QATAR | Page 28
Revolution
INDEX
QATAR
REGION
ARAB WORLD
2 – 9, 28
10
11 – 13
COMMENT
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
INTERNATIONAL 14 – 25 SPORTS
GULF TIMES
In brief
BUSINESS | Conference
Forum to promote
investment in Qatar
A forum to promote business and
investment in Qatar will be held
for two days in New York starting
on April 6 under the auspices of
HE the Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim
bin jabor al-Thani. It will be
attended by government officials,
businessmen and representatives
of the public and private sectors to
discuss investment opportunities
in Qatar. It is organised by the
Foreign Ministry’s permanent
committee for conferences, the
Qatar Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, the Qatar Businesswomen
Forum, the US Chamber of Trade
in Doha and the Arab-American
Chamber of Commerce in
Washington.
BUSINESS | Region
Gulf share
markets rally
Stock markets in the Gulf rallied
yesterday. The Qatar Exchange’s
20-stock index rose 2.77% or
228 points to 8,457.12. The Dubai
Financial Market’s DFM General
Index paced the region-wide gains,
rallying 4.3% to 1512.59 while Abu
Dhabi’s market climbed 1.5% to
2655.63. Kuwaiti shares rose 1.8%
to 6396.40. Oman’s main gauge of
stocks added 1.3% to 6416.44 and
Bahrain’s market gained 0.4% to
1417.22. Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul was
up 0.2% at 6309.63. Page 31
ARAB WORLD | Conflict
Palestinians slam
new settlement plans
The Palestinian Authority
yesterday condemned Israel’s
approval of hundreds of new West
Bank settler homes following the
murder of a settler family. The
Palestinian Authority “strongly
condemns the decision of the
Israeli government to speed
up and increase the building of
settlements”, chief negotiator
Saeb Erakat told AFP. Israel said
earlier yesterday that ministers had
decided to approve construction
of several hundred units in Gush
Etzion, Maale Adumim, Ariel and
Kiryat Sefer -- four of the biggest
settlement blocs in the West Bank.
Page 12
QATAR | Event
GCC Traffic Week
opens in Doha
The 27th GCC Traffic Week which
is organised under the slogan,
“Let’s Work Together to Curb
Traffic Accidents”, opened in
Doha yesterday evening with
a ceremony held at the square
opposite to the Civil Defence
Department. The event continues
until March 17. After the opening
ceremony, Public Security director
general Saad bin Jassim al-Kholeifi
opened an exhibition.
Doha event to celebrate Arab achievers worldwide
By Sarmad Qazi
Staff Reporter
T
he 2011 edition of the Takreem
Awards, which recognise and
pay tribute to Arab achievers
worldwide, will be held in Doha on
April 30.
Qatar was chosen as the venue for
being an Arab country at the fore-
front of change, programme founder
and chairman Ricardo Karam told Gulf
Times.
The event will be held at the Katara
cultural village under the auspices of
HH the Emir.
26, 27
29 – 33
34 – 40 DFI workshop on
41 – 44
daredevil stunts
Emir meets Turkish FM
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani receiving Turkish Foreign Minister
Dr Ahmet Davutoglu at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. The meeting was attended by
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of the Emiri Diwan Abdullah bin Hamad
al-Attiyah. The Turkish minister is in Doha to attend the sixth annual forum of Al
Jazeera. Page 3
Oman Council gets
legislative powers
AFP
Muscat
S
ultan Qaboos yesterday granted
legislative power to the previ-
ously toothless Oman Council,
or parliament, in his latest action to
appease rare protests that flared up
last month.
“We grant the Oman Council leg-
islative and regulatory powers,” said
a royal decree carried by ONA state
news agency, referring to the elected
Majlis Ash-Shura consultative coun-
cil and the all-appointed Council of
State.
“A technical committee of special-
ists is to be formed to propose amend-
ments to the state basic law to this
effect,” the decree said, after weeks of
anti-government protests in the stra-
tegic Gulf state.
The committee should present its re-
port to the sultan within 30 days, it said.
The announcement comes a week
after the sultan sacked controversial
ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle
after rare protests flared up last month
“Qatar has become known through-
out the world for its outstanding cul-
tural initiatives and we consider Doha
to be the ideal platform to gather un-
sung heroes and remarkable achiev-
ers,” Karam, a celebrated Lebanese
journalist, said.
In keeping with its international
identity, Takreem celebrates Arab
achievements in a different country
each year; the 2010 edition was held in
Beirut, Lebanon.
“Qatar is embracing the fu-
ture and so do we. Hosting the
event in Qatar fulfils our profes-
sional aspirations, strengthens the
Takreem platform, and its inter-
QATAR | Page 7
in the usually placid Gulf nation.
The economy and interior ministers
were among at least 12 cabinet mem-
bers to lose their jobs in the 29-mem-
ber cabinet.
The new amendments would give
Oman’s representative council the
edge over its peers in the Gulf region,
where only Bahrain and Kuwait have
elected parliaments with legislative
and regulatory authorities.
Oman’s Council of State has 57
members appointed by the sultan and
serves as the upper house of parlia-
ment.
The “lower house” consultative
council has 83 elected members, but
currently serves only as an advisory
Bahrain protesters block highway
Police yesterday fired tear gas and water
cannon at demonstrators in one of the
most violent confrontations since troops
killed seven protesters last month. Crown
Prince Salman al-Khalifah offered the
mainly Shia opposition assurances that
national dialogue would address their de-
Ricardo Karam:”Hosting the event in
Qatar fulfils our professional aspirations”
and youth
in focus at
Jazeera
forum
Japan fights to
avert meltdown
Prime Minister Naoto Kan
describes the crisis as Japan’s
worst since 1945
Reuters
Fukushima, Japan
J
apan struggled yesterday to avert
a nuclear disaster and care for
millions of people without power
or water, three days after an earth-
quake and tsunami killed an esti-
mated 10,000 people or more in the
nation’s darkest hour since World
War Two.
The world’s third-largest econo-
my opens for business today, a badly
wounded nation that has seen whole
villages and towns wiped off the map
by a wall of water, leaving in its wake
an international humanitarian effort
of epic proportion.
A grim-faced Prime Minister Naoto
Kan described the crisis as Japan’s
worst since 1945.
Officials confirmed that three nu-
clear reactors were at risk of overheat-
ing, raising fears of an uncontrolled
radiation leak.
“The earthquake, tsunami and the
nuclear incident have been the big-
gest crisis Japan has encountered in
the 65 years since the end of World
body matters excluding defence, se-
curity and foreign policy.
Demonstrators are demanding
more representation, jobs, better pay
and an end to corruption but insist
they do not want to topple the revered
sultan, who has ruled for 40 years.
They have been holding a peace-
ful sit-in at Earth Roundabout in the
northern city of Sohar since February
27, when at least one protester was
killed in clashes with police.
Despite that incident, the sultan-
ate of around 2.5mn people has been
spared the violence that has gripped
other Arab states including Egypt,
Tunisia, Libya and neighbouring
Yemen. Page 10
mands, hours after the protesters, mainly
youths, built barricades across the high-
way leading to Bahrain Financial Harbour.
Prince Salman promised national dialogue
would look at bolstering the power of the
parliament and that any deal could be put
to nationwide referendum. Page 10
national out reach,” Karam said.
The awards will be the culmination
of a year’s work where laureates in
each of the 10 categories are revealed
and rewarded.
“One of the main objectives of
Takreem is to contribute in altering
the stereotyped perception of Arabs,
no matter where they live or work,”
Karam said.
Of the 10 winners in the inaugural
edition last year, Qatar-based Prof
Abdelmagid Hamouda (Qatar Univer-
sity) won the Takreem Scientific and
Technological Achievement Award.
The awards for other categories,
honouring either individuals or in-
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War II,” Kan told a news conference.
“We’re under scrutiny on whether
we, the Japanese people, can over-
come this crisis.”
As he spoke, officials worked des-
perately to stop fuel rods in the dam-
aged reactors from overheating. If
they fail, the containers that house
the core could melt, or even explode,
releasing radioactive material into the
atmosphere.
The most urgent crisis centres
on the Fukushima Daiichi complex,
where all three reactors are threaten-
ing to overheat, and where authorities
say they have been forced to release
radioactive steam into the air to re-
lieve reactor pressure.
The complex, 240km north of To-
kyo, was rocked by an explosion on
Saturday, which blew the roof off a
reactor building. The government did
not rule out further blasts there but
said this would not necessarily dam-
age the reactor vessels.
Authorities have poured sea water
in all three of the complex’s reactor to
cool them down.
The complex, run by Tokyo Elec-
tric Power Company, is the big-
gest nuclear concern but not the
only one: the UN nuclear watchdog
said Japanese authorities had noti-
fied it of an emergency at another
Getting ready for Qatar GP
Ducati’s MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi of Italy taking part in the final pre-season test
at the Losail International Circuit in Doha yesterday ahead of Grand Prix of Qatar to
be held next week.
stitutions, feature Advancement of
Peace, Philanthropy and Charitable
Services, Arab Woman of the Year,
Exceptional International Contribu-
tion to Arab society, Innovation in
Education, Young Entrepreneur, Envi-
ronmental Development and Sustain-
ability, Cultural Excellence, and Out-
standing Corporate Leadership.
“In the run up to the award cere-
mony, Takreem has organised a series
of seminars and conferences on topics
related to the award categories held
in different countries from France to
Lebanon to Qatar,” the official said.
The awards utilise a two-phase
screening process involving highly-
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Vol. XXXII No. 8199
plant further north, at Onagawa.
But Japan’s nuclear safety agency
denied problems at the Onagawa
plant, run by Tohoku Electric Power
Company, noting that radioactive
releases from the Fukushima Daiichi
complex had been detected at Ona-
gawa, but that these were within safe
levels at a tiny fraction of the radiation
received in an X-ray.
Shortly later, a cooling-system
problem was reported at another nu-
clear plant closer to Tokyo, in Ibaraki
prefecture.
Fukushima’s No 1 reactor, where the
roof was ripped off, is 40 years old and
was originally set to go out of com-
mission in February but had its oper-
ating licence extended by 10 years.
Prime Minister Kan said the crisis
was not another Chernobyl, referring
to the nuclear disaster of 1986 in So-
viet Ukraine.
“Radiation has been released in
the air, but there are no reports that a
large amount was released,” Jiji news
agency quoted him as saying. “This
is fundamentally different from the
Chernobyl accident.”
Nevertheless, France recommended
its citizens leave the Tokyo region, cit-
ing the risk of further earthquakes and
uncertainty about the nuclear plants.
Pages 18, 20, 21, 27, 30
experienced committee members who
judge eligible applicants through pre-
determined criteria.
This is then passed to the grand-ju-
ry. The 2011 jury includes such global
Arab icons as Queen Noor al-Hussein,
Sheikha Mai bint Mohamed al-Khali-
fa, Dr Mohamed El Baradei, Dr Lakh-
dar Ibrahimi, Dr Hanan Ashrawi and
Carlos Ghosn.
After intense deliberations for two
days in Beirut on February 24-25,
the Takreem Selection Committee
short-listed finalists for the grand-
jury, which is set to convene in Paris
on March 17 at the Institut du Monde
Arabe.
 Gulf Times
2 Monday, March 14, 2011
QATAR
Emir receives ex-Brazilian president
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani holding talks with former Brazilian president Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. The meeting was attended by HE the Deputy
Prime Minister and Chairman of the Emiri Diwan Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, a number of
ministers and the Brazilian Ambassador to Qatar.
Qtel signs
strategic
pact with
iHorizons
Q
tel and iHorizons have
concluded a strategic al-
liance agreement to de-
velop and market a number of
advanced technology solutions
and business services.
Recognising the ongoing de-
velopment of Qatar’s economy,
the two companies will coop-
erate on world-class business
solutions aimed at supporting
companies in specific industries
and growth sectors, Qtel said.
The alliance will see Qtel and
iHorizons align their product
development roadmaps and
technology architectures in or-
der to provide a faster time-to-
market for new solutions, as well
as bespoke service for key cus-
tomers.
The agreement was signed at
a ceremony attended by senior
representatives from Qtel and
from iHorizons, including Kha-
lid Abdulla al-Mansouri, Qtel
executive director (Business So-
lutions) and Mohamed Takriti,
iHorizons CEO.
It is one of the first agree-
ments of its kind between two
leading Qatari companies, a ma-
jor regional operator and a lead-
ing provider of business solu-
tions and IT services.
Al-Mansouri said, “Qtel is
placing strong emphasis on
ensuring that our custom-
ers receive the highest quality
of business services and sup-
port, backed by world-class
infrastructure in Qatar, as
demonstrated by Qtel’s fibre
technology project that will
deliver unprecedented support
Groundbreaking ceremony for
new Pak community hall held
T
he groundbreaking cere-
mony for the construction
of ‘Multi-Purpose Com-
munity Hall’ was held at Paki-
stan Education Centre (PEC)
recently.
Pakistan’s Ambassador M.
Asghar Afridi unveiled a plaque
and witnessed the ceremony.
The occasion coincided with
the annual general meeting of
Pakistan Welfare Forum which
has successfully completed its
first year of operation.
Mohamed Idrees Anwar, mem-
ber, founder, executive council of
PWF, hosted the occasion and
gave a brief account of the man-
date and overall working of the
forum besides the achievements
Khalid Abdulla al-Mansouri with Mohamed Takriti at the agreement
signing between Qtel and iHorizons.
to businesses across Qatar. In
order to fuel the business am-
bitions of our customers, we
are working with best-in-class
partners like
Takriti said,”The world is wit-
nessing rapid convergence be-
tween telecom and IT services,
and businesses and consumers
expect leading edge solutions
and flawless customer service.
Therefore, iHorizons is teaming
up with Qtel to develop, market,
and operate such converged so-
lutions.”
Developments will target sev-
eral areas and emerging tech-
nologies, including cloud-based
business services, enterprise
portal solutions, managed serv-
ices, digital media solutions and
wireless applications.
Qtel provides some of the
most advanced business com-
munications services available
it made during its first year.
He specifically mentioned the
contribution of PWF in two sepa-
rate fund-raising campaigns, un-
der the auspices of Pakistan em-
bassy, for the flood affected people
and reconstruction of houses.
Ambassador Afridi praised
the efforts of PWF in assisting
the needy Pakistanis residing in
Qatar, in areas of social welfare,
education, and health. He as-
sured the forum members of co-
operation and urged the com-
munity members to join hands
for noble causes.
Earlier, Pakistan embassy’s
community welfare attaché Dr
Mansoor A Rizvi, president PWF,
Mohamed Israr Malazai, and
in the region, and continues to
enhance its portfolio for com-
panies of all sizes. In addition
to supporting the communica-
tion needs of many of Qatar’s
leading and most strategically-
important enterprises, it has
also developed a wide range of
dedicated support services for
small and medium sized busi-
nesses.
Given Qatar’s ongoing dyna-
mism and growth – even in the
face of fierce global economic
pressure – Qtel has worked hard
to ensure that the network is in
place to enable consistent and
ongoing development on the
part even the most ambitious
Qatari company.
The company has invested
more than $3.2bn in Qatar’s
technology infrastructure to en-
sure that this growth can con-
tinue far into the future.
Mohamed Khan spoke about the
projects carried out by the forum.
Mohamed Israr Malazai spe-
cifically highlighted the con-
tribution of PWF for the flood-
affected people of Pakistan for
which the local Pakistani com-
munity generated funds.
A five-member PWF delega-
tion visited Pakistan and dis-
tributed basic commodities to
various affected areas of Khy-
ber Pukhtoonkhwa in districts
Charsadda, Nowshera and Swat.
Mohamed Khan has already
started constructing one-bed-
room housing units in different
villages of Punjab which are in
different stages of completion.
Page 28
PM meets Turkish ministers
HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani holding
talks with Foreign Minister of Turkey, Dr Ahmet Davutoglu, and Turkish Finance Minister, Mehmet
Simsek, in Doha yesterday. They discussed bilateral relations and ways of enhancing them.
Doha rugby centre
lease extended
By Peter Townson
Staff Reporter
D
espite undergoing prep-
arations to move out of
its current location this
month, Doha Rugby Football
Centre officials have confirmed
that the club has negotiated an
extension to its lease, ensuring
they can stay at the site until
June 2012.
Project manager for the re-
location and former chairman,
Howard Bevan explained that
following a protracted negotia-
tion process, the club has been
offered an extension that will
guarantee its position for the
next 15 months.
DRFC will eventually move
to its new premises up Salwa
Road in a project expected to
cost around QR8mn in total.
However, the new site will
be constructed in phases, and
Bevan explained that the first
pitch and other playing facili-
ties will be the initial priori-
ties for completion, with other
features to be added in the fu-
ture.
The club had been expecting
to vacate the current site this
month, and might have strug-
gled to provide playing facili-
ties next year as the relocation
Ambassador Afridi, Mohamed Idrees Anwar, Mohamed Israr Malazai and other officials offering prayers after unveiling the plaque of the
community hall in Doha.
project has been delayed by ad-
ministrative issues.
“We are waiting for a sig-
nature from the planning au-
thorities, but as soon as we get
it we will be moving full steam
ahead,” explained Bevan.
The extension means that the
club can remain at its present
position, enabling them to
host matches and training ses-
sions for the hundreds of men,
women and children who play
for DRFC.
“We are waiting for
a signature from the
planning authorities, but
as soon as we get it we
will be moving full steam
ahead”
Next weekend, the site will
host the West Asia Cup Final
between Doha and Dubai Hur-
ricanes – a fixture that was
clouded with uncertainty be-
fore the extension was agreed.
And Bevan explained that
both Doha College and the Qa-
tar Badminton Club will con-
tinue to use the premises as
well.
Despite the extension last-
ing until 2012, Bevan noted that
the club will move as soon as
the new premises are ready and
able to host matchday events.
“If we had the new premises
ready, then we would move as
soon as possible,” explained
Bevan, noting “with the in-
creased rent price, every month
we could reduce the lease by
would help us.”
But it is currently impossi-
ble to provide a sense of when
the new site will be ready, and
thus the extension to the lease
has come as a major relief,
with the news having been
welcomed by the club’s mem-
bership.
They will also be eagerly
awaiting further news of the
new site, and Bevan expressed
his hope that more develop-
ments will occur over the next
week.
He added that sponsor-
ship deals for the new club will
also be under discussion in the
coming days.
But for now, DRFC mem-
bers can remain upbeat about
the fact that they will have a
club to visit next season, and a
pitch on which to watch a team
that continues to be among the
strongest in the Gulf.
“We are very happy that we
managed to negotiate the ex-
tension – this ensures that
there will be no interruption
to the rugby calendar over the
next season,” added Bevan.
Mowasalat
gives safe
driving tips
A
long with highlighting
the necessity of devel-
oping a strong public
transport network in Qatar, the
Mowasalat is also making efforts
to convince the residents of the
importance of adopting secure
and safe practices on the roads at
the GCC Traffic Week celebra-
tions.
In a company communiqué,
which it issued as part of the
traffic week exhibition at Wadi al
Sail, Mowasalat highlighted the
theme “working together with
the country’s residents to reduce
road accidents”.
While assuring its whole-
hearted backing to the initia-
tives of the traffic department, it
called upon the residents to sup-
port and participate in the traffic
awareness campaigns that the
ministry is holding.
At the company pavilion, the
Mowasalat has displayed and
demonstrated the advantages
of having seatbelt convincers
and roll-over simulators while
adopting safe driving prac-
tices.
The efforts being made by
Karwa training and development
centre to popularise safe driving
methods among the country’s
residents are also displayed at
the pavilion.
As part of the GCC Traffic
Week, the company has also is-
sued leaflets instructing the
public to be aware of the im-
portance of safety on roads. The
Karwa driving training centre
has also launched a magazine to
commemorate the traffic week.
At the pavilion, the latest is-
sue of the company’s Masarat
in-house magazine is also dis-
played. Arrangements are also
made to impart theoretical les-
sons on defensive driving.
Rights of the
handicapped
highlighted
P
articipants of a sym-
posium on the rights of
handicapped people yes-
terday called to provide them
with transportation system
to ease their access to public
amenities.
They also called to apply the
engineering standards of build-
ings for this purpose.
The event, held in Sharq Vil-
lage and Spa, was co-organised
by the Supreme Council of Fam-
ily Affairs (SCFA) and the Na-
tional Human Rights Committee
(NHRC), ahead of the upcoming
elections for the Central Munic-
ipal Council (CMC) scheduled
on May 10.
SCFA’s secretary general, Noor
al-Maliki, said the candidates
running for CMC membership
should discuss the issues related
to this important segment of the
society.
She said the council has a vi-
tal role in educating the voters
on their rights and to introduce
the mechanism of the electoral
process.
She said that the handicapped
people have the right to get equal
opportunity in line with their
qualifications and capabilities.
NHRC’s deputy secretary
general said the stereotype, that
the handicapped people are not
qualified for public position, had
been eliminated.

Doha Debates
goes to Egypt
for first time
J
ust weeks after Egyptians
overthrew the Mubarak
regime, The Doha Debates
will ask them to vote on wheth-
er their country is ready for free
elections.
In a session to be filmed to-
day just yards away from Tahrir
Square, the epicentre of the
recent protests in Cairo, stu-
dents and young professionals
will debate the motion: “This
House believes for the sake of
democracy Egypt should post-
pone elections.”
It is the first time Qatar’s free
speech forum will have staged
a public discussion in Cairo.
Last month it held an event in
Tunisia which was the first free
political debate in the country
for almost 25 years.
Speaking for the Cairo mo-
tion are Marwa Sharafuldin, a
Qatari students to be honoured at Muscat event
S
ix students from Qatar
will be honoured for their
outstanding academic
achievement during the fifth
Arab Bureau of Education for
the Gulf States Award ceremo-
ny for Education Excellence in
Muscat today.
The nominated students are
Saqr bin Shabat al-Muraikhi (Al
women’s rights’ campaigner
and Shaheer George, a mem-
ber of several pro-democracy
groups including the National
Association of Change and
“Kifaya”. Both are actively in-
volved in Egypt’s post-revolu-
tion politics.
Speaking against the motion:
Esam El-Erian, official spokes-
man for the Muslim Brother-
hood, which was banned under
Hosni Mubarak’s rule, and IT
professional-turned politician
Sherif Taher, executive bureau
member of Al Wafd, the largest
liberal party in Egypt. Over the
past three decades, El-Erian
was jailed several times for his
political activism.
The event is hosted by The
Access to Knowledge for De-
velopment Centre (A2K4D), at
the School of Business at the
Shahaniya Model Independent
School for Boys), Abdullah Yu-
suf al-Kaabi (Al-Yarmouk Pre-
paratory Independent School
for Boys), Hamad al-Madhi
al-Hajri (Omar bin al-Khattab
Secondary Independent School
for Boys), Nojod Ahmed al-An-
sari (Khadija bint Kowailed Pri-
mary Independent School for
American University in Cairo
(AUC) and will be filmed in the
iconic Oriental Hall at the uni-
versity’s old Tahrir Campus.
Dr Nagla Rizk, Associate
Dean at AUC said The Doha
Debates could make an impor-
tant contribution to the politi-
cal process in Egypt.
“The series epitomises the
type of forums through which
the new Egyptian political
scene can develop into one that
fosters exciting, engaging and
constructive debates on issues
that will shape the future of
our country and the region as a
whole,” she said.
The debate will be car-
ried by a number of TV chan-
nels, including BBC World
News, reaching a potential
audience of more than 400mn
homes.
Girls), Fatima Salem al-Manai
and Asma Yusof Ali bin Ali (Al
Bayan Preparatory School).
In addition to a certificate of
achievement, the students will
receive financial rewards and a
commemorative souvenir, an
official said.
The Arab Bureau of Educa-
tion for the Gulf States Award
Ministry of Justice officials at the convention.
Justice ministry officials
attend QFCA programme
T
he Qatar Financial Cen-
tre Authority (QFCA)
convened a training pro-
gramme for officials of Ministry
of Justice.
The officials were apprised
of the QFC’s strategic develop-
ment, legal environment, li-
censing and financial services
regulations.
Forty-five officials from the
ministry took part in a QFC
awareness and educational
training programme, jointly
presented by senior manage-
ment from the QFCA, the
QFC Regulatory Authority
aims to honour students with
outstanding academic per-
formance and motivate them to
continue their success as well as
encourage other students to fol-
low in their footsteps.
The event is sponsored by Al
Marai Company in collabora-
tion with GCC member states’
education ministries.
and the QFC Judiciary.
The presentations were de-
vised and structured by the
QFCA, QFCRA and QFCJ in
order to facilitate a deeper un-
derstanding of the local and re-
gional developments within the
financial services industry, as
well as offering the ministry a
technical focus on the legal and
regulatory environment that
support the expansion of the
QFC.
A number of important ar-
eas were discussed the event,
facilitating a greater mutual un-
derstanding and appreciation of
The award is granted based on
the highest scientific and educa-
tional standards. It reflects the
commitment of the education
ministries of the member coun-
tries in promoting innovation and
educational excellence as well as
encouraging healthy competition
among students, the official said.
Each state nominates three
QATAR
the legal, judicial and regulatory
functions provided by the QFC
entities.
The session began with an
overview of the QFCA’s over-
arching role supporting and
developing the local market,
before moving on to its three
hub-strategy, focusing on asset
management, re-insurance and
captive insurance.
The QFCRA explained
their authorisation, supervi-
sion and compliance work.
Finally the QFCJ presented
details on its specific role, in-
cluding the legal dispute reso-
male and three female students
for their outstanding academic
performance. The students
will be accompanied and su-
pervised by Ahmed Hassan
al-Ansari from Omar bin al-
Khattab Secondary School and
Hanan Ahmed Abu Moza from
Al Bayan Secondary School, the
official said.
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 3
lution infrastructure essential
for the success of a modern,
forward looking financial
centre.
“The training session was an
excellent opportunity for the
QFC entities to explain and dis-
cuss the strategic development
of the QFC as well as the world-
class legal environment, finan-
cial services regulation and spe-
cialist judiciary that underpins
the success and further develop-
ment of the QFC,” according to
David Dhanoo, group chief legal
officer and board secretary at the
QFCA.
Vodafone cuts
rates to Japan
Vodafone Qatar has cut
international calling rates to
Japan to Dh44/minute in light
of the devastating earthquake
and tsunami that hit the country
on March 11. The new rate will
be effective until March 19,
the company said yesterday.
Vodafone said since there has
been extensive damage to the
Japanese mobile and fixed
line phone networks, it may be
difficult to initially connect to
users in that country.
 Gulf Times
4 Monday, March 14, 2011
QATAR
Qatar charters ship to ferry Egyptians from Libya
A Greek ship chartered by Qatar has
ferried 2,500 Egyptians to Alexandria from
Musrata, Libya, fleeing the fighting in the
North African country.
Mohamed Abdel Hakam, the Assistant
Foreign Minister for Expatriates Affairs,
said the ship returned to Libya to bring
more Egyptians back home.
Egyptian authorities have been seeking
all alternatives to repatriate Egyptians
in Libya should a no-fly zone be
enforced.
Leading insurance
He denied that pro-Gaddafi troops have
been blocking the departure of Egyptians
on the joint borders.
Abdel Hakam also said that some 183,000
firms meet in Doha
expatriates have returned home from
T
Libya until Saturday. he fifth edition of
MultaQa Qatar --
recognised as the
leading GCC/Mena non-
commercial platform to dis-
cuss insurance, reinsurance
and risk management issues
– will begin today.
The two-day conference
is set to meet with particular
interest as the scale of region-
al demand for (re)insurance
and risk management under-
goes transformation, said a
spokesman of Qatar Financial
Centre Authority (QFCA),
which is the organiser.
MultaQa 2011 will evalu-
ate the impact of global mar-
ket trends on the economic
fundamentals of the GCC.
In particular it will show-
case opportunities for in-
ternational insurers and re-
insurers in Qatar and across
the Middle East, highlight-
ing key risk and insurance
projects in the region.
Keynote presentations
are expected from HE the
Minister of Economy and
Talks with Palestinian envoy
Finance Yousef Hussein
Kamal; QFCA managing
director Abdulrahman al-
Shaibi; Standard Chartered
chief economist and group
head of global research;
and Gerard Lyons, Lloyd’s HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Emiri Diwan Abdullah bin Hamad
deputy chairman Graham al-Attiyah yesterday met Palestinian Ambassador to Qatar Munir Abdullah Ghannam.
White. They reviewed a number of issues of common concern.
“The GCC region has left
the global financial crisis be-
hind it and is back on a path of
rapid growth, underpinned Darfur peace process reviewed
by recovering oil and gas
prices and a strong pipeline
of infrastructure projects
worth over $1trn. The award
of the 2022 FIFA World Cup
clearly demonstrates the po-
tential and aspirations of the
entire region,” said the QFCA
spokesman.
Leading international and
regional organisations such
as Aon Benfield, Arab Insur-
ance Group, Berkshire Hath-
away Re, Generali, Marsh,
Munich Re, Oman Insur- HE the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud holding
ance, PartnerRe, Qatargas talks with Sudanese President’s Adviser Dr Ghazi Salahuddin, who is also in charge of
and Zurich are expected to Darfur issue, yesterday. Talks dealt with the Darfur peace process in Doha.
attend.
Traffic signal near LuLu Hypermarket
Traffic signals will be installed adjacent to the LuLu
Hypermarket on the D Ring Road within three months, says
a report published in a local Arabic daily. The report says
that subsequently work will begin to convert the Mall and
Tadomon roundabouts into four-lane signals.
 Gulf Times
6 Monday, March 14, 2011

QATAR

Baybars is new
dean of CMUQ
D
eputy dean of the lon in Qatar’s joint advi-
Carnegie Mellon sory board, which is com-
University’s Tepper prised of representatives
School of Business, Ilker from Carnegie Mellon and
Baybars, has been named Qatar Foundation.
the dean of Carnegie Mel- Additionally, he is a
lon University in Qatar member of the board of
(CMUQ). trustees of Bilkent Univer- Anniversary celebrations at Hyatt Plaza.
Baybars will begin new sity in Ankara, Turkey, as
stint from August, Mark S well as vice president and
Kamlet, university provost board member of the Alli-
and executive vice presi-
dent, said yesterday.
Baybars, who is also the
ance on Business Educa-
tion and Scholarship for
“Tomorrow in Tokyo”.
Shopping mall launches magazine
George Leland Bach chair He has served as a con-

and operations management
professor, will take over from
G Richard Tucker, who has
been serving since August
2010. He will be Carnegie
Mellon Qatar’s second dean,
following Charles E ‘Chuck’
Thorpe, who served through
2004-10.
“With more than 32 years
of service to Carnegie Mel-
lon and our university com-
munity, Baybars is one of the
longest-serving and most
valued academic leaders of
the institution. His experi-
ence and successes in teach-
ing, research and academic
initiatives will be a great
benefit to our campus in Qa-
tar,” Kamlet said.
Ilker Baybars: ‘Over 32 years of service to Carnegie Mellon’
A native of Turkey, Baybars
received his bachelor’s degree
from Middle East Technical
University (METU) in Ankara,
Turkey in 1969.
After spending a year
at METU as an instruc-
tor, Baybars studied at
Carnegie Mellon, where he
earned master’s (1972) and
PhD (1979) degrees.
He joined the university
faculty in 1978.
Baybars’ primary teach-
ing and research have been
in the fields of quantita-
tive methods, operations
research and production
needs within the region
uniquely underscore the
ideal fit associated with this
appointment.”
“Baybars has already
played a pivotal role in
making Carnegie Mel-
lon University in Qatar
an important addition to
our national infrastruc-
ture through the renowned
quality of its teaching and
its engagement with Qa-
tari society, and I am very
pleased to welcome him to
his new position,” Qatar
Foundation vice president
(education) Dr Abdulla bin
sultant to the United Na-
tions and various public
and private organisations
in Turkey and Asia.
During his tenure at
Carnegie Mellon, Bay-
bars has served as acting
president of the Carnegie
Bosch Institute for Ap-
plied International Studies
and as head of the business
school’s undergraduate
business programme.
He became associate
dean in 1985 and deputy
dean of the Tepper School
in 1992.
In 1997, he received the
outstanding achievement
award for leadership from
the business school.
H
yatt Plaza Shopping
Mall has unveiled its
official mall maga-
zine at its eighth anniver-
sary celebration.
Titled after the mall,
Hyatt Plaza is designed to
empower mall custom-
ers and visitors with the
information they need to
Two join HSBC
Middle East board
make informed choices.
The bimonthly magazine
will accompany issues of Qa-
tar Today, Qatar Alyom, and
Woman Today. The magazine
will also be available in out-
lets within the mall.
During a private ceremony
tenants were awarded certif-
icates of appreciation from
the mall management. The
distribution of certificates
was followed by the cut-
ting of a cake decorated with
company logos of all tenants.
The mall collaborated
with one of its anchor ten-
ants, Kiddy Zone, to or-
ganise a children’s event
featuring popular interna-
ISO certification for Jaidah Motors
Jaidah Motors and Trading
Company has successfully
upgraded its quality
management system to
comply with the requirements
of ISO 9001-2008 standards, a
spokesperson said yesterday.
tional cartoon characters,
SpongeBob, The Smurfs,
Winnie The Pooh, Mickey &
Minnie Mouse, and Goofy.
The event took place in-
side the mall’s Fashion Con-
course on March 11 and was
exclusive to mall tenants,
VIPs, media representatives
and all their families.
enhance customer satisfaction
through the effective
application of the system,
including processes for
continual improvement and
the assurance of conformity
to customer and applicable

Speaking about his ap-
pointment, Baybars said:
“I regard this as a won-
derful opportunity for me
to work more closely with
stakeholders in the region
in assuring the continued
success of Carnegie Mel-
lon University in Education
City. This assignment truly
aligns my personal inter-
ests and professional expe-
rience, and I look forward
to meeting the challenges
ahead.”
management.
“In addition to his work
on Carnegie Mellon’s main
campus, Baybars’ dedica-
tion to international work
provides an excellent foun-
dation on which we can
continue the university’s
success abroad,” Kamlet
said, adding: “He has been
actively engaged with the
Carnegie Mellon in Qatar
since its inception in 2004,
and his insight into the stu-
dents, faculty and business
Ali al-Thani said.
He added that Baybars’ ap-
pointment come at an excit-
ing point in the development
of Education City as “we step
up our research activities, in-
troduce further graduate pro-
grammes, and benefit from
increasing synergies and ef-
ficiencies among our partner
institutions. I look forward to
his contribution in all of these
areas.”
Baybars has served as a
member of Carnegie Mel-
In 1981, he became the
first recipient of the Emil
Limbach Teaching Award
for Excellence in the Class-
room from the School of
Urban and Public Affairs,
now the Heinz College.
Baybars also was the ar-
chitect and founder of the
business school’s FlexTime
(part-time) and FlexMode
(distance learning) MBA
programmes and served as
head of MBA programmes
from 1984 to 1997.
H
SBC has inducted
two GCC nationals
to its Middle East
board.
Abdul Hakeem Mostafa-
wi and Abdulfattah Sharaf
have been appointed as
board directors of HSBC
Bank Middle East with ef-
fect from March 3, said a
bank spokesman.
Mostafawi and Sharaf
are currently CEOs of
HSBC Qatar and the UAE
respectively and their roles
would remain unchanged.
Mostafawi has been
with the HSBC Group for
more than 20 years, hav-
ing joined as a graduate
trainee, and has spent time
in management roles in
London and Hong Kong.
He was appointed CEO of
Qatar in 2008.
Sharaf joined HSBC in
2008 as CEO – personal
financial services, Mid-
dle East and North Af-
rica, and has been CEO
The company has received statutory and regulatory
the certification for quality requirements,” the official said.
management system for Jaidah Group COO Bengt
host of services from sales of Schultz said: “We would like
General Motors (GM) vehicles to continue our 110 years
and spare-parts to, AC Delco journey of unmitigated
and Isuzo vehicles and trucks. excellence in customer care
“The company aims to and services.”
Abdul Hakeem Mostafawi:
More than 20 years experi-
ence with the HSBC Group
of the UAE since January
2010.
“The Middle East is a key
area of focus for the HSBC
Group…Strengthening our
board with regional repre-
sentation in this way un-
derpins the importance of
the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) region
to the group’s emerging
markets-led strategy,” Si-
mon Cooper, CEO of HSBC
MENA, said.

Mother’s Day collection unveiled

Damas, a leading busy to call or too tired
international jewellery to spend time with her by
and watch retailer in the presenting her with one
Middle East, has launched of Damas’ Mother’s Day
its Mother’s Day collection pendants.”
including five new limited
edition Mother’s Day
pendants designed to reflect
“your undying love and
appreciation for her.”
The collection is set in
18k gold and is studded
with diamonds, pearls and
precious stones with a
unique twist, as four of the
pendants are designed with
the word “Ummi” (which
means “My mother”) in
Arabic calligraphy.
Abdulla Meshal, sales
director of Damas in GCC,
said: “When you think of the
word “mom” you think of
unconditional love and all
the time a mother has spent
raising you to be the best
you can be. We wanted to
show the love that children
have for their mothers
through these pendants,
appreciating her undying
love even though they may
not express themselves
enough. This Mother’s Day,
make it up to her for all the
times you have been too

Kiku Pearls Mothers Day

Pendant

Revolution and youth in focus at Jazeera forum
Journalist’s killing condemned
International rights groups
yesterday condemned the killing
of Al Jazeera cameraman Ali
Hassan al-Jaber in Libya and
warned of a campaign of attacks
targeting journalists. Reporters
Without Borders (RSF) said it was
“outraged” by Saturday’s killing of
Jaber, a Qatari national, who was
returning to the rebel bastion
of Benghazi after reporting in
a nearby town when unidenti-
fied gunmen opened fire on his
car. “Even if those responsible
have not yet been identified, this
appalling act is clearly not a ran-
dom event,” the press freedom
watchdog said. “It appears that
the Al Jazeera team was brutally
and deliberately targeted,” said
Malcolm Smart, Amnesty Inter-
national’s Middle East and North
Africa director. “Coming so soon
after the detention and torture
by (regime) forces of three BBC
staff - who were subjected to
beatings and mock executions
- and the detention of other
journalists, this killing is most dis-
turbing,” he added. “The regime
does not hesitate to use brutal
methods to prevent them from
working freely and reporting
what is really happening, so that
they do not contradict the image
it wants to present to the world,”
RSF said. Amnesty said “those
responsible for the killing of Ali
Hassan al-Jaber must be held
accountable for their actions.”
“Jaber’s death is a reminder of
the dangers journalists run in
order to cover armed conflicts,”
RSF said. Jaber, in his 50s, was hit
by three bullets, and “all attempts
to save his life failed,” Al Jazeera
said. Correspondent Nasser
al-Haddar was also wounded
“after they came under sustained
gunfire.” “Al Jazeera condemns
the cowardly crime, which
comes as part of the Libyan
regime’s malicious campaign
targeting Al Jazeera and its staff,”
the channel said. The Committee
to Protect Journalists, based in
New York, said that apart from
the killing of Jaber it has docu-
mented more than 40 attacks
on the press since an uprising
in Libya erupted on February 15.
The attacks include 25 deten-
tions, five assaults, two attacks
on news facilities, the jamming of
Al Jazeera and Al-Hurra satellite
channels, at least three instances
of obstruction, and the interrup-
tion of Internet services. “At least
six local journalists are unac-
counted for,” it said.
By Ross Jackson
Staff Reporter
F
ormer Brazilian president
Lula de Silva highlighted his
own story as a metal worker
who became a union president
and then went on to lead a country
with the world’s seventh largest
economy as he delivered a keynote
speech at the sixth Al Jazeera Fo-
rum in Doha yesterday. The other
keynote was given by the Turkish
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet
Davutoglu.
This year’s forum is focusing
on the popular uprising and po-
litical upheaval across the Mid-
dle East and North Africa, which
is why de Silva said he could not
turn down an offer to share the
valuable experience of South
America in overthrowing dicta-
torial governments. The former
president was particularly inter-
ested in hearing what was in the
hearts and minds of the youth
who have played such a pivotal
role in these movements.
The democratic system which
permitted his success came after
a hard struggle with an authori-
tarian regime that viewed the
Delegates at the opening session.
Former Brazilian President Lula de Silva and Ahmet Davutoglu speak at the Al Jazeera forum.
people merely as an ‘annoyance,’
he said.
“Only after millions of people
rose up against tyranny could po-
litical and social equality become
possible allowing a working man
to become president,” De Silva said
“Democratic governments,”
suggests de Silva, “allow for more
dynamic economies that are ca-
pable of weathering economic
crises.”
Through the redistribution of
resources and an effective micro-
credit system, Brazil’s economy
along with other developing de-
mocracies such as India, were left
relatively strong after a global re-
cession, he pointed out.
De Silva was also critical of
the UN Security Council as be-
ing a ‘club of friends’ rather than
a body of global governance. He
pointed to the fact that there are
no permanent Arab, Japanese or
Latin American representatives
in the council, suggesting that
the organisation more closely
reflected the political realities of
1945. He also said that as the UN
created a state for Israel it should
also create a Palestinian state.
Speaking about the demands
of the Arab people involved in
current popular movements
against their governments, Da-
vutoglu said the people wanted
dignity after decades of insults
QATAR
and humiliation from the au-
thorities. The people only need-
ed the confidence to state their
demands publicly, with the de-
mands of the youth being espe-
cially important, he said.
Davutoglu explained the re-
cent events in the Middle East
as being part of the “natural flow
of history.” He said that in the
last century there have been two
major “abnormalities” disrupt-
ing the natural development of
social, economic and political
justice and equality.
Colonialism in the first half
of the 20th century divided
the region into spheres of in-
fluence under European con-
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 7
trol, severing the “natural links
between people and entities”
such as the natural economic
and social connection between
Damascus and Baghdad. The
Cold War further separated the
region by their allegiances with
North and South Yemen divided
against each other and Turkey
and Syria becoming a “border
of two blocks.”
Davutoglu stressed the need
for stronger regional ties be-
tween intellectuals, politicians,
societies and economies call-
ing for more meetings between
countries’ media to move away
from the region’s past towards a
“common destiny.”
 Gulf Times
8 Monday, March 14, 2011

QATAR BRITAIN/IRELAND

Shipping industry Campaign draw winners announced

confident about M
egamart has an-
nounced names of
winners in its recently
concluded “WIN4WD” raffle
promo, which was held between
,0207867,0024860,0066956,07102
78,0763036,0677015,0487912,0208
373,0686093,0600064,0463909,0
574275,0380618,0554975,0609997,
0692990,0451573,0763690,035533

Japan staging November 9, 2010 and February

27.
Grand prize winners of three
Mitsubishi Pajero V6 are Ha-
mad al-Mohannadi (0746750),
8,0576068,0677792,0687138,01395
81,0705947,0747562,0574263,0219
230,0469109,0431384,0480050,06
65495,0276930,0194511,0499303,0
540087,

‘early’ recovery Mohamed Gholome (0490551)

By Ramesh Mathew natural gas, it said, while the im-
Staff Reporter ports were mostly heavy equip-
ment and automobiles.
“Even though it is too early to
of Japan are assumed to be out of
order as operations have stopped
and port facilities may have been
washed away, according to BIM-
and Rogelio Ocampo (0314223).
42”LED television winners
are holders of coupon numbers:
0769876,0711984,0290907,012
Winners of gift voucher of
QR100 each: 0075591,0198784,06
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Winners of Nokia E72 mobile 483809,0534149,0534145,0510514,
phone: 0158328,0220570,0704 0526494,0727718,0553702,004528

