport even a
fraction of the food the worlds 7bn
plus people need to survive.
If crop failures, for any reason, is
sufficiently widespread and affects
enough species, then the end of
modern civilisation will be the result.

Dont blame
the messenger

Farouk Araie
[email protected]

Rajesh Nair
[email protected]

Dear Sir,
The letter Dont focus on
negative news (Gulf Times,
February 4) was not fair to Gulf
Times. I dont think the paper is
focusing on negative news about
any country, including India. I find
the coverage in the paper balanced
in general. The problem is when we
readers have own likes and dislikes
and want the media to be in line with
them.
Both positive and negative things
happen in all parts of the world. The
medias duty is to present them to
their readers and views without bias
and prejudice.
Dont blame the messenger
because the message is
unpleasant!

High: 26 C
Low : 17 C
Expetced strong wind at places
after midday

Please send us
your letters

TUESDAY

High: 22 C
Low : 14 C

By e-mail
[email protected]
Fax 44350474
Or Post
Letters to the Editor
Gulf Times
P O Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
All letters, which are
subject to editing, should
have the name of the
writer, address and phone
number. The writers
name and address may be
withheld by request.

Sunny

WEDNESDAY

High: 22 C
Low : 13 C
Sunny

Fishermens forecast
OFFSHORE DOHA
Wind: SE-NW 20-28 KT
Waves: 7-9 Feet
INSHORE DOHA
Wind: SW-NW 12-20 KT
Waves: 1-3/4 Feet

Around the region

Abu Dhabi
Baghdad

Dubai
Kuwait City

Live issues

Weather
today
Sunny
M Sunny
Sunny

Manama

Sunny
Cloudy

Muscat

Sunny

Riyadh
Tehran

Sunny
Showers

Max/min
29/14
17/06
27/16
20/11
21/16
26/17
22/07
10/-1

Weather
tomorrow

Sunny
P Cloudy

Max/min
24/14
18/05
24/16
18/11
20/14
29/18
20/06
06/-1

Weather
tomorrow
Sunny
Sunny
M Sunny
Rain
P Cloudy
Sunny
S T Storms
P Cloudy
Sunny
P Cloudy
T Storms
Sunny
S Showers
P Cloudy
M Cloudy
Sunny
S Showers
Showers
M Sunny
Sunny
T Storms
P Cloudy
Cloudy

Max/min
16/10
17/11
31/18
09/03
18/08
36/21
31/23
27/18
18/16
10/06
31/24
29/17
08/03
31/22
01/-1
24/09
02/-1
09/04
32/22
06/-6
30/25
25/17
12/01

Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
Cloudy

Sunny

Qualities a US president should have

By Judi Light Hopson, Emma H
Hopson and Ted Hagen
Tribune News Service

s we examine candidates
seeking party nominations
for the US president, its
interesting to note the
personality traits and belief systems of
each person.
First of all, its likely we all agree
that every person running already
possesses a lot of inner strength.
Most of us would hate to deal with the
mudslinging and the dodging it would
take to deal with it.
Anyone in the running has to have a
good measure of self-condence, the
ability to stay cool under pressure, and
the intelligence to provide answers
quickly, even if those answers are far
from perfect.
This column is about relationships,
and we all tend to develop a virtual
relationship with our favourite
candidates. Then, we start to narrow
down our picks to our favourite one.
While the news media and the
public like to jump on weaknesses in
these candidates, we should get a list
of strengths together. This way, we can
gure out who we want to champion.
As I watched the debates, both for
Democrats and Republicans, I was
amazed that they could stay composed
and hang in there, says a politician

A girl in the audience listens as US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary

Clinton speaks at a campaign rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
who is a good friend of ours. Well call
him Dave.
National political campaigns
would have to put you through the
wringer, laughs Dave. I barely
survived my local campaign!
Running for leader of the free world,
meaning US president, calls for some
personality and character traits that
elicit respect from around the globe,
not just here at home.
Qualities we really need to
see from the winner include the
following:
zThe ability to speak and act in
a dignied manner under pressure.
We need a president who can speak
intelligently when the heat is on.

Words have the power to start or end

a war, so we need a leader who can use
them carefully.
zThe acumen to know what
the future looks like. This means
electing someone who is wellversed about world issues and
knowledgeable about people
problems. We need a president who
is not running to catch up. Judging
someones past record is about the
only way we can know this.
zThe ability to devise a detailed
plan from A-Z. Whether someone is
making a plan to sell a house or bring
peace to the Middle East, nothing can
happen without a detailed plan. Too
many of us, presidential candidates

included, speak of goals but we have

no real plans.
zA positive attitude and upbeat
speech patterns. If our eventual
president tries to sell an idea to
Congress or unify the masses
in some way, it would help if
this person exudes a positive
nature. Think about it: Its almost
impossible to sell a negativesounding idea to anyone.
I once ran for student body
president, says a friend of ours well
call Janie. I got elected, but soon
thereafter I got impeached!
Janie is joking, but she explains that
she was too negative when she assumed
office. I made a long list of everything
that was wrong with our school, she
laughs. It ticked people off.
Having a US president that can put a
positive spin on problems is essential.
Otherwise, we will feel a loss of power.
Also, we need to make sure that the
candidate elected will actually deliver
on promises. We need to vote for
someone who is likely to achieve the
goals he or she designates. In the end,
the promises have to play out, not just
sound good for the news media.
zJudi Light Hopson is the executive
director of the stress management
website USA Wellness Cafe at www.
usawellnesscafe.com. Emma Hopson
is an author and a nurse educator. Ted
Hagen is a family psychologist.