E
ven though the impact
of the devastating earth-
quake and tsunami that
rocked global economic pow-
erhouse Japan on Friday will be
felt by its shipping industry and
auxiliary services at least for the
next couple of months, sources
in Qatar’s shipping industry are
hopeful that Japan would re-
cover from the setbacks at “the
earliest”.
Their hopes are based on the
excellent track record of the Jap-
say if the movement of ships to-
wards some of the major ports of
the GCC will be áffected in the
wake of the latest developments,
there is every reason for us to be
optimistic about the Japanese
abilities to put their house in
order at the earliest,” added an-
other official of a major shipping
house.
“My inquiries yesterday found
that the Japan government is
carrying out relief operations at
an amazing pace,” he added.
CO. 432,00224930,0084446,05007 A Pajero V6 winner receives the key from Megamart officials. 2,0154304,0425283,0623402,0335
One of the leading online 29,0603369,0015824,0093754, 818,0544912,0471041,0471237,056
newspapers, JOC, specialising 0450771. nent showrooms like Megamart, each: 0606561,0321453,0261998,0 4919,0712086,0619290,0437683,0
in global and regional shipping Customers were able to par- Megamart Express and Shoprite 010553,0311140,0238575,0288081,0 497747,0497776,0667182,0578932
events has reported extensive ticipate in the raffle draw on a supermarkets. 559762,0510205,0525813,0630827,0 ,0579660,0541662,0683604,0621
damage to a port at Yokohama, purchase of QR 50 in all promi- Winners of gift voucher of QR200 252566,0288130,0188380,0067466 284,0556014,0713705.
which handles considerably high
levels of automobile and heavy
equipment.
In the short-term, the demand
for shipping will stop and will
only slowly start to move once
things are normal, it reported. In
Undersea cable ‘successfully lands’ in Fujairah
the medium to long-term out-

anese in facing and overcoming
natural disasters and other ca-
lamities that has hit parts of that
country at intervals in previous
years.
“Having seen the remarkable
enterprise and managerial abili-
ties of the Japanese on different
occasions, I’m sure the country
would overcome the tough chal-
lenges that it is facing in the wake
of the cruellest disaster in recent
times,” said a senior manager at
one of the top-notch shipping
firms, which deals with compa-
nies in Japan and who also makes
regular visits to the country as
part of his company’s business
operations.
The GCC states accounted
for business worth more than
$130bn with Japan in 2009, with
most of it carried out by sea. Qa-
tar’s business with Japan alone
was worth more than $17bn in
the same year, the Japanese for-
eign affairs ministry has report-
ed on its website.
Most of Qatar’s $15bn plus
exports to Japan in 2009 con-
stituted petroleum products and
For the next few weeks, there
is a possibility that the export of
new automobiles to the region
will be affected, according to the
manager. Similarly, onward traf-
fic to Japan, too, will also be slow
in the coming weeks, it is under-
stood.
The local shipping official said
inquiries made by his company
in the last 24 hours found that
there had been major damage to
one or two of the northern ports,
which were not far off from the
epicentre of the earthquake.
“Container shipping may be
impacted by lack of exports from
the Japanese factories, caus-
ing liner companies to leapfrog
Japanese ports on their trans-
Pacific trading lanes,” BIMCO,
an independent shipping forum
has reported in Copenhagen.
“Both imports and exports
may be affected by force ma-
jeure,” it said. Other analysts
said the earthquake may be the
most expensive natural disas-
ter, with estimates of insurance
losses running as high as $10bn.
All ports in the northern area
look, demand for shipping may
be higher because of this natural
disaster, added BIMCO, which
provides research for its mem-
bers, consisting of ship owners,
managers, brokers, agents and
other maritime stakeholders.
More than 40 ships were sched-
uled to arrive or leave the port of
Yokohama on the fateful Friday.
The port is ranked 39th on the
JOC list of the top 50 ports of the
world in 2009, and it has handled
close to 2.8mn 20-foot equivalent
units of containers, according to
the JOC website. Dry bulk ship-
ping may be impacted in many
ways as Japan is a major importer
of thermal coal for power genera-
tion, iron ore and coking coal for
steel production as well as grains
for food and feedstock, it added.
Several nuclear power plants
may be shut down for days or
weeks, and coal-fired power
plants have experienced coal
stocks being flooded, according
to the website report. BIMCO has
also said tanker shipping may be
affected as refineries are on fire,
reducing product tanker demand.
G
ulf Bridge International (GBI), the
Middle East’s first privately owned
submarine cable operator, has ‘suc-
cessfully landed’ its cable at Fujairah in the
UAE.
The cable will connect to the UAE opera-
tor du’s landing station in the emirate.
To be launched later this year, the GBI
Cable System is a high capacity, fibre-optic
communications cable, which will connect
all the countries of the Gulf region to each
other and provide onward connectivity to
Europe, Africa and Asia.
The cable landing in Fujairah is the first
of 10 planned cable landings around the
Gulf region.
This connectivity will ensure that the
GBI Cable System will offer the most com-
prehensive geographic reach of any subsea
network in the region.
Board member and Gulf Bridge Interna-
tional CEO Ahmed Mekky said, “Today’s
landing is another significant step to-
wards the launch of the GBI Cable System,
which was designed and built to position
the Middle East as a strategic communica-
tions hub between the mature markets of
Europe and North America and the rapidly
growing markets of Asia and Africa.
“We are committed to our vision of con-
necting the world to the Gulf. GBI will of-
fer our customers greater choice, value,
diversity and resilience. We are also glad to
work hand in hand with a number of out-
standing companies such as ‘du’, who are
going to help us realise this vision,” Mekky
added.
Farid Faraidooni, du Chief Commercial
Officer said, “We welcome the landing of
GBI’s state-of-the-art submarine cable
on our shores. This is momentous both
from a commercial and a customer point
of view. Once operational, it will not only
expand choice of connectivity but more
importantly will significantly enhance
redundancy in operations. We congratu-
late GBI on this achievement and look for-
ward to the day when the cable system is
launched.”
Over the next few months, the cable
ship, “Responder”, will be working in the
Gulf waters with a fleet of other special-
ised ships, to continue the installation
process of the GBI Cable System, which
is configured as a self-healing ring within
the Gulf.
The GBI Cable System deploys several
‘state-of-the-art’ technologies, such as
the new dual-stage repeaters and wave-
length monitoring units that ‘guaran-
tee flawless and error-free operations’
throughout the entire system. Ahmed Mekky: ‘significant step’

Group plans new hotel in Qatar

A
bu Dhabi-based Ro-
tana will open a new
hotel in Qatar and six
more in the UAE this year as
part of its expansion strategy
in the region.
The planned new hotels
will bring its brands to a total
of 33 in the UAE and massive
12,515 rooms across its port-
folio of hotels in the region
by the end of the year.
However, as part of its an-
nual sales mission, the ho-
tel management company,
which generates up to 34%
of its room revenue from the
GCC region, is preparing for
a tour of the region
in a one-week roadshow to
promote its family hotels.
The sales mission will kick
off in Kuwait and conclude in
Qatar.
In addition to showcasing
its portfolio of 70 properties
throughout the Middle East
and Africa, the sales team
will promote and sell new
and existing products to the
GCC market such as Rotana
properties in Abu Dhabi,
Syria, Sharm El Sheikh,
Hurghada, Dubai, Rask Al
Khaimah, Fujairah, Lebanon,
Sudan and Erbil.
“This annual trip will cer-
tainly help us to develop our
strategic account relation-
ships, where our effort and
focus is effectively used.
The sales mission will help
us to open new avenues and
opportunities for each of
the individual hotels in the Rotana officials are seen in front of the Al Manshar branch.
region and for the regional
sales offices,” GCC sales di-
rector Ahmed Ibrahim said.

Some of the participants in the blood donation drive are seen beside the HMC mobile blood donor unit.

Doha Marriott staff donate blood

A
round 100 Doha Mar-
riott Hotel associ-
ates and employees
have donated blood during a
donation drive organised in
collaboration with the Ha-
mad Medical Corporation.
Altogether, they were able
to pool up to 80 units of
blood for the Corp’s blood
bank unit.
“Blood donation saves
lives and as we start a new
year and a new decade, I
would encourage anyone in-
terested in helping save and
improve the lives of oth-
ers to consider becoming a
blood donor, if they can. I am
proud that the associates of
the Doha Marriott came out
today to make this selfless
and life-saving gift,” general
manager Garan said.

First with new MRI system
By Noimot Olayiwola
Staff Reporter
T
he Al Amal Hospital’s Radia-
tion Oncology department has
become the first healthcare
institution in the world to install GE
Healthcare’s premium wide bore 1.5T
Optima™ MR450w magnetic reso-
nance imaging (MRI) system, it was
learnt.
The latest system with radiation
oncology options provides clinicians
potential improvements for tumour
targeting in brain, head/neck and pel-
vis therapy sites.
The system – supplied by the GE
Healthcare representative in Qatar,
Mannai Corporation’s Medical Divi-
sion – was integrated into the hospi-
tal’s oncology treatment programme
early this year.
The Radiation Oncology Depart-
ment at Al Amal Hospital is the only
centre of its kind in Qatar and is one
of the most advanced in the region
treating patients from across the Gulf
region.
The patient profile represents a
complex mix of all types of tumours,
Talk on IT
controls
T
he Institute of Internal Audi-
tors (IIA) and the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India
(ICAI) recently hosted a talk by R Vit-
tal Raj, an IT security expert.
“Information is basis for survival
and success, protect it consciously”
was the central theme in Raj’s talk.
“Failure of IT controls can be silent
but impact can be disastrous to busi-
ness.
“Security of enterprise informa-
tion is a key business risk that must be
including paediatric cases and a large
proportion of breast cancer patients.
The department aims to become
a recognised centre of excellence in
image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) for
the region within five years.
To commemorate the system, a spe-
cial ceremony was held yesterday at Al
Amal Hospital, which was presided by
the Corporation’s managing director
Dr Hanan al-Kuwari.
Radiation Oncology programme di-
rector Dr Noora al-Hammadi noted:
“We always strive to ensure that the
treatments offered to cancer patients
in Qatar parallel those found in any
prestigious cancer centre globally.
“To enhance our capabilities in on-
cology diagnosis, planning and treat-
ment, we selected GE Healthcare’s
Optima MR450w with its comprehen-
sive radiation oncology options.”
Designed to pinpoint radiation
therapy with the precision of magnet-
ic resonance, GE Healthcare’s Optima
MR450w was recently introduced at
the American Society for Therapeutic
Radiation and Oncology 53rd annual
meeting.
The comprehensive options include
MR compatible positioning devices
ICAI Board members with R Vittal Raj.
carefully analysed, assessed, evaluat-
ed and mitigated when implementing
and maintaining IT systems” Raj said.
He went on to explain why it is criti-
cal to involve business in IT risk analy-
sis and integrate it into the Enterprise
Risk Management framework.
The top reasons for IT failures are
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 9
QATAR
and flat insert, coils that accommo- vide some of the most advanced tech-
date the positioning devices and pro- nologies to its people, and thus enhance
tocols which have been optimised for the standards in healthcare.”
high resolution, thin slice imaging. “The Optima MR450W delivers ad-
The system installed in Qatar is also vanced functionality to give clinicians
configured with GE advantageSIM, the tools they need to make confident
and interfaced to the treatment plan- diagnoses, and patients have peace of
ning system allowing for multi-mo- mind from knowing that Al Amal Hos-
dality image registration and virtual pital is once again offering some of the
simulation. most advanced medical equipment
Dr al-Hammadi added: “We’re available anywhere in the world to pro-
proud to be the first site in the world to tect the health of its patients,” Mannai
deploy the system at our hospital. Corporation Medical Division general
“The system offers a 70cm bore for manager Nabil Khalil said.
enhanced patient comfort and 50cm GE has recently opened its Advanced
field of view with uncompromised Technology and Research Centre in the
image quality over large anatomical Qatar Science and Technology Park. Dr al-Hammadi explaining a feature of the newly acquired system to Dr al-Kuwari.
regions,” she explained. “Magnetic
resonance has the ability to facilitate
more precise radiation therapy treat-
ment. To receive the full benefit of this
investment, we plan to use the Optima
MR450w as a regular diagnostic MRI,
as well.”
GE Healthcare-Gulf Region zone
sales manager Daoud Shinwari said:
“As the (country with the) first hospi-
tal in the world to install our advanced
MR Radiation Oncology options, on
the Optima 450w scanner, Qatar is
underscoring its commitment to pro-
attributed to governance, change
management, solution architecture,
fear related to insecurity and leader-
ship.
Hassan al-Mulla, the new president
of the IIA chapter, and an IT auditor
himself, promised more trainings and
workshops in the coming months.
 Gulf Times
10 Monday, March 14, 2011

REGION BRITAIN/IRELAND

Hundreds hurt as protests spread

Bahrain hospital
Dozens
gather for
sources have said around
200 people were hurt in the
violence, mainly
demos
from inhaling tear gas
Reuters
AFP Riyadh
Manama

D
ozens of Saudis gathered

B
ahraini police firing tear
gas and rubber bullets
clashed with demonstra-
tors trying to occupy Manama’s
banking centre yesterday, as
protests spread to the strategic
Gulf state’s business hub, wit-
nesses said.
They said tear gas and rubber
bullets were used against about
350 activists who had sealed off
the capital’s Financial Harbour
business complex with road
blocks and a human chain.
Hospital sources said around
200 people were hurt in the vio-
lence, mainly from inhaling tear
gas. Three of those being treated
were in critical condition, in-
cluding one with severe head
injuries.
The interior ministry said 14
policemen were injured.
The United States con-
demned the violence. “We urge
the government of Bahrain to
pursue a peaceful and meaning-
ful dialogue with the opposi-
tion rather than resorting to the
use of force,” said White House
spokesman Jay Carney.
Crown Prince Salman, mean-
while, reiterated the govern-
ment’s offer of a national dia-
logue on deep-rooted reforms
but not at the expense of Bah-
rain’s security and stability,
state news agency BNA report-
ed.
Prince Salman said he sup-
ports the creation of a parlia-
ment with full powers, and he
also pledged to tackle naturali-
sation, administrative and fi-
nancial corruption, and sectar-
ian tensions.
But he warned that “legiti-
mate demands should not be
carried out at the price of se-
Protesters face riot police close to Pearl Square, the epicentre of anti-government protests, as they block a highway connecting the capital Manama with Muharraq Island yesterday.
curity and stability.” A video
uploaded yesterday to YouTube
purports to show Bahraini riot
police shooting an unarmed
protester in the head at point-
blank range with a tear gas
round.
The man appears to be re-
monstrating with helmeted riot
police when they shoot him
twice from just metres away --
once in the body and, when he
tries to get up, a second time in
the face.
The user who posted the
33-second “face-to-face shoot-
ing” clip claims it was filmed
during yesterday’s unrest in
Manama, but the authenticity
of the video could not immedi-
ately be verified.
Elsewhere yesterday, regime
loyalists armed with knives and
clubs fought students at the
university. “The regime is using
thugs,” said Khalil Marzooq, a
member of Bahrain’s main op-
position group.
Police also fired tear gas at
protesters occupying Pearl
Square, the epicentre of the
protests located a short distance
from the financial district, wit-
nesses said.
Bahrain -- home of the US
Fifth Fleet -- has become a re-
gional financial hub as it seeks
to diversify its economy away
from a dependence on dimin-
ishing oil revenues.
King Hamad also reiterated
an offer of dialogue with the
main opposition groups, which
have refused to negotiate un-
til the government resigns and
dissidents are released from jail.
“I call all parties to meet
quickly around the table and be
open-minded and well-inten-
tioned to reach a national con-
sensus,” he said, quoted by BNA.
Crown Prince Salman, who
joined King Hamad at talks on
Saturday with visiting US De-
fence Secretary Robert Gates,
has urged protesters to enter
talks without laying down con-
ditions.
“I’m hopeful that they will
join the dialogue without pre-
conditions. We have given them
the best deal they can hope for,”
Salman told reporters after the
meeting.
The main opposition groups
have stopped short of demand-
ing change in the government,
but more extreme hardliners
have been vocal in calling for the
end of monarchy.
outside the interior min-
istry in Riyadh yesterday
to demand the release of jailed
relatives, activists said, two days
after a planned day of protests
fizzled amid a heavy police pres-
ence.
Protests are banned in Saudi
Arabia and the interior minis-
try denied one was taking place.
Journalists could not get close to
the heavily guarded ministry but
saw dozens of men in traditional
white robes standing there, while
dozens of security forces stood
by next to parked buses and po-
lice cars.
The men were asking to see
Saudi counter-terrorism chief,
Prince Mohamed bin Nayef, to
demand the release of prisoners
they say are being held too long
without trial, activists said.
“A couple of us came already
last week. We were told today
that the prince is not here,” said
an activist who said he took part
in the gathering and declined to
be identified.
A call via social media for a
day of anti-government pro-
tests went unheeded on Friday in
Riyadh as police stepped up their
presence to enforce a strict ban
of demonstrations.
Small protests by minority Sh-
ias have taken place in the east.
Saudi Arabia has guaranteed
Western energy supplies for dec-
ades, and the calls for protests
have put markets on edge.
Pictures circulating on Twitter
showed dozens of men dressed in
traditional white robes and red
headdresses gathered peaceably
outside the ministry in central
Riyadh. They did not appear to
be shouting slogans or holding
protest signs.

Two dead as Yemen police

fire on demonstrators
Reuters
Sanaa

T
wo people died and scores were
hurt yesterday when Yemeni
police fired live rounds and tear
gas at protesters in Sanaa and Aden
demanding an end to President Ali
Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule, medical
sources said.
Witnesses said most of the injured
in the capital were suffering severe ef-
fects from tear gas but some were hit by
bullets. Two were thought to be in seri-
ous condition in the clashes near Sanaa
University, site of a weeks-long sit-in.
In the southern port of Aden one
person died after being shot as protest-
ers clashed with police, a hospital doc-
tor said.
Al Jazeera television showed med-
ics treating Yemenis, covered in blood Anti-government protesters shout slogans during a rally held outside the Sanaa
and coughing from tear gas exposure University yesterday.
in a makeshift hospital where protest-
ers have set up an encampment by the The White House chided US allies ing protests in al-Maafir in Taiz prov-
university, the epicentre of protests in Yemen and Bahrain yesterday for vio- ince and a protester died from shots
the capital. lence used against protesters and urged fired by police during protests in the
Several thousand people gathered both to exercise restraint. southern port of Aden on Saturday.
there early yesterday, setting up bar- The United States sees Saleh as an Late yesterday, Saleh named a new
ricades in an effort to separate them- important ally in its fight against a youth minister, and replaced the reli-
selves from riot police who used water highly active regional wing of al Qaeda gious guidance and endowments min-
cannon. based in impoverished Yemen, but has ister, without giving a reason.
They carried banners branding Saleh grown increasingly alarmed by the es- Abdelbari Dugheish, an Aden mem-
“Chemical Ali” in reference to the po- calating violence and has called for ber of parliament from Saleh’s ruling
lice use of an apparent tear gas that dialogue. “We urge the governments of party, said he now supported the op-
doctors have said affects the nervous (Yemen and Bahrain) to show restraint, position. “The security forces are re-
system. The Interior Ministry has de- and to respect the universal rights of sponsible for the loss of lives. They are
nied the accusation. their people,” the White House said in firing at random and using excessive
Abdul-Malek al-Marwani, a Su- a statement. violence,” he said.
preme Court judge, resigned and ex- The United States has called for a Four people, including a 12-year-
pressed support for protesters, saying “peaceful transition” of power in Yem- old boy, were killed in protests around
the judiciary had lost its independence en and urged Sanaa to probe the deaths Yemen on Saturday, bringing the total
and corruption was rampant, news and injuries. number of dead during two months of
websites said. Seven protesters were wounded dur- unrest to more than 30.

Workers at private firms strike over pay

Reuters as simmering protests in the sultanate overtime,” said Mohamed al-Balushi,
Muscat spilled over into the private sector. an employee at OIFC. OIB is Oman’s
fifth-largest bank by assets, while the
“Our demands are very simple, OIFC is an investment and services

O
man’s ruler has decided to cede
some legislative powers to a
partially elected council, the
state news agency reported yesterday,
in an apparent effort to quell protests in
the sultanate.
The sultan’s announcement came
on the day workers at two Oman firms
went on strike to demand a wage hike,
we want higher pay and
more overtime”
Staff of Oman International Bank
and Oman Invest and Finance Com-
pany walked off the job in the morn-
ing and stood in silent protest in front
of their offices. “Our demands are very
simple, we want higher pay and more
company. Bank Muscat, the country’s
largest financial institution, agreed
to increase its salaries yesterday after
workers staged a strike a day earlier.
Oman Air also made concessions last
week to head off strike action.Looking
to ease social tensions, Gulf oil produc-
ers on Thursday launched a $20bn aid
package for Oman and Bahrain.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 11

ARAB WORLD

Libya troops push rebels back

Government takes Brega in
eastward offensive as world
discusses no-fly zone
Reuters
Ajdabiyah
Al Qaeda ideologue warns of cost of defeat
Senior Al Qaeda militant Abu considered one of Al Qaida’s top
Yahya al-Libi has urged rebels ideologues.
to fight Libyan strongman Libi, who himself is Libyan
Muammar Gaddafi and warned but whose whereabouts are
of the heavy price of defeat, in a unknown, warned rebels of the
videotape posted yesterday on heavy price of defeat at the hands

M
uammar Gaddafi’s
troops yesterday seized
the strategic Libyan oil
town of Brega, forcing rebels to
retreat eastward and putting ex-
tra pressure on world powers still
deliberating on a no-fly zone.
The government offensive had
already driven the rebels out of
Ras Lanuf, another oil terminal
100 km to the west on the coast
road, and the seizure of Brega and
its refinery deprived the rebels of
more territory and yet another
source of fuel.
The government, in a message
on state television, said it was
certain of victory and threat-
ened to “bury” the rebels, who it
linked to Al Qaeda and “foreign
security services”.
A UN humanitarian coordina-
tor sent to Tripoli said he wanted
access to areas on both sides of
the conflict to assess the impact
of the violence on civilians.
On the diplomatic front,
France said it would intensify its
efforts to persuade world powers
to impose a no-fly zone on Libya,
where Gaddafi’s troops seemed
to have gained the initiative in
their struggle with rebels seeking
an end to his four-decade rule.
Libya said it would welcome
an African Union panel that will
try to help resolve the crisis, but
condemned an Arab League call
for a no-fly zone over the coun-
try.
“Brega has been cleansed of
armed gangs,” a government
army source told state television.
Defeated rebel fighters were
demoralised. “There’s no upris-
ing any more,” said rebel Nabeel
Tijouri, whose heavy machine-
jihadist websites.
In the first public comment by
a top Al Qaeda commander on
the conflict in Libya, he said: “The
Libyan people have suffered at
the hands of Gaddafi for more
than 40 years ... He used the Liby-
ans as a testing ground for his
violent, rambling and disgusting
thoughts.”
Libyan insurgents “must carry
on with their revolution, without
hesitation or fear, in order to push
Gaddafi into the abyss,” said Libi,
gun had been destroyed in the
fighting. “The other day we were
in Ras Lanuf, then Brega, the day
after tomorrow, they will be in
Benghazi.”
Brega is 220km south of the
rebel stronghold of Benghazi and
Ajdabiyah is the only sizeable
town between the two. From Ajd-
abiyah there are separate roads to
Benghazi and to Tobruk, close to
the border with Egypt.
The flat desert terrain means
the government’s air supremacy
and tanks outweigh the rebels’
enthusiasm and light weaponry.
Only towns and cities provide
some cover for the insurgents
and, to some extent, lessen the
odds against them.
State television carried a con-
fident message from the authori-
ties. “We are certain of our vic-
tory, whatever the price,” it said.
“Those acts of division will be
buried together with those who
committed them, who are linked
to foreign security services and
the terrorist organisation Al
Qaeda.”
Rashid Khalikov, the UN hu-
of Gaddafi’s regime.
“Retreating will mean decades
of harsher oppression and greater
injustices than what you have
endured,” he said in the tape
which could not be independently
authenticated.
“Do not surrender your weap-
ons,” Libi said.
He also accused Western
governments, especially the US,
of having backed oppressive
Arab regimes at the expense of
ordinary people in the region.
manitarian coordinator for Libya,
said in an interview he wanted
unimpeded access, saying: “The
situation is changing from one
day to another.”
“The main concern is to find
out what’s going on, which we
don’t know. There are various
reports about the humanitarian
impact of recent events. The ci-
vilian population is suffering.”
The speed of the government Doctors working at a local hospital join other protesters calling for a no-fly zone over Libya during a rally in Benghazi yesterday.
advance may overtake drawn-out
diplomatic wrangling on whether promised to step up its efforts in Protests in the capital have day, but this was impossible to ernment spokesman Mussa Ibra-
or how to impose a no-fly zone. consultation with the European stopped. Human Rights Watch confirm independently. him. “Those who stay behind, we
The US said the Arab League’s Union, the Arab League, the UN said “Gaddafi and his security “From the early morning they will deal with them accordingly.”
call for a UN no-fly zone to pro- Security Council and the Libyan forces are brutally suppressing (the government troops) are It took a week of repeated as-
tect Libyan cities was an “im- National Council. all opposition in Tripoli - includ- fighting among each other. We saults by government troops,
portant step”, but Washington Arab support satisfies one of ing peaceful protests - with le- hear the fighting,” said rebel Mo- backed by tanks and air power, to
remained cautious about military three conditions Nato set on Fri- thal force, arbitrary arrests, and hamed. “This division between crush the uprising in Zawiyah, a
intervention. day for it to take on the task of forced disappearances.” them came to us from God ... much smaller town 50km west of
Arab League Secretary-Gen- policing Libyan air space. The Fresh from crushing the revolt Now we are waiting to see what Tripoli.
eral Amr Moussa said the League others are proof that its help is in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, elite will happen.” The death toll in Zawiyah is
had “officially asked the UN Se- needed and a UN Security Coun- government troops and tanks Journalists have been pre- unknown but much of the town
curity Council to impose a no-fly cil resolution. turned to Misrata, Libya’s third vented from reaching the city by of 100,000 was badly damaged
zone against any military action Even if the Security Council biggest city with 300,000 people the authorities. The government by rocket and tank fire.
against the Libyan people”. meets to discuss a no-fly zone, it and the only pocket of rebel re- dismissed the reports as rumours After fighting ceased there
France said the call demon- is far from clear whether it would sistance outside the east. and said there were Al Qaeda on Friday, one soldier was asked
strated the willingness of the pass a resolution as veto holders Rebels said a mutiny among fighters in Misrata. about the fate of the rebels.
international community to Russia and China have both pub- government troops stalled their “Some people will give up, He made a throat-cutting ges-
protect Libyan civilians, and licly opposed the idea. advance yesterday for a second some will disappear,” said gov- ture and laughed.

Volunteer caterer boosts rebels’ flagging morale

AFP Adel Kablan, a 41-year-old “It breaks my heart to watch The rebels are facing air strikes going into battle. I had to help an anti-aircraft gun, driven by a within 200m of his car, leaving dead
Benghazi father-of-five had just made the our men in retreat,” said Adel, and artillery, and their lack of them, feed them,” he said. rebel wearing a gas mask to pro- and wounded by the side of the road.
330km round trip from Beng- handing a rebel a ration of rice combat experience and training For the past week, Adel has tect himself from the wind. “If God allows it,” he said he will
hazi, headquarters of the revolt and meat as they fell back from are compounded by the logisti- been waking his five children at When he needs petrol, Adel come back to help his comrades.

L
ibyan insurgents deployed
along a desert dune were
surveying the front line
when a jet fighter circling high
overhead spread widespread panic.
But volunteer caterer Adel, im-
perturbable even after a long drive
to the front, parked his car and
distributed cups of rice. Around
him, rebels raised their arms and
cried “Allahu Akbar”, forgetting
the jet for a moment, even as it
disappeared back into the west.
in eastern Libya, to bring rebels
food his family had cooked early
in the morning.
In the distance, a miasmic black
smoke cloud billowed from Ras
Lanuf’s bombed oil depots. Lib-
yan military units loyal to leader
Muammar Gaddafi retook the
town on Thursday after a fierce
battle with the insurgents. Gadd-
afi’s forces have been making daily
progress, pushing back the rebels
with bombs, rockets and mortars.
the beleaguered coastal village of
Uqayla. “But with God’s help, we
can turn it around.”
Suddenly, a string of eight ex-
plosions rocked the desert hard
enough to make the stones roll.
About 5km away, smoke rose
from the desert plain. “We were
over there this morning, 30km
away, near Ras Lanuf,” said
40-year-old Wanis Muftar. “But
we had to pull back under the
weight of the bombing.”
cal challenge of forming efficient
supply lines.
“We are like fingers on the
same hand. Adel does not fight
with us, but he brings us food
every day,” said 32-year-old
Tariq, while his comrades ate in
small groups, sitting in the sand
or on the back of their pick-up.
“The first time I came to the
front, I saw young fighters eating
bread and cheese and drinking
water. That’s all they had before
7am and preparing rations for 200
to 300 rebels with his family, be-
fore delivering them to the front.
“On the second day, I fer-
ried 300 sandwiches to the front
line but that wasn’t enough, so I
made another 370km round trip
to buy another 100 sandwiches,”
he grinned.
Between Benghazi and the
front Adel passes few cars, only
a water tanker, a pick-up full of
fighters and a jeep armed with
skips the queues past dozens
waiting in line for hours. “You
don’t queue if you’re helping our
boys,” the attendant told him.
“It all costs money, but I don’t
care,” said Adel, who owns a
jewellery store. “I can’t take any
more of that dog Gaddafi! I want
to be able to talk to anyone, to
foreigners, to pray, to do what I
want without Gaddafi’s secret
service watching me,” he said.
Last week Adel saw bombs land
Suddenly, the earth trembled
again. Three loud explosions fol-
lowed fire coming from the sea
to the north. Agitated insurgents
prepared an anti-aircraft canon,
although none knew where the
attack was coming from.
Adel got back into his car
and began his long return leg to
Benghazi. “I am satisfied and
happy when I return. Because I
did it. And because I come back
alive,” he smiled.

Egyptian army vows to rebuild

torched Coptic church in Sol
AFP
Cairo

E
gypt’s army has said it will begin
rebuilding a church that was set
ablaze last week, sparking deadly
clashes between Muslims and Christians.
“The Egyptian armed forces will start
to rebuild the church in Sol in the prov-
ince of Helwan,” south of Cairo, said
General Adel al-Qorashi.
He was speaking at a rally attended
by religious figures and residents of the
town of Sol, where a romantic liaison
between a young Christian and Muslim
led to a family feud that left two people
dead.
The subsequent torching of the Shah-
edein church in Sol sparked protests
by Coptic Christians across Cairo and
clashes in the poor working class dis-
trict of Moqattam, killing 13 people last
Tuesday.
The ruling military council “will re-
build the church at its expense and (the
work) will be carried out by the army’s
engineering body at the exact same site,”
as the burned church, Qorashi said.
On Friday, hundreds of Egyptians
gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to call
for national unity, a day after the Su-
preme Council of the Armed Forces -
which took power after president Hosni
Mubarak’s ouster last month - met with
Coptic representatives.
Christians, who make up about 10% of
Egypt’s 80mn population, complain of
systematic discrimination and have been Egyptian Coptic Christians demonstrate yesterday outside the state radio and television headquarters in Cairo,
the target of several sectarian attacks. demanding the rebuilding of a church that was set ablaze last week.
 Gulf Times
12 Monday, March 14, 2011

ARAB WORLD

Israel to build
settler homes
after attack
Palestinians say decision wrong, West Bank for any revenge attacks on in Palestinian schools, mosques and
unacceptable; No claim of Palestinians by settlers. media.
responsibility for family’s murder With anger high in Israel and among Last week, Israeli officials said
settlers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was weighing whether to
Reuters Netanyahu’s office said in a statement launch a new peace initiative to try to
Jerusalem that “ministers decided to author- get negotiations moving again. Israeli
ise construction” of several hundred commentators said he would now face
housing units in the Etzion bloc of set- stronger right-wing opposition.

I
srael said yesterday it would build
hundreds of settler homes in the
West Bank after an Israeli cou-
ple and three of their children were
stabbed to death in a settlement in an
attack blamed on Palestinian mili-
tants.
The killings and Israeli government
approval of more housing for settlers
in the occupied territory that Pales-
tinians seek for a state threatened to
stall any efforts to revive a US-backed
peace process frozen over settlement
expansion.
Troops searched outside the settle-
ment of Itamar, near the Palestinian
city of Nablus, for the attackers who
snuck into the home of Ehud and Ruti
Fogel at night and knifed them and
three of their children, aged 11, 4 and 3
months, as the family slept.
Palestinians in the West Bank town of Al Bireh decorate a town square with posters depicting Dalal al-Mughrabi. A 12-year-old daughter found the
bodies after returning home from an
evening youth group meeting. Two
other children sleeping in another
tlements and in Maale Adumim, Ariel
and Kiryat Sefer.
The move is likely to draw interna-
tional dismay and harden Palestinian
resolve not to return to the peace ne-
gotiations that broke down in Septem-
ber after Netanyahu refused to extend
a 10-month moratorium on housing
starts in West Bank settlements.
“This decision is wrong and unac-
ceptable and will only create prob-
lems,” said Nabil Abu Rdainah, a
spokesman for Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas.
Expanded construction in West
Bank settlements could bolster Netan-
yahu within his governing coalition,
which is dominated by pro-settler
parties, including his own right-wing
Likud.
Several hours after the attack, Ab-
bas put out a statement condemning
“all acts of violence against civilians,
regardless of who carried them out and
their motives”.
“These murderers will be seen as
heroes by our neighbours,” said Vice
Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, refer-
ring to Palestinians, at the family’s
funeral, which was attended by thou-
sands in Jerusalem.
In the eulogy, Yaalon questioned
whether “any agreement we sign (with
the Palestinians) will be worth the pa-
per it is written on”.
No starting date was given for the
new housing projects, in settlements
Israel has said it intends to keep in
any future peace deal with the Pales-
tinians. Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz
newspaper put the number of planned
homes at 500.
The World Court has deemed illegal
all Israeli settlement in the West Bank,
territory captured along with the Gaza
Strip and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.
Some 500,000 settlers live among
2.5mn Palestinians in the West Bank
and East Jerusalem. Palestinians fear
the enclaves will deny them a viable

Palestinian hijack leader room in the house were uninjured.

There was no claim of responsibility
for the killings, which Israel attributed
to Palestinian militants.
Israeli police were on alert in the
Netanyahu, who spoke with Abbas
by phone, said the statements by the
Palestinian leadership were not strong
enough and it must move to end what
he termed incitement against Israelis
state.
Violence in the West Bank has
dropped significantly since its peak
during a Palestinian uprising a decade
ago.

honoured with a square

Reuters killed in the incident, a terrorist. national community “for its failure to
Al Bireh “We stand here in praise of our mar- stop the glorification of murderers and
tyrs and in loyalty to all of the mar- for its continued incitement towards
tyrs of the national movement,” Fatah hatred and violence against Jews and

P
alestinians from President Mah-
moud Abbas’s Fatah faction yes-
terday named a town square af-
ter the leader of a 1978 bus hijacking in
which 35 Israelis were killed.
The ceremony, in Al Bireh, a town
near the Palestinian city of Ramal-
lah, was held while Israelis mourned
five members of a Jewish settler family
knifed to death on Saturday in a West
Bank settlement in an attack Israel
blamed on Palestinians.
Many Palestinians see Dalal al-
Mughrabi, a member of the then-un-
derground Fatah movement, as a hero-
ine for her role in hijacking the bus on
Israel’s Haifa-Tel Aviv highway.
Israelis consider Mughrabi, who was
member Sabri Seidam said at the un-
veiling of a plaque showing Mugh-
rabi cradling a rifle against a backdrop
map of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza
Strip. The square was festooned with
Palestinian flags.
Around a dozen people - none of
them Palestinian government officials
- attended the ceremony.
Ron Dermer, an adviser to Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
said the Palestinian Authority had “al-
lowed a public square to be named af-
ter a mass murderer who perpetrated
one of the worst terror attacks in Is-
rael’s history”.
He said the Palestinian leadership
must be held accountable by the inter-
Israel”.
Mughrabi and a group of gunmen
landed by sea on a beach in northern
Israel.
They shot dead an American woman
taking photos of wildlife and then hi-
jacked the civilian bus and shot at cars.
The vehicle was brought to a halt at
a police roadblock near Tel Aviv, where
a gunfight ensued and explosives deto-
nated. Thirty-five Israelis and 10 of the
12 hijackers were killed.
The square’s inauguration had orig-
inally been scheduled to take place a
year ago, coinciding with a visit by US
Vice President Joe Biden. Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestin-
ian Authority cancelled that ceremony. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem yesterday.

Palestinian police
‘won’t intervene in
unity demos’
AFP
Ramallah

T
he Palestinian security forces will not intervene or
act to prevent the mass rallies calling for unity which
are planned for tomorrow, a senior official said on
yesterday. “There will be no intervention by the security
people whatsoever, except to protect them,” senior Pales-
tinian negotiator Nabil Shaath told reporters in Ramallah.
“The police will not intervene in any way, neither to pre-
vent slogans, nor to stop participation” in the protests.
Thousands of Palestinians have responded to a Facebook
campaign calling for mass rallies across the West Bank and
Gaza Strip on March 15, in a unified call for Hamas and Fatah
- the bitterly-divided Palestinian factions - to reconcile their
differences. Similar protests are expected to take place out-
side the offices of Palestinian delegations overseas, in a move
inspired by the recent wave of uprisings in the Arab world,
which brought down the regimes of Egypt and Tunisia.
Ahead of the protest day, several youth activists are ex-
pected to begin a hunger strike that would continue “un-
til the division ends,” said one activist. He said the strike
would begin in Ramallah’s Manara Square.
But Shaath said the Palestinian leadership did not feel
threatened by the planned rallies. “We have nothing to
fear,” he insisted. “On the contrary, I think what our peo-
ple have learned from the Egyptian people is that numbers
make a qualitative change.
“I think that our people are moving more and more into
non-armed struggle, but what I would like to see is num-
bers,” Shaath said, suggesting a non-violent protest in
which “50,000 people occupy Qalandia” - the massive Is-
raeli checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah.
He also pledged that the police would protect journalists
covering the planned demonstrations.
In the past two months, Palestinian activists have staged
a number of demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, initially in support of the Arab uprisings but soon
switching focus to call for national unity.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 13

ARAB WORLD

Sudan warns of
Lebanese demand new flare-up in
Hezbollah disarm
Tens of thousands crowd central after the 1975-90 civil war, says it
flashpoint region
AFP
Khartoum
unanimously to secede from the north.
A simultaneous plebiscite on Abyei’s own
Beirut; Hezbollah says needs to needs them to defend Lebanon from future, as to whether it joins the north or
keep weapons to fight Israel possible Israeli attack. south, was postponed indefinitely with nei-

Israel and Hezbollah fought to a
Reuters standstill in a 34-day war in 2006.
Beirut But Hezbollah opponents accuse
the group of using weapons to in-
timidate political rivals, pointing to
S
udan’s ruling party warned of serious
violence yesterday in the flashpoint
Abyei region within days, shortly after
the government of the breakaway south ac-
cused Khartoum of plotting its ouster.
ther side able to agree on voter eligibility.
At least 70 people were killed and three vil-
lages razed in clashes earlier this month be-
tween fighters from the Arab Misseriya tribe,
which supports the Khartoum government, and

T
ens of thousands of support-
ers of Lebanon’s toppled pre-
mier Saad al-Hariri rallied in
Beirut yesterday, calling for the Shia
group Hezbollah which ousted him
to put its weapons under state con-
trol.
The demonstration in Martyrs’
Square was intended as a show of
strength for the billionaire Sunni
politician, who has gone into oppo-
sition after the collapse in January
of his fractious 14-month unity gov-
ernment, which included Hezbollah
ministers.
“It is impossible for weapons
to stay raised against the will of a
democratic people and against the
truth,” Hariri told the crowd, who
waved Lebanese flags and banners of
his Future Movement.
“We want to put (weapons) under
the control and authority of the state
because it’s the army which protects
us all.”
Hariri’s forceful speech - in
marked contrast to his muted style
as prime minister - escalated the
political confrontation with Hez-
bollah that was triggered by a UN-
backed investigation into the 2005
assassination of his father, Rafik al-
Hariri.
Hezbollah members are expected
to be named in still secret indict-
ments issued two months ago by the
Hague-based court investigating
the killing.
Hezbollah has denied any in-
volvement, and brought down Saad
al-Hariri’s government after he re-
Families seek release
a May 2008 conflict when gunmen
took over parts of western Beirut
after the government moved against
Hezbollah’s communications net-
work.
After Hariri’s government fell
in January, Sunni telecoms tycoon
Najib Mikati was appointed prime
minister designate with the backing
of Hezbollah and its political allies.
Six weeks on, Mikati is still seeking
to form a government.
“It is impossible for any of us to
once again agree that Lebanon falls
under any tutelage, whether it’s tu-
telage from outside or the tutelage
of weapons from inside,” Hariri said.
Both Lebanon’s main political
camps have outside backing, with
Hezbollah supported by Syria and
Iran and Hariri enjoying US and
Saudi backing.
A huge banner of Saudi King Ab-
dullah hung from one building near-
by. “It is impossible for us to give up
our freedom, impossible for us to
give up our Arab identity, impossible
for us to give up truth and justice,”
Hariri said, referring to the tribunal
investigating his father’s killing.
Politicians from both sides of
Lebanon’s political divide were
watching closely to see how many
Demonstrators take part in a mass rally organised yesterday by the ‘14 of people would turn out to support
March Movement’ in downtown Beirut. Hariri.
The crowd looked much thinner
fused to cut Lebanon’s links to the
court.
“The people want the overthrow
of weapons,” demonstrators chant-
ed, playing on the slogans of pro-
testers who overthrew presidents in
Egypt and Tunisia and challenged
Arab leaders across the region.
Hezbollah, the only Lebanese
faction allowed to keep its weapons
than the one which rallied a month
after Rafik al-Hariri’s February 14,
2005, killing and demanded Syria
end its 29-year military presence in
Lebanon.
Syrian blogger is out of jail,
Al-Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed, the National
Congress Party’s chief negotiator on Abyei,
said that if the southern army does not with-
draw thousands of “irregular” troops from
the volatile district by Monday, “we should
also expect a lot of skirmishes to take place.”
The prospects of the southern Sudan Peo-
ple’s Liberation Army (SPLA) bowing to the
NCP’s demands dimmed on Saturday, when the
southern government walked out of pre-inde-
pendence negotiations, accusing Khartoum of
arming southern militia groups and planning its
ouster ahead of planned secession in July.
Dirdiri told journalists in Khartoum that a
deadline for the withdrawal of around 2,500
SPLA troops in police fatigues, agreed to by
both sides under an accord reached in Janu-
ary that expired last Monday.
“We should expect new confrontations to
take place in Abyei if the SPLA is not going to
withdraw the police,” he said. “The situation
in Abyei might deteriorate, and could prove to
be very serious within the coming few days.”
A peace accord reached on January 17
called on all forces to withdraw from the
disputed district, which lies on the north-
south border, except for special joint units
of northern and southern troops and UN
peacekeepers.
Tensions there have been high since the
January referendum on independence for the
south, in which southerners voted almost
Qaeda suspects in
Iraq prison break
AFP
Baghdad
the Ngok Dinka people, who back the south.
On Friday, a US monitoring group said
it had satellite images that showed armed
groups backed by the armies of both north
and south Sudan reinforcing their positions
in the area.
Dirdiri blamed all the recent fighting in
Abyei on the SPLA-backed forces, whom
he accused of killing indiscriminately and
slaughtering Misseriya cows for food.
The southerners in turn have repeatedly
accused the Misseriya nomads, who herd
their cattle south in the dry season in search
of water and grazing pastures, of fomenting
the violence with the support of the north.
The future of the volatile region is the
most sensitive of a raft of issues that the NCP
and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement had been trying to resolve ahead
of southern independence in July.
Presidential adviser Salah Gosh, who
heads the NCP team in the joint political
committee, said yesterday that the SPLM’s
decision to withdraw from the talks amid
claims that the north was plotting to desta-
bilise the south was a negotiating tactic.
“I think they will come back. They have no
other way to resolve the situation,” he said.
“They think that if they explode this bal-
loon it will create a new environment for try-
ing to gain in Abyei, and on other post-ref-
erendum issues like petrol share,” he added.
ers took advantage of the ensuing confusion
to escape. Several were Al Qaeda suspects,”

of Jordan Islamists but remains on trial: NGO he said, adding that the prison had about
400 inmates. Al Qaeda suspects are often

AFP brother of Humam, who in De-
Amman cember 2009 blew himself up at
a US base in Afghanistan’s Khost
province, killing seven US intel-
AFP He is accused of “publishing men-
Damascus dacious reports liable to weaken the
nation’s spirit” and is being tried at
the Damascus criminal court where
A
uthorities imposed a curfew yester-
day in the Iraqi city of Tikrit following
a prison break that included several Al
Qaeda suspects, officials said. “A curfew was
imposed in the city to facilitate the search for
escaped prisoners,” said Ali Hashem, a local
held without trial in Iraq.
Tikrit, about 160km north of Baghdad, is
the former stronghold of Saddam Hussain,
the Iraqi dictator ousted in the 2003 US-led
invasion and later tried and hanged.
Jail breaks are relatively common in Iraq,

R S
elatives of Jordanian
Salafists, including the
brother of a double agent
who killed seven CIA officers in
Afghanistan in 2009, demon-
strated yesterday to demand the
release of Islamist prisoners.
In their third protest in less
than a month, more than 300
people demonstrated outside the
prime minister’s office in Am-
man to demand the government
free some 90 Salafist prisoners
held in Jordan.
“Release all the prisoners or face
consequences that you cannot
handle,” said Mohamed Balawi,
ligence officers and his Jordanian
handler, a royal family member.
“I say to intelligence officers:
‘we will get your pictures and
publish them. Beware of us. We
will hunt you down and hold you
accountable’.”
After the 2009 attack, key US
ally Jordan acknowledged it had
a counter-terrorism role in Af-
ghanistan, spotlighting for the
first time Amman’s role in the
international coalition in the
south-central Asian country.
“The people want to free the
prisoners. Jihad is our path,” the
protesters chanted.
yrian Kurdish blogger Kamal
Hussein Sheikho was released
yesterday from jail but remains
on trial for publishing reports alleg-
edly harmful for the country, a rights
group said.
Sheikho, who is also a human rights
activist, was released on bail of 500
Syrian pounds ($10) at the request of
his lawyer, the Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said in a statement.
Sheikho, a 33-year-old literature
student at the University of Damas-
cus, was arrested June 23 last year on
the Syria-Lebanon border. He was
being detained in Adra prison, just
outside Damascus.
the last hearing had been set for council member of central Salaheddin prov- where 12 suspected Al Qaeda members es-
March 7. On February 20, the Observ- ince, of which Tikrit is the capital. caped from prison in the southern city of
atory reported Sheikho had started a The number of escaped prisoners was not Basra in mid-January. At least two have been
hunger strike five days earlier to pro- immediately known, but several were sus- re-captured. In September 2009, 16 other Al
test his detention. pected Al Qaeda members, a local security Qaeda suspects fled from another detention
In yesterday’s statement, the group official said on condition of anonymity. facility in Tikrit.
“congratulated” Sheikho and urged He said a prison brawl yesterday had dete- Between 24,000 and 25,000 inmates are
the Syrian authorities anew to release riorated into clashes with the guards. held in Iraqi prisons, according to Justice
all political prisoners and to “stop the “The detainees started a fire, and prison- Minister Hassan al-Shammal.
arbitrary detention of political dissi-
dents and civil society activists.”
Syria is ranked 173rd out 178 coun-
tries in the 2010 Reporters Without
Borders press freedom index, falling
eight places from its ranking in the
2009 index after it stepped up Inter-
net censorship.

Iraqi city sees hotel boom as pilgrims proliferate

AFP shrine of Imam Ali, a seventh cen- As a result, the Najaf provincial merce estimated at least 80 of Na-
Najaf tury Muslim leader, and three days council began giving out permits for jaf’s 130 hotels have similar arrange-
in Karbala and Baghdad respectively. new hotel construction two years ments.
Karbala, which has a population ago, and hotel capacity is expected The current system is a far cry

T
he holy Shia city of Najaf
in central Iraq, home to the
shrine of a revered cleric, is in
the midst of a hotel building boom
in a bid to dramatically ramp up the
number of visiting pilgrims.
While thousands of mostly Ira-
nian religious tourists already pass
through Najaf every day on what are
marketed as nine-day tours of Iraq’s
holy Shia sites, hoteliers and business
groups in the city expect hotel capac-
ity, currently at breaking point, to
double in the next three years.
“Even if we multiplied the number
of hotels in Najaf by 10 times, it
would not be enough!” said Farhan
Shibli, who already owns two hotels
in the city and is building another.
“It is a great opportunity for in-
vestors, a golden chance - these two
cities, Najaf and Karbala, are ripe for
investment in hotels,” he added, re-
ferring to another holy Shia shrine
city close to Najaf.
The chamber of commerce in Na-
jaf, about 150km south of Baghdad,
estimates about 3,500 pilgrims arrive
every day in the city of just 500,000
inhabitants, the vast majority of
them from neighbouring Iran.
The tourists are mostly on pack-
age tours where they spend three
days in Najaf principally to visit the
of 630,000, is the home to shrines
to Imam Hussein and Imam Abbas,
also revered among Shias, while
Baghdad houses a mausoleum to an-
other such cleric, Imam Kadhim.
The tour groups typically also
make a day trip to Samarra, north of
the capital, to visit the gold-domed
Askari shrine there.
But Najaf’s 130 or so registered
hotels are barely able to deal with the
influx, to the point where 40-odd
sub-standard establishments take in
pilgrims, according to the chamber
of commerce.
“How many tourists come to Na-
jaf depends on hotel capacity,” said
Zuheir Sharba, chairman of the
chamber of commerce. “If there are
more rooms, more people will come.
The problem is there is no additional
capacity right now.”
Sharba added: “Lots of hotels
have rooms with four or five beds,
but pilgrims who come don’t seem
to care. They just want a place to
sleep for the night.”
Noting that religious tourists will
pay money just to sleep in his hotels’
lobbies, Shibli said others cram sev-
eral people into individual rooms.
“They just want to use the toilet,
have a shower, and visit the shrine,”
he said.
to double in the next three years.
Among the new buildings will
be around 10 four-star complexes,
though the provincial council, in a
nod to local religious sensitivities,
has barred any of them from having
a bar or a swimming pool.
At the moment, Najaf has just
one four-star hotel, the Qasr Dur,
around the corner from the Imam
Ali shrine. Its manager welcomed
the upcoming competition, and said
it would be better for his business.
“As more four-star and five-star
hotels come to Najaf, if anything,
our prices could go up,” said Sal-
man al-Khatat, arguing that more
up-market hotels would help build a
bigger customer base.
“At the moment, many many peo-
ple don’t even come to Najaf because
there are no four-star or five-star
hotels.”
Prices at the Qasr Dur start at $115
a night for a double room, and rise to
$250 each night for a suite. By con-
trast, Shibli’s Dhulfiqar hotel charg-
es $70 per night.
Most of Shibli’s business, how-
ever, comes in the form of long-term
deals with Iranian tour groups - of
his 60 rooms, 50 are contracted out
at a rate of $28 per bed per night.
Sharba from the chamber of com-
from tourism in Najaf during the
rule of dictator Saddam Hussain,
Shibli said.
While his family has owned the
Dhulfiqar, named after Imam Ali’s
twin-pronged sword, since 1985, he
said that by the time Saddam was
ousted by a US-led invasion in 2003,
there were around 30 hotels in the city.
But hotels have proliferated in line
with an increase in tourism, which
directly and indirectly accounts for
about 70% of all employment in Na-
jaf, Sharba said.
Whereas in 2001, fewer than
300,000 tourists visited Iraq, that
number increased more than five-
fold to 1.52mn last year, according to
tourism ministry spokesman Abdul
Zahra al-Talakani.
Talakani said the ministry expects
that figure to rise as much as 30%
this year to approach 2mn.
“It’s the main source of income
for Najaf and Karbala, and jobs in
hotels, restaurants, tourist trans-
port, all of this has improved the
economic situation in those cities,
as well as surrounding towns and
villages.
“Religious tourism to Najaf and
Karbala,” Talakani added, “forms
the backbone of all tourism in this
country.”
 Gulf Times
14 Monday, March 14, 2011

AMERICAS
US contractor
Senator urges sentenced to 15
US to ‘put the years in Cuba trial
Reuters
Havana
that Gross was only setting up In-
ternet access for the island’s small

brakes’ on
Jewish community.
“Today’s sentencing adds an-

J
udges in Cuba have sentenced
US aid contractor Alan Gross
to 15 years in prison for crimes
against the state, Cuban televi-
sion reported on Saturday, in the
other injustice to Alan Gross’s
ordeal. He has already spent
too many days in detention and
should not spend one more,”
White House National Security

N-plants
Senator Joe Lieberman says power plants that are coming on
US must understand what line,” Lieberman added.
happened in Japan Lieberman, an influential voice
in the US Congress on domestic
Reuters security matters, described him-
Washington self as a “big supporter of nuclear
power because it’s domestic, it’s
ours and it’s clean.” He also touted
latest setback to relations be-
tween two Cold War enemies.
The decision by a panel of
judges followed a two-day trial
last week in which Cuban pros-
ecutors said Gross was involved in
a US-funded “subversive project”
Expanding nuclear energy is an to “topple the Revolution.”
area Obama, a Democrat, and Re- US President Barack Obama’s
publicans have embraced as a way administration reacted angrily to
to generate power and jobs. the sentencing, condemning it as
Supporters of nuclear power an “injustice”. The case was the
argue that more reactors will be latest flare-up in US-Cuba rela-
needed for the US to tackle glo- tions that have been sour since a
bal warming effectively because 1959 revolution put Fidel Castro
Council spokesman Tommy Vie-
tor said in a statement.
“We urge the immediate release
of Mr. Gross so that he can return
home to his wife and family,” Vie-
tor said.
Gloria Berbena, spokeswoman
at the US Interests Section in
Havana, said Gross was “in Cuba
helping average Cubans connect
with the rest of the world. It is
appalling that the Cuban govern-
ment seeks to criminalize what
most of the world deems normal,
in this case access to information

T
he US should “put the
brakes on” new nuclear
power plants until fully
understanding what happened to
the earthquake-crippled nuclear
reactors in Japan, the chairman of
the US Senate’s homeland secu-
rity panel said yesterday.
Engineers in Japan tried on
Sunday to avert a meltdown at
three nuclear reactors follow-
ing Friday’s huge earthquake by
pumping in cooling seawater af-
ter authorities said they assumed
that some damage had already
occurred.
“I don’t want to stop the build-
ing of nuclear power plants,”
independent Senator Joe Lie-
berman, chairman of the Senate
Homeland Security and Govern-
mental Affairs Committee, said
on the CBS programme Face the
Nation.
“But I think we’ve got to kind of
quietly put, quickly put the brakes
on until we can absorb what has
happened in Japan as a result of
the earthquake and the tsunami
and then see what more, if any-
thing, we can demand of the new
“a good safety record” with nu-
clear power plants in the US.
Nuclear power is controversial
because of its radioactive waste,
which is now stored on site at re-
actor locations around the coun-
try. Remembering the 1979 ac-
cident at the Three Mile Island
nuclear power plant in Penn-
sylvania, many Americans still
harbor concerns about nuclear
power’s safety.
“Since Three Mile Island,
we upgraded safety
standards for our nuclear
power plants”
US President Barack Obama
has argued that the US must in-
crease its supply of nuclear power
to meet its energy needs and fight
climate change. In February 2010,
Obama announced $8.3bn in
loan guarantees to build the first
US nuclear power plant in nearly
three decades.
The government backing will
go to help Southern Co build two
reactors at a plant in the US state
of Georgia.
nuclear is a much cleaner energy in power. and technology.”
source than coal-fired power Gross, 61, was convicted of “acts Gross’ attorney, Peter Kahn,
plants, which spew greenhouse against the independence and ter- said the Gross family was “dev-
gases. ritorial integrity of the state” for astated by the verdict and harsh
Lieberman noted there are 104 working to set up clandestine In- sentence.”
nuclear power plants in the US, ternet networks for Cuba dissi- “Alan and his family have paid
and that about 23 of them are built dents using “sophisticated” com- an enormous personal price in
according to designs similar to the munications technology. the long-standing political feud
nuclear power plants in Japan that Prosecutors sought a 20-year between Cuba and the US. We
are now the focus of the world’s sentence for the longtime devel- will continue to work with Alan’s
concern. A file photo of US aid contractor Alan Gross and his wife Judy. opment worker, who has been Cuban attorney in exploring any
The US Nuclear Regulatory Gross has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes jailed since his arrest in Havana and all options available to him,
Commission is actively reviewing against the Cuban state in the latest setback to relations on Dec. 3, 2009. US officials had including the possibility of an ap-
12 combined license applications between two Cold War enemies. contended from the beginning peal,” he said in a statement.
from 11 companies and consortia
for 20 nuclear power plants, ac-
cording to the Nuclear Energy
Institute, an industry trade group.
“Since Three Mile Island, we
upgraded safety standards for our
nuclear power plants, and right
now no plant can be built unless
it can withstand the known high-
President pokes fun at
est earthquake in that geographic
area plus some margin of safety,”
Lieberman said.
Senate Republican leader Mitch
McConnell, speaking on Fox
possible 2012 challengers
News Sunday, urged a cautious Reuters Some conservatives have said one of the leading cable televi- questions such as, “Who are
approach. Washington that Obama was not born in Ha- sion news channels, as being bi- you and where did you come
“I don’t think right after a ma- waii as he said but rather in In- ased in its coverage in favor of from?”
jor environmental catastrophe donesia, where he spent part of Republicans. Obama could not resist toss-

Top Democrat calls for tapping oil reserve
President Barack Obama should
tap the country’s strategic oil
reserve to combat rising fuel
prices, a top Senate Democrat
said yesterday.
Dick Durbin, the Senate’s No.
2 Democrat, said the run up
in gas prices in recent weeks
could hurt the economy’s
recovery and urged the
president to release oil from the
727mn-barrel reserve.
“We need to consider moving
toward the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve to put the oil that
we have in reserve into the
economy to try to temper this
increase in gas prices,” Durbin
said on CNN’s State of the Union
programme.
“I’m worried that if we don’t use
the reserve that our economic
recovery will stall and fall
backward,” he said.
The price of oil has risen above
$100 a barrel on concerns
over supply due to the unrest
in North Africa and the Middle
East.
Obama, whose prospects for
re-election in 2012 may hinge
partly on gasoline prices and
their effect on the economy,
told a news conference on
Friday that he could tap the oil
reserves quickly if necessary.
is a very good time to be making
American domestic policy. I think
we ought to just concentrate on
helping the Japanese in any way
that we can,” McConnell said.
Democratic Senator Charles
Schumer told NBC’s Meet the
Press the US still must free it-
self from dependence on foreign
oil for its energy needs. “I’m still
willing to look at nuclear. As I’ve
always said, it has to be done safe-
ly and carefully,” Schumer said.
Friday’s earthquake knocked
out the back-up cooling systems
at stricken reactors in Fukushima
prefecture north of Tokyo, caus-
ing a build-up of heat and pres-
sure that probably damaged but
had not yet destroyed some fuel
rods.
P
resident Barack Obama
left no target untouched
on Saturday, poking fun
at his potential rivals in the 2012
presidential election in a speech
to journalists and high-powered
Washington officials.
Speaking at the Gridiron Club
dinner in Washington, where the
policy is to singe but not burn,
Obama began by making light of
some Republicans’ claims that
he was not an American by birth,
which, if true, would make him
ineligible for the presidency.
Stepping to the podium,
Obama nodded as the band
broke into a version of rock star
Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the
USA.” anthem, and said, “Some
things just bear repeating.”
his childhood.
Obama then dug into House
of Representatives Speaker
John Boehner, commenting on
the “unusual colouring” of the
perpetually tanned Republican
leader. “I use to think it was a
tan. But after seeing how often
he tears up, I realised, that’s not
a tan, it’s rust.”
Turning his attention to In-
diana Governor Mitch Daniels,
a Republican considering a run
for the party’s 2012 presiden-
tial nomination, Obama said he
had heard that “your friends at
Fox News say you don’t look like
a president. Well, don’t worry
about it, they say the same thing
about me every day.”
Many Democrats view Fox,
Daniels was the Republican
speaker at the dinner on Sat-
urday and sat nearby as Obama
spoke.
Obama then tweaked Missis-
sippi Governor Haley Barbour, a
rotund Republican who is seen as
a possible contender for the 2012
nomination.
Referring to first lady Michelle
Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign
to make Americans healthier,
Obama said, “When she said
‘Run,’ she didn’t mean for presi-
dent.”
Former Minnesota Governor
Tim Pawlenty, another possible
2012 contender, did not escape
Obama’s humor. Obama said
Pawlenty, who was not at the
dinner, was facing some tough
ing a zinger at Jon Huntsman,
a Republican who is stepping
down as US ambassador to
China to consider a run for the
White House.
Knowing that conservatives
would question Huntsman’s
service in a Democratic admin-
istration, Obama said with a
laugh, “My dear, dear friend Jon
Huntsman - nobody has done
more for my administration.
He’s the yin to my yang.”
Huntsman was not at the din-
ner.
Obama also ribbed former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt
Romney, considered by some
observers to be the frontrunner
for the republican nomination.
Romney was not at the event.

Melons to go!

A man looks at his phone as he rests on

watermelons on the back of a truck while waiting
for customers on a street in downtown Caracas.

Musician Martin
dies at age of 96
DPA
Los Angeles/New York
is. It was later sung by Frank
Sinatra, Doris Day, Ella Fit-
zgerald, Christina Aguilera,
Coldplay, John Denver and

O
ne of America’s
most successful
film music compos-
ers, Hugh Martin, has died
at the age of 96, the Los An-
geles Times reported.
The musician had died
at his home in Encinitas,
north of San Diego in Cali-
fornia, on Friday.
His most well-known
works were both made fa-
mous by Judy Garland.
Have Yourself A Merry
Little Christmas was sung
by Garland in the 1944 film
musical Meet Me in St Lou-
even Ernie and Bert from
Sesame Street.
It is a well-worn fa-
vourite among Christmas
music repertoires and was
most recently recorded by
Grammy winner Lady An-
tebellum.
The Trolley Song, sung
by Garland in the same
film, was also later sung by
Sinatra. Though it did not
win the Oscar it was nomi-
nated for, it was ranked
26th on a list of the 100 best
film songs compiled by the
American Film Institute.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 15

BRITAIN/IRELAND
ROYALTY CAUTIONED EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT WEATHER

Giant campsite in London
for royal wedding
One of London’s most famous parks is being turned
into a giant campsite for Prince William and Kate
Middleton’s big day. Clapham Common in south
London will be transformed into a sea of tents, union
flags and bunting for three days, providing a base for
10,000 campers. ‘Camp Royale’ will provide the set-
ting for loyal subjects to soak up the quintessentially
British atmosphere, with events unfolding on a giant
screen as they sip free Yorkshire Tea. But rather than
the casual apparel usually favoured by campers,
revellers will be encouraged to dress for the occa-
sion, with prizes on offer for best-dressed guests and
tents with the most creative interior design.
Lessons need to be learned
from Japan quake: govt
Energy Minister Chris Huhne yesterday said les-
sons need to be learned from the problems facing
Japanese nuclear reactors after the devastating
earthquake and tsunami. “I’m asking our own nuclear
regulator, or safety authorities, to look very carefully
at the Japanese experience to learn any lessons that
we can, both for our own existing nuclear reactions
and for any new nuclear programme, because safety
is absolutely the number one priority for us in all our
energy sources, and that has to be the case with this
one as well,” Huhne told BBC television. “We have to
learn the lessons from what has gone on in Japan
and make sure we take them on board.”
Place guarantee for
free school founders
Parents who set up the government’s flagship
free schools would be guaranteed places under
new admissions proposals being considered
by ministers. The move is set to be announced
in a new admissions code published later this
month. But Mary Bousted, general secretary of
the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said
it “paves the way for pushy middle-class parents
to set up a school so their children don’t have to
go to school with the great unwashed”. The argu-
ment is that the parents may have spent up to
60 hours a week planning the new school - and
therefore should be entitled to a place.
Comics set new world
‘smile high’ record
Comedians including Dara O Briain have set a
new record for the “highest stand-up comedy gig
in the world”. Performing in aid of Comic Relief, O
Briain joined Jack Whitehall and Jon Richardson
on board a British Airways flight to perform the
“smile high gig” in front of 180 passengers. The
audience, made up of guests and prize winners,
was taken to 35,000ft for the 45-minute show.
But O Briain, who performed last, joked that he
had tried to cheat. “I told the captain I’d bang
twice on the locker like this when I was on - so
he can take the aircraft to 37,000ft and beat Jack
and Jon’s record,” he jested.
Heavy snow hits road and
rail users in Scotland
Heavy snowfall has blocked roads and disrupted train
travel in the Scottish Highlands. A Scottish cup match
between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Celtic also
fell victim to the relatively late winter weather, which
has seen blizzards sweep across Scotland over the
weekend. Parts of the central belt were blanketed by
snow on Saturday, with the icy blast hitting the north
yesterday. Snow drifts forced the closure of the B9176
and the B9007 Carrbridge to Ferness route and the
cancellation of trains between Inverness and Blair
Atholl. Inverness Caledonian Thistle were due to take
on Celtic but the match was postponed until Wednes-
day due to a waterlogged pitch.

Danger
dogs
‘trained
LibDems the
to attack
children’
true radicals
London Evening Standard
London
of politics,
B
ritain’s top vet has warned

insists Clegg
that there are more pit
bulls in the capital than
when the animals were banned
under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs
Act.
The number of dangerous
dogs seized by the Met police
has risen from 27 in 2004-05 Guardian News & Media place their faith in institutions. at odds with some ministers who
to 1,152 last year. The force is London For the left, an obsession with the have come to accept they may
so concerned that a status dog state. For the right, a worship of fight the next election on the
unit has been set up to tackle the the market. But, as liberals, we centre, and possibly even from

problem.
Harvey Locke, president of
the British Veterinary Associa-
tion, said: “There are more pit
bulls around now than there
ever were at the time the Act
came into place. It has been
described as knee-jerk legisla-
tion and it has not been effec-
tive. The problem has actually
got worse and is getting worse
quite rapidly now.”
A documentary aired on
More4 this weekend showed
footage of pit bulls that have
apparently been trained spe-
cifically to attack women and
children. One pit bull seized by
police is filmed flinging itself at
a woman producer from inside
a steel cage with such inten-
sity that it snaps a tooth on the
metal bars.
Sergeant Ian McPartland,
who heads the Met’s status dog
unit, said London had also seen
an increase in organised dog
fighting. He said: “We’ve got
mobile phone footage of peo-
ple waggling gang bandannas
between dogs, saying round
three, and letting the dogs go
again.
“The really strange thing is
that most of them really love
their dogs. They’re part of their
family; they hold them in high
regard. For a lot of them they are
their only real companion whom
they can rely on.
“A dog now is like your mo-
bile phone, or your trainers. The
bigger, better dog you have then
the higher status you’re going
to have because people will be
envious of one of your posses-
sions.”
N
ick Clegg has told Liberal
Democrat delegates they
are now the party of the
“radical centre”, hours after the
party voted to commit itself to
the traditions and beliefs of so-
cial democracy.
In his address wrapping up
the party’s two-day conference,
Clegg pushed ahead in his at-
tempt to redefine the LibDems.
Clegg’s speech rejected the
“tribalism of left and right” and
instead cast his pitch to middle-
income earners – “alarm clock
Britain” – as a uniquely Liberal
position.
Clegg said: “We are liberals
and we own the freehold to the
centre ground of British politics.
Our politics is the politics of the
radical centre. We are governing
from the middle, for the middle.
“Lloyd George’s ‘people’s
budget’ to make the wealthy pay
their fair share and give a pen-
sion to all those who had worked
hard. Keynes’s plans to make our
economy work for everyone and
provide jobs for all. Beveridge’s
radical blueprint for a welfare
state to give security and dignity
to every citizen. They may not
have called it alarm clock Britain
but they had the same people in
mind.
“We are not the heirs to
Thatcher. We are not the heirs
to Blair. We are the heirs to Mill,
Lloyd George, Keynes, Beveridge,
Grimond. We are the true radi-
cals of British politics.”
The two other traditions in
British politics had failed middle-
Deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg, leaves his hotel with his wife income earners, he said. “Failed
Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, on the final day of the party’s spring conference in Sheffield, northern because both of those political
England, yesterday. Clegg delivered his keynote address to delegates yesterday. traditions forget about people and
place our faith in people.”
While Clegg sought to per-
suade his party that they were
now on the centre of British poli-
tics, in the morning delegates
passed a strategy paper that
called for the LibDems to fight as
a party of social democracy.
The motion that was passed
said: “The UK Liberal Democrats
are based firmly in the historical
and global traditions of the lib-
eral and social democratic phi-
losophy and beliefs.”
At the opening rally on Friday
night, the party president, Tim
Farron, said: “In the old days,
some people would say the Lib-
Dems are a party of the centre left.
That is the party I still belong to.”
And yesterday morning the
party’s deputy leader, Simon
Hughes, said: “Our job is to be,
yes, an alternative to the Tories.
But our job is to replace Labour
as the radical alternative to the
Tories in Britain.”
The public pronouncements
by Hughes and Farron are slightly
I have not been kidnapped by Cameron
Nick Clegg told his party
yesterday his “soul” was intact
despite the unpopular deci-
sions he must take. Clegg has
come under fire for policy
choices seen as forced on the
LibDems by their larger Con-
servative coalition partners,
such as a sharp rise in tuition
fees for university students
which sparked riots. Referring
to reports that a criminal plot
against him had led police to
the centre-right, against Labour.
They believe that some leftwing
supporters may not in future come
back to the LibDems.
The motion passed yesterday
also called on LibDem MPs, peers
and ministers to spell out much
more clearly “those policies
which derive from the Liberal
Democrats’ existing and emerg-
ing policy platform” and “those
aspects of government policy
which originated from the Con-
servative party policy platform”.
In his speech, Clegg said: “The
old political establishment, on the
left and on the right, hate what’s
happening to our politics. The
old left screaming betrayal every
time politicians work across party
lines or make a compromise. The
old right simply horrified to see
Liberal Democrats in government
at all. We are showing that new
politics, plural politics, coalition
politics, can work for this coun-
try. And it terrifies them. There
are enemies of reason across the
political spectrum.”
reinforce security around the
conference venue in Sheffield,
northern England, Clegg joked
that Prime Minister David
Cameron had not “kidnapped
me”. But he admitted the party
was being forced to support
“decisions which aren’t exactly
the ones we would make on
our own”. “We all know that we
did not take the easy path last
May. But we did take the right
path,” Clegg said.

Award for Cherie Mayor’s cheap homes

History marginalised target suffers setback
in schools, warns Ofsted London Evening Standard years running City Hall. This
month, Johnson was bullish
London
The Independent schools is taught mostly by non- in Northern Ireland, the Neth- about meeting the target even
London specialists, this means that an erlands and Wales, and all pu- though building levels in the

B
increasing number of students pils study history as part of their oris Johnson’s pledge to capital are at a record low and
are taught by a specialist history broad general education in Scot- build 50,000 affordable expected to fall further.

E
ngland is the only coun-
try in Europe to allow its
youngsters to abandon
history by the age of 13, inspec-
tors revealed. Ignoring the axiom
that without history there can be
no future, more than 100 state
schools last year failed to enter a
single candidate for the subject
at GCSE - a 25% increase on the
previous year. A breakdown of
candidates reveals that the gov-
ernment’s flagship academies
are the worst offenders, with just
20% of pupils entered for the
subject.
But history is thriving in in-
dependent schools, with 48% of
pupils taking the subject. The av-
erage for the state sector is 30%.
The report, by Ofsted - the
education standards watchdog -
also shows that youngsters can
go through their entire education
without ever being taught by a
specialist history teacher.
“Given that history in primary
teacher for no more than two or
three years of compulsory edu-
cation,” it says.
“An increasing number of
students are taught by a
specialist history teacher
for no more than two or
three years of compulsory
education”
The subject is a compulsory
part of the curriculum for Key
Stage 3 - usually for those aged 11
to 14. However, many schools are
squeezing KS3 into two years to
allow pupils to start their GCSE
options a year earlier, which
means pupils can stop studying
the subject at 13.
“England is unique in Eu-
rope in this respect,” the report
adds. “In almost all European
Union countries it is compul-
sory to study history until at least
the ages of 15 and 16. History is
compulsory until the age of 14
land until they are 15.” The report
warns: “If non-specialists also
teach some of these (KS3) groups
as well, it is entirely possible for
students not to be taught history
by a specialist history teacher at
all during their school career.”
The report, though, does say that
where the subject is taught it is
taught well.
“History continues to be pop-
ular ... at Key Stage 4 (for 14- to
16-year-olds) and, during the
three-year period of the survey,
there were more examination
entries for history than for any
other optional subject at GCSE
level apart from design and tech-
nology.” Other optional subjects
include modern foreign languag-
es and geography.
“The curriculum at GCSE and
A-level was good or outstanding
in all of the schools visited,” it
concluded. In all, inspectors vis-
ited 166 schools - 83 primary and
83 secondary.
homes by the end of his
first term was dealt a blow as of-
ficial figures suggested he was
less than halfway to his target.
The National House Building
Council (NHBC) figures state
that building work has started
on only 19,000 homes. However,
the mayor has insisted that more
than 30,000 affordable homes
have begun and that he is on
track to deliver on his promise by
next May.
The data obtained by the
Standard from the NHBC was
confirmed by the department
for local government. But even if
Johnson’s 30,000 figure — pro-
vided by the Homes and Com-
Cherie Blair, wife of the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, munities Agency — is correct he
receives the Charity award at the 7th Steiger Award would struggle to deliver a fur-
Ceremony at Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum, Germany. The ther 20,000 homes before the
Steiger Award is given to personalities from Germany and next election.
abroad, that identify with values of a Steigers, meaning The NHBC figures also show
mining captain, such as straightforwardness, openness, that the mayor’s Labour rival,
humaneness and tolerance. Ken Livingstone, delivered only
47,000 new homes in his eight
He told the BBC: “I said we
are going to build 50,000 and we
are going to do it. We are actu-
ally still on target. In spite of the
freeze we kept things going —
I’m absolutely confident.”
An Homes and Communities
Agency spokesman said there
had been 30,713 so-called af-
fordable housing starts between
April 2008 and September last
year. “The official data therefore
shows the mayor remains on
track to deliver 50,000 afford-
able homes by 2012,” he said.
Johnson extended his dead-
line from 2011 to 2012 because
of the economic downturn. The
NHBC said it stood by its figures.
A spokesman said: “We and the
department for communities
and local government measure
housing starts at the point that
the foundations are actually
started on a specific plot. The
HCA starts counting at the point
that the funds are released.”
 Gulf Times
16 Monday, March 14 , 2011

BRITAIN/IRELAND
DOG SHOW CRIME
Two arrested as missing
children found safe
Four siblings missing from their home in the
Irish Republic have been found safe and well in
Northern Ireland after a cross-border search,
police said. Two people were arrested after
Chloe, Jessica, Jon and Megan Eaton were
located in Newcastle, Co Down, at 1pm yesterday.
A cross-border manhunt was launched when
the youngsters, aged from one to 12 years old,
vanished from their home in Ardee, Co Louth, in
the Irish Republic on Thursday. It is understood
A woman sit with a Standard poodle on the they were left in the care of a man while their
final day of the annual Crufts dog show at the mother Rebecca was in hospital. A Garda
National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham spokesman said a 30-year-old man and woman
yesterday. have been arrested.
LAUDED
Brave shoppers who foiled
robbers praised by judge
Shoppers who captured two teenagers carrying
out a smash-and-grab raid on a City jeweller have
been praised by an Old Bailey judge. Jimmy Tan
and Dean Usher, both 19, were jailed for snatching
dozens of designer watches at Fraser Hart in
One New Change shopping centre near St Paul’s
Cathedral. The court heard how they were tackled
to the ground as they tried to flee on a motorbike.
One woman was punched in the face and a man
was hit with a sledgehammer. Others joined in to
help until police arrived. Two robbers escaped.
Judge Anthony Leonard praised the “astonishing
fortitude” of the public as he sentenced Tan to
five-and-a-half years and Usher to five.
PEOPLE
I hardly ever watch TV,
says new BBC chairman
The next chairman of the BBC has admitted he
hardly ever watches TV. Lord Patten also said he
only ever listened to Radio 1 when turning the radio
dial from Radio 3 to 4. The former Conservative
chairman added he would not follow previous BBC
chiefs in tearing up his party membership card. The
peer was the government’s preferred candidate
to succeed Sir Michael Lyons as chairman of the
BBC Trust, which champions viewers and listeners.
He faced disbelieving questions at the Commons
culture, media and sport committee. Asked by
Labour MP Tom Watkins when he last watched
EastEnders, he said it was “even longer ago than
when I last had McDonald’s”.
AVIATION
BA chief meets union in
bid to halt strike action
British Airways chief Keith Williams plans more
meetings with union bosses in an effort to avert
summer strikes. The meetings will take place
before the end of the month when the result
of the latest strike ballot among 10,000 cabin
crew is expected to endorse further walkouts.
It is understood Unite will hold back from
announcing strike dates to allow negotiations to
continue. In a surprise move the two sides last
week talked in what was described as a “positive”
meeting. Williams believes there is nothing which
cannot be solved through negotiation. The chief
executive added: “The dispute has to be settled,
the industry has been too fragmented.”

Man walks Lilly picks daffodils

free as ‘axe
murder’ trial
collapses
The Independent trial cannot proceed. This current
London investigation has identified, ever
more clearly, how the initial in-
quiry failed the family and wider

A
private investigator walked
free after his trial for one of
Britain’s longest unsolved
murders collapsed due to failures
by Scotland Yard.
Jonathan Rees was formally
acquitted at the Old Bailey along
with two other men of the mur-
der of his business partner Dan-
iel Morgan, who was found with
an axe in his skull outside a south
London pub 24 years ago.
The marathon trial, which had
yet to reach a jury despite three
months of legal argument, col-
lapsed after the Metropolitan Po-
lice told the court last week that it
had found four boxes of previous-
ly undisclosed documentation.
The Crown Prosecution Serv-
ice (CPS) decided that the admis-
sion rendered the proceedings
unsustainable.
public. It is quite apparent that
police corruption was a debilitat-
ing factor.”
Rees, 56, who along with his
co-defendants had denied mur-
dering Morgan, said outside court
that he should not have been
prosecuted. He said up to 40 sus-
pects for the 1987 killing outside
the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham
had not been investigated. Rees,
who ran Southern Investigations
with Morgan, said: “When Daniel
Morgan was killed it was an awful
shock to me and to our business. I
lost a friend and a business part-
ner.”
During a covert operation in Nineteen month-old Lilly picks daffodils in St James’s Park in central London.
1999 by the Yard’s anti-corrup-
tion branch CIB3, Rees was re-
corded talking to reporters about
information obtained from his
police contacts.

“This current investigation
has identified, ever more
clearly, how the initial
inquiry failed the family
and wider public”
The family of Morgan, who saw
Immigration rules
An internal police report, ob-
tained by The Guardian, stated:
“Rees and (others) have for a
number of years been involved in
the long-term penetration of po-
lice intelligence sources ... Their
thirst for knowledge is driven by
profit to be accrued from the me-

leave 1,000 stateless

what is the fifth investigation into
his murder collapse the day after
the 24th anniversary of his death,
called for a judicial inquiry into
the handling of the case.
In a statement, the family, who
believe Morgan had been about
to reveal the involvement of cor-
rupt police officers in a drugs ring,
said: “The criminal justice system
is not fit for purpose.”
dia.”
According to reports, the
bugged calls reveal how Rees was
a conduit for information about
high-profile cases and figures, in-
cluding M25 killer Kenneth Noye,
members of the royal family and
the murder of TV presenter Jill The Independent from the UK’s colonial past - and 2002, when a law was passed Malaysians are not allowed to and cannot work legally.
Dando. The investigator, who London the formal rejection of their Ma- that made it harder for those hold dual citizenship, which is “I knew they wouldn’t recog-
was jailed for six years in 2000 for laysian identity would be an easy with BOC passports to become why many were advised to make nise me in Malaysia because I had
conspiracy to pervert the course ticket to becoming British. British. a formal rejection of their Malay- been given a formal letter say-

In a crime which became a
byword for the corruption that
dogged Britain’s largest police
force in the late 1980s, Morgan’s
killing has proved a continuous
embarrassment to the Yard. Its
most senior murder detective of-
fered an apology to the Morgan
family and admitted that corrup-
tion had hampered the initial po-
lice inquiry.
Detective chief superintend-
ent Hamish Campbell said: “It
is with considerable regret that a
of justice by plotting to plant co-
caine in the car of an ex-model,
was recorded discussing an out-
standing balance of £7,555 on an
account with a News of the World
journalist and a figure of £12,000
owed by another paper.
Police examined whether or
not criminal charges could be laid
against journalists. But none were
brought because, it is believed,
it could not be established that
Rees’ clients would have known
the source of his information.
H
undreds of former Ma-
laysians have been ren-
dered stateless after be-
ing told an obscure British travel
document would make them UK
citizens.
Up to 1,000 Chinese Malay-
sians are now blocked from re-
turning home while having no
legal right to stay in Britain after
receiving misleading legal ad-
vice. They were told that a com-
bination of a British Overseas
Citizens (BOC) passport - a relic
Instead, the Home Office has
turned down their applications
to stay in the UK and Malay-
sia refuses to recognise them as
citizens. This has rendered them
unable to live or work legally in
either country.
It is likely that many other na-
tionalities are also affected, as
the BOC passport can be issued
to people from any Common-
wealth country.
Most of the Malaysians af-
fected have been in the UK since
“I just don’t understand
why the Home Office still
has these BOC passports if
they mean nothing”
Some have been deported, only
to be sent straight back to Britain
on the return flight. Others ar-
rived in Malaysia to be granted
30-day tourist visas which left
them unable to work and forced
them to leave the country every
month.
sian nationality. They were not
told such a decision would be ir-
reversible.
Kenny Chin, 29, has been
given only 30-day visas since
being deported from the UK
last August. He renounced his
Malaysian citizenship when he
first came to the UK eight years
ago. The former restaurant
manager has been told he will
not be able to regain his citi-
zenship, so he is forced to travel
to the Thai border every month
ing I was no longer Malaysian,”
said Chin. “The Home Office just
said ‘keep quiet about the letter
and it will be fine’. But when I ar-
rived in Malaysia I was only given
a tourist visa and when I went to
try to get a new ID and passport
the authorities said there was
no such application. The British
government doesn’t want to take
any responsibility - I just don’t
understand why it still has these
BOC passports if they mean
nothing.”