Around the world

Athens
Beirut
Bangkok
Berlin
Cairo
Cape Town
Colombo
Dhaka
Hong Kong
Istanbul
Jakarta
Karachi
London
Manila
Moscow
New Delhi
New York
Paris
Sao Paulo
Seoul
Singapore
Sydney
Tokyo

Weather
today
M Sunny
M Sunny
P Cloudy
Showers
P Cloudy
Sunny
P Cloudy
Sunny
Sunny
Sunny
T Storms
Sunny
S Showers
P Cloudy
P Cloudy
P Cloudy
Cloudy
Rain
S T Storms
M Cloudy
Showers
Sunny
Clear
Clear

Max/min
14/06
16/09
28/16
11/05
17/07
31/19
33/24
29/18
18/14
11/03
31/25
30/13
10/04
28/22
01/-3
22/09
03/-1
12/08
31/21
08/-5
30/26
27/18
09/01

28

Gulf Times
Monday, February 8, 2016

QATAR

Qatar Airways Group prepares for National Sport Day

Q

atar Airways Group employees, along with their

family members, are getting ready to celebrate this years
National Sport Day at Al Sadd
Sports Club tomorrow.
In what is set to be a day of family fun and traditional sporting
activities, the airline - one of the

countrys largest employers has

said it is expecting record numbers of its workforce to attend the
national public holiday events, organised with the aim of celebrating
the companys team spirit.
From early tomorrow morning,
Qatar Airways Group employees
and their family members will

take part in a variety of competitions, including football tournaments, supported by three of FC

Barcelonas own coaches, basketball, cricket and more.
Qatari employees will serve as
on-site leaders during the day,
helping families navigate the different activity zones.

Salam al-Shawa, Qatar Airways

senior vice-president (marketing
and corporate communications),
said: It is important that, as an
airline, we take the time to celebrate the very concept of sport and
the value it brings to our society.
In line with the Qatar 2030
vision of encouraging participa-

UDC lines up host

of special activities
P

reparations are in full

swing at The Pearl-Qatar
to celebrate Qatar National
Sport Day tomorrow.
United Development Company (UDC), in collaboration
with Qatar Olympic Committee,
has prepared a variety of sporting activities for all ages at Lido
Venezia Beach in Qanat Quartier
precinct at The Pearl-Qatar from
9am to 4pm.
National Sport Day aims to help
realise HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thanis vision for a
healthy Qatar. The celebration is
part of UDCs strategy to promote
sports, physical education and an
active community in and around
The Pearl-Qatar in line with Qatar
National Vision 2030.
Sports activities will include
beach volleyball, beach football,
basketball, table tennis, badminton, tness classes, outdoor gym
and a designated zone hosting a
variety of kid-oriented attractions, ensuring the day will be a
family-centred occasion.
UDC president and CEO Ibrahim Jassim al-Othman said,
National Sport Day, now in its
fth year, is a wonderful and
unique initiative for all to come

tion in a wide variety of cultural

and sporting activities, as well
as our goal of establishing a global leadership in hosting worldclass sporting events, Qatar Airways has aligned with key sports
sponsorships around the world.
Nabeela Fakhri, senior vicepresident (human resources) at

together and feel proud that

Qatar, as a nation, is one of the
few countries in the world to set
aside a day to actively promote a
healthy lifestyle.
The annual celebration is very
much aligned with UDCs corporate social responsibility commitment to encourage a healthy

and balanced living among the

companys employees and the
community at large, he noted.
We urge all residents at The
Pearl-Qatar to participate in the
planned activities for them to
experience how a few small steps
can bring out the sportsperson in
each of us, added al-Othman.

Sports plays a signicant role

in The Pearl-Qatars community,
rstly to safeguard its residents
against possible diseases such as
diabetes, heart attacks and obesity. In addition, National Sport
Day acts as an integral means of
unication when celebrating the
Islands cultural pool of diversity.