Woman starves to death
after weight-loss surgery
London Evening Standard
London
despite two further operations
to try to rectify the problems. A
post-mortem examination gave
Parade revellers
Taxpayers’ art
treasures go missing
The Independent and embassies from the govern-
suffered vomiting, stomach pains London ment art collection (GAC), which
and depression. owns some 13,500 works. The
Dugal Heath, the surgeon who Secretary of State for Culture,

M
the cause of death as bowel ob- carried out the operation, told ore than 100 works of Jeremy Hunt, was criticised last

A
20-stone London woman
“starved to death” after an
NHS gastric bypass op-
eration went wrong.
Kim Blake’s parents have
warned against the dangers of re-
sorting to surgery to lose weight,
following the inquest into the
death of the single mother from
Kentish Town.
Blake, 33, had an operation
at the Whittington Hospital in
Archway to remove part of her
stomach to tackle her obesity.
Poplar coroner’s court heard how
Blake, who was also registered
blind, opted for surgery after
consultations at the hospital,
hoping it would ease the chron-
ic back pain that had left her
wheelchair-bound.
She had the operation in Janu-
ary last year but she suffered
complications and died in De-
cember. Her weight had plunged
to 10 stone in just 10 months,
struction, contributed to by mal-
nutrition.
“It doesn’t matter whether
they have it for health
or cosmetic reasons, it is
dangerous”
After the inquest, Blake’s fa-
ther, Jim, 60, said she was “skin
and bone” in the weeks be-
fore she died. “We’ve lost our
daughter and our seven-year-
old granddaughter, Chloe, has
lost her mother. It seems to me
the doctors don’t know enough
about the complications of this
surgery. As far as I’m concerned
they use people like guinea pigs
and it has been at my daughter’s
expense.”
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid was
told the initial procedure passed
without complications, but Blake
returned to hospital when she
was unable to eat properly and
the inquest 4% of gastric bypass
patients develop malnutrition.
Blake had further surgery at the
Whittington and then at Univer-
sity College Hospital (UCH) in
Bloomsbury, but died while doc-
tors were planning to reverse the
bypass, the inquest heard.
Her father warned against cos-
metic use of weight-loss surgery.
In 2008, TV presenter Fern Brit-
ton revealed “gastric band” sur-
gery was behind her five-stone
weight loss.
Blake said: “People have this
surgery and they don’t know
the full risks. It doesn’t matter
whether they have it for health or
cosmetic reasons, it is dangerous.”
The coroner recorded a narra-
tive verdict, that Blake died from
“surgical and medical complica-
tions of bariatric surgery”.
Whittington Hospital said pa-
tients were made fully aware of
the risks of bariatric surgery.
art, paid for by taxpayers,
have been lost, stolen or
damaged while adorning govern-
ment buildings.
The department for culture,
media and sport has admitted
that 67 paintings plus other items
- some worth hundreds of thou-
sands of pounds - have disap-
peared from offices and residences
in the UK and around the world.
More than 40 have never been
seen again, despite investigations
by police and government officials.
Between last May and December
alone six pieces disappeared from
official addresses in Belfast, Lon-
don, Mauritius and Berlin. None
have been found. Incredibly, a
third of the items reported miss-
ing have turned up in the same de-
partments, often years later.
A further 42 works have been so
Young revellers bearing the colours of Ireland pose during badly damaged that they have had
the St Patrick’s Day parade in central London yesterday. to be restored.
The art was lent to Whitehall
month for earmarking more than
£100,000 this financial year for
more purchases.
An inventory of the losses,
obtained by the Independent on
Sunday, shows the Foreign Office
was responsible for the majority.
The most notorious - and expen-
sive - was the theft of four paint-
ings with a total value of £240,000
from the British ambassador’s
temporary residence in Buenos
Aires in 2001.
The items, including Offering
to Jupiter by Michael Rocca, and
St James’s Park and Banqueting
House by Anthony Highmore,
were never recovered.
A Foreign and Commonwealth
Office spokesman said that two-
thirds of the government art col-
lection is on display in more than
400 buildings. He added: “Even
with training for relevant staff, it
is not possible to police all of these
individually on a continual basis.”
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 17

EUROPE
Spanish
opposition
widens lead
Russia’s regional polls
over ruling
socialists
AFP
test Putin’s ruling party
Ruling party opponents inka, a town of 1,100 in the Tver
Madrid claim dirty campaign, region.
violations in last major “We’d like to ask all the depu-
vote before parliamentary, ties to try living on 5,000 rou-

S
pain’s opposition conserv-
atives have widened their
lead over the ruling So-
cialists to 16.5 percentage points
amid a weak economy and the
highest jobless rate in the indus-
presidential polls bles ($175) a month, see how
they like it,” she said.
Reuters Maria, who gave only her
Yesinka, Russia first name, said she would vote
for Just Russia, a smaller pro-
Kremlin party. But she added:

trialised world, a poll published
yesterday showed.
The Sigma Sos survey pub-
lished in centre-right newspa-
per El Mundo put support for the
opposition Popular Party (PP) at
47.9% versus 31.4% for Prime
Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez’s
Socialist Party.
If the results were confirmed
at the ballot box, it would mark
the Socialist Party’s worst show-
ing in history and the Popu-
lar Party’s best ever result, the
newspaper added.
The last Sigma Dos poll car-
ried out in February for the
newspaper had given the PP
47.4% support against 31.3% for
the Socialist Party, a difference
of 16.1 percentage points.
The poll also showed Deputy
Prime Minister Alfredo Perez
Rubalcaba, who some analysts
believe could lead the Socialist
Party into the next general elec-
tion slated for the first half of
2012 in place of Zapatero, is the
most well regarded cabinet min-
ister.
On a scale of 1 to 10, Rubal-
caba, who also acts as interior
minister, scored 5.64 in the poll,
making him the only govern-
ment minister to score above the
five-point threshold.
The telephone poll of 1,000
eligible voters was carried out
March 7-9.
Zapatero has still not said
whether he will stand as the
Socialist Party’s candidate for
a third consecutive term in the
next general election.
He has pushed through hugely
unpopular austerity measures,
including tax hikes and pub-
lic worker pay cuts, to convince
financial markets that Spain
can bring its public deficit un-
der control and will not need an
Irish-style EU bailout.
At the same time his govern-
ment has struggled with a sharp
R
ussians from the Bering
Strait to the Baltic voted
in regional elections yes-
terday, testing Vladimir Putin’s
ruling party before December
parliamentary polls and a presi-
dential vote next March.
Opponents accused United
Russia, its support sagging, of
cheating to avoid poor results
that would point to growing an-
ger over economic troubles and
dissatisfaction with the party
Putin uses as an instrument of
power across the sprawling na-
tion.
President from 2000-2008,
Putin has suggested he will re-
turn to the Kremlin in the March
2012 vote or endorse incumbent
Dmitry Medvedev, his protégé,
for a second term.
With critics accusing Pu-
tin of rolling back democracy
and muzzling opponents, and
past elections marred by fraud
claims, analysts said a cleaner
vote would bolster his legiti-
macy.
But opponents said the dom-
inant party used its grip on the
levers of power to get out the
vote in its favour.
“United Russia officials are
using all the powers at their dis-
posal to get the desired results,”
said Alexei Chepa, a rival Just
Russia party candidate for the
legislature in the Tver region,
170km northwest of Moscow.
“This was a very crude and
dirty campaign,” he said.
Golos, an independent moni-
Ancient altar
Who gets my vote? A man looks at a list of candidates for local elections on the wall of a polling station in the southern Russian city of
Stavropol. Russians from the Bering Strait to the Baltic voted in regional elections yesterday, the last big test for Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin’s ruling party before the December parliamentary polls and a presidential vote next March.
toring group, said that it had
received 400 reports of voting
violations hours before polls
closed.
United Russia countered the
accusations yesterday, accusing
opponents of violations from
vote-buying to illegal cam-
paigning.
United Russia’s main chal-
lenger is the Communist Party.
The other parties in the national
parliament, flamboyant nation-
alist Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s
LDPR and Just Russia, com-
pete with United Russia but are
largely loyal to the Kremlin.
At a nursing home in Rzhev,
a small city in the Tver region,
a dozen patients interviewed by
Reuters all said that they voted
for United Russia.
“They brought me the box
and I voted for United Russia,”
said Anna Soboleva, 73, lying
in bed. “That’s the wish of the
personnel here and I am grateful
to them so I will vote for their
party.”
A nurse who identified herself
as Natalya said: “We don’t force
them, but we explain to them
who the parties are and who to
vote for.”
Some 20mn people were eli-
gible to vote in regional and mu-
nicipal contests scattered across
the nation of 142mn.
United Russia was expected
United Russia tipped to win big
DPA
Moscow
to maintain majorities in the 12
regional legislatures at stake,
but unemployment and infla-
tion are sapping support.
Provincial voters resent the
concentration of resource-rich
Russia’s wealth, and jobs, in
Moscow.
“There is no future here for
young families,” said Maria,
24, with her husband and their
three-year-old son outside the
single polling station in Yes-
try. But opposition groups said
pressure from the Kremlin-
backed party had made free and
fair elections impossible.
“It doesn’t matter who you vote
for now, United Russia wins
anyway.”
As pop music played from a
boom box in Yesinka’s polling
station, a school lobby, a dozen
teenage soldiers lined up to vote
along with their commanding
officer.
Kremlin opponents say that
soldiers, students and state
workers are often forced or
encouraged to vote for United
Russia.
After an increase in rates for
household electricity, gas and
other utilities at the New Year, a
poll by the independent Levada
Centre put United Russia’s pop-
ularity in January at its lowest
level in more than a year.
“We’re tired of United Rus-
sia,” said Maxim, an auto me-
chanic, 26, in Yesinka.
He said that he was vot-
ing for a Communist because
there was no longer an option
to vote “against all” – one of
the changes that Putin’s crit-
ics say has curtailed democracy
while bolstering United Russia’s
dominance.
A sharp decline in the party’s
support would dent Putin’s
image but would not hurt his
chances of winning the presi-
dency because he is far more
popular than the party itself.
Sergei, 32, who travels from
Yesinka to Moscow for con-
struction jobs, said that he
would vote for United Russia
“because Putin is there”.
candidates had been rejected
by electoral authorities, as
against only 0.87% of United
Russia’s candidates.

rise in unemployment following
the collapse of a labour-inten-
sive property bubble at the end
of 2008.
ITALY
Teachers, students
slam budget cuts
More than 40,000 people
demonstrated in major Italian
cities on Saturday to defend the
constitutional right to free high
quality education, officials said.
The marches in Rome, Bologna,
Milan and Florence were billed as
apolitical, with demonstrators in
the capital rallying behind what
they said was the largest Italian
flag ever made, measuring some
200m long.
Organisers said that 1mn
people, mainly teachers and
students condemning cuts in the
education and culture budgets,
took part nationwide.
R
ussia’s ruling party was
strongly tipped for big
wins in regional and
municipal elections across the
world’s largest country yester-
day, even as reports of irregu-
larities began to trickle in.
No final results were expect-
ed until today at the earliest, as
the sheer size of the country
means polls would still be open
in eastern parts of Russia long
after voting had ended in west-
ern parts of the country.
About 24mn Russians were
eligible to vote in the elections.
Those will be followed by a
2012 presidential election, for
which Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin and President Dmitry
Medvedev still have to de-
An electric city train passes part of the covered remains of a 2,500-year-old altar dedicated to the cide which of them will carry
12 gods of Olympus, discovered during upgrade works on the Greek capital’s 100-year-old city rail the flag of their United Russia
network, at the site of the Ancient Agora in Athens. Protesters have gathered in the Ancient Agora party.
archaeological site to demand the protection of the altar. Over 300 people participated in the United Russia party leaders
protest, calling on authorities to abandon plans to rebury the altar that according to archaeologists seemed confident yesterday in
marked the heart of the city in the 6th century BCE. the party’s ability to hold on
to majorities across the coun-
There had been numerous ir-
regularities in the polling proc-
ess, representatives of the op-
position Communist and A Just
Russia parties told the Interfax
news agency.
Their observers had fre-
quently been refused entry to
polling stations and, in some
areas, voters had been prom-
ised free concert tickets, oppo-
sition spokesmen said.
Such moves explained the
surprisingly high voter turn-
out, said members of the Com-
munist party.
The interior ministry denied
the accusations, but confirmed
that turnout was significantly
higher than at a similar election
last year.
The ministry also said there
were no problems with the vot-
ing, and international observ-
ers noted no irregularities.
However, shortly before the
vote, another opposition party,
Yabloko, said that 45% of its
United Russia had also re-
ceived much more media cov-
erage, it said.
Demonstrations against
poll rigging took place in sev-
eral cities prior to the elec-
tions. Many Russians are disil-
lusioned with the government
due to rising food and energy
prices and sinking wages and
pensions.
But analysts said these dem-
onstrations were unlikely to
endanger the likelihood of a
United Russia win.
Altogether there were about
3,200 elections taking place in
74 of the country’s 83 regions.
Among the roughly 50,000
candidates for local posts
is multibillionaire Roman
Abramovitch, owner of Brit-
ain’s Chelsea football club.
He was running for office in
the thinly populated autono-
mous district of Chuckchen in
the extreme northeastern Sibe-
rian part of the country.

“Europe is being invaded,” enough to buy boats, helicopters

Maroni has said in one of many and planes to help North African

Migrant isle spooks Europe dramatic comments.

But Maroni too, said that Le
Pen’s trip should not “throw fuel
on the fire” of a delicate situation
country’s control their shores.
In an interview on Wednes-
day with French daily Le Midi
GULF CINEMA : Saat Khoon Maaf (Hindi) 2.30 & 8.30pm;
Libre, Le Pen called for a three-

as far-right campaigns on the gorund in Lampedusa.

grant centre is heavily over-
AFP
crowded and local authorities
Rome
say the island has been overrun.
And there are fears now that
gration crisis to “get an idea of
what’s going on”.
“I have no intention of be-
ing provocative,” Le Pen said in
“We will ensure it is not used
as propaganda for French do-
mestic politics,” he said.
There are major divisions in
Europe on how much burden-
sharing there should be on im-
migration, with many northern
way agreement with Spain and
Italy to take a ruthless approach
to incoming boats and use mili-
Seedan 5.30 & 11pm.
DOHA CINEMA: Traffic (Malayalam) 2.30, 5.30, 8.30 &
11pm.
tary vessels to tow them straight
back. MALL CINEMA (1): Battle: Los Angeles 2.15, 4.30, 6.45, 9
The measure, she said, would & 11.15pm.
help save lives: “If we should MALL CINEMA (2): The Eagle 3pm; 13 5pm; Wild Target
welcome even just one of these 7, 9 & 11pm.

T
housands of Tunisians
landing on a rocky Ital-
ian outcrop have put Eu-
rope on edge about the fallout
of North Africa’s revolts – and a
visit by a French far-right leader
is set to raise tensions.
After a revolution in Tunisia in
January sparked uprisings across
the region, around 8,000 undoc-
umented immigrants have made
the perilous journey to the island
of Lampedusa – more than the
total for the whole of 2010.
While the island’s fishing
communities have been patient
with the wave of weary mi-
grants arriving on rickety boats,
Lampedusa’s 850-bed immi-
the strife in Libya will open the
floodgates and bring hundreds
of thousands more migrants --
a concern that Europe’s lead-
ing anti-immigration advocates
have been quick to seize on.
Given by recent polls as a fa-
vourite in France’s presidential
election next year, France’s Na-
tional Front leader Marine Le
Pen is set to visit Lampedusa
today with Mario Borghezio – a
lawmaker from Italy’s Northern
League party.
As she prepared for her trip
to the 20sq km island that has a
population of just 6,000 people,
Le Pen said that she wanted to
see the front lines of the immi-
an interview with Italian news
agency Ansa.
Migrants usually only stay
a few days on Lampedusa and
are then put on ships or planes
to immigrant detention centres
across Italy.
An agreement with Tunisia on
returning those not granted asy-
lum has fallen through since the
revolution, meaning thousands
are stranded.
Italian Interior Minister
Roberto Maroni, also from the
Northern League, has warned
that some of the 1.5mn peo-
ple trying to flee Libya could be
headed for Italy’s shores – and
Italy can’t cope, he says.
European states sceptical.
“Europe’s job is not to rescue
North Africans from their own
governments ... and bring them
to Europe,” Andrew Brons, an
MEP from the far-right British
National Party told the European
Parliament last month.
When in late February Italy
called for more EU help to handle
the problem, German Interior
Minister Thomas de Maiziere
said: “There’s no refugee influx
right now. Let’s not provoke one
by talking about it.”
Germany and the Nordic
countries have refused funding
for a budget for the EU border
management agency Frontex big
boats without taking it back to
the country it came from, we
would be sending out a terrible
signal to ‘try the adventure’.”
But Jean-Pierre Cassarino, a
professor at the European Uni-
versity Institute, said simply
turning the boats back or expel-
ling migrants from Europe were
not solutions that addressed the
social and economic reasons for
migration.
“They are short-sighted poli-
cies that are aimed at responding
to emergency situations. They
are responding to consequences,
not causes.
“The approach has be re-
viewed,” Cassarino told AFP.
MALL CINEMA (3): Open Season 3 2, 3.30 & 5pm; The
Rite 6.30, 8.45 & 11pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (1): Zahaymer (Arabic)
2 & 4.15pm; Splinter 6.30, 8.15, 10 & 11.45pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (2): Big Mommas 3 3 &
5pm; Wild Target 7, 9 & 11pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (3): Unknown 2pm;
Rango 4.30 & 6.45pm; I am Number Four 9 & 11.15pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (1): Big Mommas 3 2.30 &
4.30pm; Splinter 6.30, 8.30, 10 & 11.30pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (2): Rango 3 & 5pm; Justin
Bieber Never Say Never 7, 9 & 11pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (3): Hello Cairo (Arabic) 2.30pm;
Hall Pass 5.15, 7.30, 9.30 & 11.30pm.
 Gulf Times
18 Monday, March 14, 2011

EUROPE
Italy court hears
Europe casts eye at new witnesses
in Knox appeal
nuclear power risk Reuters
Perugia, Italy

N
AFP/Reuters Greenpeace urges Spain to shut its six nuclear power plants More than three-quarters of ew witnesses spoke
Paris France’s electricity is derived in the trial for the
Greenpeace has urged the Spanish government nation’s nuclear power plants. from the atom and surplus out- murder of Briton Me-
to stick to its promise to close Spain’s six nuclear “What has happened in Japan reminds us that put is exported to neighbouring redith Kercher on Saturday,

L
eading European econo-
mies said that they would
scrutinise nuclear safety
in the light of Japan’s Fukushima
disaster, led by Austria which
called yesterday for a review of
nuclear plants across the 27-na-
tion EU.
Austrian Environment Min-
ister Nikolaus Berlakovich said
that he would ask European Un-
ion (EU) environment ministers,
meeting in Brussels today, to
approve “a stress test of nuclear
plants” similar to checks on the
banking system after the 2008
financial crisis.
The test should include “the
safety of nuclear plants in the
event of an earthquake and the
state of their cooling system and
reactor confinement”, Berla-
kovich told public-sector broad-
caster ORF2.
“We want security to be re-
viewed or else (plant) closure,”
he said.
British Energy Minister Chris
Huhne said Britain was not in a
seismic zone and had different
reactor types from those dam-
aged in the tsunami that struck
northeastern Japan after Friday’s
8.9-magnitude quake.
But he tasked Britain’s nuclear
watchdog with looking closely at
what happened at Fukushima.
“I’m asking our own nuclear
regulator, or safety authori-
ties, to look very carefully at the
Japanese experience to learn any
lessons that we can, both for our
own existing nuclear reactions
Turkish journalists protest arrest of colleagues
DPA
Istanbul
power plants in the wake of a feared meltdown of nuclear energy is very dangerous, even when it countries. giving evidence that lawyers
two reactors in quake-hit Japan. is developed in a highly advanced country like State-owned corporations for Amanda Knox hope will
Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Japan,” he told public television TVE. are lobbying to sell reactors to dent a claim she was seen near
Zapatero vowed during general elections in 2004 Bravo said the first plant which should be shut emerging giant economies ea- to where her roommate was
and 2008 to gradually phase out nuclear power down is Garona, which he said has a similar design ger to meet their rising energy killed.
when the lifespan of the country’s six nuclear as Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant, which needs. Knox and her former boy-
plants expired. suffered an explosion on Saturday a day after “We have been sounding the friend Raffaele Sollecito are
But he has since softened his stance and in July the biggest quake ever recorded in the country alarm for ages, and it is shameful appealing against prison sen- Knox: appealing against her
2009 the government said it would extend the unleashed a monster 10m tsunami. that we have to reach this point tences of 26 and 25 years re- prison sentence
operating licence for the country’s oldest nuclear In an editorial published yesterday, centre-right for the government to ask ques- spectively for their role in the
reactor, the Garona plant in northern Spain, for Spanish newspaper El Mundo said “there was no tions – and even then we’re not killing, which prosecutors say busy Halloween night.
another two years until July 2013. doubt that the accident at Fukushima will reopen sure that they are being serious,” was the result of an extreme Curatolo is due to appear
Carlos Bravo, the director of Greenpeace’s anti- the old debate over nuclear security”. said Sofia Majnoni of Green- sex game that turned violent. as a witness again in the next
nuclear campaign in Spain, urged the Spanish “It is very important as a result to dispose of all of peace France. Twe n ty- o n e -yea r- o l d hearing on March 26.
government to “learn the lessons” of the situation the information regarding what happened in this Replying to such demands, Kercher was found half-naked The Perugia court said in
in Japan and fulfill its promise to shut down the case, which can not be minimised or ignored.” Industry Minister Eric Besson on and with her throat slit in a flat December it would hear new
Saturday said “all French nuclear she shared with US student witnesses and also new expert
plants have been designed with Knox in the university city of evidence concerning the knife
and for any new nuclear pro- Activists staged the rally be- Nuclear power is broadly un- seismic risk and flooding risk Perugia, on November 2, 2007. allegedly used as the murder
gramme,” Huhne told BBC tel- tween the nuclear power station popular in Germany. factored in”. A key prosecution witness, weapon.
evision. of Neckarwestheim and the city Earlier, the opposition Social “We don’t wait for an acci- homeless Antonio Curatolo, Knox’s stepfather Chris
“(...) Safety is absolutely the of Stuttgart to protest at plans to Democrats and Greens seized on dent to happen in Japan to raise had said during the original Mellas said the evidence on
number one priority for us in extend the operational life of 17 the accident in Japan, caused by the question over here, but this trial that he saw Knox and Saturday could potentially be a
all our energy sources, and that nuclear power stations. a massive earthquake on Friday, doesn’t mean that we can’t re- Sollecito a few metres from turning point, but lawyers for
has to be the case with this one The extension was approved to call for a change in Germany’s evaluate the situation,” the min- Kercher’s flat on the night of the prosecution said it did not
as well.” by parliament in 2009, revers- nuclear policy. ister said. the murder. add anything useful.
German Chancellor Angela ing a policy initiated by previous “(It shows that) we cannot Ecology Minister Nathalie He said he saw the defend- The case has attracted
Merkel staged a crisis meeting chancellor Gerhard Schroeder master nature, nature rules us,” Kosciusko-Morizet also attend- ants in a car park where coach- huge media attention in Italy
with key ministers on Satur- which scheduled a phaseout by said Renate Kuenast, the Greens’ ed the meeting with the indus- es were taking students to a lo- and abroad, with family and
day as activists staged an anti- 2020. parliamentary leader. try’s main stakeholders. cal disco. friends of Knox, and some US
nuclear rally in the country’s The demo had been organised The opposition says several Besson said the blast at Fuku- Witnesses called by the de- media saying her conviction
southwest. before the tsunami, but the large German nuclear plants could not shima was “at this point, ac- fence on Saturday, which in- was a miscarriage of justice.
“We know that our nuclear turnout means the nuclear is withstand a direct hit by an air- cording to the information at our cluded coach operators and A third defendant, Rudy
plants are safe ... and that we are likely to loom large in elections craft or an earthquake, though disposal a serious accident but disco workers, said that there Guede, originally from the
not concerned by earth tremors in Baden-Wuerttemberg state on Germany is far less prone to not a nuclear catastrophe”. were no bus services on the Ivory Coast, has been sen-
or tsunamis,” Merkel told a press March 27. quakes than Japan. France has 58 nuclear reactors. night of the murder, and that tenced definitively to 16 years
conference. “Even so, we should The radiation leak from the In France, NGOs hiked pres- “This devastating earthquake discos were closed following a in jail for his role in the murder.
ask what an event of this kind damaged nuclear reactor comes sure on the government to scrap shows that nuclear is a giant
can teach us.” at a difficult time for Merkel, a pro-nuclear policy dating back with feet of clay,” French anti-
Merkel added that she backed whose conservatives face three to the oil shocks of the 1970s. nuclear lobby group Get out of
talks on nuclear safety among state elections in March where After the US, France has the Nuclear said, claiming not all
Germany’s regions and at EU
levels.
nuclear safety fears could help
her opponents.
most nuclear reactors in the
world.
French plants were built to seis-
mic standards. IMF head has made
decision on French
election: programme
AFP Sarkozy rating falls
Paris
More than seven out of 10
people are dissatisfied with

M I
ore than a thousand
people protested in
Istanbul yesterday
against a recent wave of ar-
rests of journalists in Turkey
and demanded that the gov-
ernment release 68 members
of the press currently impris-
oned in the European Union
candidate country.
“I call on those running the
country: Free all of the jour-
nalists in prison,” said Ercan
Ipekci, the rotating head of
the Freedom for Journalists
Platform, an umbrella organi-
sation of 92 national and local
media groups that put togeth-
er the demonstration.
Ipekci appealed to the gov-
ernment to “make immediate
changes to the penal code and
criminal court law, laws that
do away with free communi-
cation by allowing wiretap-
ping, and laws that are a basis
for bans on internet commu-
nication”.
The demonstration was
the second held in Istanbul
in 10 days in reaction to the
arrest earlier this month of
seven journalists on charges
of membership in Ergene-
kon, an alleged conspiracy of
hard- line secularists that al-
legedly sought to overthrow
the Islamist-leaning Justice
and Development Party (AKP)
government in 2003.
Media march: Turkish journalists hold copies of Turkish newspapers and pictures of arrested colleagues during a rally in Istanbul.
politicians and retired military
officers.
But the arrest of journal-
ists like Sik, one of the report-
ers who originally exposed
Ergenekon’s existence, on
charges of having ties to the
same organisation stretches
credibility and shows that the
government is using the case
to silence its opponents, crit-
‘Glamour’ housewives draw scorn in Greece
AFP But TV critics have savaged
Athens the Real Housewives of Athens
– a spinoff of a US series with
prior takes on New York, Atlan-
The six protagonists, which
include former models, a fash-
ion designer and a retired
basketball player, are shown
nternational Monetary
Fund (IMF) head Domin-
ique Strauss-Kahn has said
that he has made up his mind
on whether he would run for
French president but will not
reveal his decision until July,
in a documentary aired yes-
terday.
The documentary, A Year
with DSK, was full of refer-
ences to the May 2012 election
however, fuelling wide expec-
tations that he will seek the
candidacy of the opposition
Socialist party to challenge
President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I can see very well that
there is expectancy,” he said
in an interview recorded late
last year in the hour-long pro-
gramme aired on the channel
Canal+, which followed his
work as IMF chief.
“Allow me to keep this deci-
sion to myself,” he said.
“There is a fixed schedule
for when everyone who may
added. “With the economic cri-
sis ... a reality show on lavish-
ness and consumerism seems
unlikely to catch on.”
the performance of Nicolas
Sarkozy, according to a poll, his
worst score since becoming
French president.
Twenty-nine per cent of those
surveyed were satisfied with
Sarkozy in March, compared
with 31% in February, according
to the Ifop poll.
be a candidate for the left will
have to announce it,” he added,
referring to the party’s July 13
deadline.
Polls have shown Strauss-
Kahn, known as DSK, is the
opposition candidate most
likely to beat Sarkozy over the
two rounds of the presidential
vote.
He is not allowed to speak
out about French politics as
head of the global lender.
His term there is due to last
until late 2012, obliging him to
choose soon between that post
and a presidential run.
GERMANY
Ex-minister sorry
for ‘plagiarism’
The former German defence
minister who quit over claims he
plagiarised parts of his doctoral
thesis has written apologies to
people whose texts he is said

Two of those arrested, Ah-
met Sik and Nedim Sener, are
prominent investigative re-
porters who had written ar-
ticles and books on sensitive
political issues that are per-
ceived to have angered the rul-
ing party.
Hundreds of journalists led
the protest, chanting slogans
including: “Don’t stay silent,
or your turn will come”, “Ah-
met and Nedim will get out
and write again” and “AKP,
take your hands off the media”.
They were followed by hun-
dreds more protesters rep-
resenting the Istanbul Bar
Association and a range of
opposition political parties
that are equally angered by the
climate of media persecution
that has increased in Turkey in
recent months.
ics say.
Though unrelated to the
journalists’ arrests, the re-
cent ruling of a Turkish court
to ban all access to the Goog-
le-owned blogging platform
Blogger over a copyright dis-
pute involving a handful of
blogs has also sparked outrage.
Turkey was ranked 138th
place out of 178 countries in
Reporters Without Borders’
Press Freedom Index in 2010,
down from 101st place three
years earlier.
The Freedom for Journalists
Platform says that 68 journal-
ists are imprisoned, at least
45 are facing possible prison
sentences, and there are court
cases ongoing against more
than 2,000 others.
“This is a picture of shame.
This is an embarrassment, not
A
just-launched reality
show on the daily rou-
tine of six Greek social-
ites has been derided in the
austerity-hit country where
incomes have been slashed and
jobs axed amid a national debt
crisis.
Over 600,000 viewers tuned
in for the opening episode on
March 4, the Eleftherotypia dai-
ly said yesterday.
Renault staff under questioning
AFP
Paris
ta, Beverly Hills and Miami – as
borderline insulting at a time of
unprecedented belt-tightening
in Greece.
“Only scandalous blindness
... could consider that this se-
ries has anything to do with the
harsh daily life of Greek wom-
en,” the top-selling Ta Nea daily
said.
“These are neither real nor
housewives,” it added.
with explosive spying claims,
an official said yesterday.
“In the course of the inves-
tigation, certain things have
lounging and shuttling between
luxury homes, hip restaurants,
shops and beauty salons.
“The talk of money and lux-
ury ... raises one’s hackles par-
ticularly for someone living in
Greece at this point in time,”
said Kathimerini daily.
“One wonders if the broad-
casters realise that there are
around a million unemployed in
Greece at the moment,” Ta Nea
Two people were detained on
Friday and one on Saturday for
questioning in the affair, which
began with allegations of in-
Hundreds of thousands of
Greeks have suffered wage and
pension cuts as the government
battles a debt crisis brought
about by decades of state over-
spending and loan-fueled con-
sumer demand.
Official statistics this week
recorded an unemployment
rate in December of nearly 15%,
with nearly two in five women
officially jobless.
third, Dominique Gevrey, was
sent before a judge who would
decide whether he will face
charges as part of investiga-
tions into suspected fraud, the
official said.
Claims of industrial espio-
nage rocked Renault in January
when three top managers were
fired after an internal inves-
to have used, media reported
yesterday.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, 39,
resigned on March 1, two weeks
after the claims of plagiarism
broke.
“While I was writing up my
thesis, I used your text and I used
word for word certain passages
without mentioning the author in
the scientifically correct manner,”
he wrote, according to the Der
Spiegel and Focus.
“I wish to expressly offer you my
apologies,” he added, according
to extracts of the letters
published in the two magazines’
Monday editions.
The one-time star of Angela
Merkel’s government also gave
up his role as a parliamentarian
because of the scandal.
German prosecutors have said
that they are investigating if

The Ergenekon investiga-
tion has led to the arrest of
more than 300 people, includ-
ing journalists, academics,
for journalists or for the people
of this country, but for those
running the country,” Ipekci
said.
I
nvestigators questioned
three security staff of French
car maker Renault in the lat-
est twist of a case that started
come to light that suggest a dustrial espionage focusing on tigation. The people detained Guttenberg broke the law in
possible fraud by an organised Renault technology. this weekend were questioned connection with his dissertation,
gang,” said the judicial official, Two of them were later re- about that probe, the judicial including possible copyright
who asked not be named. leased without charge and the official said. infringements.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 19

WORLD

Pro-Ouattara forces
take town in I Coast
Gbagbo clings to the capital
but around him his hopes of
hanging onto power may be
would open access to the port of
San Pedro in the southwest, the
largest cocoa-exporting port in
a crackdown by his rival on his
stronghold in which some 10
people were killed.
Ivory Coast
media war
camp as “blind murder”. people went to church, but there
turns nasty
Reuters
Abidjan
no evidence to support the ac-
cusation.
A witness also reported the is no electricity in some parts.” Gbagbo supporters torched
discovery of a body covered In recent days rebels oppos- a UN vehicle and assaulted its

crumbling if the New Force
are able to threaten Abidjan
then could bring Ouattara to
power by force of arms
AFP
Abidjan
the world.
“They are moving towards
Blolequin,” said a pro-Gbagbo
militia member, describing the
FN fighters as “well equipped”
with “rocket launchers and ma-
chine guns”.
“We are preparing to defend
Blolequin with the FDS because
after that they intend to move
Violence in parts of the capi-
tal escalated in his absence in
what Ouattara’s camp says is
a show of force by strongman
Laurent Gbagbo who has “his
back to the wall” after the Afri-
can Union endorsed Ouattara’s
presidency.
“He has returned to the Abid-
jan Golf Hotel,” said a member
by a black plastic bag next to a
church.
A source in Ouattara’s camp
report between “10 and a dozen”
dead.
Abobo has been hit by vio-
lence since the disputed election
in which over 400 people have
been killed, according to the
United Nations.
ing Gbagbo’s refusal to concede
defeat after the November 28
poll had advanced further south
in Abobo and are now on the
fringes of the upmarket Cocody
area, home to many radio and
television services.
“For six hours we heard gun-
fire, we were scared to death,” a
bank executive living in Angre,
I
s Ivory Coast a victim of
a racist global conspiracy
led by France and the UN
to oust Laurent Gbagbo and
plunder the country’s re-
sources?
Or is it a country that has
been plundered by Gbago, who
is losing his illegitimate grip
on power as the army deserts
driver on Saturday.
Gbagbo is said to be furi-
ous with the UN for recognis-
ing Ouattara’s win. State-run
RTI regularly runs reports of a
French-led foreign plot to oust
him - playing on resentment
against the French for decades
of colonial rule.
UN mission chief Y J Choi

F
orces allied with interna-
tionally recognised Ivorian
president Alassane Ouat-
tara yesterday seized control of
a fourth town from forces loyal
to strongman Laurent Gbagbo
in the west of the country, both
sides reported.
The New Forces (FN) fight-
ers “took the town of Doke, be-
tween Toulepleu and Blolequin”,
a member of the pro-Gbagbo
militia said by phone.
“Our troops are currently
stationed in Doke,” according
to an FN leader based in Man,
the main town in western Ivory
Coast bordering Liberia.
Since mid-February, the FN—
who have held the north of the
country since 2002 -- have cap-
tured four towns.
Their biggest prize has been
the town of Toulepleu, which fell
on March 6 after fighting against
the Defence and Security Forces
(FDS) loyal to Gbagbo and mili-
tias who support them.
The pro-Ouattara fighters aim
to seize the city of Blolequin,
about 16km from Doke, which
Delivering the innocent
towards Guiglo and Duekoue,”
two strategic towns in the re-
gion,” he said.
FN leader Guillaume Soro,
who is also Ouattara’s prime
minister, visited the west this
week, urging his men to “secure”
the area and drive out Gbagbo’s
“mercenaries”.
“We received orders from the
prime minister. We will not lay
down arms,” said the FN official
in Man.
The former frontline which
separates the FN-controlled
north from the Gbagbo-run
south runs through The western
region.
The renewed fighting comes
as Abidjan itself is witnessing
clashes between pro-Ouatta-
ra fighters and the FDS in the
northern suburb of Abobo, a
Ouattara stronghold.
The FDS launched an of-
fensive in Abobo on Saturday
which left about 10 people dead
but they do not appear to have
gained ground.
Ouattara returned to Abidjan
yesterday to the aftermath of
of Ouattara’s entourage, refer-
ring to the hotel where the leader
had been holed up under United
Nations protection since being
declared the winner of the No-
vember 28 presidential runoff
election.
A statement issued by the
“Ouattara presidency” con-
firmed his return after a brief
visit to the Ethiopian capital
Addis-Ababa to attend an AU
mediation summit followed by
a 48-hour trip to Nigeria for
talks with President Goodluck
Jonathan.
Ouattara’s return comes a
day after troops loyal to his rival
Laurent Gbagbo stormed into
Abidjan’s Abobo district with
tanks, mortars and helicopters to
dislodge supporters of his rival.
Yesterday, the bodies of four
young men lay in a street in the
Plateau Dokui area of Abobo,
partially undressed and riddled
with bullets.
A resident said he had seen
another four bodies in Sodeci in
southern Abobo after the offen-
sive denounced by Ouattara’s
Yesterday residents loaded
bags in taxis, or balanced pos-
sessions on top of pick-up
trucks as they attempted to flee
the fighting.
According to the UN refugee
agency some 500,000 have fled
their homes of which around
70,000 are seeking refuge in Li-
beria.
“We are struggling to grasp
the outcome of these actions,
the concrete effects on the
ground. A vehicle passing in
a street which shoots blindly,
what does that change?” one
observer said.
In and around Abobo, pro-
Gbagbo troops were out in force
as residents of the troubled area
slowly resumed normal life.
Businesses re-opened, mini-
buses took to the streets and
residents dared to leave their
houses to attend church.
“There was no gunfire over-
night, it was calm,” said one
resident of Abobo, the most
populous area of Abidjan with
1.5 million inhabitants.
“This morning it is still calm,
which borders Abobo, said Sun-
day.
An official of the Defence and
Security Forces (FDS) loyal to
Gbagbo said they had launched
a major offensive “to rid Abobo
of terrorists. It’s make or break.”
The outgoing president re-
leased a statement on Saturday
night calling for “the popula-
tion to remain calm and inform-
ing them he will soon address
the nation.”
Gbagbo’s show of force comes
as international sanctions
tighten the noose on his disput-
ed regime and observers raise
the spectre of civil war after 10
years of political turmoil which
has devastated the world’s top
cocoa producer - once seen as
one of Africa’s economic mira-
cles.
The November elections
were meant to bring a definitive
end to the country’s woes after
a failed coup against Gbagbo
in 2002 led to civil war and
split the country divided into a
rebel-held north and govern-
ment-controlled south.
him and his money runs out?
It depends on whose media
you believe in the cocoa pro-
ducing nation held hostage
by a power struggle between
Gbago and rival Alassane
Ouattara, recognised inter-
nationally as winner of a No-
vember presidential election
that Gbagbo refuses to con-
cede.
The dispute has brought
the West African state to the
brink of civil war, and propa-
ganda has become a weapon
- one that is making it more
dangerous for journalists to
operate.
“I don’t believe anything I
read in the Ivory Coast press,”
said Gerard Mel, who runs a
mobile phone cabin service.
“Even a simple fact, they’ll
tell you such wildly different
versions.”
Ouattara launched a televi-
sion station last month, which
supporters say counterbal-
ances state TV. But press free-
dom watchdogs accuse both
sides of using the media they
control to spread propaganda.
“What the Ivorian press is
doing is dangerous,” Stephan
Goue, head of the Ivorian
Committee to Protect Jour-
nalists, said. “They’re so
partisan. They’ve no inter-
est in journalism or the truth.
They’re playing politics.”
No newspapers have been
published since Friday, when
forces loyal to Gbagbo threat-
ened the printing press not to
produce pro-Ouattara papers,
so it decided not to print any,
Goue said.
As the propaganda war gets
nastier, journalism is getting
more hazardous, with many
arrested, roughed up or, in the
case of a pro-Gbagbo Notre
Voie daily reporter, beaten to
death by a pro-Ouattara mob
in southern Abidjan.
A front page story on the
state-run Fraternite Matin on
Thursday, the last available
day for newspapers, accused
the UN mission of plotting a
war in Ivory Coast. It offered
warned Gbagbo’s “propa-
gandists” on Friday that they
potentially face war crimes
charges.
Many of RTI’s broadcasts
start “The President of the
Republic of Ivory Coast His
Excellency Laurent Gbagbo,
elected by the Ivorian people
...”
Gbagbo’s Notre Voie says
France is planning “genocide”.
Meanwhile, pro-Ouattara
La Patriote’s page one on an
African Union summit on
Thursday reads: “Red carpets,
motorcades, flashing lights:
Ouattara received like a head
of state.”
Ouattara papers often have
to temporarily shut after re-
ceiving death threats.
With so little fact about,
L’Inter and Soir Info, the two
main independent papers, of-
ten find themselves running
propaganda from both sides to
let the audience decide.
The international press has
been under attack from Gbag-
bo’s camp since it reported
Ouattara’s win in the poll,
which only worsened when it
reported killings of his sup-
porters.
Interior Minister Emile
Guirieoulou denounced the
foreign press for “lies” last
Saturday, after they reported
that Ivorian forces killed seven
women at a protest.
That was despite several
witnesses seeing it, the army
admitting it (but later back-
tracking) and a video that
shows the women marching,
then some falling in a heap as
gunshots ring out and an ar-
moured vehicle marked “po-
lice” drives by.
BBC and Radio France Inter-
national, the two main foreign
stations have been cut for two
weeks, with no official reason.
Two journalists for a north-
ern television station have
been held in a maximum se-
curity prison since they were
snatched by pro-Gbagbo gun-
men in late January. They have
yet to be charged.

Rivals optimistic as
count starts in Niger
AFP
Niger

R
ival camps in Niger’s presidential runoff election both ex-
pressed optimism yesterday as votes were counted follow-
ing a landmark poll that is to usher in civilian rule one year
Residents assist a civilian wounded in a crossfire during fighting between government soldiers and Islamist rebels in Hodan district, northern Mogadishu yesterday. after a military coup.
First results had been expected yesterday but have been post-
poned until today, the electoral commission said.
Saturday’s runoff in this uranium-rich west African coun-
try pitted veteran opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou, 59,
against former prime minister Seini Oumarou, 60, an ex-ally of

Benin votes in presidential polls toppled president Mamadou Tandja.

It came thirteen months after president Mamadou Tandja was
jettisoned from a decade-long rule over his attempts to amend
the constitution.
“Everything went well for us. We are busy calculating results
AFP capital Cotonou, but official fig- “That’s why, in the name of the a Cotonou polling place. cal elites, had pushed for a third sent to us by our representatives and we are hopeful of victory,”
Benin ures were not immediately avail- country, I ask forgiveness from The process went well in postponement of the election, said Tamboura Issoufou, a spokesman for Oumarou.
able. those who were omitted, if they other areas. At one location in arguing that voter registration “We are still very confident, we are far ahead in the results,”
The head of an African Union exist.” His main opponent, Adr- Cotonou, voting began 30 min- should continue. said the head of Issoufou’s campaign, Hassoumi Massaoudou.

B
enin voted in presidential
polls yesterday after cha-
otic preparations twice
postponed the election, and in-
cumbent Boni Yayi apologised
for procedural problems after
casting his ballot.
Glitches persisted on voting
day, with a number of polling
stations opening late because
material had not arrived, but the
west African nation appeared to
have allayed fears of total disar-
ray.
Polling stations began to close
in the late afternoon—they were
to remain open for a total of nine
hours—and votes were being
counted.
Electoral agents reported
strong turnout at a handful of
polling places in the economic
observer mission said at around
midday that the situation was
mixed, with some voting stations
functioning well and others still
missing material—including in
Yayi’s home village of Tchaourou.
Benin was using an electronic
voting list for the first time, and
the opposition claimed that more
than 1mn people had been left off
the roll—a figure others said was
exaggerated.
Yayi, seeking a second term in
the vote, apologised for problems
with the electoral list, but said
the process would benefit the
former French colony of some
9.2mn people in the long term.
“We are only at the beginning,
my fellow citizens. There are
surely errors,” Yayi said after vot-
ing in Cotonou.
ien Houngbedji, again criticised
the electoral list after casting his
ballot.
“It is the moment of victory,
victory of our people over those
who have attempted to prevent
them from exercising their right
to vote,” he said.
“I call on those who have not
yet voted to go and do it to sanc-
tion the regime in place.”
Hundreds lined up calmly at
polling stations early in the day,
gripping electoral cards under
the harsh sun, with some show-
ing up before the scheduled
0600 GMT start time and facing
long waits.
“It’s a total mess,” said Affo
Djouneidou, a 45-year-old
painter, after waiting for nearly
two hours before voting began at
utes after the 0600 GMT start
time and proceeded relatively
smoothly.
Officials there ended voting at
4:30pm (1530 GMT) and began
counting, saying that nearly all
those registered turned out to
vote.
The head of the African Union
observer mission, former Chadian
prime minister Nagoum Yamas-
soum, told journalists “it is a some-
what contrasted situation,” citing
the late start in certain areas.
Yayi took office in 2006 pledg-
ing to crack down on corruption
but now finds himself under fire
over an alleged Ponzi scheme
that left thousands without their
savings.
Houngbedji, backed by many
of Benin’s traditional politi-
A mop-up voter registration
was originally to be held last
Wednesday and Thursday, but
was extended into Saturday when
crowds mobbed sign-up centres
and equipment broke down.
On the eve of the vote, electoral
commission spokesman Hono-
rat Adjovi dismissed predictions
of major problems, saying: “We
cannot register everyone, but I
can tell you that the maximum
has been done.” The electoral list
was not the only problem in the
run-up to the vote.
When the African Union and
UN joined calls for a second
postponement more than a week
ago, they noted that electoral
cards were still being distributed
and voting station agents had not
been designated and trained.
Issoufou, a longtime opponent of Tandja’s rule, is considered
the favourite after taking the lead in the first round vote on Janu-
ary 31 with 36% of the vote, compared to 23% for Oumarou.
Niger’s junta vowed to usher in civilian government after it
took power last year to end a crisis triggered by Tandja’s attempts
to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limits. No junta
member ran in the electiopn.
General Salou Djibo, installed as leader of the junta after the
February 2010 coup, was among the first to cast his ballot on Sat-
urday. “This is a great day for me and for all the people of Niger,”
Djibo said.
“If we can hold a successful election then together we will have
accomplished bringing about a democracy that can serve as an
example to Africa,” he told reporters at a polling station in the
capital Niamey.
The head of the electoral commission (CENI), Gousmane Ab-
dourahamane, gave no reason for the decision to postpone the
announcement of provisional results. He said turnout was around
35 to 38%. During the campaign, both candidates promised to
dissolve parliament and organise legislative elections for a more
representative assembly in the vast, landlocked country on the
edge of the Sahara desert.
 Gulf Times
20 Monday, March 14, 2011

EAST ASIA

Towns are
turned into
mud covered
wastelands
AFP Yamamoto said the building was
Tokyo able to keep its lights on using its
own power generators, drawing
in survivors.

W
astelands of mud and
debris now stretch
along Japan’s north-
east coast where towns and vil-
lages used to be, consumed by a
terrifying tsunami triggered by
Japan’s biggest ever earthquake.
The port town of Minamisan-
riku was practically obliter-
ated, with over half of its 17,500
population unaccounted for
after huge waves inundated the
area following the 8.9 magni-
tude quake, a hospital one of few
structures remaining.
For the lucky ones, such as some
residents in Kamaishi city, tsuna-
mi evacuation sirens came quickly
enough for them to scramble up
to higher ground before watch-
ing in horror as the raging sea tore
A hospital struck by the earthquake and tsunami in Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture. through their homes.
The sheer power of the water
tossed cars like small toys, and
upturned lorries that now litter
the roads in Sendai city where
Around 50 people arrived
looking to shelter from the cold
night air in the lobby of the
downtown Sendai city hospital
on Saturday night, he said.
“Many of them are from out-
side Miyagi prefecture, who
had visited some patients here
or came in search of essential
medicines,” he said, adding that
people were without electricity
and water.
But with water supplies cut,
Yamamoto said hospital officials
were worried about how long its
tank-based supply would last.
The hospital may also run out of
food for its patients by today.
“We have asked other hospi-
tals to provide food for us, but
transportation itself seems dif-
ficult,” he said.
A 500m high plume of smoke
was seen billowing up into the air
from the port in Sendai. A petro-
chemical complex there has been

Govt doubles troops

the haunting drone of tsunami
sirens had echoed into the cold
air amid the disaster.
Dislodged shipping containers
piled up along the coastline and
swathes of mangled wreckage
consumed what used to be fields.
Otomo Miki was with her three
hit by fire and explosions since
the quake struck.
People calmly queued for food
baskets, while the shelves of con-
venience stores were stripped
bare. Four-hour-long queues of
cars snaked out of petrol stations
serving fuel rations.

to aid quake victims

Defence Minister Toshimi
AFP Kitazawa said the 100,000
Tokyo troops—about 40 percent of the
armed forces—would be fully
deployed within two days.
“There are so many people
Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi, and a team
of 15 rescuers. Russia said Japan
had asked it for more energy
supplies after the tsunami shut
down some nuclear plants.
was poised to leave carrying res-
cue dogs and searchers, some of
them just back from New Zea-
land.
“I don’t think what we have
seen in Christchurch can re-
“So far we’re waiting for the
Japanese government to give
us an assignment,” said team
member Yeh Wei-Kay. “We
should know soon. We’re ready
to go.”
children, her husband and the
children’s 82 year-old grandfa-
ther when the earthquake hit.
They managed to get to the family
car and drive to safety before the
tsunami roared through the city.
“I had to keep zig-zagging
around people and water to get to
safety,” she said. “We’ve lost our
house and we have no idea what’s
going to happen next.”
Her older sister was in a bus
when the wave crashed through.
“My house was washed away
but I escaped with just one bag,”
said Sayuri Aizawa, 64, whose
pensioner husband and 36-year-
old son were travelling together
in the car. “Our evacuation cen-
tre is overcrowded with people.
My husband and I managed to get
blood pressure drugs for 10 days.”
With no running water or
electricity available, a number
of stand pipes were set up out-
side schools and other buildings

J
apan yesterday commit-
ted 100,000 troops to help
earthquake and tsunami sur-
vivors as the world rallied behind
the disaster-stricken nation and
a US aircraft carrier began flying
in food.
The deployment, ordered
by Prime Minister Naoto Kan,
doubles the number of troops
already on the ground after the
massive scale of the devastation
wrought by the twin disasters
emerged along the northeast
coast.
“I ask for utmost efforts to
save the lives of as many people
as possible,” Kan told a meeting
of the government’s emergency
disaster headquarters, Kyodo
News reported.
But the scale of the challenge
facing relief workers was still
becoming clear Sunday, with ef-
forts to help victims hampered
by shattered infrastructure in
the disaster zone, where whole
towns were reduced to rubble
and mud.
who are still isolated and wait-
ing for assistance. This reality is
very stark,” he said.
His comments came amid
bleak warnings of a surge in the
death toll. The police chief of
Miyagi prefecture, the region
hardest hit by Friday’s natu-
ral disasters, said Sunday the
number of dead there would ex-
ceed 10,000.
Elsewhere police and military
reported finding groups of hun-
dreds of bodies along the tsuna-
mi-battered coastline.
More than 215,000 people
were in emergency shelters,
while near a stricken nuclear
plant people were panic-buying
from stores and petrol stations
ran dry.
Power was out in the quake-
hit city of Sendai, and food and
fuel were running low.
Offers of help poured in from
across the world including China
and Russia, despite their territo-
rial disputes with Tokyo.
Beijing sent condolences from
Prime Minister Vladimir Pu-
tin said Moscow should do eve-
rything to help its neighbour,
which asked for additional liq-
uefied natural gas supplies.
“Our neighbours are faced
with huge grief and tragedy,”
Putin told a meeting Saturday
evening, saying all necessary
help should be given despite “the
problems which we have inher-
ited from the past”.
Japan’s foreign ministry said
69 nations or regions and five
international aid organisations
had offered assistance as of Sun-
day morning.
Among them was New Zea-
land, which suffered its own
earthquake devastation last
month in the city of Christch-
urch.
A 66-strong Japanese team
which has spent more than two
weeks scouring the rubble in
Christchurch also rushed home
to confront the unfolding trag-
edy.
An Australian military plane
motely compare to (Japan),” said
rescuer Barry Lowday.
South Korea, which some-
times has prickly relations with
its former colonial ruler, was to
fly 102 rescue and medical work-
ers to the Sendai region Sunday
night on a military aircraft, said
vice foreign minister Min Dong-
Seok.
President Lee Myung-Bak
expressed sympathy and condo-
lences in a phone conversation
with Kan early yesteryay. Lee
told Kan he was “moved by the
calm response shown by Japa-
nese in the face of such an enor-
mous natural disaster”.
Search and rescue teams and
sniffer dogs also arrived from
Germany and Switzerland, and
rescuers from Britain and France
have been dispatched.
At Tokyo’s Narita airport, a
team of about 25 Taiwanese res-
cuers clad in red jumpsuits and
helmets awaited their orders
from Tokyo. They had arrived in
the capital six hours earlier.
Some of the rescuers caught
up on sleep as they waited, their
luggage carts loaded with equip-
ment and emergency supplies.
Japan has asked the US air-
craft carrier Ronald Reagan for
help to refuel its helicopters and
transport troops to affected ar-
eas.
The carriers’ own helicopters
have flown 20 missions to and
from a Japanese ship and deliv-
ered food and supplies to three
towns, the US embassy said.
A 150-member US Agency
for International Development
team arrived to join inland op-
erations along with 12 dogs.
In addition to rescuers, Aus-
tralia offered to send nuclear
specialists to help manage the
threat from the damaged nu-
clear power station.
Two experts from the US Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission
were headed for Japan, where
fears of a meltdown led to the
evacuation of tens of thousands
of people.
“The bus driver told everybody where people have taken shel-
to get out of the bus and run,” ter, and people were pumping by
Miki said. “My sister got out but hand to fill buckets of water.
some people just couldn’t run Rescue workers in Sendai
fast enough,” she said, adding picked through the debris but
that they were swept away in the on many occasions the job was
waves. only one of recovery, as teams of
As Sendai city endured a workers pulled bodies out of the
pitch-black night amid a power horrific tangle of wood and rub-
blackout, Sendai Teishin Hos- ble, placing them in green bags
pital spokesman Masayoshi and into vans.
Volcano erupts in south Japan
A volcano in southwestern Japan erupted yesterday after nearly two
weeks of relative silence, sending ash and rocks up to 4km into the air, a
local official said.
It was not immediately clear if the eruption was a direct result of the
massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that rocked northern areas Friday,
unleashing a fierce tsunami and sparking fears that more than 10,000
may have been killed.
The 1,421m Shinmoedake volcano in the Kirishima range saw its first
major eruption for 52 years in January. There had not been any major
activity at the site since March 1.
Authorities have maintained a volcano warning at a level of three out of
five, restricting access to the entire mountain.
In April last year, the eruption of the Eyjafjoell volcano in Iceland
dispersed a vast cloud of ash, triggering a huge shutdown of airspace
that affected more than 100,000 flights and eight million passengers.

Free to play
China arrests more activists for
urging anti-government protests
AFP nese websites and micro-blogs again urged dis-
Beijing gruntled Chinese to “stroll and smile” in desig-
nated sites in 34 cities yesterday, but to “take no
action and avoid confrontation” with police.

P
olice in China have arrested and charged
more activists with subversion, rights
groups say, as online calls yesterday urged
Chinese to join anti-government rallies for the
fourth week running.
Guo Weidong, 38, was charged with “incit-
ing subversion” Friday after he posted Internet
calls for protesters to attend rallies marking the
“Jasmine revolution,” the Information Centre
for Human Rights and Democracy in China said.
Guo, a businessman in east China’s Zhejiang
province, was taken into police custody Thurs-
day, the Hong Kong-based centre said in a state-
ment.
Chinese authorities have launched a security
clampdown in major cities in response to calls
for protests inspired by the “Jasmine revolu-
tion” in Tunisia, which sparked a wave of unrest
against authoritarian regimes in the Arab world.
Police have been deployed in force on the last
three Sundays in both Beijing and Shanghai to
prevent any demonstrations and block foreign
media coverage of them.
No public protests have been seen, although
foreign journalists were beaten at a designated
Soccer players of the Puzakals, a team composed of prison inmates, make a ceremonial run from the New Bilibid Prison before an rally site in Beijing two weeks ago by thugs be-
exhibition match against French nationals in Muntinlupa City, south of Manila, yesterday. Bureau of Corrections and Justice Department lieved to be linked to police.
officials are using football, a sport gaining popularity in the Philippines, as part of rehabilitation programmes for prison inmates. As in previous weeks, posts on overseas Chi-
According to the Chinese Human Rights De-
fenders (CHRD), also based in Hong Kong, Guo
was the 18th activist to be arrested and charged
for alleged links to inciting the protest.
At least three other activists have been
charged over the past few days.
Up to 100 activists around China have been
placed under house arrest, interrogated or taken
into police custody without charge for their al-
leged links to the rallies, CHRD said earlier.
Yesterday, at Beijing’s Wangfujing commer-
cial district—a designated rally site—there was
no massive police presence as seen on previous
Sundays.
Security in Beijing, however, has been tight
since the annual 10-day meeting of parliament
started in early March when state press an-
nounced that some 180,000 police and 560,000
security volunteers began patrols in the capital.
In Shanghai, no major unrest was seen, but
police were seen checking identification papers
and urging journalists to depart from the desig-
nated rally site on People’s Square.
Wary of the potential for social unrest across
China, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged last month
to tackle a range of hot-button public concerns
including soaring inflation, runaway economic
growth, and official corruption.

A view of the tsunami-devastated area of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, about 270km north of Tokyo.
Japanese bracing for
second earthquake
Things seem likely to get
really, really worse before
they get any better in Japan
Guardian News & Media
Tokyo
T
hree days after a devas-
tating earthquake un-
leashed a tsunami in
which at least 10,000 people
are feared dead, Japan yesterday
faced a deepening nuclear cri-
sis and the prospect of another
very powerful quake.
The prime minister, Naoto
Kan, called the disaster “Japan’s
most severe crisis since the war
ended 65 years ago”. He called
on the country to unite and said
its future would be decided by
the response to this crisis.
The threat of further seis-
mic shifts and tsunami is far
from over. As rescue teams from
more than 70 countries and tens
of thousands of Japanese troops
descended on the disaster zone,
meteorological agency officials
warned there was a 70% chance
of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake
striking the region in the next
three days. “There will be many
aftershocks in multiple loca-
tions. We have to brace our-
selves for aftershocks of magni-
tude 5 or even magnitude 6,” an
agency official said.
The meteorological agency
upgraded last Friday’s earth-
quake, the fifth biggest in the
world for a century, from mag-
nitude 8.8 to 9.0. What began
Expatriates trawl web for news
Reuters
Shanghai
I
t took a massive earthquake
back in her homeland to per-
suade Yuki Kosuge to look
beyond traditional news sources
and log in to Twitter for the first
time.
“I was relying on conventional
media initially, but Twitter is
by far the best,” said Kosuge, a
35-year-old music manager liv-
ing and working in London. “You
realise you can share the sense of
fear more easily, it makes you feel
close to the people affected and
those who are concerned about
Japan.”
Across the globe, Japanese ex-
patriates are hungry for the least
as a violent seismic shift last-
ing minutes has left a perma-
nent geological legacy: the US
geological survey said the force
of the quake had shifted the is-
land a distance of 8ft (2.5 me-
tres).
New images from Japanese
TV revealed, one submerged
community after the other, the
full extent of the devastation,
and the determination of a na-
tion united by a natural catas-
trophe that almost defies com-
prehension.
Rescue teams and survivors
are in constant fear of yet more
powerful quakes and tsunami.
Millions of others were bracing
for a potentially catastrophic
nuclear accident after the gov-
ernment warned that a second
nuclear reactor at the Fukushi-
ma Daiichi (No 1) nuclear power
plant could explode.
More than 300,000 people are
living in emergency shelters along
the coastline and millions of sur-
vivors face a third night with-
out water, electricity and proper
food. Japanese media reported
that 5.5mn people were without
power, while 20,800 buildings
had been destroyed or damaged.
Land once occupied by towns
and villages now resembles
paddy fields, the surface of the
water breached by the roofs of
wrecked homes, trees and other
debris created by a wall of water
so high that taking refuge on a
building’s third floor proved fu-
tile for some.
The arrival of Japanese TV
crews in the worst-affected ar-
eas has given the disaster what
scrap of news about a double dis-
aster that their prime minister has
dubbed the country’s most seri-
ous crisis since World War Two.
They are obsessively watching
television, refreshing news web-
sites, and telephoning and turn-
ing to social media to connect
with their loved ones and share
emotions.
“You do have questionable
information on Twitter, such as
toxic rain ... but I filter that out,”
said Kosuge.
Many of the roughly 1mn Japa-
nese who live overseas spent the
first hours after Friday’s earth-
quake desperately trying to get in
touch with family members and
friends.
“I freaked out,” said a JPMor-
gan executive in London, who
it lacked in the immediate after-
math: a human face.
Residents broke off from
searches for lost friends and
relatives, and some spoke from
hospital beds to recount the ter-
ror of Friday afternoon. “Every-
thing has turned upside down,”
an elderly man in Miyagi pre-
fecture said. “After the tsunami,
everything had gone. But we’re
going to have to get on with life.”
Fighting back tears, one
woman said: “I tried to run
away but I was just swallowed
up by the tsunami. I kept shout-
ing ‘Save me, save me’. I can’t
begin to describe what I saw.”
Another evacuee from Miyagi
said: “My children are cold and
complaining of headaches. We
don’t know how long we’re go-
ing to have to stay here. It’s very
upsetting.”
The official death toll has
reached more than 700, with
more than 10,000 others still
missing. Given the size of the
disaster, in breadth and intensi-
ty, the eventual number of dead
could be much higher.
The apocalyptic images of
entire neighbourhoods filled
with the muddy remnants of
the tsunami suggest that there
is little hope that many, if any at
all, will be found alive.
In Rikuzentaka, a city close
to the coast, some among the
1,000 people taking refuge at a
school located on high ground
wept as they stared at a list of
the survivors. “There have been
tsunami before but they were
just small. No one ever thought
that it could be like this,” said
gave just his family name, Akiya-
ma. “Earthquakes are our worst
nightmare - living overseas and
having family in Japan, we tend
to think about the worst case.
“I spent hours trying to get
through. It was very difficult to
get through. Very frustrating and
worrying.”
It was a similar harrowing
story for Misako Kurakami, a
33-year-old housewife in Shang-
hai who spent two days on the
phone trying to reach her mother
who had been travelling in the
region hit by the earthquake and
tsunami.
“As TV footage showed peo-
ple and cars desperately trying
to outrun approaching tsunami
waves, I prayed that my mother
wasn’t there,” she said.
Michiko Yamada, a 75-year-
old in Rikuzentakata, a near-
flattened village in far-northern
Iwate prefecture.
Images taken from the hills
overlooking Kesennuma, in Mi-
yagi prefecture, showed a town
of more than 70,000 reduced to
ashes by fires that raged on Fri-
day night.
In scenes repeated along the
coast, debris hangs from tree
branches well inland, indicat-
ing how high the waters surged
before they began to recede.
One image, broadcast across the
world, shows a solitary white car
perched on the roof of a house.
All other news has been
pushed aside while the coun-
try’s broadcast media feeds an
insatiable public need for infor-
mation about the death toll and
the nuclear crisis in Fukushima.
With alarming frequency,
broadcasts are punctuated with
a now-familiar jingle announc-
ing more powerful aftershocks
that snake their way down from
the northeast to Chiba and To-
kyo.
While Nagatacho, Japan’s
political nerve centre, has
united around the rescue and
relief effort, criticism of the
authorities’ response is seep-
ing through. A headline in the
Asahi Shimbun blasted the
government’s “incoherent”
crisis management strategy,
accusing it of taking too long
to release information about
the problems at Fukushima nu-
clear plant and evacuate tens
of thousands of people liv-
ing nearby. “Every time they
Kiyo Takahashi, a 34-year-old
pianist in Treviso, northern Italy,
has been using Google News in
Japanese, the BBC, video streams
of Japan’s NHK TV and even
watched a nuclear safety agency
news conference being streamed
over the Internet.
Living deep in the countryside,
she was glad to have Skype to
connect with her family: “Only
when I spoke to my mother ... did
I begin to feel how awful it is,” she
said.
Jason Packman, who lives in
San Diego, California, and is
married to a Japanese, wrote on
Twitter: “We haven’t turned off a
US cable channel TV Japan since
Thursday.”
But Reiko Hirai, an aid worker
in Afghanistan, said that watch-
urged us to ‘stay calm’ without
providing concrete data, they
simply made people more anx-
ious,” the paper quoted an uni-
dentified politician as saying.
The cost of the rescue, relief
and recovery effort will be huge.
Manufacturers have closed
plants while the energy infra-
structure, from closed or crip-
pled nuclear plants to burning
oil refineries, is so badly dam-
aged that power companies
have warned of sporadic elec-
tricity cuts in areas hundreds of
miles from the epicentre.
Russia, a rival for new energy
sources in the Asia-Pacific, yes-
terday offered to provide emer-
gency supplies of natural gas.
The government, meanwhile,
is poised to dip into a 200bn yen
contingency fund to pay for the
relief effort.
The prime minister, Naoto
Kan, until Friday the subject
of a funding scandal that could
have cost him his job, called on
the country to come together in
its time of need. “We must do all
we can to save as many people as
possible,” he said.
That effort is now an inter-
national concern, with the ar-
rival over the weekend of rescue
and medical teams from several
countries, as well as a US air-
craft carrier.
A 63-strong team of British
rescue workers, some fresh from
searching through the rubble in
Christchurch, was due to land
in Tokyo, along with two search
dogs and 11 tonnes of equip-
ment, including heavy lifting
and cutting gear.
ing alarming scenes on televi-
sion are “not really good on your
psyche” and Tweets can be plain
wrong.
Indeed, officials have warned
about false information making
their rounds via chain emails and
social media.
One email chain claimed that
a fire at an oil refinery in Chiba
prefecture would cause harmful
substances to rain down had been
circulated on Friday.
Even the US ambassador to
Japan, John Ross, posted a warn-
ing on the embassy’s website:
“Please understand that there
will continue to be substantial
misinformation in the public. We
urge American citizens in Japan
to follow the instructions of Jap-
anese civil defense authorities.”
EAST ASIA
Apocalyptic
Japan scenes
unfold before
green activist
AFP
Tokyo
A
marine activist has de-
scribed the “apocalyp-
tic” devastation of Ja-
pan’s killer quake and tsunami,
recounting how he fled a “wall
of black howling water” which
wiped out entire towns.
Scott West, a campaigner
with the US-based Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society, was in the
fishing village of Otsuchi in the
hard-hit Iwate region when the
tremor struck Friday, and said it
was unlike anything he had ever
experienced.
Terrified locals ran for the lo-
cal tsunami wall as the ocean
receded, hoping to shelter from
the massive waves they knew
would soon hit.
A “wall of black howling wa-
ter” rushed forward, topping the
wall and boiling over the hill-
sides “filling valleys and crevices
beyond” as aftershocks rattled
the countryside, West said.
He and some other activists
managed to shelter on a hill as
the sky filled with smoke and
night fell, bringing snow.
The group watched “debris
consisting of houses, cars, oil
tanks, boats, fishing equipment,
personal belongings swirling
around in the dim light”, he said.
“We saw at least one body on
the beach,” West wrote on the
Sea Shepherd website. “Later
it came to rest in the limbs of a
tree.”
They tried to make their way
out onto a seawall to save one
woman who was floating on a
piece of debris in the water as
temperatures hovered around
freezing.
The woman’s cries for help
came and went “as the debris
was pushed and pulled by the
fast currents of the water”.
Using a truck’s headlights,
West said they managed to sig-
nal two ships in the distance and
direct them to the woman.
“They came near her, and then
moved away again. We were in
shock and disbelief. The debris
field then moved quickly away
into the bay. We could hear her
no more.”
Dawn brought the revela-
tion that all surrounding roads
had been destroyed, leaving
West and his colleagues with
no choice but to walk and then
hitch-hike inland through the
rubble of what were once thriv-
ing towns, now peppered with
dazed refugees.
“Apocalyptic movie sets are
nothing compared to the de-
struction we found as we slowly
made our way,” said West.
“Otsuchi was a fairly large
town. It is now all but gone. Be-
tween the quake damage, tsu-
nami, and fires, there is nothing
left.
“The extent of misery is inde-
scribable. Most everyone we saw
was in shock.”
Sea Shepherd activists regu-
larly clash with Japanese whal-
ers in the Southern Ocean and
also campaign locally against the
country’s dolphin slaughter.
Desperate quake survivors
were running short of water,
petrol and patience in Japan’s
tsunami-ravaged city of Sendai
yesterday as they faced endless
petrol station queues.
Some resorted to siphoning
Two residents push an elderly man in a supermarket trolley on a
devastated main street in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 21
fuel from tanks of cars and mo-
torcycles mangled in Friday’s
horrific earthquake and tsunami,
while others collected whatever
groceries they could find in the
rubble of destroyed shops.
With water desperately short,
most petrol stations empty or
offline, widespread power black-
outs and the phone system near
collapse, people struggled with-
out the very basics of modern life
on the third day after the disaster.
Most shops and restaurants in
Sendai, a usually busy commer-
cial hub, were closed because
of the physical damage, power
cuts, lack of stock or because
their owners and staff had left
with their families.
One retired woman, 64-year-
old Satsuko Aizawa, was stuck at
the end of a queue of more than
100 cars snaking slowly to a gas
station.
“I’ve been here for four hours
and I can’t even see the gas sta-
tion yet,” she said.
Four hours later she was still
waiting in the same line but the
row of cars behind her had tri-
pled in length.
As darkness fell many of those
waiting with their engines off
shuddered against the bitter
night-time chill.
“This is my work for today,”
Aizawa said. “I have to do this.”
Some sought fuel to leave the
region, as a nuclear emergency
unfolded to their south on the
Pacific coast at atomic power
plants damaged by the quake
and tsunami.
Many petrol stations in Sendai
were closed because they were
damaged in the massive earth-
quake, lacked the power to run
pumps, or simply ran out of fuel.
Some rationed petrol to 1,000
yen ($12) per car and prioritised
emergency service vehicles—
with ambulances and fire trucks,
their sirens wailing, on missions
to and from the area ravaged by
the tsunami.
Gas station owner Shoji Goike
used a hand-powered pump to
sell 10 litres of gasoline per ve-
hicle for 1,500 yen each to about
600 customers.
“I wanted to share this with
everyone,” he said, as young staff
took turns at the sweaty task of
hand-pumping petrol all day.
Many motorists drove around
searching for a refill, mindful
that they were wasting fuel in
the process, while others pushed
cars with the engines off.
Drivers said they were running
near-empty when the quake
struck because they usually fill
tanks on weekends—or because
they were waiting for a drop in
prices amid turmoil in the Mid-
dle East and North Africa.
Sadao Yamauchi, 59, was
at his petrol station watching
several hundred cars move by
at snail’s pace. “We have about
30,000 liters of gasoline, but
our pumps don’t work,” he
said.
Yamauchi said he had lost
power at his house and was
sleeping in a sports utility vehi-
cle with his wife and two grown-
up daughters.
With his SUV now his tempo-
rary family home, he was doing
a minimum of driving and not
using the car heater to preserve
every precious drop of fuel.
“It gets very cold at night,” he
said, “but we have to keep the
engine off to save gas.”
 Gulf Times
22 Monday, March 14, 2011
INDIA
Tamil Nadu
Roundup
By Umaima Shafiq
Election panel
tighten rules
for candidates
The Election Commission
(EC) has tightened rules for
candidates contesting the April 13
general elections in Tamil Nadu.
To prevent a cash-for-votes-
scam, the EC has ordered banks
to inform district collectors
about large cash withdrawals or
deposits by candidates or their
families. All candidates have
been asked to file two affidavits
with their nomination papers,
one to certify that they have no
criminal record and the second
to give details of their personal
and family members’ income tax
returns, PAN card number and
other details.
Each candidate has also been
ordered to keep an account of
poll expenditure and hand it over
to accounting teams of the EC.
The EC has decided to bring in
police officers from other states
during the election. Dozens of
flying squads have been formed
to monitor candidates. These
squads have already seized
Rs16mn of unaccounted cash
transported in private cars in
several districts.
The EC has restricted the use of
large banners, cut-outs and other
poll paraphernalia and stopped
all freebie schemes implemented
by the Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam government.
High-profile candidates who
frequently used chartered flights
have been asked to notify the EC
a week before the campaign with
travel accounts.
Hundreds of laptops have been
installed in sensitive booths along
with video tapes to record voters’
identity. For the first time, the
EC has introduced Braille ballot
papers for blind voters and postal
votes for expatriate Indians at
embassies.
Popular book
publisher
dies aged 95
Well-known book publisher K
Krishnamoorthy died on March
6. He was 95 and is survived by
three sons.
Krishnamoorthy’s late wife
Lakshmi Sathyamoorthy was the
daughter of freedom fighter S
Sathyamoorthy. The Congress
Party headquarters in Chennai is
named after him.
Born in Kottayam in Kerala
state, Krishnamoorthy
graduated with gold medals
from the Maharaja’s College in
Ernakulam and the Presidency
College in Chennai.
After a brief stint abroad,
Krishnamoorthy returned to India
at the beginning of World War
II. He began his own publishing
firm Krishnamoorthy Booksellers
when his manuscripts were
rejected. This firm soon grew and
he became one of the founders
of Federations of Publishers and
Booksellers Associations. He was
also vice president of other book
federations.
He married Lakshmi in 1943
and encouraged her to become
a member of the Madras
Legislative Council. He launched
a book club called Vachakar
Vattam and a Tamil science
magazine titled Noolagam.
He was also a good translator
who helped late chief minister
K Kamaraj to monitor Hindi-
speaking opposition party
activities during the 1975
Emergency.
Man kills brother
in fight over
television remote
A man stabbed his elder brother
to death after a fight over a
television remote control in
Mylapore in Chennai last week.
Police said Annamalai, 41, was
a widower and was living with
his brother Sekar and his family
for the past ten years. He was
an alcoholic and was drunk
while watching TV on the fateful
evening. Sekar got irritated
when Annamalai increased the
television volume sparking the
fight.
Both worked as carpenters in a
city firm.
In another incident, two brothers
aged eight and nine were injured
when a biscuit box they found
in a rubbish dump exploded at
Kasimedu area in Chennai.
Vasanth lost his eyesight while
Livingston suffered body injuries.
A bomb disposal squad collected
samples and checked for other
explosives in the dump. They
suspect that firecrackers had
been kept in the box.
Star event
Designer Manish Malhotra poses with Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor during the second
day of 2011 Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai.
Customer is gainer with mobile number portability
IANS
New Delhi
T
he mandatory scheme
that requires telecom op-
erators to allow custom-
ers to switch operators without
giving up their numbers - called
mobile number portability - has
had a positive impact with oper-
ators vying with one another to
improve their service and retain
customers.
Take Rahul Sharma, a
23-year-old student of the Uni-
versity of Delhi. He had planned
to switch his telecom operator
following network problems but
gave his existing operator one
People like me more now,
says Kunhalikutty
IANS
Thiruvananthapuram
I
ndian Union Muslim
League (IUML) leader P
K Kunhalikutty, a former
Kerala minister, who has
been the target of politi-
cal attacks by the ruling Left
Front, yesterday said he was
now a much liked man by the
public.
“Seeing the massive crowds
turning up to hear my speeches
these days I feel that people like
me more and I am happy about
the response from them,” Kun-
halikutty said.
The League leader has been
one of the main targets for at-
tacks by the ruling Left Front,
particularly after the Com-
munist Party of India
(Marxist)-led govern-
ment decided to reopen
old sex abuse cases in
which he is allegedly
involved.
“I am not an ac-
last chance. Today the problem sidering some 771mn mobile
is rectified with a host of freebies phone connections in India.
and discounts. “After the scheme, opera-
“Mobile number portability tors went on to improve their
has been of huge advantage to services in a huge way,” said S C
me,” Sharma said. “What I could Khanna, secretary general of the
not get done in the past three Association of Unified Telecom
years has been set right imme- Service Providers of India (Aus-
diately after I told my mobile pi), a industry lobby, speaking
phone operator that I plan to about the reason for poor port-
switch over.” ing numbers.
This is one of the reasons why “By also offering attractive
analysts say the number of peo- freebies and discounts to retain
ple who have “ported” - an in- and attract customers, the cus-
dustry jargon for those who have tomers have certainly gained in
opted to switch providers while huge terms,” Khanna said, also
retaining their phone numbers - explaining why the major cam-
is just 3.8mn since the pan-India paigns by companies like Idea
scheme started on January 20. and Vodafone did not actually
This is not a big number con- work.
cused in any of the cases, but down,” he told reporters.
I am being hunted. When the Kunhalikutty quit the Unit-
police are after us, some of the ed Democratic Front (UDF)
more serious cases of VIPs are government in 2005 after the
being left for the Lok Ayukta Kozhikode ice cream parlour
for investigation. Why these sex case resurfaced.
double standards,” Kunha- He lost the 2006 polls to
likutty asked. a former party colleague K
“I have become a soft target T Jaleel, but came back very
for some. That’s why these con- strongly by leading the IUML
troversies surfaced just when in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls
the elections are round the cor- by winning both seats given to
ner. Even after I die, the con- the party.
t r o ve r s y around However, the sex scandal
m e will case returned to haunt him
n o t die following fresh allegations
raised by one of his relatives
through a TV channel chaired
by his party colleague and
former minister M K Muneer.
The police have started re-
investigating the case and his
statements have been re-
corded.
On the possibility of
his contesting the April
13 assembly elections,
Kunhalikutty said the
party will decide on
this.
Two-thirds
of Left Front
legislators
axed for poll
In an effort to fight the
anti-incumbency wave, the
Left Front in West Bengal is
fielding many new candidates
in the election to be held in
April and May
IANS
Kolkata
F
acing its stiffest electoral
fight since coming to power
in 1977, West Bengal’s Left
Front yesterday dropped 150 sit-
ting legislators, or almost two-
thirds of its present strength, for
the April-May assembly elec-
tions and will field new faces in
their place.
Comprising 292 candidates for
the 294-member assembly, the
Left’s list was full of surprises
with nine ministers, including
heavyweights like School Educa-
tion Minister Partha De, Small
Scale Industries Minister Manab
Mukherjee, Water Resources
Minister Nandogopal Bhattach-
arjee and Backward Class Wel-
fare Minister Jogesh Chandra
Burman, not figuring in it. Two
remaining candidates will be
named soon.
“Many ministers are not well.
Like Nandogopal Bhattacharjee
of the CPI (Communist Party of
India) who is very sick. Others
ministers like Manab Mukherjee
did not want to contest. He will
be given organisational responsi-
bilities,” said Left Front chairman
Biman Bose.
In an effort to fight the anti-
incumbency wave, the Commu-
The state-run Bharat Sanchar
Nigam Ltd offered new pre-paid
customers free talk time worth
Rs100 and post-paid custom-
ers got 50% rebate on their first
bill. Bharti Airtel also launched
its surprise campaign with free
talk time, special rates and free
SMS.
Though Idea Cellular did not
announce any specific plan, it
made its presence felt round-
the-clock with the catchy “No
Idea, Get Idea!” campaign,
which tried to show its superior
service vis-a-vis others on is-
sues such as call drop, customer
care and inflated billing.
Even though the market
watchdog declined to give spe-
SC to hear
Tiwari plea
The Supreme Court will hear
today veteran Congress leader
N D Tiwari’s plea challenging a
Delhi High Court order asking
him to undergo a DNA test on a
suit filed by a man claiming to be
his biological son.
A Supreme Court bench of
Justice Aftab Alam and Justice
R M Lodha will hear the 85-year-
old leader’s appeal that the high
court’s December 23, 2010 order
on Rohit Shekhar’s suit was based
on misreading of the law.
Tiwari in his appeal said that if
the high court order was not
stayed, it would violate his right
to privacy and damage his
reputation.
The high court bench said: “On
the facts of this case and the
materials on record, the court
is satisfied that there is need to
direct the first defendant (Tiwari)
to furnish his blood samples, for
the purposes of DNA testing.”
On January 24, 2011, Tiwari
approached a two-judge bench
of the high court challenging the
single judge’s order. However, the
two-judge bench did not give any
relief to him.
The Supreme Court on May
10, 2010 rejected Tiwari’s plea
challenging the high court’s
decision to hear Shekhar’s suit.
nist Party of India (Marxist)-led
Left Front has fielded 149 new
candidates. It has 230 members
in the outgoing house. The list
also compromises 46 women
candidates.
“This time we are fielding
about 149 to 150 new candidates.
Last time we fielded 134 new
candidates. This time we have
given tickets to 46 woman can-
didates. Last time we had given
tickets to 34 women candidates,”
Bose said.
The Left Front has opted for
nominations on the basis of the
winning chances of the candi-
dates, sources in the Front said.
The list also includes about 65
candidates from minority com-
munities, of which 56 are Mus-
lims.
“This time, we have given
tickets to 56 Muslim candidates.
Congress, Trinamool try to resolve crisis
The Congress and the Trinamul
Congress made yet another
attempt yesterday to break
an impasse over seat-sharing
for the West Bengal assembly
elections. Sources said Trinamul
chief and Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee would take a
final call on the issue. Trinamul
leader and Minister of State
for Shipping Mukul Roy had
meeting with Congress leaders
Shakeel Ahmed and Manas
Bhulia. The meeting between
Ahmed and Roy assumes
significance in the backdrop
of the Congress seeking to
cific figure on which company
gained or lost on the portability
scheme, sources said Vodafone
and Idea Cellular were the big-
gest gainers, while the state-
owned BSNL lost the most sub-
scribers.
According to Rajan S Mathew,
director of the Cellular Opera-
tors Association of India (COAI),
even internationally, the number
portability scheme has not man-
aged to attract more than 7-8%
of the subscribers.
“In India it is even less be-
cause 90% of the subscribers
have pre-paid service. They are
mostly attracted by low tariff
plans. So with the launch of this
new scheme, operators offered
Two leopard cubs
clubbed to death
IANS
Lucknow
E
ven as a national cam-
paign is underway to save
India’s tiger population,
farmers in an Uttar Pradesh
village yesterday clubbed to
death two one-year-old leop-
ard cubs in an apparent revenge
attack after the mother leopard
attacked a woman in a tiger re-
serve.
The incident happened in
the Katarniya Ghat wildlife re-
serve in Bahraich district barely
24 hours after the woman was
mauled.
State chief wildlife conser-
vator B K Patnaik said “the
cubs were killed when a large
number of local farmers sur-
rounded them after a farmer’s
wife was attacked by the moth-
er leopard while the woman
was watering her fields.”
He said: “The mother leop-
ard managed to leap to safety,
but the one-year-old cubs were
cornered and beaten to death.”
There may be one or two more.
Totally, we are fielding 64 to 65
candidates from the minority
communities including Muslims,
Sikhs and Christians,” Bose said.
The Left Front’s industri-
alisation process received a se-
vere blow during the opposition
Trinamul Congress-led anti-
land acquisition movements in
Nandigram of East Midnapore
and Singur in Hooghly districts.
The protests reversed the state’s
electoral script.
The Left Front, which has been
winning all elections since 1977,
was battered in the 2009 Lok
Sabha polls and last year’s civic
polls, besides losing a series of
assembly by-elections.
Polling in the six-phase elec-
tions will be held on April 18, 23,
27, May 3, 7 and 10. Counting will
take place on May 13.
contest nearly one-third of
the 294 assembly seats in the
state and Banerjee’s reluctance
to part with that many seats.
Trinamul sources said Banarjee
was willing to give 58 seats to
the Congress. However, the
catch is that a large number of
these seats are in the bastion of
the Communist Party of India
(Marxist)-led Left Front. While
on the one hand the Congress
is seeking one-third of the seats
in West Bengal, it is not inclined
to share its pie in Assam. The
Trinamul Congress is seeking
some seats from the Congress.
attractive tariffs to retain cus-
tomers,” Mathew said.
Romal Shetty, executive di-
rector of global consultancy
KPMG, had a different take on
the issue and predicted that the
situation will be no different in
the future as well when it comes
to portability.
“People change their opera-
tors to get better service or tariff
plan. In India, by and large, no
operator is any better than an-
other. After this scheme they are
also more alert with competitive
plans to retain and attract new
customers,” Shetty said.
“The biggest challenge is to
retain high-value customers
while attracting new ones.”
Geeta, 25, the woman at-
tacked by the leopard, was ad-
mitted to a Bahraich hospital
and is stated to be out of dan-
ger.
Her husband Surendra
Singh, an ex-serviceman, who
was with her at the time of
the attack, told reporters in
Katarniya Ghat: “The leopard
would have killed my wife had
the farmers not immediately
rushed to help.”
Katarniya Ghat along the In-
do-Nepal border, about 140km
from Lucknow, is an extended
part of Uttar Pradesh’s largest
Dudhwa National Park. It has
an estimated population of 30
leopards and about 40 tigers.
According to the last census
in 2008, only 1,411 tigers re-
main in India, a sharp fall from
3,000 two decades ago.
The latest census details will
be released on March 28.
At least 14 tigers have died in
India this year up to February,
including two due to poaching,
the environment and forest
ministry said early this month.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 23

INDIA

Roads, railways offer Adoptions

on the rise —
nostalgia-filled travel and many
want a girl!
AFP
New Delhi

I
n transport as in many things
in India, the old exists along-
side the new, providing tour- IANS based Nirbhay Sharma, who
ists with numerous entertaining New Delhi adopted a one-year-old girl in
ways to travel in bygone style. 2009.
The majority of visitors on a “There is more focus on

quick break to the country opt
to get around on new budget air-
lines and air-conditioned SUVs,
missing out on some of the
iconic old technology that lives
on in India decades after it died
elsewhere.
On the roads, the elder states-
men of Royal Enfield motor-
bikes and Ambassador cars,
both based on almost unchanged
1950s British technology, are
still in production and continue
to jostle for space with their
modern competitors.
On the railways, a half dozen
“heritage” trains criss-cross the
country, transporting passen-
gers in former colonial splen-
dour with liveried staff, wood-
pannelled carriages and luxury
sleeper cabins.
Tracey Forbes and her hus-
band decided to go “retro” dur-
ing their recent trip to India, hir-
ing an Ambassador with a driver
to travel between the historic
forts of Rajasthan, the Taj Ma-
hal in Agra and the sacred city of
Varanasi.
“For me the old-style glam-
our of the Ambassador out-
weighs a modern car every
time,” the 48-year-old semi-
retired therapist said. “I’d ad-
vise anyone to grab the chance
while they can - modern cars
are two-a-penny.”
Hindustan Motors, India’s
oldest car maker, has been pro-
ducing the curvy Ambassador
since 1957 with a design based on
the long-defunct Morris Oxford
that has evolved only slightly in
60 years.
Each year brings new predic-
tions of the car’s ultimate de-
mise, but the workhorse remains
popular with taxi drivers, politi-
cians and, fortunately for tour-
ists, car hire outlets which can be
easily found online.
“It reminds me of bygone days
when men wore hats and ties and
ladies wore gloves and dresses
Musicians welcome guests to the Golden Chariot train at Yesvanthpur Station in Bangalore.
with big skirts,” said Forbes,
whose driver charges about $50
a day.
“It’s a thing of beauty - so of-
ten these days beauty is sacri-
ficed for functionality or simply
because it’s not economically
viable.”
Fellow Brit John Mallace de-
cided to pilot his own vehicle,
taking on the chaotic and anar-
chic Indian roads abreast a Royal
Enfield motorcycle during a 12-
day holiday in the southwestern
beach state of Goa.
As a traffic policeman, he was
horrified by the willful disregard
for road safety, but had nothing
but praise for the sturdy bike,
famed for its chrome and deep
“thumper” sound generated
from its single-cylinder engine.
Royal Enfield in India - motto
“Made like a gun, goes like a bul-
let” - still produces variations
on what is essentially the same
“Bullet” model based on a Brit-
ish design from the 1950s.
“It’s pretty comfy and it
handles really well,” said the
46-year-old, who opted for an
organised tour to see the “real
India” in the villages and back-
waters of Goa rather than the
famed beaches.
The trip was organised by
Blazing Trails, owned by Brit-
ish Enfield fanatic Susie I’Anson
who takes groups of riders on
a handful of circuits across the
country from the high Himala-
yas to the tropical deep south.
She says her clients are often
people with a past link to India
- a parent or grandparent sta-
tioned in India during British
colonial times - or just fans of
classic motorbikes.
“It’s got Old World charm,”
I’Anson said. “And you’re not
racing around. You’re just pot-
tering along in a comfortable
position.
“Some people come and start
whingeing about missing their
BMW bike at home, but at the
end of two weeks, they’ve got
full respect for the Enfield.
Their BMWs would have fallen
apart.”
Organised tours with Blazing
Trails start at 2,000 ($3,200),
but travellers can opt to buy or
hire bikes for less locally.
For those unwilling to tackle
India’s hair-raising roads, the
world’s second-largest railway
offers some old-fashioned jour-
neys where the scenery glides
past the window with the mini-
mum of noise and fuss.
There are at least six services,
including the Deccan Odyssey in
western Maharashtra, the Palace
on Wheels in Rajasthan and the
Golden Chariot in southern Kar-
nataka.
The most recent service is
the Maharajas’ Express, the
most luxurious and expensive
train service to date, which was
launched last March to accom-
modate just 84 passengers on
trips all over the country.
“Rajasthan is the most popu-
lar route in India because people
want to see it for the culture,
history and heritage,” Rakesh
Agarwal from theluxurytrains.
com travel agent said, referring
to the colourful desert state.
Most of the clients are for-
eign, he says, with the financial
means to pay the high prices
of $3,000-$4,500 for a seven-
night tour.
Some trains such as Palace
on Wheels in Rajasthan can be
booked for shorter three-night
stays at a cost of $500 a night.
W
inds of change are
sweeping through
urban India, a coun-
try traditionally known for its
male preference. Many city-
dwellers who don’t have chil-
dren of their own are opting
for adoption, particularly of
girls.
Such is the enthusiasm that
the waiting period to adopt a
girl is as much as it is for a boy,
unlike in the past when most
couples wanted a boy, says a
spokesperson of the Central
Adoption Resource Authority
(CARA), a wing of the ministry
of women and child develop-
ment.
“The mindset of people is
changing, especially young
people who don’t have a gen-
der bias. There are many
socio-economic reasons for
adopting a child - late mar-
riage, risk of bearing children
at an older age, or simply not
being able to conceive,” San-
dip Kusalkar, public relations
co-ordinator at Snehalaya, a
non-governmental organisa-
tion based in Ahmednagar,
Maharashtra, said.
“Here we see young-ed-
ucated couples from cities
opting for a girl child whereas
rural couples still prefer boys,”
he added.
The adoption rate in general
has gone up.
According to CARA, in
2010, the total number of chil-
dren adopted in India were
6,286 - the figure includes
inter-country adoptions (by
non-resident Indians or for-
eigners) - compared to 2,518 in
2009. This clearly shows that
within a decade there has been
a nearly 40% increase in the
adoption rate.
It used to be common for
people to want a son to carry
forward the family name, but
not any more, says Delhi-
achievement. Your legacy goes
beyond the name and is more
driven by the impact that you
create. There is more focus on
what you have done. And fam-
ily heritage is determined more
by the culture and upbringing
of the child, irrespective of a
boy or a girl,” said Sharma.
“So we never thought about
such aspects, but we knew we
wanted a girl. And it just hap-
pened that when my wife and
I first saw this little girl in the
adoption centre, she crawled
towards us and we knew, she
was the one,” he added.
Their daughter Swati,
whom they adopted in 2009, is
now three years old.
According to a report, about
600 children were adopted
in one year from Delhi-based
Palna, a home for abandoned,
homeless and destitute chil-
dren, and about 65% of them
were girls.
Adoptions come under the
Hindu Adoption and Mainte-
nance Act of 1956. Under this
act, a single parent or mar-
ried couple is not permitted to
adopt more than one child of
the same sex.
But Bollywood actress Su-
shmita Sen is an exception -
she is not only a single moth-
er, but has adopted two girls
- Renne and Alisah and has
proved to be a caring parent,
despite her hectic schedules.
There are certain rules that
one has to keep in mind before
adopting.
A person wishing to adopt a
child should be at least 21 years
old. While a single woman can
adopt a child, a single male is
usually not eligible. An excep-
tion in this case is choreogra-
pher Sandip Soparrkar, who
adopted a baby boy.
And a single man can only
adopt a male child, not a fe-
male.