Katara to organise more

than 80 events for all ages
K

atara the Cultural Village will organise more than 80 events for all
ages to celebrate Qatar National Sport
Day tomorrow.
In a press statement, Katara deputy general
manager for operations Ahmad al-Sayed said
marine and aerial activities, athletics, basketball, soccer and beach handball competitions will be held at the Villages esplanade
and beach.
Culture and sports are integral parts of
everyday life, responsible for the development of the human mind and body, he noted.
Al-Sayed added that the events they will
be hosting are being presented by more than

Ahmad al-Sayed

40 entities and institutions from across

Qatar. He thanked the Ministry of Culture
and Sports for continuously supporting
such events.
I hope all visitors and guests of Katara
nd our programmes and activities benecial and fun on this exceptional day, and I
wish they spend a wonderful time with us,
he said.
Katara also launched its slogan Be the
Champion to mark the fth edition of National Sport Day as part of promoting an active and healthy lifestyle through sport.
A number of institutions will hold free
medical check-ups and consultations.

amad Medical Corporation (HMC)s staff

and their families will
participate in a range of activities to mark National Sport Day
tomorrow.
The main venue will be
Bayt Al Dhiyafah in Hamad
Bin Khalifa Medical City (HBKMC), where more than 1,000
people will take part in the
activities, including a walkathon, starting at 8am from
the Nurses Club, and the mini
football tournament to be held
at the Nurses Club.
Staff and their families as
well as patients and visitors
to Al Wakra and Al Khor Hospitals and The Cuban Hospital will take part in separate
events organised at the hospitals. The activities will be held

oredoo will return to the

Museum of Islamic Art
Park tomorrow for the
third year to host an all-day Qatar National Sport Day event.
This years activity-packed
schedule has been designed
with a strong focus on getting
visitors to think about their
fitness levels and strength.
It will also include a host of
classes, trainers and activities
to help the whole community
get into shape.
From 8.30am, Ooredoo will
hold tness classes for all ages
and levels, including Brazilian
Jiu Jitsu, a walking group, gladiator joust, circuit training,

One of the pictures in the exhibition.

tinue until the end of this month.

Speaking on the occasion, alJassim said the display of some
very rare images from the eld of
sports in the country is an illustration of an overall renaissance
witnessed in all elds.
Similar images that go back
to the 1960s indicate the great
importance the people of Qatar
had always given to sports. The

history of sports in the State

of Qatar and the accomplished
progress in this eld are vividly
depicted in this exhibition.
Al-Jassim also organises the
exhibition in other GCC countries
in a bid to promote Qatari sports.
Katara deputy general manager for operations Ahmad alSayed was present at the opening
of the exhibition.

from 7am to 12noon at Bayt

Al Dhiyafah and across other
locations.

This special day highlights

our commitment to a
healthy society and we are
pleased to join with major
government departments
and other organisations to
work together for a
healthy future
The HMC National Sport Day
Organising Committee has also
lined up a full range of other
healthy and fun activities, including sports training, basketball, handball and table tennis,
in and around HBKMC. At the
Kids Zone, more fun activities
have been planned.
HMC is also joining the

Ministry of Public Health and

Primary Health Care Corporation for National Sport Day
events being held at Aspire
Park. There will be a 1.5km
walkathon as well as free basic
health checks and other activities.
Shamma Abdulla Behair, director of PR and community
engagement at HMCs corporate communications department, said National Sport Day
highlights the countrys commitment to a healthy and productive population.
This special day highlights
our commitment to a healthy
society and we are pleased to
join with major government
departments and other organisations to work together for a
healthy future, she added.

Ooredoo to mark
occasion with tness
classes, Jiu Jitsu

New exhibition depicts

lives of Qatari athletes

n the occasion of National Sport Day, an exhibition titled Images and

Memories by Qatari artist Sultan Jassim al-Jassim was inaugurated at Katara - the Cultural
Village yesterday.
Over 30 photographs that depict the lives of Qatari athletes
since the 1960s are displayed in
the exhibition, which will con-

and their families have fun taking

part in the wide variety of activities that will be on offer.
In order to create a unique and
team atmosphere, Qatar Airways
employees and their families will
be presented with branded caps
and T-shirts upon arrival at Al
Sadd Sports Club.

HMC staff, families

to take part in range
of healthy, fun events
H

UDC will celebrate National Sport Day at the Qanat Quartier Lido beach with a variety of sports activities.

Qatar Airways, said: Qatar Airways is proud to host a family

event that brings together staff
to socialise and celebrate Qatars
National Sport Day.
On behalf of Qatar Airways
human resources department,
who have worked hard to organise this event, I hope our staff

Katara officials and dignitaries at the opening of the exhibition.

football, kayaking and more.

This years activitypacked schedule has been

designed with a strong
focus on getting visitors to
think about their fitness
levels and strength
To ensure that the activities
provide the benets of healthy
living for participants, Ooredoo
has hired professional sports
trainers to teach visitors vital
exercise skills such as warming
up, which can then be used in
everyday life.
We wanted to truly get to
the heart of what Qatars Na-

tional Sport Day represents

this year, which is why we have
focused more heavily than
ever before on fitness classes
and activities, said Fatima
Sultan al-Kuwari, director of
community and public relations, Ooredoo.
We want the day to help
visitors kick-start their exercise
routine and inspire more people
than ever before to keep t in
2016, she added.
Ooredoos support for National Sport Day is part of its
ongoing commitment to raise
awareness of the importance of
tness and health among the
people of Qatar.