DGCA to screen
pilots’ licences
Supporters, protesters hold The Director General of Civil

rival meetings over Posco Aviation (DGCA) is screening over

IANS it will displace thousands of people from
Bhubaneswar their homeland and ruin their betel leaf
farming.
Posco had signed a deal with the Oris-
3,000 licences issued to pilots in
the last one year, a senior official
said.
This follows the arrest of an
Air India pilot on charges of
producing a fake mark-sheet to
get his flying licence.

S
upporters and protesters yester-
day organised rival meetings in
Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district
over South Korean steel major Posco’s
$12bn project planned in the region, po-
lice said.
Carrying posters and banners and
shouting slogans against Posco, the state
and central government, thousands of
protesters came out in rallies and con-
gregated at Balitutha, the entry point to
the proposed plant site.
The leaders of various political par-
ties, including the communists and
Congress, and leading anti-displace-
ment activists addressed the gather-
ing and vowed to intensify their protest
against the project in the coming days.
The protest rallies were organised
under the banner of Posco Pratirodh
Sangram Samiti (PPSS), which has been
spearheading the movement against the
project.
PPSS leader Abhaya Sahu said their
fight against the project will continue as
sa government on June 22, 2005 to set up
the project near the port town of Parad-
ip, around 100km from Bhubaneswar, by
2016.
The PPSS has speeded up its protests
after the central environment ministry
in January gave conditional clearance to
the project - the biggest foreign direct
investment in the country.
PPSS activists have also set up wood-
en gates and barricades in several places
to prevent government and company of-
ficials from entering the proposed site.
Those supporting the project sepa-
rately assembled at Polang village, about
5km from the protest site under the ban-
ner of Posco Port and Plant Workers’
Union.
Speakers at the meeting attended by
over a hundred people said the Posco
project will bring economic activities
and create employment.
“Both the meetings were peaceful. No
untoward incident was reported,” a sen-
ior district police official said.
“We are probing the matter with
the help of Delhi police as the
matter is serious,” DGCA chief
Bharat Bhushan said.
Air India pilot J K Verma was
arrested on Saturday for
allegedly using a forged mark-
sheet to get a licence from the
country’s aviation regulator.
It was the second such arrest in
the last four days. The first pilot
to be arrested was Parminder
Kaur Gulati, 38, a suspended pilot
of IndiGo. Gulati was arrested for
allegedly obtaining the mandatory
Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence
(ALTP) using forged documents.
Bhushan said over 3,000 licences
were under the DGCA scanner.
“It is a problem of pilots submitting
fake mark-sheets. We will be taking
into scrutiny all the pilot licences
that have been issued in the last
one year, nearly 3,000-4,000
licences,” he said.

One more pregnant woman dies in hospital

IANS last few days, he added. The hospital administration had
Jodhpur “We have ordered an inquiry. The lodged a first information report
postmortem has been conducted and against the Indore-based firm which
the cause of the death would only be manufactured the fluids, following

A
woman who delivered a child
at the government-run Umaid
Hospital here last month died
due to excessive bleeding yesterday,
the 16th such case in the hospital, an
official said.
“Prem Kanwar had been referred
to our hospital after her delivery at
Umaid Hospital one-and-a-half
months ago. Her condition became
serious due to excessive bleeding,” a
doctor at the Mahatma Gandhi Hos-
pital said.
She was put on ventilator for the
known after the report is received,” a
police officer said.
Earlier, Prem’s family refused to
accept the body and demanded an in-
vestigation into her death.
“Prem died due to the hospital’s
negligence. We want action against
responsible doctors,” said Shankar,
one of her relatives.
Since the second week of Febru-
ary, 16 pregnant women have died of
excessive bleeding at Umaid Hospital
after they had allegedly administered
contaminated IV fluids.
which its quality control manager
Sanjay Shah was arrested.
However, the autopsy report of one
of the women on March 10 said infec-
tion was the cause of her death.
A report prepared by a team of doc-
tors from SMS Hospital in Jaipur had
also said the deaths could be because
of hospital-generated infection.
A team of doctors from the Post
Graduate Institute of Medical Educa-
tion and Research (PGIMER) in Chan-
digarh will arrive here in the next few
days to probe the matter.
 Gulf Times
24 Monday, March 14, 2011

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
CRIME
Pirates demand $20mn
for four Pakistani sailors
Somali pirates have threatened to kill four Paki-
stani hostages if $20mn in ransom is not paid to
them by March 15, officials said.
Senators rebuke government for failure to negoti-
ate release of nationals is the total number of
Pakistani, held hostage on-board three differ-
ent vessels, since March 2010. Somali pirates
have threatened to kill four Pakistani hostages if
$20mn in ransom is not paid to them by March
15, officials revealed.
“Efforts for the early release of Pakistanis captured
by Somali pirates are in the final stages,” a senior
official of Foreign Office Haroon Shaukat informed
a Senate panel.
POLITICS
Zardari eyes alliance with
PML-Q as MQM sets terms
Amid the differences between Pakistan Peoples
Party (PPP) and its estranged ally Muttahida
Qaumi Movement (MQM) President Asif Ali Zard-
ari negotiated with the Pakistan Muslim League-
Quaid (PML-Q) and had a verbal alliance, sources
said yesterday. The MQM has put forward tough
conditions to remain in the alliance in Sindh,
which the PPP says it cannot accept. However,
even if the proposed meeting fails, the interaction
between the two would continue, both sides say.
“Our position is clear. We have genuine concerns:
PPP must disassociate itself from the Peoples
Aman Committee. We will not accept anything
short of this,” an MQM parliamentarian said.
MISSILE ATTACK
US drone strike kills
‘six militants’
US drone strike targeting a rebel vehicle and
a compound yesterday killed six militants and
wounded five others in a Pakistani tribal region
near the Afghan border, officials said. The
unmanned aircraft fired missiles in mountainous
Spalga village, 15 kilometres (nine miles) northeast
of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan
tribal district and a stronghold of Taliban and Al
Qaeda-linked rebels. “US drones fired six missiles
targeting a militant vehicle and a nearby rebel
compound owned by a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) leader, Rahimullah, killing six militants,” a
senior security official in Miranshah said. Five
militants were also wounded in the attack.
MILITANCY HEALTHCARE
Eight Shias slain in rebel
attack on passenger bus
Militants opened fire on a passenger van in a law-
less northwestern Pakistani town yesterday, killing
at least eight Shias and wounding seven others,
police said. The incident took place in Hangu
district, 150km southwest of Peshawar, the capital
of insurgency-hit Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province.
“Militants intercepted a passenger van at Mamoo
Khwar village in Hangu district and opened fire,
killing eight passengers and wounding seven An Afghan baby is given a polio vaccination
others,” senior local police official Abdul Rashid from a health worker during a three-day National
said. He said, “It seems to be a sectarian incident, immunisation programme for children, in Kabul,
as all those killed in the firing were Shia Muslims.” yesterday. Hundreds of thousands of Afghan
He said that the militants, who numbered six, fled children under the age of five will be given polio
the scene. vaccination drops as part of the campaign.

Anti-Taliban
militias in
Pakistan
under threat
Pakistani authorities have to fight Taliban mostly based in militant mosque in Islamabad
encouraged armed village neighbouring Darra Adam Khel in July 2007.
forces called Lashkars tribal town, where army troops A government official said
to keep insurgents at had launched several of their more than a dozen anti-Taliban
bay; Militiamen say their own operations. militias are active in Khyber Pa-
Kalashnikovs cannot match The group says it has already khtunkhwa province and across Pakistani Christian minority light candles in front of a portrait of Shahbaz Bhatti, minister for minorities who was assassinated on 2 March, during
Taliban rockets been the target of two suicide the tribal areas. a protest in Lahore.
attacks, five bombs and more But the government says it
AFP than 60 rocket attacks. The men is not willing to beef up the
Islamabad blame not only the attackers, lashkars for fear of creating an

I
n Pakistan’s bomb-hit
northwest, bands of Tal-
iban-fighting tribesmen
but the government and security
forces for failing to provide ma-
terial support.
Tackling Taliban and Al Qae-
da-linked insurgents in the
unwieldy force in parallel to the
army and police.
“We are talking to them and
will accept their reasonable de-
mands,” Mian Iftikhar Hussain,
Tensions rise in Christian village
are threatening to give up their northwest is seen as key to ending information minister in the pro- AFP that carry the death penalty, ing now,” said 65-year-old vil- Founded during British rule
struggle in the face of a string of the nearly 10-year US-led war in vincial Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Islamabad was killed by Taliban militants lager Emmanuel, wearing a blue in 1903 by a Roman Catho-
attacks and a perceived lack of neighbouring Afghanistan. government, told AFP. as he left his family home in Is- turban and holding a hookah lic priest, the village has long
government help. “But the lashkars’ task was to lamabad last week. waterpipe. fought for religious freedoms.

Armed with the Kalashnikov
rifles that swill around this law-
less region and dressed in tradi-
tional tribal garb, the militia or
“lashkar” members patrol their
villages daily to ward off homeg-
rown militants and protect com-
munities.
Set up from late 2006 to sup-
port the armed forces’ battle,
the lashkars in Pakistan mirror
efforts being made across the
border in Afghanistan where au-
thorities have encouraged armed
village forces to keep insurgents
at bay.
But their role has made them
an obvious target for Taliban at-
tack, and after a string of bomb
and suicide attacks, as well as
targeted assassinations, many
of the villagers who form these
private armies say they are ready
to quit.
In the Matani district of Pe-
shawar, the gateway city to in-
surgent-controlled areas of the
northwest, a suicide bomber
on Wednesday hit a funeral be-
ing held for the wife of one mi-
litiaman, killing 37 people and
wounding 150 others.
Matani’s lashkar is made up
of more than 4,000 tribesmen
who formed their group in 2007
“Our Kalashnikovs cannot
match the Taliban’s rockets
and mortars. We have
become the Taliban’s target.
They say we are lackeys
of America because
we are supporting the
government.
“Our Kalashnikovs cannot
match the Taliban’s rockets
and mortars,” said one lashkar
leader in the area, Malik Sakhi
Jan, 50.
“We have become the Tali-
ban’s target. They say we are
lackeys of America because we
are supporting the government.
But the government is doing
nothing for us,” said Jan.
Another militia leader in Ma-
tani, Dilarwar Khan, told AFP
that the police had promised
support but gave nothing.
“We lack resources, we receive
no weapons, we have no ammu-
nition and we have no cash, no
rations for the lashkar volun-
teers. The lashkar will be there if
we get support from the govern-
ment, otherwise we will dissolve
it,” he said.
Attacks across the country
have killed more than 4,000
people since the storming of a
help our troops to trace militants
and to provide self-defence for
the villages. They are not an at-
tacking force, this job is done by
our security forces,” Hussain said.
Regional police chief Liaqat
Ali Khan said the militia’s role
had to be limited to identifying
and locating militants for the
police to find.
“They were not formed to
become a parallel or alternate
force,” Khan said.
In Bazid Khel village, close to
the Khyber border where Nato
supply trucks bound for Afghan-
istan come under regular attack,
head of the local 500-man anti-
Taliban militia, Fahimuddin,
also complains that he lacks
guns and money.
His enemy is the anti-gov-
ernment force Lashkar-e-Islam,
which enforces Taliban-style
strict Islamic law in the area.
But not all authorities be-
lieve the pro-government
forces are a good idea. Former
minister of the province Siraj-
Ul-Haq told AFP that the mi-
litias were failing in what they
set out to do. “They form these
lashkars in the name of peace but
have failed to establish peace,” he
said.
I
n the Pakistani Christian
hamlet that buried its most
famous resident last week
— the assassinated minister for
minorities — locals say reli-
gious tolerance is giving way to
rising tensions.
Khushpur village has been
a base for the struggle against
religious suppression for more
than a century and remains a
rare example of Muslims and
Christians in rural Pakistan liv-
ing harmoniously alongside one
another.
But since the killings this year
of two senior politicians who
spoke out against strict Islamic
blasphemy laws, the tiny Chris-
tian community that forms part
of the country’s three percent
non-Muslim population is feel-
ing increasingly insecure.
“My best friend Aamir is
Muslim. We studied and played
together, he even goes with me
to the church. But now we are
scared of this increasing ten-
sion. It is killing both commu-
nities,” said 22-year-old vil-
lager Shahid Samuel.
Minority affairs minister
Shahbaz Bhatti, 42, an outspo-
ken campaigner against Paki-
stan’s Islamic blasphemy laws
For his funeral black flags
flew atop the mud and brick
houses of Khushpur, his home
village, in which 150 Muslims
form the minority among the
5,000-strong Christian popu-
lation.
Controversy over the blas-
phemy law, which punishes in-
flammatory comments on the
Prophet Muhammad, flared late
last year over the case of a poor
Punjabi Christian woman, Aa-
sia Bibi, who was sentenced to
death over the charge.
Bibi’s defenders say that like
many other victims of the law,
she was wrongly prosecuted
because of a petty village dis-
pute.
Bhatti defended Bibi, just
like Punjab provincial governor
Salman Taseer who was assas-
sinated for the same reason in
January by one of his own body-
guards.
Taseer’s killer has since been
feted by legions of fans — their
loud defence of the blasphemy
law underscoring rising reli-
gious feeling across the coun-
try.
“This is personal enmity
which is being settled under the
blasphemy law and it is increas-
“We Christians and Muslims
never thought in the past that
these things would create dis-
tance between us. This has real-
ly increased tension among the
communities which is not good
for the country and our society.”
“My best friend Aamir
is Muslim. We studied
and played together, he
even goes with me to the
church. But now we are
scared of this increasing
tension. It is killing both
communities”
Mohamed Ghufran Arshad,
a Muslim man from Khushpur
who dug the graves for Bhatti
and the rest of his family, said
that until the minister’s death
he had never heard of Bibi.
“We are living together in
this village since childhood. We
respect them and help them in
all affairs of life,” he said.
Muddy trails bogged with
stinking irrigation water and
lined with fields where farmers
with bull carts harvest wheat
and sugar-cane, abruptly end at
an intricate colonial red-brick
church and missionary school
building.
Unlike most Christian en-
claves in the central Punjab re-
gion, Khushpur’s community
is relatively wealthy and highly
educated, producing doctors,
engineers and teachers, as well
as its minority rights advocates.
Roman Catholic Bishop John
Joseph shot himself in 1998 in
protest against the blasphemy
laws and is also buried here, as
is Father George Ibrahim, who
fought for a Christian school
and was killed in 2003.
Pakistani Christians are ob-
serving 40 days mourning for
Bhatti.
But the government has re-
sisted calls from the interna-
tional community to amend the
blasphemy law, saying it has no
plans to do so.
“After the assassination of
Shahbaz Bhatti, the Christians
are very sad and angry, it has
hurt their hearts and they are
now feeling unsafe in this coun-
try,” said local Jacob Paul.
“They feel that they will be
suppressed here forever. It is a
common thought over here that
as long as this blasphemy law
exists, their lives are not out of
danger and the fuelled tensions
can grip them at any time.”

UAE’s Etisalat to invest Roadside bomb blast

$100mn in Afghanistan
Etisalat Afghanistan sees
subscribers doubling in 2-3
years; Sees market share
ers in the troubled country to
more than double within two
to three years and push market
ghan Wireless Telecommuni-
cations Co.
Al Hamli said the company,
kills four civilians
AFP the same roads with the Afghan with 2,777 deaths, the bulk
$129mn last year. Kabul and foreign military and secu- caused by insurgents.
Cumulative revenue from rity forces. President Hamid Karzai re-
the sector is expected to reach jected an apology by the com-

between 30 to 35% from 24% share to between 30 to 35%.
; To buy existing internet “Our budget is $100mn for
service provider within two 2011 to 2012,” al Hamli told re-
months porters at the telco’s Abu Dhabi
headquarters. “We expect our
Reuters subscribers to reach 6 to 6.6mn
Abu Dhabi in two to three years.”
“Our budget is $100mn for
which has invested $300mn in
Afghanistan since 2007, also
plans to acquire an existing in-
ternet service provider within
the next two months.
“For us, it is a strategic deal on
the enterprise side,” he said.
Mobile phone use has mush-
roomed since the fall of the Tali-
$800mn in five years. So far, in-
vestments in the Afghan telecom
sector is $1.2bn.
Government minister Baryalai
Hassam said in November that
the Telecommunications Minis-
try was in talks with the four Af-
ghan mobile carriers to upgrade
to a 3G or 4G network to provide
A
roadside bomb killed
four civilians in south-
ern Afghanistan, au-
thorities said yesterday, as
tension over the deaths of non-
combatants in military opera-
tions rises between Kabul and
foreign allies.
The four were killed on Sat-
9,000 civilians have lost
their lives in crossfire
between Afghan and
foreign security forces
and the rebels since 2007
According to a report by the
United Nations and the war-
torn country’s leading Human
mander of the US-led Nato
force earlier this month over
the deaths of nine children
killed in an air attack carried
out by the troops in the prov-
ince of Kunar.
Karzai on Saturday went to
the mountainous and insur-
gency-troubled province to

T
he UAE’s Etisalat plans to
invest $100mn in Afghan-
istan between 2011 and
2012 and seeks to launch third-
generation telecoms services
this year, a top executive said
yesterday.
Etisalat Afghanistan’s Chief
Executive Saeed al Hamli said
the company expects subscrib-
2011 to 2012.. We expect our
subscribers to reach 6 to
6.6mn in two to three years”
It currently has 3mn subscrib-
ers with a market share of 24%.
Afghanistan’s mobile car-
riers are market-leading Ro-
shan, South Africa’s MTN
Group Ltd , Etisalat and Af-
ban in late 2001, when Afghani-
stan, one of the world’s poorest
countries, had only a few thou-
sand landlines and no interna-
tional service.
The sector now has 13.3mn
mobile phone users and is the
biggest source of tax revenue
for the government of Presi-
dent Hamid Karzai, generating
faster Internet service to the Af-
ghan market.
Al Hamli said the company
plans to launch 3G services this
year as soon as it receives a li-
cence.
“We are waiting for the 3G li-
cence which we are hopeful to
get soon,” he said. “We are ready.
We have the technology.”
urday when their vehicle struck
a bomb planted on a road in
Kandahar province, the inte-
rior ministry said blaming the
strike on the insurgents.
The Taliban frequently use
home-made bombs and land-
mines in their attacks on mili-
tary targets. The devices how-
ever, often kill civilians sharing
Rights body, Afghanistan’s
Independent Human Rights
Commission, 9,000 civilians
have lost their lives in crossfire
between Afghan and foreign
security forces and the rebels
since 2007.
The report said 2010 was the
deadliest for Afghan civilians
since the war began in 2001
meet families of the children
and called on the Western
troops to stop military opera-
tions in his battered country.
Karzai urged the US and Nato
to shift the war on insurgents to
neighbouring Pakistan where
Afghan leaders say most insur-
gent leaders are based and launch
attacks on Afghan targets.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 25

BANGLADESH/NEPAL
Dhaka for
Bangladesh’s ruling ally strong
ties with
threatens to quit govt
IANS members. He has some minis- killed Ziaur Rahman in 1981 Osman’s family is known to
varsity
B
angladesh would like to
build strong synergy with
the Murshidabad centre of
the Aligarh Muslim University
Dhaka ters, including his brother, in the coup. be a strong supporter of the rul- (AMU) because of its locational
government, but wants more. “Ziaur Rahman was killed by ing Awami League and one of his advantage, and linguistic and
“We have not been given our (the then army chief) General brothers is a former ruling party cultural affinity, the country’s

F
ormer Bangladesh presi-
dent H M Ershad, who
heads the third-largest
party in parliament, has said his
Jatiya Party might quit the rul-
ing alliance of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina “if not properly
evaluated”.
Ershad, also a former army
chief, has been increasingly crit-
ical of the government alleging
mismanagement of the econo-
my, power situation and law and
order in the country.
The Jatiya Party’s withdrawal
is unlikely to threaten the over-
whelming majority of Sheikh
Hasina’s Awami League, which
holds 230 seats in the 345-mem-
ber parliament.
Ershad’s party, which won
seven percent of the vote in the
2008 general elections, has 27
Festival of colours
due share in the government, do
not get co-operation from the
government and our suggestions
and recommendations are not
considered,” the New Age news-
paper quoted him as telling party
officials.
Bangladeshi Supreme Court
last year annulled all the consti-
tutional amendments made dur-
ing Ershad’s regime 1983-1990.
The apex court even pre-
scribed punishment for Ershad
in one of the cases against him.
But Hasina resisted demands
from other alliance partners that
he should be prosecuted.
Ershad had several graft cases
against him. According to media
reports, the government has fa-
voured his acquittal.
In October last year, a Jatiya
Party lawmaker claimed Ershad
Ershad and not General Manzur”
as is widely believed, Nasim Os-
man, was quoted as saying.
Osman’s comments came at a
function in his suburban Naray-
anganj constituency and re-
portedly surprised the audience
present.
Osman also justified the kill-
ing of Rahman, an army general-
turned politician who floated the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP), in an abortive coup on
May 30, 1981, as he had ‘master-
minded’ the 1975 assassination
of Bangladesh’s founding father
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Bangabandhu murder trial
was actually done on May 30,
1981 with the killing of Zia (Ur
Rahman) as he was the man be-
hind the killing of the Father of
the Nation,” he said.
lawmaker.
“Do you know why I’m in Jati-
ya Party of Ershad? It’s because
the work I was to do, was done
by him (Ershad as he had killed
Rahman),” he said.
Ershad took over power in a
bloodless coup months after
Rahman’s assassination in an
abortive army putsch. Twelve
army officers were hanged under
a controversial court martial fol-
lowing the coup. The main sus-
pect, Major General Abul Man-
zur, was killed allegedly by angry
soldiers soon after the putsch.
In the past, Ershad had sought
alliance with Hasina’s rival,
former prime minister and op-
position leader Khaleda Zia, re-
portedly on the condition that
he would be made the country’s
president again.
envoy to India Tarique A Kareem
said after a meeting with AMU
Vice Chancellor P K Abdul Azis
in India’s Aligarh city.
Kareem said Bangladesh agri-
cultural universities have made
remarkable advancements in ag-
ricultural research, and as a re-
sult farmers are cultivating three
crops per annum. This technology
could be of immense benefit to the
farmers of India, the high com-
missioner said late on Saturday.
Azis assured of all possible
help in promoting mutually ben-
eficial initiatives between the
varsity and the academic institu-
tions of Bangladesh.
Azis invited the visiting digni-
tary to deliver lectures in the area
H M Ershad: ‘We have not been given our due share in the government, of conflict resolution and inter-
do not get co-operation from the government and our suggestions and national affairs.
recommendations are not considered.’ Kareem visited the Maulana
Azad Library and was impressed
by the manuscripts and the vol-
ume of books in the library.
He said the AMU must make

Somali pirates to free ship special efforts to preserve the

manuscripts, which are a great
heritage of the community.
The library has 200,000 dig-

A
Bangladeshi ship hijacked by So-
mali pirates on December 6 last
year with 26 people aboard is to
be freed shortly, a foreign ministry of-
ficial in Dhaka said yesterday.
The M V Jahan Moni, which has 25
Bangladeshi crew and the wife of the
chief engineer on board, was captured
550km (340 miles) off the southwest
coast of India while sailing to Greece.
Owners of the vessel, which was car-
rying nickel from Indonesia, declined to
give details of any ransom paid to secure
the safety of the ship and crew.
“The ship is going to be freed before
Monday morning. All 26 people are safe
and they will disembark on the first port
of call after the ship is released,” acting
foreign secretary Mostafa Kamal said.
The vessel, which is owned by the
Chittagong-based Brave Royal Ship-
ping company, is now near the Somali
coast.
Experts have said merchant shipping
is increasingly at risk off southwest In-
dia as pirates seek to avoid international
naval patrols in the treacherous waters
off the Horn of Africa.
ital books and over 1.3mn con-
ventional books.
Described as one of the Asia’s
biggest libraries, 5,000 students
visit the library daily.
N A K Durrani, media adviser,
who had accompanied the high
commissioner, observed the Ali-
garh model of education, which
offers education from nursery to
post-doctoral level, is a unique
example of holistic approach
promoting knowledge along with
the character building.

People throw coloured powder after hoisting a colourful pole or “chir”, to mark the commencement of Holi in Kathmandu
yesterday. The tradition of Holi, also known as the Festival of Colours, is celebrated for seven days from the day of erecting
the “chir”. It marks the beginning of the spring season and is celebrated with great enthusiasm all over Nepal.

US remarks on Nobel prize

banker’s removal resented
IANS 7, Blake had said the US was
Dhaka “troubled” by the recent
decision that saw Yunus re-
moved as managing director
She declined further com- we’re interfering too much.
ment on the grounds that the We have made it known that
matter was sub judice. we support a resolution of
Yunus, 70, was removed the situation to preserve the

B
angladesh has ex-
pressed reservations
over the US criticism
of Dhaka’s decision to re-
move Nobel laurate Mu-
hammed Yunus from the
post of managing director of
Grameen Bank and said “law
of the land will prevail”.
“Laws of the land and the
rule of law do not depend
on anyone’s happiness and
unhappiness,” Foreign Min-
ister Dipu Moni said yester-
day, responding to the re-
marks of Robert O Blake, US
assistant secretary of state
for South and Central Asian
affairs.
In an interview with the
Financial Times on March
of the Grameen Bank.
Moni was quoted as say-
ing by The Daily Star, “Our
friends outside may or may
not be happy but we will
take action in accordance
with our law. The rule of law
in our country does not de-
pend on others’ happiness.
“Of course we want
good relations with all our
friends, but we must be re-
spectful to our laws in our
country,” she said before
leaving for Egypt to oversee
repatriation of Bangladesh-
is fleeing strife-torn Libya.
“We will do whatever is
necessary in the interest of the
country and a renowned insti-
tution,” the minister said.
as managing director of
the Grameen Bank that he
founded over thee decades
ago by an order of the Bang-
ladesh Bank, the country’s
central bank.
Yunus lost his appeal
before the high court and a
fresh appeal is pending be-
fore the Supreme Court.
The removal of Yunus
has drawn flak from several
quarters.
Blake said that Yunus
“enjoys great respect in the
US for all his work to help
the poor in Bangladesh”.
Asked if the US was “in-
terfering” in Bangladesh’s
affairs, Blake said: “I don’t
want to make it sound like
integrity and the independ-
ence and the effectiveness
of Grameen Bank, but we
have not sought to try to
prescribe what that solution
should be.
“It’s really up to the
government of Bangla-
desh and Grameen to work
that out and we hope they
can do so in an amicable
and mutually acceptable
manner.”
The European Union has
said the issue was Bangla-
desh’s internal matter.
Meanwhile, the Nelson
Mandela Foundation in a
letter to Yunus March 9 has
expressed its support to him
and the Grameen Bank.

Trade union splits into three factions

Agencies A separate trade un- close to Prachanda. ions affiliated to the Maoist
Kathmandu ion was formed yester- Earlier, Badri Baj- party.
day by assistant gen- gain, who is close to sen- Nembang has formed
eral secretary of the ior vice president of the a 175-member commit-

T
he Maoist affili-
ated All Nepal Trade
Union Federation
(Revolutionary) has split
into three factions after the
formation of parallel trade
unions by two members of
the organisation.
organisation, Lal Dhoj
Nemwang, close to
party’s vice president
Baburam Bhattarai.
Nemwang had been beat-
en up by the cadres of Sha-
likram Jamarkattel, presi-
dent of Maoist trade union
UCPN-Maoist Mohan Vai-
dya ‘Kiran’ had formed a
separate trade union last
month challenging leader-
ship of Jamarkatte close to
Prachanda.
Now with this there are
three parallel trade un-
tee after a meeting of trade
union members loyal to
Bhattarai.
He, however, claimed
that the new trade union
was formed in a bid to forge
unity among the two fac-
tions of the trade union.
 Gulf Times
26 Monday, March 14, 2011
COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Marzook Basher Binmarzook
Managing Editor: Neil Cook
Production Editor: C. P. Ravindran
P.O.Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
editor@gulf-times.com
Telephone 44350478 (news),
44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery)
Fax 44350474
GULF TIMES
Afghanistan,
Pakistan in a fix
over terror war
Hamid Karzai’s anguish over the civilian casualties
caused by NATO air strikes in Afghanistan is
understandable, but the question is: What can he really
do about it?
In an emotional appeal on Saturday, the Afghan
president, who is in the post only because of US help,
urged NATO to end operations in his country during a
visit to Kunar province where nine children gathering
firewood were killed by a bomb earlier this month.
US defence secretary Robert Gates and the
commander of US troops in Afghanistan, David
Petreaus, both apologised for the “accident”, but Karzai
was having none of it, saying, “We are very tolerant
people but now our tolerance has run out.”
Karzai also told the international forces that they
“should go and fight this war where we have showed
them (it is) over the last nine years”.
Karzai was, of course, referring to Pakistan where
militants were considered “strategic assets” by the
establishment for long before they turned on the
government by unleashing wave after wave of terror
attacks on their own
soil.
Both nations Statistics for the
should shed last two years reveal
a shocking state of
their differences affairs in Pakistan with
thousands dead and
and work to many more injured
strengthen their in the past few years.
In 2008 Pakistan
bonds saw 2,148 terrorist
attacks, according to
an estimate, which caused 6,825 casualties — 2,267 of
them fatal. Even officials figures released Pakistan’s
Interior Ministry says the country was rocked by 1,842
incidents of terrorism during a fourteen month period
from January 2008 to March 2009.
Add to this the number of people killed by Pakistani
forces in their operations against militants in Swat,
Balochistan and other places and the human toll
of the disastrous ‘war on terror’ assumes alarming
proportions.
Opposition politicians in Pakistan are at the moment
up in arms against the government over US drone
attacks which claimed the lives of scores of innocent
civilians as well as militants.
The Afghan and Pakistani governments are
unquestionably in a fix. After all, they are the ones who
created the environment for the foreign forces to set
up bases within their territory. The common public,
as is often the case in both countries, are unaware of
the extent of the military cooperation between their
governments and foreign powers.
This creates a lot of mistrust, leading to tensions and
adding fuel to already inflamed passions.
The onus therefore is on Pakistan and Afghanistan
to fix their internal problems first. Too much of time,
energy and money is being spent on keeping foreign
powers happy, the disastrous results of which are there
for all to see.
Both nations must shed their differences and work to
strengthen their common religious and ethnic bonds.
Marginalised people, whatever tribe or ethnicity they
belong to, should be brought into the mainstream with
education and job opportunities.
The US pumps in billions of dollars into Afghanistan
and Pakistan in aid. Of course the aid is tied to a lot of
other things, mainly support for the ‘war on terror’.
Unless they get out of this vicious grip, sadly, there’s
precious little they can do about the situation.
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Security Council must act
to protect Libyan civilians
Gaddafi cannot be allowed
to think that he can
massacre his people with
impunity
By John F Kerry
Washington
L
eaders around the world are
vigorously debating the advis-
ability of establishing a no-fly
zone to stop the violence
unfolding in Libya. Some cite Bosnia,
where Nato took too long to protect ci-
vilian populations in the mid-1990’s,
as a reason to act. Others remember
Rwanda, where President Bill Clinton
later expressed regret for not acting to
save innocent lives.
But the stakes in Libya today are
more appropriately underscored by
the tragedy in southern Iraq in the
waning days of the Gulf War 20 years
ago.
As coalition forces were routing the
Iraqi army in February 1991, president
George H W Bush encouraged the
Iraqi people to “take matters into their
hands to force Saddam Hussain the
dictator to step aside”.
When Iraqi Shias, Kurds, and Marsh
Arabs rebelled against Hussain, they
believed that American forces would
protect them against their dictator’s
superior firepower.
Instead, when Iraqi attack helicop-
Ooops! The eccentric Gaddafi may be winning
By Eric S Margolis
New York
C
ivil wars are always ugly.
Libya’s is no exception,
though its level of violence
so far has been moderate,
thanks to the military ineptitude of
both Gadaffi’s forces and the Beng-
hazi-based rebels who are little more
than an armed mob.
I’ve seen Libya’s Army at war
before. In the later 1980’s, Libya
and Chad, backed by its neocolonial
master France, fought a little war over
the disputed Aouzou Strip, which was
believed had rich uranium deposits.
In what was called the “Toyota
War”(both sides used the splendid
Toyota Land Cruiser), Libya’s Army
proved laughably incompetent.
French Foreign Legionnaires disguised
as Chadian tribesmen quickly routed
the Libyans.
This time, Gadaffi’s military and
mercenaries have the rag-tag anti-
Gadaffi forces on the defensive. To the
horror of the US, Britain, and France,
all of whom are calling for Gadaffi’s
head, Libya’s eccentric leader, appears
to be winning.
I recently wrote that Gadaffi had
used up all his nine lives. It looks like I
was wrong. As Washington and Nato
ters and elite troops began butchering
their own people, coalition forces were
ordered to stand down. The world
watched as thousands of Iraqis were
slaughtered.
The situation in Libya today is not
identical. Inspired by events in Tunisia
and Egypt, the Libyan people rose up
spontaneously against four decades of
repression by Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Still, the spectre that haunts me is
the same – ordinary people facing off
against an autocrat’s airpower and
well-armed soldiers, counting on the
free world to protect them against
massacre after we have applauded
and bolstered their bravery with our
words.
So far, Gaddafi’s forces have relied
on airpower selectively. But Gaddafi
is shrewd. My fear is that he is either
choosing to bleed the opposition to
death, rather than invite global action
with a broad massacre, or waiting for
the world to prove itself unwilling to
act – at which point he might well be-
gin killing civilians in large numbers.
We cannot wait for that to happen.
We need to take concrete steps now
so that we are prepared to implement
a no-fly zone immediately if Gaddafi
starts using his airpower to kill large
numbers of civilians. Diplomacy is ur-
gently needed to build broad support
for a no-fly zone.
The most important imprimatur
should come from the United Nations,
where debate should begin immedi-
ately over a resolution authorising a
stumble, dither and look plain silly
over Libya, the awful realisation is
growing: what if Gadaffi survives and
continues to rule Libya? Will he have
the last laugh?
If Gadaffi survives
and reconsolidates
his rule, Europe will
have to continue
buying oil from him
France’s neoconservative president,
Nicholas Sarkozy, whose popular-
ity is almost as low as Gadaffi’s, just
recognised the Benghazi-based Libyan
opposition and calls for air strikes
against Libya. I’m surprised Gadaffi
did not riposte by recognising the
Corsican Liberation Movement on the
restive French-ruled island, or en-
dorse a Basque state in southwestern
France. Touché!
In a huge embarrassment for Presi-
dent Barack Obama, the new US na-
tional intelligence director, Gen James
Clapper, told Congress that Gadaffi’s
forces were winning.
There will also be red faces in
Europe. Libya is a major oil supplier.
If Gadaffi survives and reconsolidates
Raring
to go:
Time Out Page 4
no-fly zone. China and Russia have
expressed reservations. If the Security
Council fails to authorise action, those
of us determined to protect Libyan ci-
vilians will face a more difficult choice
should the violence escalate.
So our diplomatic efforts must
extend beyond the UN. The support
of Nato and the African Union are
important. To avoid the perception
of Nato or the US attacking another
Muslim country, the backing of the
Arab world is also needed.
On that front, there are promising
signs. The six Arab countries of the
Gulf Co-operation Council have called
for a UN-imposed no-fly zone. The
Arab League has followed suit now.
Muslim countries in particular should
support preparations for intervention
if the violence spirals out of control.
Gaddafi cannot be allowed to think
that he can massacre his people with
impunity. And he cannot be free to
make those attacks more lethal by
using his airpower. If the UN cannot
approve a resolution for implement-
ing a no-fly zone, then the US and its
allies in Nato and the Arab world must
be prepared to prevent a massacre like
the one that occurred in Srebrenica in
1995, when more than 8,000 Bosnian
men and boys were slaughtered.
Of course, imposing a no-fly zone
would not be a panacea. It prob-
ably would not tip the balance if the
situation in Libya deteriorates into a
full-scale civil war.
But a no-fly zone would eliminate
his rule, Europe will have to continue
buying oil from him.
That means the leaders of France,
Germany, and Britain, who have been
calling for the overthrow of Gadaffi,
may have to make nice to him again,
and even, horror of horrors, go to
Tripoli and be filmed holding hands
with the smirking Libyan dictator,
decked out in one of his comic opera
military outfits.
The British are very good at revers-
ing course. “Oh, it was all a terrible
misunderstanding. Fault of the
Americans, don’t you know.” Sarkozy
could patch up relations by send-
ing his gorgeous Carla Bruni to visit
Gadaffi, who has an eye for the ladies.
The Americans will continue to huff
and puff at Gadaffi until the New York
Times runs a lead article about how
misunderstood Gadaffi is really a
friend of Israel.
All this reminds me of a wonderful
story told me by the late Count Alex-
andre de Marenches, the long-time
head of France’s hard-fisted foreign
intelligence service, SDECE. (Today,
after big scandals, it’s called DGSE).
During the Aouzou conflict, French
president Francois Mitterand, highly
annoyed at Gadaffi, ordered Ma-
renche’s SDECE to assassinate the
Libyan leader. The count related to
me how his agents managed the feat
air strikes and save civilian lives. It is a
tool that we should be ready to use if the
situation warrants it, and it would signal
to the opposition that it is not alone.
Before that decision is reached, the
international community needs to
provide humanitarian assistance and
medical supplies to the rebels in east-
ern Libya. We must not allow them to
be starved into submission.
The one option that should not be
on the table is US ground troops; no
one wants to see US forces bogged
down in another war, especially in
another Muslim country.
And, as President Barack Obama
has said, the Libyan people must not
be deprived of full ownership of their
struggle for freedom, and Gaddafi
must not be given a useful foil and
scapegoat.
Perhaps the mere threat of a no-fly
zone will keep Gaddafi’s pilots from
using their helicopters and fighter jets
to kill their own people.
If it does not, we should make clear
that we will lead the free world to
avoid the senseless slaughter of any
more Libyan citizens by a madman
bent on maintaining power. The US
and the world community should also
make clear – as we did in Bosnia and
Kosovo – that we are taking a united
stand against a thug who is killing
Muslims. - Project Syndicate
zJohn Kerry, a US Senator from Mas-
sachusetts, is chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
of secreting a pressure-fused bomb
aboard Gadaffi’s private jet, set to
explode at 7,000 metres. Luckily for
Gadaffi, he did not use his jet in that
period.
But after Libya gave up Aouzou and
Franco-Libyan relations improved,
Mitterand ordered SDECE to remove
the bomb. That, said Marenches,
was ten times harder than getting it
aboard. But SDECE did remove the
bomb, and Libyan oil and cash flowed
to France.
But in 1989, Libya’s intelligence
chief, with whom I had dined in
Tripoli, allegedly ordered the bomb-
ing of a French UTA airliner over
Niger, killing 170. Gadaffi denied any
knowledge of this crime. Libya was
subjected to crushing Western sanc-
tions.
In 2008, Gadaffi bought his way out
of trouble by forking out $1.5bn to the
US citizens and other claimants for
the UTA and PanAm Lockerbie aircraft
that were downed - but without
admitting Libya’s guilt. President
George W Bush ordered all sanctions
on Libya lifted. Washington declared
Gadaffi a valued ally in the so-called
war on terror.
Money lasts far longer than moral
outrage. This time, the wily Libyan
colonel has at least $50bn to buy his
way out of his latest troubles.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 27
The aliens
are coming!:
Time Out Page 11 COMMENT
Mideast tourism takes a tumble amid unrest
Unrest strikes at top destinations that have remained out of
the news.
destinations while rising “Tourism is expected to be deterred
oil prices boost travel only in countries which are affected by
the turmoil,” he told The Media Line
costs by e-mail and even those countries
have managed to remain a lure for
By David Rosenberg visitors going to destinations distant
The Media Line from the unrest. “In Egypt, places like
Sharm El Sheikh (a Sinai report 250
miles from Cairo) were very slightly

P
rince Harry, the third in line
to the English throne, early
this month cancelled his trip
to Dubai where he was due to
play in a weekend charity polo tourna-
ment.
“Prince Harry was very much
looking forward to the visit but feels
that it would be insensitive for him
to participate in a sporting event at a
time when there are matters of greater
priority to focus on in the region,” the
palace announced.
Not surprisingly, the regrets were
couched diplomatically, with only
the slightest hint of the unrest that
has shaken the Middle East from
Morocco to Iran. But Harry’s con-
cerns aren’t his alone. Tourists are
cancelling their sightseeing trips to
the pyramids, shunning the beaches
of Dubai and business travellers are
pulling out of conference and post-
poning meetings.
Travel to the Middle East is suf-
fering a double whammy. Images of
mass protests and outright war have
scared visitors away while oil prices
are lifting the cost of jet fuel and
airfares. Last year’s fastest-growing
travel market and looking forward to
another good year in 2011, the Mid-
dle East industry is now in trouble,
Euromonitor International says in a
report.
Prince Harry stayed away from
Dubai, which has remained quiet
throughout the regional turmoil.
But, for now, he is the exception.
Sana Toukan, Euromonitor’s research
manager for travel and tourism, said
visitors were still flying to Middle East
affected by the violence.”
Nevertheless, the list of countries
Toukan cited is quite long and in-
cludes Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen,
Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman and
Algeria. Six of them number among
the region’s top eight destinations by
number of arrivals.
As of last week, the US State De-
partment has travel warnings issued
for nine Middle Eastern countries
and travel alerts for two others. The
latest addition to the list was Yemen.
Britain has advised against any travel
to Libya and Yemen and has more
limited warnings for Bahrain, Iran
and Iraq.
Tourism is a critical industry for
the region, which has historic and
archeological sites, pristine beaches
and cities holy to Islam, Christianity
and Judaism, ensuring a steady stream
of pilgrims.
Countries like the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar have developed
glitzy resorts, host high-profile sport- Visitors taking pictures of themselves at the Egyptian stand at Berlin’s Internationale Tourismus Boerse (ITB) travel trade fair which concluded yesterday. Travel to the
ing events, built giant hub airports Middle East is suffering a double whammy. Images of mass protests and outright war have scared visitors away while oil prices are lifting the cost of jet fuel and airfares.
and global-reaching airlines to service
them as they try to diversify their Last year, the World Travel and The government estimates that seen arrivals dry up amid anti-gov- that has hit energy exporter Libya and
economies. Other countries, like Alge- Tourism Council forecast the figure some 210,000 tourists left Egypt at ernment protests. The government prompted fears it will spread to other
ria and Libya are following suit. would rise by 89% over the next the end of January, cutting revenue was forced to postpone indefinitely oil producers. European jet fuel barge
As a result, the Middle East led the decade. by $178mn in one week. Reserva- a Formula One Grand Prix event, prices reached their highest in more
world in tourism growth last year, with Egypt, with its pyramids and beach tions cancelled for February deprived which brings in 40,000 visitors than two years on Friday to $1,060 a
the number of international tourist resorts being the region’s biggest the country of another $825mn in every year, and had been scheduled metric ton in the Amsterdam-Rotter-
arrivals jumping 14% to 60mn people, travel draw, has been the hardest hit. earnings, it said. While Cairo’s Tahrir for March 13. Its month-long Spring dam-Antwerp oil hub.
according to the United Nations World It attracted 12.7mn last year, bringing Square, the centre of protests, has of Culture extravaganza has been Higher fuel prices may cause “a
Tourism Organisation. That was in $10.2bn in revenues and employing become a tourist attraction in its own downsized with all musical events summer of financial misery” for
double the global increase. Tourism some 2mn people. But the outbreak of right, Egypt continues to suffer unrest cancelled, according to the organ- travellers as airlines and tour opera-
brought in $149bn of income to the mass demonstrations, which led to hun- and uncertainty. iser’s website. tors tack on fuel surcharges to holiday
region in 2010 and was responsible dreds of deaths and the resignation of Bahrain had turned itself into a Adding to the region’s tourism packages, the Bloomberg News quoted
for 4.5mn jobs, or 8% of the region’s President Hosni Mubarak, sent tourists travel draw for business people and sector woes is the rising price of oil, the UK-based researcher KBC Energy
workforce. packing at the peak of the season. regional tourists. But now it has a direct consequence of the unrest Economics as saying.

Letters Weather report

Three-day forecast

Praying for technological know- how and ap- French President Nicolas Sarkozy strike with all its force. TODAY
High:25C
paratus but when it comes to natural introduces a law to change the sarto- A disaster of this magnitude could Ar Ruways
a just world disasters, these are not of much help. rial habits of Muslim women who leave a permanent blot of fear and Al Khuwayr
The Gulf Low:19C
But God’s mercy is of greater impor- want to be modest by covering their destruction on any nation. Fuwayrit Blowing dust and cloudy
to partly cloudy,sctd rain
Dear Sir, tance than anything else. That is why faces in the public. There are more Japan is a country that defines Gulf of
Bahrain
life continues on our earth without than 5mn Muslims in France and the development and hard work and when
The worst earthquake in Japan’s total destruction. government wants to decide the way something of this severity occurs it is TUESDAY
history has caused widespread devas- Man constantly does things that they dress. At the same time when heartbreaking indeed. It is a nightmare High: 23C
tation in a nation that is seen as better are unjust and that invite the wrath of women of that country go out in pub- scenario. I pray that everything comes Al Khawr Low: 18C
prepared than may other countries in God. The so-called super powers bully lic scantily dressed, they say it is just, back to normal as soon as possible in Al Jamayliyah
Cloudy
dealing with natural disasters. Yet the and intimidate poor nations under the part of their culture and an expression Japan. Our prayers, well-wishes along
scale of the calamity shows there are disguise of “justice” and “freedom”. freedom and choice. Is this just? with aid will help that country and its
limits in preparing for a mega disaster. America and other Western countries Israel is fully armed with nuclear people to come out of this trauma. My Dukhan WEDNESDAY
And it shows man cannot play God! are killing thousands of innocent warheads ready to fire into any of its heart goes out to all those who have QATAR Doha High: 24C
But man wants to play God. All of the people of the poorest countries, in- neighbours. But when Iran says it lost their lives and relatives. Ar Rayyan Low: 19C
recent natural disasters like the quakes cluding Afghanistan and Iraq and even wants only nuclear energy, then the Cloudy
Umm Bab
in Japan, New Zealand and Haiti, Pakistan, in the name of war on terror. West says it cannot be allowed. Is this Harshitha Madhu Al Wakrah
volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, typhoons, Is this just? just? PO Box No 5007
hurricanes, droughts, forest fires in When 14 countries of the Security Hundreds of similar unjust things Doha Fishermen’s forecast
Al Kiranah Umm Said
other parts of the world highlight man’s Council agree that Israeli settlements go on in front of our eyes. OFFSHORE DOHA
ultimate powerlessness. in the occupied Palestine are wrong, So as long as these unjust things Wind: NW 20-35
We are in the 21st century possess- America says those 14 are wrong. Is continue unhindered, we will be wit- Please send us Waves: 7-10 feet to 14
INSHORE DOHA
ing the highest level of science and this just? nessing bigger disasters in future. your letters Wind: NW 20-30 kt
Please realise that God has urged Waves: 2-4 ft
us to do the right things but if we fail
to do so He will send down his wrath By e-mail Around the region
upon us. My prayer is that, let God editor@gulf-times.com Weather Weather
give the wisdom and enlightenment to Fax 44350474 today Max/min tomorrow Max/min
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All letters, which are subject

Nightmare to editing, should have the Tehran
in Japan name of the writer, address
and phone number. The
Dear Sir, writer’s name and address SYRIA Baghdad
A light aircraft and vehicle are seen in the rubble at Sendai airport after the
devastating earthquake and tsunami that ravaged much of Japan’s Pacific East The earthquake and tsunami have
may be withheld by re-
Damascus IRAN
coast on Friday. Japanese police say that the number of people killed in the devastated Japan. We are often help- quest. IRAQ

disaster could surpass 10,000. less when nature’s fury decides to

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EGYPT

Pandemic flu still a threat, warn scientists

SAUDI ARABIA
OMAN
RE
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Around the world

By Marlowe Hood strain will jump back into humans and event of an outbreak, or make “master spread among humans. Weather Weather
Paris once again spread across the world. lots” and ramp up production at the This is precisely what happened to today Max/min tomorrow Max/min
“H2N2 looms as a public health first sign of an outbreak. the original H1N1 strain, which first Athens M Sunny 16/10 C Rain 17/11
threat, and could re-emerge,” Gary emerged in the fall of 1917 in a mild Bangkok C Rain 36/26 C Storm 36/23
“H2N2 looms as a Beirut Clear 15/11 Clear 16/14

T
he H1N1 swine flu that swept Nobel, a researcher at the Vaccine form before coming back nine months Berlin C Rain 14/02 C Rain 07/01
the globe in 2009/10 could Research Center of the US National later in a far more deadly variant, a Cairo M Sunny 23/08 Clear 25/07
easily morph into a more Institutes of Health and lead author of public health threat, two-wave pattern typical of flu pan- Cape Town Clear
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22/17 M Sunny
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transmissible form, while an a commentary published in Nature. demics. Colombo 32/24
older, mid-20th century virus could Governments, the World Health and could re-emerge” In total, the Spanish flu, as it was Dhaka
Hong Kong
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33/21
24/20
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also come roaring back, scientists Organisation (WHO) and drug com- known, killed at least 50mn people - Istanbul Sunny 11/07 Sunny 13/07
warn in separate studies. panies “should develop a pre-emptive Acting now would be far more cost fully 3% of the world’s population at Jakarta C Storm 30/25 C Storm 30/25
The so-called Asian influenza, a vaccination programme”, he urged. effective than waiting for the strain the time - before subsiding, though Karachi Clear 34/21 Clear 36/22
London C Rain 10/07 C Rain 13/04
H2N2 strain, first appeared in 1957 and Nobel outlines three strategies for to reappear, Nobel argued, citing a US many of those deaths were due to the C Rain C Rain 30/23
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killed 1mn to 4mn people despite a anticipating a resurgence of the bird- government study estimating that a absence of antibiotics. Moscow Cloudy 05/01 P Sunny 04/-03
major vaccination campaign. borne virus. flu pandemic costs the US 71 to 167bn “There is a constant need to moni- New Delhi Clear 32/14 Clear 33/15
Studies have shown that most peo- One is to manufacture the same dollars. tor these viruses,” Sasisekharan said in New York P Cloudy 09/01 Sunny 10/03
ple today aged 50 or older retain some vaccine licenced in 1957 and immedi- In another study, published in the a statement, calling on governments to Paris M Cloudy 16/08 P Cloudy 18/08
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immunity to the virus, which contin- ately inoculate enough of the world’s online science journal PLoS One, check strains and share information. Seoul M Cloudy Windy 06/-02
12/01
ues to circulate in birds and swine. population to provide what scientists researchers at MIT in Boston led by The major factor in flu transmis- Singapore C Storm 29/25 C Rain 30/25
Those younger, however, are acutely call a “herd immunity” to the rest. Ram Sasisekharan identified a single sibility is the structure of a protein on Sydney I T Storm 25/21 Showers 24/19
vulnerable to H2N2, which increases Alternatively, health authorities mutation of the 2009 H1N1 virus the surface of the virus called hemag- Tokyo C Rain 19/07 C Rain 14/08
the chance that the potentially lethal could stockpile the same vaccine in the that would greatly boost its ability to glutinin, or “HA” for short.
 Gulf Times
28 Monday, March 14, 2011

QATAR

Summit of success
for Qatari climber
S
heikh Mohamed bin Ab-
dullah al-Thani, the co-
founder of Musafir.com,
has returned from his attempt to
conquer the 6,962m high Mount
Aconcagua with a team of three
fellow climbers.
The Qatar climber undertook
the challenge in conjunction
with Reach Out to Asia (Rota) in
an attempt to raise awareness
and funds to help their mission
to provide quality education to
children throughout Asia.
Sheikh Mohamed climbed the
highest mountain in the Ameri-
cas alongside Dubai resident Ma-
soud Mohamed, Palestinian Raed
Zidan and Kuwaiti Zed al-Refai
who was the first Arab national to
climb the Seven Summits includ-
Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Thani, who recently beat his personal record while climbing Mount ing Mount Everest.
Aconcagua. Setting off on their three-week
expedition at the end of January,
the team took the ‘Polish Gracier
Traverse Route’ and while com-
bating the challenging course,
they were met with equally in-
tense weather conditions.
Whilst Masoud Mohamed
reached the summit, Sheikh Mo-
hamed beat his personal record
by reaching 6,700m – 200m
from the peak.
He said: “Reaching a goal is an
uphill battle, one that we have to
tackle one step at a time. Life’s
lessons come from the journey,
not the destination. This is a per-
sonal victory for me and I believe
in persistence: persistence in the
face of adversity; and persistence
in reaching the goal.”
“Unwavering determination is
essential, by learning from each
setback and using the lessons to
make you an even stronger fight-
er today for reaching your pinna-
cles tomorrow,” he added.
Having climbed to within
200m of the peak, Sheikh Mo-
hamed had to choose whether to
risk his life in the 70km/h wind
and freezing temperatures, or
turn back.
“There is only so much you can
do in preparation, training, and
being equipped with the right
gear - you can basically think of
everything, but in the end odds
may still be stacked against you,”
he said, explaining “this is where
we have to assess the risks along
the way.”
“If you don’t reach today,
there is always tomorrow, be-
cause we decide our own sum-
mits, and the road we will take to
get there; and like Zed said: ‘The
mountain will always be there,’”
he added.
Rota acting director Essa al-
Mannai said: “We are honoured
to have Sheikh Mohamed’s sup-
port for making education a
right, not a privilege.”
“His continued efforts are a
shining example of what can
be accomplished with the right
determination,” he said, add-
ing “the realisation of personal
aspirations and goals, by sym-
bolically climbing our personal
peaks, is a big part of a message
for today’s youth to have vision
and learn from the path that gets
them there.”
Sheikh Mohamed added that
he was already preparing for his
next adventure in his campaign
to raise awareness for children’s
rights to education.

DFI workshop on daredevil stunts

T
he Doha Film Institute
(DFI) is hosting a week-
long training workshop for
students and filmmakers on di-
recting and performing high-end
stunts, a spokesperson said yes-
terday.
To be conducted by profession-
al stuntman Zed Korshoonoff, the
core of the workshop will focus on
film combat and is the first op-
portunity for students in Qatar to Officials of PWF, including members of Founder Executive Council and Steering Committee with ambassador Afridi at a
get behind-the-scene training on reception at Ramada.
some daredevil stunts, the official
said.
Scheduled from April 3 to 7,
the training workshop will take
A movie stunt involving a horse fall. place at the Gymnastics Federa-
tion Doha and will feature a group
of 15 students between the ages 18
and 30.
The programme includes in-
troductory sessions on the evo-
lution and range of stunts, safety
and teamwork, basic acrobatics,
film combat using camera angles,
wire work stunts and high falls,
fight scenes using strung wires,
street fighting and film combat
using weapons. The programme
is designed to enable students to
prepare for filming a short stunt
clip through theory and practical
rehearsals.
All trainings will be conducted Noor AlFerdous Trading and Contracting Co managing director Noor Maeen N Khan and other guests with ambassador
in a safe environment in keeping Afridi at a function at Oryx Rotana.
with health and safety regula-
tions, the official said.
DFI Education head Scandar
Copti said: “As the motion picture
industry grew, so did the impor-
tance of stunts. We hope students
Farewell receptions for Pakistan envoy
and filmmakers from the region

can benefit from the workshop
that will provide basic know-how
to set up stunts that are both safe
to perform and believable to audi-
ences.”
Stunt co-ordinator and per-
former Zed Korshoonoff has more
than 20 years’ experience work-
ing in the stunt industry and has
worked on such blockbusters as
the Matrix, Ghost Ship, Farscape,
Kangaroo Jack and Anna Karenina
among others.
Candidates can apply at doha-
filminstitute.com before March
A flying stunt. PICTURES: DFI 24.
A
series of farewell receptions have
been organised by various Pakistani
organisations, businesses and indi-
viduals for the outgoing Pakistani ambas-
sador to Qatar, Mohamed Asghar Afridi,
who is leaving Doha today.
A seasoned diplomat, Afridi joined the
foreign service of Pakistan in 1974 and was
posted to Doha in December 2005. Prior to
his arrival here, he was serving at Pakistani
Foreign Ministry headquarters as director-
general from August 2003 until November
2005.
Over the course of his decades-long ca-
reer, Afridi was posted in Doha earlier from
1982-85 as a diplomatic staff.
The reception parties and felicitations in
his honour were hosted by Pakistani Inter-
national Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Welfare
Forum (PWF), Pakistan Engineers Forum PEF officials, led by president Nadeem Ahmad Bashir presenting a memento
(PEF), Noor AlFerdous Trading and Con- in appreciation of ambassador Afridi’s contributions towards the welfare of
tracting Co, among others. -RH Pakistani community in Qatar.

Afridi with PIA officials and other guests at a reception programme.


GULF TIMES
Monday, March 14, 2011
Rabia-II 9, 1432 AH
BUSINESS
Qatar, Kuwait lead banks’
robust growth in Mideast
Qatar was also least hit among GCC
countries in 2008, while Kuwait came
back from a negative position in 2009
By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter
Q atar and Kuwait led from the fore-
front as Middle East banks reported
robust growth in total shareholders’
return (TSR).
TSR rose to 15.2% in 2010 against 3.6% in
the previous year, according to the Boston
Consulting Group (BCG), a global manage-
ment consulting firm and the world’s leading
advisor on business strategy.
The results were released in a new study by
BCG titled ‘Creating Value in Banking 2011:
Settling into the New Post-Crisis Equilibri-
um’, based on the analysis of about 550 global
DISASTER SCALE | Page 30
Caution sounded
on Japan rebound
timing after quake
banks and financial service companies listed
on international stock markets.
Qatar was also least hit among GCC coun-
tries in 2008, while Kuwait came back from a
negative TSR in 2009. Nearly all countries in
the Middle East recorded a recovery in TSR
since 2008 when the financial crisis hit the
Middle East, according to the report.
“This performance is a strong sign of the
resilience of the Middle Eastern banks and
the region’s financial sector more broadly
speaking.
“Having said that, the rise in TSR did
come after a year of stagnating TSR in 2009;
hence, an increase could be expected,” said
Reinhold Leichtfuss, partner and managing
director in BCG’s Dubai office and leader of
BCG’s Financial Institutions practice in the
Middle East.
Despite these positive TSR developments,
he said there are challenges ahead for the
Middle East banks resulting from revenue
and margin pressures.
“This trend will force banks to establish
more efficient operating models”, he added.
Regarding the global trends, BCG said
the banking industry’s market capitalisa-
tion, following a 55% increase in 2009, grew
by only 10% in 2010; while its TSR fell from
47.1% to just 6%.
“This performance is a strong sign of
the resilience of the Middle Eastern
banks and the region’s financial
sector more broadly speaking”
“There were some bright spots, however,
particularly among banking sectors in emerg-
ing markets such as Latin America, Central
and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East.
On the whole, however, the results suggest
that strong performance has become much
COMMODITIES REVIEW | Page 30
Loss of demand
from Japan to hit
rebound timing
MOU SIGNED | Page 33
South Korea
secures huge
Abu Dhabi
oil access;
1bn-barrel
stake assured
harder to achieve and sustain in the post-
crisis world,” it said.
This challenge was highlighted by the
study’s analysis of return on equity (ROE)
and profits.
In 2010, the global banking industry dou-
bled its ROE from 4.8% to 9.6% and more
than doubled its profits to $386bn.
But the industry made less profit in 2010
than it did before the crisis, while its equity
base has grown significantly. It swelled from
$2.6trn in 2006 to $4.2trn in 2010 – an in-
crease of more than 60%, it said.
“Business models are being retooled to re-
flect a more cautious, more highly regulated,
and less risk-oriented environment.
There is a stronger focus on transaction,
processing, and fee-based activities, rather
than on complex, high-margin products,”
Lars-Uwe Luther, a BCG partner and co-
author of the report, said.
TNK-BP partners
step up feud over
BP-Rosneft pact
Reuters
Moscow
A
nglo-Russian oil venture TNK-BP has failed again
to settle a dispute over an alliance between partner
BP and Rosneft, sparking new recriminations be-
tween its shareholders.
A board meeting held in Paris ended with BP and Rus-
sian-led management deadlocked over how - and indeed
whether – to involve TNK-BP in a pact struck in January
by BP and Rosneft to explore the Arctic offshore.
The partnership, which includes a $16bn share swap,
marks a watershed in the development of Russia’s oil
sector, with the Kremlin softening its doctrine of re-
source nationalism and opening the door to global en-
ergy majors.
State-controlled Rosneft, chaired by Deputy Prime
Minister Igor Sechin, has described as “strategic” its alli-
ance with BP and sees no place for TNK-BP, Russia’s No3
oil firm, in the deal due to its lack of deepwater expertise.
TNK-BP’s shareholder managers, led by tycoon Mikhail
Fridman and represented by the AAR consortium, counter
that the Rosneft-BP alliance violates TNK-BP’s share-
holder agreement and poses an existential threat to the
company’s business.
 Gulf Times
30 Monday, March 14, 2011

BUSINESS

Caution sounded on Japan rebound timing

Forecasters growing more plausible” that the debt costs could
cautious as earthquake impact add between 2% to 10% of GDP to its
grows; Damage to global economy massive public debt load.
not a concern; Debt sustainability If public debt grows more than 5%,
at risk as government spending rise; “there would be the speculation as
Currency strengthened initially as to whether the Japanese government
investors bring cash home would dip into its massive holdings of
foreign exchange reserves and, say, sell
Reuters US T-bonds rather than issuing huge
New York additional quantities of JGBs,” Brown
said.
It is unimaginable that Japan would

J
apan will suffer an economic hit
from Friday’s devastating earth-
quake and tsunami and then get a
boost from reconstruction, but fore-
casts are increasingly cautious as the
scale of the disaster emerges.
Japan bounced back from its last
massive natural disaster, a 1995 earth-
quake that wrecked the key port of
Kobe. But the new calamity, which en-
tailed devastation by a mammoth wall
of water, has happened at a time when
Japan’s economy is much weaker than
in 1995.
Japan is also now weighed down
by the largest public debt among ad-
vanced economies, double the size of
its $5tn gross domestic product.
Added to which, the full-scale and
consequences of a disaster Prime
Minister Naoto Kan has declared the
biggest since Second World War, are
growing as details of the devastation
become apparent.
Media reports said the death toll
could rise to 10,000. Almost 2mn
households are without power and
about 1.4mn are without running wa-
ter.
Engineers are fighting to avert a dis-
astrous meltdown at a nuclear plant
following the disaster.
“There are so many uncertain fac-
tors such as the number of casualties
and missing, so I still can’t figure out
how extensive the damage will turn
out to be and how it will impact on the
overall economy’s growth,” said Kyohei
Morita, chief economist Japan for Bar-
clays Capital.
Most economists suggested the
economy would slow down in April
through June before picking up
again as reconstruction activity
kicks in.
People eat dinner by flashlight and candlelight in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, yesterday. Almost 2mn households are without power and about
1.4mn are without running water.
But an accident at the Fukushima
nuclear power plant owned by Tokyo
Electric Power Co added a new di-
mension. Authorities have evacuated
140,000 people from around the plant
and leaked radiation to bring the re-
actor back under control in the worst
nuclear accident since the Chernobyl
disaster in 1986.
“Not since the Cold War have I been
asked to think about the economic
consequences of a nuclear explosion in
a densely populated area in a modern
industrial economy,” said Carl Wein-
berg, chief economist at High Fre-
quency Economics. “I don’t relish that
task.”
Japan’s economy was already strug-
gling before the disaster.
Its gross domestic product shrank by
an annualised 1.3% in the fourth quar-
ter of 2010. A Reuters poll published
before the quake showed economists
expected GDP to resume growing in
the first quarter, expanding by 0.5%
from the previous quarter.
Many analysts said while the econ-
omy might not return to growth in the
first quarter, it will pull through by the
end of the year.
Takahide Kiuchi, chief economist at
Nomura Securities in Tokyo, said on
Sunday that Japan’s growth rate will be
hit harder by this disaster than it was
by the Kobe quake.
Kiuchi said that production “may
slump longer this time than after the
Kobe quake. But it will still be for just
several months.” He also said “we don’t
think the economy will falter.”
As for the world economy, Japan is
not a major engine of global growth
so the disaster poses less of a risk to
other countries than soaring oil prices
caused by turmoil in the Middle East
and North Africa.
“The global economy will be fine,”
said Stephen Stanley, chief economist
at Pierpont Securities in Stamford,
Connecticut.
Some are more optimistic than
Kiuchi about the push that rebuilding
northeastern Japan should provide.
“After an initial decline in GDP
growth, (Japan’s) economic activity
will rise driven by reconstruction,” said
Mohamed El-Erian, who helps oversee
more than $1.1tn in investments at
Pimco.
Japan might see GDP expand by
more than 3% in annualised terms over
the next three quarters if the pattern
seen from the smaller 7.2 magnitude
Kobe earthquake is anything to go by,
analysts said.
Friday’s quake was centred
around the northeastern city of
Sendai in a region that is home to
auto manufacturing and semicon-
ductor factories.
One of the most worrying impacts of
the earthquake will be Japan’s already
fragile debt position.
“The timing of the disaster could not
have been much worse,” Capital Eco-
nomics said in a research note.
“A large part of the reconstruction
costs will probably have to be met by
local authorities and ultimately by
central government, which is already
struggling to bring public debt under
control,” it said.
Brendan Brown, economist at Mit-
subishi UFJ Securities, said it “seems
restructure its debt but investors might
expect higher inflation and a weaker
yen as ways to help it to cope with its
debt burden, he said.
This could hit its credit rating again.
Japan was downgraded by Standard
& Poor’s in January given the lack of a
plan to fix public finances and Moody’s
has warned it may do the same.
The yen, which jumped more than
1% to 81.87 per dollar following the
quake on Friday, likely will gain further
in the following days, depending on the
size of repatriation from insurers and
other companies.
The Bank of Japan yesterday said
it had extended a total of €55bn to 13
financial institutions in the quake-
struck northeast since Saturday to help
them secure enough funds to meet de-
posit withdrawals.
Today, the BoJ holds a one-day pol-
icy meeting and will pledge to supply
as much money as needed to keep the
calamity from de-stabilising markets
and its banking system.
“We expect that the foreign ex-
change market will take its cues from
the immediate monetary and fiscal
response,” Citigroup analysts said in
report.
Another intervention by the BoJ
in the currency market to curb yen
strength is a possibility, said Man-
soor Mohi-uddin, head of foreign
exchange strategy at UBS Macro Re-
search.
“We don’t expect USD/JPY (dol-
lar/yen) to break through 80,” he said
in a research note. “Instead we think
the Ministry of Finance would fol-
low up its action of September last
year by instructing the Bank of Japan
to intervene in the currency markets
again.”

WEEKLY COMMODITIES REVIEW

Loss of Japan demand to pressure oil, metals

Energy markets will come under
pressure today as analysts say
Japan will need more energy to
replace lost nuclear generation but
doubt its crippled infrastructure
can quickly ramp up imports.
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake
and a 10-metre tsunami devastated
Japan on Friday and shut down
ports, power plants and refineries,
leading to a sell-off in commodities
on fears of a destruction in demand
in the world’s No3 economy. The
country is also fighting to avert a
meltdown at two nuclear reactors.
“Short-term oil prices will decline
because Japan is one of the world’s
largest oil importers and the Japa-
nese economy will be severely and
negatively impacted,” said Andrew
Moorfield, head of oil and gas divi-
sion at Lloyds banking group.
“Long-term oil prices will rise as
the Japanese economy recovers
and emerging market demand
continues to grow,” he said.
Oil prices fell by as much as 3%
on Friday on worries Japan would
struggle to quickly bring back
operations at its power plants and
refineries.
News about Japan’s tragedy out-
weighed concerns about unrest in
the Middle East after weeks of bull-
ish sentiment due to a full stoppage
of Libyan oil exports and worries
about riots spreading to the world’s
largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia.
“Although the Japanese disaster
is of significant importance, the
immediate impact on oil prices will
still be driven by the Middle East
situation”, said Moorfield.
Harry Tchilinguirian from BNP
Paribas said that in the short-term,
disruption to Japan’s industries,
freight and travel will generate a
negative demand shock in light oil
products.
“Once reconstruction begins and
industrial activity normalises, we
can expect a pick-up in distillate
demand but also gasoline with a
resumption of road travel,” he said.
Most analysts agree that in the
mid-term Japan will be forced to
import more fuel oil, LNG or coal.
“Over the coming weeks, LNG
imports will likely jump as gas-
generated plants come back online
and/or ramp-up to replace the
nuclear capacity which is likely to
be offline for months or more likely,
years,” Eurasia Group analysts said
in a note.
US and UK natural gas futures
rose on Friday but Nick Campbell,
analyst at energy consultancy
Inenco, said the markets may see a
Gas prices are seen on a sign at a petrol station in Santa Monica, California. The earthquake, of magnitude 8.9 in Japan, hit commodities
prices across the board on fears over its impact on the world’s third largest consumer of commodities.
correction yesterday.
The outlook for other commodi-
ties, such as copper and rubber,
is similar to energy, with traders
bearish in the short-term and more
bullish in the long run as recon-
struction will require large amounts
of copper, aluminium and steel.
Japan accounts for around 5% of
global copper consumption. Toyota
said it would suspend operations at
all of its 12 factories in Japan.
The moves in gold prices will
likely be more driven by currency
swings than the quake impact,
traders said.
“I think there is an expectation
that Japanese industry will need
to repatriate funds in order to
cover cost of damage. Tokyo will
probably need to borrow more, too,
which should help keep the yen
high. That will depress the currency
basket and underpin gold,” a Singa-
pore trader said.
Oil endured a roller-coaster ride
last week, spiking to 2008 peaks as
unrest hit crude exporter Libya, be-
fore slumping after a deadly mas-
sive earthquake rocked the world’s
third largest economy Japan.
Gold hit a new record on Mon-
day, as escalating violence in Libya
spurred safe-haven demand from
investors, amid concerns of spread-
ing unrest in the volatile Middle
East and North Africa region.
Many raw materials were also
hampered by the stronger green-
back, which makes dollar-priced
commodities more expensive for
buyers using weaker currencies.
In turn, that tends to dent demand
and prices.
The European single currency
fell sharply against the dollar after
Moody’s slashed Greece’s debt
ratings and then downgraded Spain
on Thursday, stoking fresh worries
over the eurozone debt crisis.
OIL: World oil prices began the
week by surging to 2.5-year highs
on turmoil in large crude exporter
Libya.
But by the end of the week, New
York crude oil had dived back un-
der $100 a barrel as traders bet that
a huge earthquake in Japan would
slash the country’s crude imports.
“The demand for oil (in Japan)
could be lower, at least temporarily,
because of the earthquake,” said
Commerzbank analyst Carsten
Fritsch.
“After China and the US, Japan is
the world’s third biggest consumer
of commodities and is dependent
on imports for virtually all com-
modities,” he added.
More than 1,000 people proba-
bly died in the massive earthquake
and tsunami disaster, Kyodo News
agency said early Saturday.
The report came as grim updates
indicating appalling loss of life kept
emerging from along the hard-hit
east coast of northern Honshu
island, where the monster wave
destroyed more than 3,000 homes.
Crude futures also slumped as
Saudi Arabia launched a massive
security operation in a menacing
show of force to deter protesters
from a planned a “Day of Rage” to
press for democratic reform in the
world’s biggest oil exporter.
Illegal demonstrations were sup-
posed to start after Muslim Friday
prayers at noon but as the mosques
emptied there were no signs of
rallies, with security men manning
checkpoints in key locations across
several cities.
Saudi Arabia, with about a
quarter of the world’s oil reserves,
is a linchpin of security in the
Middle East and signs of unrest in
the kingdom are being nervously
monitored by the US and other
major powers.
Ongoing unrest in Libya has
almost wiped out production in
its key oil sector, slashing output
by 1.4mn barrels a day to under
300,000, the head of French oil
giant Total said on Friday.
“Oil production in Libya must
have fallen to between 200,000
and 300,000 barrels a day
maximum,” the chief executive of
Total, Christophe de Margerie, told
reporters in Paris.
“There are about 1.4mn barrels
a day less” than normal, since the
start of an uprising against Libyan
ruler Muammar Gaddafi on Febru-
ary 15 which has led to heavy fight-
ing between his forces and rebels.
Margerie’s was the most severe
estimate yet of the impact of
fighting on oil production. The
International Energy Agency (IEA)
on Thursday said output had shot
“well below” the official Libyan
estimate of 500 thousand barrels
per day.
Saudi Arabia has said it is com-
mitted to the stability of the oil
market and to ensuring that oil
supplies remain available amid the
Libyan unrest.
Opec on Friday warned that high
prices could dampen demand later
this year, as the oil cartel upgraded
only slightly its 2011 world demand
growth estimate.
By Friday afternoon on London’s
Intercontinental Exchange, Brent
North Sea crude for delivery in
April had dropped to $113.50 a bar-
rel from $115.77 one week earlier.
On the New York Mercantile
Exchange, West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) or light sweet crude for April,
slumped to $99.86 a barrel from
$103.45 a week earlier.
PRECIOUS METALS: Gold enjoyed
a new record peak, hitting $1,444.95
per ounce on Monday, dragging sis-
ter metal silver to another 30-year
high at $36.75.
The precious metals draw
strength in times of geopolitical and
economic turmoil because they are
regarded as a safe store of value.
“The debt crisis in eurozone
peripherals is rekindling and the
situation in North Africa and the
Arab world remains extremely
tense,” said Commerzbank analysts
in a note.
“Furthermore, speculative finan-
cial investors ... have taken profits
after prices marked an all-time high
at the start of the week.”
By late Friday on the London
Bullion Market, gold eased to
$1,411.50 an ounce from $1,427 a
week earlier.
Silver decreased to $34.10 an
ounce from $34.43.
On the London Platinum and Pal-
ladium Market, platinum dipped to
$1,777 an ounce from $1,828.
Palladium slipped to $754 an
ounce from $811.
BASE METALS: Prices sank heavily
on a cocktail of factors, including
a brace of downbeat trade data in
China and the US.
“A combination of soaring
energy prices, a stronger dollar,
and continued concern about the
macro economic outlook in light
of rising inflationary pressures, all
combined to trigger the selloff,”
said MF Global’s Ed Meir.
A pair of trade balance reports
from the world’s two largest econo-
mies dented sentiment.
The US trade deficit rose to a
seven-month high in January as
imports from China surged and oil
prices rose, overwhelming a solid
gain in exports.
China posted an unexpected
trade deficit for February, the first
gap in nearly a year as exports dra-
matically slowed, raising concerns
that the main engine of global
economic growth was faltering.
By late Friday on the London
Metal Exchange (LME), copper for
delivery in three months sank to
$9,163.25 a tonne from $9,935 a
week earlier.
Three-month aluminium
decreased to $2,547 a tonne from
$2,612.
Three-month lead dipped to
$2,417 a tonne from $2,638.
Three-month tin fell to $29,700 a
tonne from $31,750.
Three-month zinc slipped to
$2,271.50 a tonne from $2,491.25.
Three-month nickel tumbled to
$26,112 a tonne from $28,900.
COCOA: Prices tumbled on profit-
taking, after striking the highest
points for more than 30 years
the previous week on the back of
political turmoil in leading producer
Ivory Coast.
“The fact that the world’s largest
cocoa producer, Ivory Coast, is on
the verge of a civil war has largely
slipped under the radar,” said
Barclays Capital analyst Sudakshina
Unnikrishnan said Friday.
“President Laurent Gbagbo has
been resisting international pres-
sure to stand down following the
November 28 elections, which the
UN insists were decisively won by
his opponent Alasane Ouattara.”
The head of the UN Operation in
Ivory Coast (ONUCI) said that the
end of the country’s crisis over a
disputed presidential election “will
arrive sooner than foreseen”.
Choi Young-jin did not elaborate,
but he also suggested that incum-
bent leader Gbagbo might have lost
control of his troops.
By Friday on Liffe, cocoa for May
sank to £2,207 a tonne from £2,414
a week earlier.
On New York Board of Trade
(Nybot), cocoa for delivery in May
slumped to $3,383 a tonne from
$3,766 a week earlier.
SUGAR: The sugar market weak-
ened in line with other commodi-
ties and the stronger dollar.
“With other markets in retreat
and the dollar also rebounding,
sugar has followed,” noted Sucden
analyst Nick Penney.
By Friday on the Nybot, the price
of unrefined sugar for delivery in
May dipped to 28.53¢ a pound from
30.62¢ a week earlier.
On Liffe, London’s futures
exchange, the price of a tonne of
white sugar for May decreased
to £717.60 from £759.30 a week
earlier.
GRAINS AND SOYA: Prices drifted
lower after reaching recent multi-
year high points.
By Friday on the Chicago Board
of Trade, May-dated soyabean meal
– used in animal feed – fell to $13.36
a bushel from $14.14 a week earlier.
Maize for delivery in May dipped
to $6.68 a bushel from $7.28.
Wheat for May decreased to
$7.26 from $8.32.
COFFEE: Prices extended their
impressive run to hit another
post-1977 high point in New York,
as trade was driven by stretched
global supplies, before some light
profit-taking ahead of the weekend.
“Coffee prices have risen to a
fresh 34-year high this week under-
pinned by tight Arabica supplies
and low inventories,” said Barclays
Capital analysts.
By Friday on Nybot, Arabica for
delivery in May eased to 276.20¢a
pound from 277.30¢ a week earlier.
On Liffe, Robusta for May rose to
$2,423 a tonne from $2,403 a week
earlier.
RUBBER: Malaysian rubber prices
sank as dealers took to the side-
lines on anticipation that prices will
decline further.
The Malaysian Rubber Board’s
benchmark SMR20 fell to 449.20¢
per kilo, from 520.40¢ last week.

QE nears 8,500 on
buying interest
By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter
Qatar’s bourse yesterday opened
the week on a stronger note as the
benchmark index gained 2.77% to
inch near the 8,500 mark mainly
on robust buying interest in the
underlying stocks.
Easing political tensions across
the Middle East prompted foreign
institutions to bargain hunt
for quality scrips as the Qatar
Exchange’s 20-stock index rose by
228 points to 8,457.12 points. The
bourse extended rally to the fifth
day yesterday.
The market is, however, down
2.59% year-to-date.
Strong buying interest was seen
in Industries Qatar, Barwa, Doha
Bank, Commercialbank, QNB, Mas-
raf Al Rayan, Woqod and Nakilat.
The industrial index gained the
maximum of 4.17%, followed by
banks and financial institutions
(2.67%), services (2.51%) and insur-
ance (0.63%).
Market capitalisation ex-
panded 3% or about QR13bn to
QR428.52bn mainly with large,
mid and small cap equities gaining
3.21%, 2.27% and 1.28% respec-
tively.
Of the 43 stocks, 31 gained,
while only eight declined and four
were not traded.
Foreign institutions continued
to be bullish but with lesser vigour
as their net buying fell to 5.14%
from 8.16% in the previous day.
A higher 26.91% of them were
into buying compared to 23.41%
last Thursday although a higher
21.77% were into selling against
15.25%.
Domestic institutions turned
profit-takers as they were net sell-
ers to the tune of 2.87% compared
with net buyers of 2.89% in the
previous day.
A higher 20.27% of them
bought equities against 18.95%
last Thursday and a higher 23.14%
of them sold compared to 16.06%.
Qatari individual investors
continued to be profit-takers but
with lesser intensity as their net
selling sunk to 1.03% from 7.55% in
the previous day.
A lower 42.53% of them
purchased equities compared to
47.08% last Thursday and a much
lower 43.56% sold against 54.63%.
Non-Qatari retail investors
continued to be bearish but with
lesser vigour as their net selling
fell to 1.24% from 3.50% in the
previous day.
A marginally lower 10.28% of
them were into buying against
10.56% last Thursday and a lower
11.52% were into offloading com-
pared to 14.06%.
Total trading volume sunk 26%
to 20.14mn equities whereas value
gained 11% to QR704.06mn. Deals
fell 2% to 8,165.
QE capitalisation rose
3% or about QR13bn to
QR428.52bn yesterday
The services sector’s trading
volume plunged 44% to 11.62mn
but value rose 7% to QR349.37mn.
Transactions shrank 4% to 4,458.
However, the insurance sector’s
trading volume surged 40% to
0.07mn shares, value by 50% to
QR3.78mn and deals by 6% to 75.
Banks and financial institutions’
trading volume expanded 36% to
7.13mn equities and value by 19%
to QR253.14mn. Transactions lost
3% to 2,562.
The industrial sector witnessed
a 10% jump in trading volume
to 1.33mn shares, value by 7% to
QR97.77mn and deals by 6% to 1,070.
Actively traded stocks (in terms
of volume) were Rayan (5.21mn
shares); Barwa (4.83mn); Salam In-
ternational Investments (1.92mn);
Nakilat (1.55mn) and Mawashi
(1.07mn).
Gulf markets rally as
unrest concerns ease
Zawya Dow Jones
Dubai
S
tock markets in the Arabi-
an Gulf rallied yesterday as
planned protests in Saudi
Arabia over the weekend failed
to materialise and as the Gulf
Co-operation Council states
approved a $20bn economic aid
package for Bahrain and Oman.
“Investors were concerned
about a possible breakout of un-
rest in the [Saudi] kingdom, the
region’s largest economy. The
so-called ‘day of rage’ in Riyadh
on Friday passed peacefully and
that has removed a big regional
market overhang for the near
term,” said one trader at Kuwait-
based NBK Capital.
While some demonstrations
were seen in two eastern Saudi
Arabian cities on Friday; the cap-
ital Riyadh was calm, despite calls
for protests, amid a stepped-up
police presence there. The king-
dom appeared to be taking no
chances in its effort to keep the
anti-government wave from
spreading to the world’s largest
exporter of crude oil.
The region’s stock mar-
kets were further boosted by
the GCC’s recently announced
$20bn economic aid package for
Bahrain and Oman, two mem-
ber-states that have seen the
largest anti-government pro-
tests in the oil-rich bloc.
The Dubai Financial Market’s
DFM General Index paced the
region-wide gains yesterday,
rallying 4.3% to 1512.59; while
Abu Dhabi’s market climbed
1.5% to 2655.63. Kuwaiti shares
rose 1.8% to 6396.40. Oman’s
main gauge of stocks added 1.3%
to 6416.44; and Bahrain’s mar-
Bellwether Emaar Properties soared 10.1% yesterday as Dubai’s index made its largest gain in 15 months.
ket gained 0.4% to 1417.22.
Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul, the
region’s largest stock market,
pared intraday gains to close up
0.2% at 6309.63. Its benchmark
index had jumped 3.1% on Sat-
urday.
“A significant amount of po-
litical risk premium has been
taken off the table in the last
week or so with the realisation
that the planned ‘days of rage’
[in the kingdom] were likely to be
non events,” said a Riyadh-based
trader at investment bank Credit
Suisse.
The Saudi market had gained
about 15% last week to reverse a
13-session losing streak during
which time the market fell 20%
on fears regional unrest would
spread to the kingdom.
While markets have rallied
off recent lows, some analysts
warned that moves to allevi-
ate local grievances, such as the
GCC’s economic aid package for
Bahrain and Oman, are unlikely
to reduce short-term calls for
change.
“While this aid is positive
in providing underlying fis-
cal support to Oman and Bah-
rain, which have relatively more
BUSINESS
stretched fiscal position than
other GCC countries, the ad-
ditional funding is unlikely to
reduce short-term calls for
change, in our view, especially
on the political reform front,”
said EFG Hermes analyst Monica
Malik. “We expect to see further
economic measures and gradual
political reform measure an-
nouncements.”
In terms of stocks yester-
day, Dubai-bellwether Emaar
Properties soared 10.1% to 2.95
dirhams, while Abu Dhabi-
based Aldar rose 4.6% to 1.37
dirhams.
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 31
Zain up after new bid
Kuwait’s Zain hit a month-high
yesterday after receiving a new
bid for a stake in its Saudi unit,
while Gulf Arab stocks rose as
investor fears unrest would
spread to top oil exporter Saudi
Arabia eased.
Telecoms operator Zain climbed
4.4% and affiliate Zain Saudi
rose 9.2%.
Kingdom Holding, up 6.9%, and
Bahrain Telecomm (Batelco)
have a made a joint bid for a
quarter-stake in Zain Saudi after
parent Zain earlier rejected
individual offers from the two
firms.
UAE Etisalat’s $12bn takeover
offer of Zain depends on the
latter selling its Zain Saudi hold-
ing, with Etisalat active in the
kingdom through unit Mobily.
“Agreeing a deal for Zain Saudi
would be a major milestone to-
wards facilitating the Zain-Etis-
alat deal,” said Simon Simonian,
Shuaa Capital telecoms analyst.
Etisalat climbed 0.9%, while
Batelco ended flat.
“Zain is a good asset and a great
strategic fit for Etisalat
so I don’t think Etisalat will give
up easily,” said Irfan Ellam, Vice
President, and Al Mal Capital
telecoms analyst.
Zain must sell its 25% stake in
Zain Saudi, valued at $750mn,
to avoid overlap with Etisalat
which also operates in the king-
dom through affiliate Mobily.
Etisalat, keen to expand outside
its home market after losing its
monopoly in 2007, offered to
buy a 46% stake in Zain last Sep-
tember from major shareholder
Kharafi Group, a family-run
conglomerate.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 33

NEW MARKETS
QGMD posts QR3.35mn
net loss for 2010
Qatar German Company for Medical Devices
(QGMD) has reported a net loss of QR3.35mn
in 2010 against a net profit of QR1.77mn in the
previous year. The company, which otherwise
reported a positive gross profit, is planning to
enter the South African and Brazilian markets
with its disposable safety syringes, according to
a statement to the Qatar Exchange. Sales rose
14% to QR7.87mn but cost of sales grew faster at
15% to QR7.13mn, resulting in a 4% rise in gross
profit to QR0.74mn. The company’s other income
fell 60% to QR1.04mn mainly due to 50% fall in
rental income and 63% in interest earnings.
NO CONCERN
NBAD exposure to Egypt,
Libya over $400mn
National Bank of Abu Dhabi has a $377mn
exposure to Egypt and $51mn to Libya, but the
lender’s CEO said this was not cause for concern.
The exposure to Egypt is mainly to international
companies and some UAE companies while
the Libyan exposure is to banks there, Michael
Tomalin said yesterday. “The exposures are
well covered and our Egypt operations are
self-funding. Whatever happens to Egypt, we
are confident things will work out,” Tomalin said
on the sidelines of the bank’s annual general
meeting. “We have no problem exposure to
Egypt,” he added.
CREDIT FACILITIES
Arab Bank provides $410mn
for Muscat airport project
Arab Bank, Jordan’s largest lender, said
yesterday it will provide credit facilities worth
$410mn to three contractors to carry out the
third development phase of Oman’s Muscat
International Airport. Arab Bank-owned Oman
Arab Bank, Europe Arab Bank and Arab Bank
in Bahrain will collectively provide the loan
to a consortium of international contracting
companies working on the project, the lender
said in an emailed statement. The credit facilities
to be provided include advance payment
guarantees, performance guarantees, letters of
credit and overdraft facilities, Arab Bank said.
BUSINESS
OPTIMISTIC OUTLOOK
Sabic upbeat on 2011 as
growth returns Asia
Saudi Basic Industries Corp’s (Sabic) chief
executive said he was optimistic on the firm’s
outlook this year, with growth expected to
come in Asian markets. Mohamed al-Mady said
yesterday Sabic shut down its plant in Japan
after the earthquake there but will resume
operations today. He said Asian countries such
as China and India were growth drivers despite
the earthquake in Japan, while business in
Europe was now slightly improving. “Asia is the
biggest growth market for Sabic this year. It
is stabilising in Europe, Europe is the weakest
market but I think it is improving,” al-Mady said.
INFLATION FORECAST
Kuwait central bank sees
interest rates as ‘suitable’
Kuwaiti inflation is expected to be between 5%
and 6% this year, the Gulf Arab state’s central
bank governor said yesterday, adding interest
rates are at a ‘suitable’ level. Kuwait’s annual
inflation eased to 5.2% in January from a nearly
two-year high. Price pressure rose in Kuwait
last year, led by food costs, pushing inflation
to 6.0% in December, the highest rate in the oil
exporting Gulf. “We expect inflation in Kuwait
in 2011 to reach 5 to 6%,” central bank governor
Sheikh Salem Abdul-Aziz al-Sabah told a news
conference. Sabah also said the Opec member’s
2011 nominal GDP was expected to be 8.3%.

South Korea secures access to

Abu Dhabi oil in 100-year deal
Ensures S Korea’s stakeholding
QFIB firm signs
Islamic finance deal
Qatar First Investment Bank’s
(QFIB) portfolio company Emir-
ates National Factory for Plastic
Industries (ENPI) has signed
in over 1bn barrels reserves; MOU a new five-year, 250mn UAE
worth $97.7bn on oil prices now, dinar syndicated Islamic finance
says S Korean presidential office; facility arranged by Abu Dhabi
also agrees to develop 3 oil areas Islamic Bank (ADIB).
with 570mn barrels; S Korea to The financing will be used for
store 6mn barrels of Abu Dhabi the construction of a new pro-
crude “for free;” aims for 20% oil duction facility in Industrial City
self-sufficiency next year, says of Abu Dhabi 1, the purchase of
president new machinery and equipment
and the refinancing of a por-
Reuters tion of the company’s existing
Seoul/Abu Dhabi conventional debt.
The five-year facility - split into
a dinar tranche and a dollar

S
outh Korea, the world’s fifth-
largest crude oil importer, said
yesterday that it had secured ac-
cess to at least 1bn barrels of crude oil
reserves in an unprecedented oil deal
with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(Adnoc).
Under the memorandum of under-
standing, Korea National Oil Corp
(KNOC) will be guaranteed stakes in
technically recoverable reserves of at
least 1bn barrels of oil worth 110tn won
($97.68bn) based upon current oil pric-
es, the South Korean presidential office
said in a statement.
South Korea is competing with Chi-
na and India to secure energy and min-
erals reserves at a time when oil prices
are surging.
KNOC itself, which has a substantial
war chest to spend on cutting Asia’s
fourth-largest economy’s almost total
dependence on imported oil, recently,
spent $2.6bn to buy Dana Petroleum,
an oil exploration and production com-
pany.
“The partnership for 100 years,
which started between the two coun-
tries thanks to the nuclear deal, has
been strengthened more by today’s
(Sunday) deal,” President Lee Myung-
bak said in the statement.
Ties between South Korea and the
UAE have boomed after the Gulf state
in December 2009 awarded a South
Korean consortium the contract to
build four nuclear power plants worth
$20.4bn.
The deal between KNOC and Adnoc
is part of a renegotiation of a series of
concessions that start to expire in 2014.
Norway’s Statoil, Denmark’s Mae-
rsk Oil, part of AP Moeller Maersk,
Austria’s OMV, London-listed oil and
gas services firm Petrofac along with
KNOC had been named as contenders
for the concessions issued by the UAE.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak (left) walks with UAE’s Minister of Foreign Trade Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid al-Qasimi (centre) at Emirates Palace Hotel during
his visit to Abu Dhabi. The energy deal between the UAE and South Korea is for 100 years, the president said in a statement.
While the main partners of Adnoc in
the UAE’s four largest concessions are
US ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP,
France’s Total and the Japan Oil Devel-
opment Co, analysts said they must be
more competitive if they want to renew
the contracts and win more after they
begin expiring.
Abu Dhabi-based sources told Reu-
ters on Saturday that South Korea was
likely to secure a major oil field devel-
opment contract in the United Arab
Emirates, and the contract might be
signed as soon as yesterday to coincide
with President Lee’s visit to the UAE.
Seoul aims to finalise the deal next
year. It will raise the share of South
Korean-owned oil imports to 15% of
consumption from 10% in 2010, the
statement said.
“By the end of next year, I think we
can achieve 20% of oil self-sufficiency
rate,” President Lee said in a live broad-
cast from Abu Dhabi.
The UAE is the world’s third-largest
crude oil exporter and South Korea’s
second-largest supplier after Saudi
Arabia.
Separately, KNOC signed a contract
with Adnoc which will allow it to de-
velop three onshore and offshore oil
drilling areas in Abu Dhabi with a com-
bined of 570mn barrels of discovered
petroleum initially in place, it said.
For these development projects,
South Korea is considering project fi-
nancing through KNOC itself, or form-
ing a consortium with private firms,
the statement said, adding it would
have no problems in financing.
Under the heads of terms, South Ko-
rea up to 100% of the fields and has the
right to import 100% of oil to be pro-
duced in the fields in emergency, the
statement added.
The Korean government expects to
sign its final contract within this year
to produce oil from 2013 at the earliest
with the expectation of a maximum of
35,000 barrels per day in the near fu-
ture.
South Korea and Abu Dhabi also
agreed to store 6mn barrels of Abu
Dhabi crude oil in South Korea’s stor-
age facilities for free and in emergency
South Korea will be allowed to use it, it
said, adding South Korea would save
about 700bn won in buying oil, Abu
Dhabi save the storage costs.
In addition, South Korea secured
a purchasing right for up to 300,000
barrels per day over Abu Dhabi’s crude
production increase in the future, it
added.
tranche - not only extends
ENPI’s debt maturity profile but
also reduces the overall cost
of funding of the company, the
UAE’s leading manufacturer
of plastic packaging solutions,
paper products and technologi-
cally advanced plastic cards.
ADIB acted as the mandated
lead arranger for the transac-
tion which was oversubscribed
by more than 30% reflecting
the strength of ENPI’s credit.
Participating banks included
Al Hilal Bank, al khaliji, Ajman
Bank, First Gulf Bank and Mu-
badala GE Capital, for which the
transaction represented their
first Islamic investment since
inception.
“The over-subscription not
only demonstrates the financial
strength of ENPI, but also the
growing confidence in the
outlook for small and medium
enterprises and the increased
appetite across the region for Is-
lamic finance,” said Emad Man-
sour, CEO of QFIB (pictured).
QFIB, ENPI’s majority sharehold-
er, played an instrumental role
in structuring this facility which
will allow ENPI’s management
further flexibility to realise its
strategic objects.
The facility enables ENPI to
capitalise on the growing
demand for plastic solutions
regionally and internationally
as well as to raise the profile of
the developing industrial sector
in the UAE. The proceeds will
in part be used to strengthen
ENPI’s production platform as
well as to solidify the company’s
market position across the UAE.

QIB on track to wrap up ‘Zain okays Batelco,

5-year expansion strategy Kingdom $5bn offer’
By Pratap John kuk last year. The $750mn IPO was largely
Chief Business Reporter oversubscribed, a true indicator of the con-
fidence investors place in the bank as a ‘reli-
able’ Islamic financial institution, he said.
Reuters tions were rejected last month, “Zain is a good asset and a
Jeddah/Kuwait had teamed up on Sunday to great strategic fit for Etisalat so
make the joint bid for the assets. I don’t think Etisalat will give
Zain must sell its 25% stake in up easily,” said telecoms analyst

Q T
IB is well on course to successfully
complete its five-year business
strategy in 2012, which aims at en-
hancing its products and services, maxim-
ising returns to investors and consolidating
its international position as a leading Is-
lamic bank group.
Addressing the bank’s shareholders at
their ordinary general assembly yesterday,
QIB chairman Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin
Jabr al-Thani said the bank is using ‘cut-
ting-edge technologies and strengthening
its team to achieve very high productivity’.
Sheikh Jassim said QIB succeeded in
growing its nation-wide network, which by
end-2011, will have 35 branches.
QIB seeks to play a greater role in sup-
porting Qatar’s economy, which is growing
at such an amazing rate. This can only be
achieved through well-planned efforts to
increase the bank’s share in the country’s
financial market, whose services and in-
vestments are expected to grow at an even
higher rate in view of the World Cup 2022,
he said.
The bank adopted well-balanced strat-
egies to secure adequate provisions that
meet Basel II standards, thus safeguarding
its financing and investment portfolios.
Sheikh Jassim: Aiming high productivity.
This policy also included complying with
leading industry ratios and reducing non-
performing loan ratio to 0.96%.
Sheikh Jassim said QIB ‘successfully is-
sued and offered’ its first Islamic Global Su-
QIB directors
The following have been elected to QIB’s
board of directors by the bank’s shareholders
at their general assembly here yesterday.
Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Jassim bin
Jabr al-Thani, chairman (on behalf of Special
Projects Company ); Abdul Rahman Abdulla
Abdul Ghani Nasser al-Abdul Ghani, Abdullatif
bin Abdullah Zeid al-Mahmoud (on behalf of
Darul Sharq Printing, Publication & Distribu-
On the global level, QIB managed to ‘rear-
range’ its foreign investments, ‘reorganise
and restructure’ its affiliate and sister com-
panies. These include the Asian Finance
Bank (AFB) and the European Finance Bank
(EFB). The EFB is now a branch in the UK,
operating under the bank’s direct control.
The QIB’s general assembly yesterday
approved the board of directors proposal to
distribute 50% cash dividend to sharehold-
ers, which translates into QR5 per share.
The bank achieved a net profit of
QR1.33bn in 2010 derived mainly from op-
erating revenues, which reached QR2.35bn.
Total assets stood at QR51.8bn by 2010-
end.
tion Company); Abdullah Saeed Mohammad
al-Eidah (representing Borouq Trading Com-
pany); Issa Bin Rabi’a Issa al Rabi’a al Kuwari,
Mohamed bin Abdullatif Abdul Rahman
al-Mana, Mohamed bin Issa Hamad al-Hassan
al-Mohannadi, Mansour Mohammad Abdul
Fattah al-Mosleh, Nasser Rashed Suraye’
al- Ka’abi (on behalf of Al Suraye Trading &
Contracting Company).
he board of Zain approved
yesterday an offer worth
a total $5bn by Kingdom
Holding and Bahrain Telecom
(Batelco) for the Kuwaiti telco’s
Saudi assets, sources said.
The acceptance of the fresh
offer from Kingdom, owned
by Saudi billionaire Prince Al-
waleed bin Talal, and Batelco
raises the chances of Abu Dhabi’s
Etisalat completing a separate
$12bn deal to buy a controlling
stake in Zain. Zain’s Saudi unit
must be sold before that deal can
go ahead.
Zain’s board approved the of-
fer with a vote of five to two, one
source familiar with the matter,
who declined to be identified,
told Reuters.
Kingdom and Batelco offered
to buy the assets at 10 Saudi
riyals ($2.67) per share, paying
$1.2bn in total, and agreeing to
take over $3.8bn of debt, another
source said.
Kingdom and Batelco, whose
bids to buy Zain’s Saudi opera-
Zain Saudi, valued at $750mn,
to avoid overlap with Etisalat
which also operates in the king-
dom through affiliate Mobily.
Zain’s board was expected to
meet yesterday to discuss the of-
fer, a source said. The bid expires
today.
Kingdom’s shares closed up
6.9% while Zain Saudi soared
9.16% and Zain shares ended up
4.41%. Etisalat gained 0.88%
while Batelco was flat.
Etisalat, keen to expand out-
side its home market after losing
its monopoly in 2007, offered to
buy a 46% stake in Zain in Sep-
tember from major shareholder
Kharafi Group, a family-run
conglomerate.
The deal has been plagued by
delays, including a lawsuit from
unhappy Zain shareholders, and
Etisalat has twice extended a
self-imposed Jan. 15 deadline to
finish due diligence. Etisalat re-
iterated earlier this month it was
still interested in the Kuwaiti
firm.
Irfan Ellam at Al Mal Capital in
Dubai.
Last month, a source with
knowledge of the bids said the
Zain board deemed the Batelco
bid as too low while Kingdom did
not want to take on Zain Saudi’s
debts.
A third bidder, a consortium
led by Al Riyadh Group, was
not considered because it was
unclear who was behind the
group.
Batelco also holds a 15% stake
in Saudi Atheeb, a fixed line op-
erator, while Zain Saudi has no
fixed line licence.
Zain Saudi, which also com-
petes with Saudi Telecom (STC),
has racked up mounting losses
since launching services in Au-
gust 2008 and has an estimated
$3.9bn of debts.
“There are a lot of issues to
cover regarding Zain Saudi, such
as the shareholder loans and Za-
in’s collateral guarantees,” said
Simon Simonian, Shuaa Capital
telecoms analyst in Dubai.

BADMINTON
Lee beats
Lin Dan
in final
L
ee Chong Wei success-
fully defended his All-
England Open men’s
singles title when he beat
his greatest rival, Lin Dan, the
Olympic champion from China,
21-17, 21-17 in yesterday’s final in
London.
The top-seeded Malaysian’s
triumph came as a surprise to
many people, for Lin had won 15
of their 22 meetings, the last of
which was at the world’s firstmn
dollar tournament, the Korean
Open, in January.
The defeat means Lin failed to
achieve a fifth All-England Open
title, which would have been a
unique achievement in the open
era. The next All-England, not
long before the 2012 Olympics,
will be his last before his retire-
ment.
TENNIS
French
expert
visits QTF
Antony Jeroux (C) poses with officials who attended his lectures
on psychological preparation of players last week.
F
rench tennis expert
Antony Jeroux con-
cluded a five-day visit
to the Qatar Tennis
Federation (QTF) last week
Jeroux delivered lectures to
the coaches of Qatar’s national
tennis teams on the psycho-
logical preparation of players.
He also supervised coaches
and briefed them on the opti-
mal application of new meth-
odologies during the training
sessions.
Jeroux highlighted the
mechanisms of mental prepa-
ration for players to achieve
certain goals. Moreover, he
iNDIAN WELLS
Nadal, Wozniacki
advance; Murray
shocked by Young
AFP
Indian Wells
T
op ranked Rafael Nadal
and Caroline Woz-
niacki eased through
their Indian Wells
openers on Saturday, but Aus-
tralian Open runner-up Andy
Murray bit the dust in the Cal-
ifornian desert.
Nadal defeated South Af-
rican Rik de Voest 6-0, 6-2
while Wozniacki rolled over
American wildcard Sloane
Stephens 6-3, 6-2 at the In-
dian Wells WTA and ATP Mas-
ters 1000 event.
Nadal, who helped Spain
win its Davis Cup first round
tie against Belgium last week,
now has two career wins over
de Voest but it’s been eight
years between matches.
The Spaniard won their only
previous meeting in 2003 at
a Challenger event in France
when he was just 16.
“I am better player now. The
worst thing is I am eight years
older,” said the top seed Nadal,
who had a bye in the first round.
Aspire Student-athletes pose with their trophies after dominating the Intercontinental Squash Open
last week.
Bryant helps
Lakers down
Mavericks
trained player on the optimal
techniques to deal with stress
by regulating breathing and re-
laxation exercises.
Khalid al-Khelaifi, director
of QTF National teams com-
mittee, was delighted with the
visit of Jeroux.
“The QTF is keen on the
preparation process for play-
ers of Qatari national teams to
promote their level in the com-
ing years” said al-Khelaifi.
Jeroux said: “The psycho-
logical and mental preparation
for the players is one of the
most important factors of suc-
cess for sport”
He will next tackle Ryan
Sweeting who beat Argentine
27th seed Juan Monaco 6-1,
0-6, 6-1.
Wozniacki also had little
trouble, dispatching Stephens
with a steady serve and preci-
sion forehand to win in just
68 minutes, wrapping up vic-
tory with a running forehand
volley. American qualifier
Donald Young shocked world
Leafs rally to edge Sabres and stay alive
number five Murray 7-6 (7/4),
6-3 with the Scotsman look-
ing rusty in his first career
meeting against his 21-year-
old opponent.
“I started the match well but
then when it got close I didn’t
do anything to lift myself,” said
Murray.
“The crowd was for him and
then he started to play better
and I didn’t play my way back
into the match.”
It marked the first victory
over a top-10 opponent for
Young.
“I am still thinking about it,”
he said. “I’ve been in this po-
sition a couple of times with a
few players and had not won
the match.”
NBA
Reuters
Dallas
K
obe Bryant shook off
an ankle sprain and
the Los Angeles Lak-
ers relied on their big
men to beat the Dallas Mav-
ericks 96-91 in a showdown
of two of the Western Confer-
ence’s top teams Saturday.
Bryant, who had an off-
night shooting, landed awk-
wardly on his left ankle in the
third quarter and left the game.
He returned in the fourth
quarter and hit a fadeaway
jumper and two free throws
to finish with 16 points as the
Lakers (47-20) moved to with-
in a half-game of the Maver-
icks in the West.
“I thought I was done, like
done,” Bryant told reporters.
“I was just praying that when I
stood up, my foot was lined up
straight. I thought I dislocated
it.
“Even though it looks hor-
rible, I can still push off on it,”
said Bryant, who made only six
of 20 shots.
“We’ll just have to watch
it the next few days,” Lakers
coach Phil Jackson said.
Center Andrew Bynum
muscled his way for 22 points
and 15 rebounds to help the
Lakers win for the ninth time
in 10 games.
“We knew that Drew (By-
num) was going to be effective
tonight,” Jackson told reporters
after his 600th win with Los
Angeles.
“They have a big lineup, but
he has shown before that he’s
a very effective player against
the combination of what they
put out there on the floor.”
NHL
Reuters
Toronto
T
he Toronto Maple
Leafs bagged two
quick goals in the third
period and held on for
a crucial 4-3 comeback win
over the Buffalo Sabres on Sat-
urday to improve their chances
at making the playoffs.
Trailing 3-2 after two pe-
riods, Toronto’s Mikhail
Grabovski and Phil Kes-
sel scored during a 2:33 span
early in the third for a Maple
Leafs team desperately trying
to clinch a playoff spot for the
first time since 2004.
Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd (R) passes the ball as he is
pressured by Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant during the
first half of their NBA game in Dallas on Saturday.
Jackson said the team de-
cided before the game to make
a determined effort to take the
ball inside.
“We were able to get the ball
in the right way and score,” he
“The urgency showed up in
the third period,” Leafs coach
Ron Wilson told reporters.
“I’m very proud of the team
not to cave in.
Rookie goalie James Rimer
made 39 saves for Toronto,
who moved to within four
points of the last two playoff
spots in the Eastern Confer-
ence, currently held by Buf-
falo and the New York Rang-
ers.
His biggest save came with
the game on the line in the
third.
Buffalo’s Thomas Vanek
charged down the wing, but
Rimer robbed him with his
right pad, then stopped the Sa-
LOCAL SPORT
Aspire students rule
Intercon squash
S
tudent-athletes from
Aspire dominated the
results at the Inter-
continental Open 2011
which concluded last week.
In the U-13 event, Abdel-
Aziz Omeira beat his colleague
from Aspire, Marwan al-Saied,
in the final to claim the gold.
Al-Saied is a part of the As-
pire football programme but
showed his multi-sport skills
by reaching the final of this
squash tournament.
It was a similar story in the
U-15 final with both finalists
being from Aspire. Umair Za-
man got the better of his col-
league Abdulwahab al-Ishaq in
a close fought match.
Two ASPIRE boys also
reached the final of the U-17
competition with Abdulla al-
Mass defeating Sadam Me-
hawesh in three sets.
Al-Mass also competed in
said. “(Bynum) replaced Pau
(Gasol) as really our post scorer
tonight.”
Gasol added 18 points and
Ron Artest had 12.
Only four other coaches -
Results
Montreal 3 Pittsburgh
Toronto 4 Buffalo
New Jersey 3 NY Islanders 2 (Ot)
Atlanta 5 Philadelphia 4 (Ot)
Columbus 3 Carolina
Florida 4 Tampa Bay 3 (Ot)
Detroit 5 St. Louis
Nashville 4 Colorado
Vancouver 4 Calgary
NY Rangers 3 San Jose 2 (So)
(Ot Indicates Overtime, So
Denotes Shootout)
bres’ Brad Boyes on the rebound.
“You try to dig in a little
more and be ready for any-
thing,” Rimer said. “It’s hard to
SPORT
the men’s ‘B’ final but lost to
fellow Aspire representative
Sayed Azlan Amjad.
Amjad attempted to also win
the men’s ‘A’ tournament but
lost to Aspire’s Omar Abudlla
Ahmed in the final.
In the men’s professional
category Aspire’s Abdulla al-
Tamimi played very well but
lost the semifinal against Mo-
hamed al-Saied who went on
to win the tournament.
Evaluating the overall Aspire
participation in this tourna-
ment, Geoffrey Hunt, the As-
pire squash head coach said:
“The Aspire squash student
athletes had a successful tour-
nament.
They dominated mostly all
events age categories. Many of
them won their respective age
group games and some oth-
ers played the final in various
events.”
Results
Miami 118 Memphis 85
Atlanta 91 Portland 82
LA Clippers 122 Washington 101
New Orleans 115 Sacramento 103
Chicago 118 Utah 100
Milwaukee 102 Philadelphia 74
LA Lakers 96 Dallas 91
San Antonio 115 Houston 107
Denver 131 Detroit 101
Jerry Sloan (Utah), Red Auer-
bach
(Boston), Gregg Popovich
(San Antonio) and Red Holz-
man (New York) - have won
as many games with one fran-
chise as Jackson (600-287). He
also won 545 games with the
Chicago Bulls from 1989-98.
Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn
Marion both had 25 points for
second-place Dallas, but the
Mavericks (47-19) could not
overcome Los Angeles’ six-
point halftime lead.
Dallas, which won this sea-
son’s first meeting with Los
Angeles, got within two on
Marion’s dunk with 24.9 sec-
onds remaining but the Lakers
scored the next five points to
seal the victory. Earlier, in the
second quarter, the Mavericks
had leveled the score only to
see Bryant score six consecu-
tive points to lead a 9-0 run.
“Every time we were right
there, we just never got to the
hump,” Mavericks Coach Rick
Carlisle said.
“It was a tough loss because
the game obviously had mean-
ing.”
The Mavericks now trail the
conference-leading San Anto-
nio Spurs by seven games with
the Lakers closing fast.
explain, you’re just desperate
to stop the puck.”
0 The Leafs also seemed to
3 have solved the puzzle that is
Ryan Miller, recording a sec-
ond win in a row over the Buf-
2 falo goalie, who still owns an
impressive 24-10 record all-
3 time against the Leafs.
2 “Get traffic in front of him,
3 keep him deep, (and) make him
work,” said Wilson after Kes-
sel’s game-winner deflected
off a Sabres defender.
Clarke MacArthur and Tyler
Bozak delighted a sold-out Air
Canada Center crowd by stak-
ing the Maple Leafs to a 2-1
lead midway through the sec-
ond period.
Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 41
Barwa squash
from March 24
T
he Qatar Squash
Federation will or-
ganise the first
Barwa Bank squash
tournament from March 24
to 28, technical secretary
Gamal Rasmi said yesterday.
The tournament is spon-
sored by Barwa Bank with
technical support from the
QSF.
“We are expecting an
excellent turnout for the
Barwa Bank tournament,
especially as it is being held
after the highly success-
ful Intercontinental squash
tournament,” Rasmi said.
Entry forms are availble
at InterContinetal Hotel,
Ramada Hotel and the QSF.
Forms can be also down-
loaded from the QSf website
www.qatarsquash.com.
CCTC, Al Feroz
win in QA event
C
ontrol Contracting
Trading Co. Cricket
Club and Al Feroz
Cricket Club posted
wins in Qatar Airways tour-
nament organised by Qatar
Cricket Association.
CCTC thrashed Qatari
Diar by 13 runs. Electing to
bat first CCTC scored 289/7
in their allotted 50 overs.
Khurram was the top scorer
who scored 111 runs with the
help of 12 boundaries. Wa-
jid Ali made 76 and Jehangir
contributed 35.
In their chase Qatari Diar
were restricted to 276 runs
all out in 49 overs. Nouman
108 runs, Mannan 24, Sheikh
Mohamed Raheel 23 and
Saleem 20 were the main
run-getters. Rajkumar and
Naveed each claimed three
wickets.
Noman of Qatari Diar was
adjudged man of the match
for his all round perform-
ance.
In another match, Al
Feroz beat Commericalbank
cricket club by 3 wickets.
Commercialbank scored
173 runs all out in 48 overs
with Tamoor Sajjad making
94 and Faisal scoring 51.
Haroon and Mujeeb
claimed three wickets
apiece.
In reply Al Feroz reached
the target losing seven wick-
ets. Naveed 47, Sajjad 27, Qa-
landar 22 and Boota 20 were
the main run-getters. Umar
Taj got five wickets.
Mujeeb of Al Feroz was
adjudged man of the match
for his 19 runs and three
wickets.
Cotto stops
Mayorga
P
uerto Rico’s Miguel
Cotto stopped Nic-
araguan challenger
Ricardo Mayorga in
the 12th and final round to
retain his WBA super wel-
terweight title on Saturday.
The end of the contest
came when Cotto (36-2, 29
KOs), who was well ahead
on the judges’ scorecards,
caught Mayorga with a
short left hook that sent the
challenger staggering back-
ward and down on one knee.
Mayorga beat the count
but a follow-up barrage
backed him into a corner,
where he draped his arms
on the ropes and signalled
to referee Robert Byrd that
he had had enough and the
official stopped the contest.
“It was a really good fight
with an amazing finish,”
Cotto told reporters.
“He is a very strong
fighter,” he added. “He hit
me with some really good
shots.” Mayorga claimed
that during the exchange of
punches that resulted in his
knockdown, he took a pain-
ful blow to his left thumb.
“I felt my thumb touch
the back of my hand,” he
said.
“I tried to finish the final
round but the pain was too
much. I don’t care about my
thumb. I didn’t want it to
end like that. I tried to close
my fist, but I couldn’t.”
Mayorga, (29-8-1, 23
KOs), a former welterweight
champion, knew that his
best chance of victory was
to goad the more skillful
Cotto into a brawl. On sev-
eral occasions, he screamed
at his opponent to stand and
trade punches.
 Gulf Times
42 Monday, March 14, 2011

SPORT
RUGBY/SIX NATIONS

England
down
Scotland to
keep Slam
dream alive
AFP ting a penalty from wide out
London on the left after England wing
Chris Ashton was penalised for
entering a ruck from the side.

E
ngland stayed on course
for their first Grand
Slam since 2003 here
yesterday, defeating Six
Nations rivals Scotland 22-16 in
a scrappy encounter at Twick-
enham.
A second-half try from re-
placement flanker Tom Croft
and 17 points from the boots of
Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkin-
son clinched victory for Eng-
land as Scotland’s 28-year
Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez (C) is challenged by Reading’s Jay Tabb (L) and Mikele Leigertwood during their FA Cup quarter-final match at the City of Manchester Stadium in losing streak at Twickenham
Manchester, northern England yesterday. Manchester City won 1-0. (Reuters) continued.
Scotland’s points came from
ITALY FOOTBALL a late try by wing Max Evans
while fullback Chris Paterson
added two penalties and a con-
Flood missed a straightfor-
ward penalty to level the scores
on 10 minutes but made no
mistake shortly afterwards,
nailing his kick after Scotland
loosehead Allan Jacobsen went
to ground at a scrum.
The penalty was the first of
several Scotland were to con-
cede at the scrum, where both
Jacobsen and tighthead Moray
Low came under fierce pres-
sure.
Scotland regained the lead
on 21 minutes when Paterson
kicked his second penalty after
England captain Mike Tindall
was offside.
Flood levelled moments later

Ibra off version. Fly-half Ruaridh Jack- when Scottish flanker Nathan

Man City to meet

son added a drop goal. Hines failed to release a tackled
The win means that Martin player.

as Milan Johnson’s England will travel to

Dublin next Saturday knowing
that victory over Ireland will
Another penalty against Scot-
land’s scrum—Jacobsen pinged
for slipping his binding—saw

stutter give them their first Grand Slam

in eight years.
However England know they
Flood kick England into a 9-6
lead.
England’s willingness to

against
United in semis
will have to improve signifi-
cantly if they are to defeat the
Irish at Lansdowne Road after
spread the ball wide was not
matched by the quality of their
execution, however, and all too

Bari a disjointed and error-strewn

performance.
Scotland meanwhile will now
be aiming to avoid a wooden
spoon against Italy at Murray-
AFP
Milan Micah Richards scores the winning goal against Reading field after their fourth defeat of
the championship.
A shapeless first half had
often attacks broke down as the
final pass was found wanting.
And just on half-time Scot-
land levelled it when fly-half
Ruaridh Jackson split the up-
rights with a superb drop goal
from 30 meters.
England came out for the sec-

Z
latan Ibrahimovic was
sent off as Serie A leaders
AC Milan were held to a
1-1 draw at home to rock-
AFP ards spared City that worry by Alex McCarthy, before the Phillips before Kolarov dragged ended level at 9-9 as England ond half with greater purpose,
Manchester, England and took them through to a first goalkeeper blocked the follow an effort wide from distance. struggled to convert their terri- and a powerful break by Matt
FA Cup semi final since they up from Silva. Toure threatened with anoth- torial dominance and strength Banahan, on for the injured
reached the final in 1981. Another fine throughball er burst away from Karacan but at the scrum into tries. Tindall, starting a sweeping

bottom Bari yesterday.
Antonio Cassano scored a late
equaliser for the hosts when they
were already down to 10 men to
cancel out Gergely Rudolf’s first-
half opener.
It meant Milan failed to capi-
talise on second-placed Inter
Milan’s 1-1 draw at Brescia on
Friday night, meaning they stay
five points clear at the top.
For Bari, who remain 12 points
from safety, it was a welcome
boost in an otherwise dire sea-
son.
But they will be kicking them-
selves for failing to hold onto
their lead with a numerical ad-
vantage.
Milan now face the prospect
of losing Ibrahimovic for the top
of the table derby with Inter in
three weeks, depending on the
length of his ban.
“Unfortunately he had this
half-foul reaction,” said his
coach Massimiliano Allegri, who
suggested it may be Ibrahimov-
ic’s recent dry spell in front of
goal that got to him.
“He has to stay calm, these pe-
riods can happen, he shouldn’t
get annoyed because he hasn’t
scored for a month, he’s giving a
lot.”
It was a second disappointment
in a week for Milan after crashed
out of the Champions League
with a 0-0 draw at Tottenham.
“We knew this game wasn’t
won before kick-off but we made
things difficult by going behind
in a terrible first half,” added Al-
legri.
“We’re disappointed and bitter,
this week we’ve twice played well
but not got what we deserved.”
M
icah Richards City may have been firm fa- from Silva saw Wright-Phillips his powerful shot from a nar- Scotland had taken the lead attack which ended with Tom
scored the only vourites to reach the last four hit a drive into the side netting row angle was tipped away by after only three minutes, with Wood being bundled out in the
goal to earn Man- but they were given some anx- from a narrow angle. McCarthy. fullback Paterson calmly slot- corner.
chester City a 1-0 ious early moments by Read- Serbian defender Aleksander McCarthy was called on once
win over Reading in the FA Cup ing’s Jobi McAnuff when the Kolarov also curled a free kick again when he tipped over the
quarter-finals on Sunday and winger’s dangerous cross was just past the top corner. And bar from Richards’ downward
set up a semi-final clash with only just turned past his own Yaya Toure was denied by Mc- header from Kolarov’s corner.
Manchester United. post by Joleon Lescott. Carthy after he was played And after a swift break
City, who have not won a Another fine run from through by yet another fine through Jimmy Kebe, Shane
major trophy since 1976, dis- McAnuff was only halted by pass from Spain star Silva. Long had the chance to put
covered before the match at an impressive challenge from Silva went close himself after Reading ahead only to see
Eastlands that a win would take Vincent Kompany inside the he knocked the ball over Ian his bobbling shot held by Joe
them through to face Sir Alex area. Harte from a Wright-Phillips Hart.
Ferguson’s side at Wembley on McAnuff also made enough pass only to shoot straight at The tension was finally eased
the weekend of April 16/17. space to clip over a cross that McCarthy. when Kolarov’s corner was met
But for long periods it looked was headed over the bar by City almost got a lucky break by a powerful run by Richards,
like they might be taken to a re- Noel Hunt. at the start of the second pe- whose thumping header could
play by the stubborn Champi- But City finally began to cause riod when Kolarov’s corner was not be kept out by McCarthy.
onship side. their own problems in the final flicked towards his own goal
Having already taken two third once they started to feed by Brynjar Gunnarsson but Jay Rangers close on Celtic
games to get past Notts Coun- Carlos Tevez. Tabb cleared off the line. after Killie comeback
ty and Leicester, it was the The Argentinian striker Silva nearly created the
last thing that City boss Rob- sparked panic in the Reading breakthrough, when his run Rangers left it late to secure
erto Mancini, who has already area with a run that was ended took him past Jem Karacan and a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at
complained of his squad being six yards out. After the visitors his low cross was almost flicked Ibrox yesterday to move two
stretched by a heavy schedule, failed to clear, David Silva guid- in by Tevez. points behind Celtic at the
would have wanted. ed a pass through for Wright- Tevez also scuffed a shot af- top of the Scottish Premier
But a late header from Rich- Phillips, who was thwarted ter a quick break from Wright- League.
The home side took the lead
in the 38th minute when El-
Hadji Diouf fired home his first
Dundee fight back to frustrate Motherwell league goal.
However Kilmarnock were
GLASGOW: Holders Dundee United came from Another match is the last thing United manager level on the hour mark when
behind twice to keep alive their defence of the Peter Houston would have wanted before the they were awarded a contro-
Scottish Cup with a 2-2 draw against Mother- game amid their heavy fixture schedule but versial penalty for a high-foot-
well in the quarter-finals yesterday. Motherwell came closer to averting the need ed challenge by Richard Fos-
John Sutton gave Motherwell the perfect start for the March 29 replay in the closing stages. ter on Tim Glancy that Jamie
when the striker headed home in the first Yesterday’s other schedule game, between In- Hamill converted.
minute, but United forward David Goodwillie verness and Celtic was postponed owing to a With time running out sub-
equalised with a spectacular effort in the 40th waterlogged pitch. stitute Vladimir Weiss came to
minute at Tannadice. The game, which was due to take place at Tul- the rescue for Rangers when his
Sutton scored again in the 72nd minute but loch Caledonian Stadium, fell foul of an 8am cross was knocked into his own
Motherwell hardly had time to stop celebrating pitch inspection. net by Glancy when Killie were Scotland winger Simon Danielli (R) tackles England flanker James
before United substitute Jon Daly forced a re- The tie will now take place tomorrow, with a temporarily down to ten men as Haskell during their Six Nations International rugby match at
play with the equaliser one minute later. 7.45pm kick-off. Mohammadou Sissoko was off Twickenham Stadium in south-west London, England yesterday.
receiving treatment. England won 22-16. (AFP)

FOR A CAUSE GOALKEEPING HEALTH COMPLAINT GERMANY

Japan to play soccer
friendlies to ‘rally nation’
TOKYO: Japan plan to host two scheduled inter-
national soccer friendlies later this month despite
the devastation caused by the biggest earthquake
on record, which triggered a 10-metre tsunami that
submerged the country’s northeast coast.
The 8.9 magnitude quake struck on Friday and with
officials estimating a death toll of more than 10,000
, major sporting events in Japan were postponed
over the weekend but the football association be-
lieves the friendlies would help rally the nation.
Japan Football Association (JFA) general secretary
Kozo Tashima confirmed yesterday the matches
against Montenegro on March 25 at the Shizuoka
Stadium, southwest of Tokyo, and New Zealand in
the capital four days later would go ahead.
Retired Lehmann could be
set for Arsenal comeback
LONDON: Former German international goal-
keeper Jens Lehmann could be in line for a shock
short-term comeback on the bench at Arsenal, to
help ease their problems in goal, it was reported
yesterday.
The 41-year-old retired from football in 2010, but is
back in north London to work with the Gunners’
young goalkeepers, just as the Premier League title
chasers have a growing problem in the Number
One position.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has had to revert
to former first choice Manuel Almunia as both Lu-
kasz Fabianski and Wojciech Szczesny are injured
and Lehmann is spending six weeks at Arsenal to
complete his coaching badges.
‘Former Argentina coach
Menotti in intensive care’
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-
winning coach Cesar Luis Menotti is in hospital, a
spokeswoman for the Hospital Italiano in Buenos
Aires said yesterday.
She said she could give no further details, neither
confirming nor denying media reports that the
72-year-old Menotti, a chain smoker, had been
admitted to intensive care after arriving at the
hospital on Saturday with a serious lung infection.
Menotti has been out of work since leaving his job
as sporting director of Independiente in October
along with the coach he had appointed, Daniel
Garnero. Menotti played in midfield for Rosario
Central, Racing Club, Boca Juniors, Santos of Brazil
and Argentina in the 1960s.
Real prez backs Mourinho
over fixtures flap
MADRID: Real Madrid president Florentino Perez
has backed Jose Mourinho in his complaints over
the Spanish league fixtures schedule, which the
Portuguese coach argues works in Barcelona’s
favour.
Mourinho has repeatedly complained in recent
weeks that Real have less time for rest between
matches than arch-rivals and league leaders
Barcelona.
The 48-year-old has also complained that Real play
in the late 10 pm slot more often than Barcelona
and that his side usually have to play after the
Catalan side, which piles on the pressure because
his players go on the pitch knowing their rivals
have won.
Bayer beat Mainz to trim
Dortmund’s lead
BERLIN: Brazil midfielder Renato Augusto
trimmed Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga lead
to nine points with a superb strike yesterday to
give second-place Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 win
at Mainz.
With the game heading towards a goalless
draw, Augusto robbed Mainz’s Danish defender
Bo Svensson of possession on the edge of the
penalty area and drilled home his shot on 82
minutes to poach three points for his team.
After Dortmund lost 1-0 at Hoffenheim on
Saturday, Leverkusen made up some ground on
the leaders, while defending champions Bayern
Munich are up to fourth, 16 points behind Dort-
mund, after they hammered Hamburg.
 Gulf Times
Monday, March 14, 2011 43

MATCH REPORT PREVIEW

Australia into Pakistan positive

despite Akmals
quarters after soap opera
downing Kenya
AFP
Kandy, Sri Lanka

P
akistan captain Sha-
hid Afridi is positive of
wrapping up a World
Cup quarter-final spot
today despite another twist in
‘There was a bit of rust even with batting and fielding’ the ongoing Akmal brothers
soap opera.
Pakistan’s build-up to the
AFP game against Zimbabwe has
Bangalore, India been dominated by Kamran and
Umar Akmal. Ever since Kam-
ran put in a blundering per-

R
eigning champions formance behind the stumps in
Australia eased into the the 110-run defeat to New Zea-
quarter-finals of the land last Tuesday, it had been
World Cup with an 60- widely-expected that younger
run win against Group A make- brother Umar would take the
weights Kenya at the Chinnas- gloves. Umar was then accused
wamy Stadium yesterday. of feigning a finger injury to
Kenya, chasing 325 for an un- save his brother’s job.
likely win, were held to 264 for Yesterday, the 21-year-old
six for their fifth defeat in as Umar managed to sprain his
many group matches. right ankle while playing foot-
Kenya faced a daunting chase ball during practice although
considering their previous best Afridi said the batsman was not
total in this group was the 198 seriously hurt. “We want to put
they’d made last time out in a everything behind us, the de-
five-wicket defeat by Canada. feat and any other thing which
Opener Alex Obanda struck could hurt our preparation. We ON A STICKY WICKET: Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal
fast bowler Shaun Tait for two are in a positive frame of mind prepares for a team training session at The Pallekele International
superb sixes, flaying him over and will play for a win,” said Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. (AFP)
point and driving him high over Afridi. “Umar is OK. As far as
long-on to the delight of neutral Kamran is concerned he has re- ons Australia in their last group “We’ll believe that if we can
fans in a crowd of 13,600. alised his mistakes and we have match on March 19. play our best cricket then we
But when he was bowled for given him full confidence and at Pakistan, with six points af- can proceed but we must not
14, swinging across a Tait full this moment he is our best op- ter four matches, need a win to repeat the mistakes of our last
toss, Kenya were suddenly 46 for tion,” said Afridi, ruling out any join co-hosts Sri Lanka into the two matches,” said Zimbabwe
three when a mix-up between make-shift changes. last eight. Pakistan are likely to captain Elton Chigumbura,
the Obuya brothers saw David Pakistan also still have a rest express paceman Shoaib who will celebrate his 25th
run out. problem with their open- Akhtar, who went for 71 in his birthday on match day.
Collins Obuya (98 not out) and ers whose inability to put on a nine overs against New Zea- Chigumbura said his side will
Tanmay Mishra (72) kept Aus- healthy partnership is straining land, and if Umar is ruled out, be wary of leg-spinner Afridi,
tralia at bay with career-best in- the middle-order. But despite bring in paceman Wahab Riaz who is the highest wicket-taker
nings in a fourth-wicket stand of the headaches, captain Afridi and batsman Asad Shafiq. in the tournament with 15.
115, although the pair’s run-rate insists his team will not repeat Zimbabwe still have a slim “With Afridi we have to
never suggested an upset win. the first round exits of the 2003 chance of making the last eight make sure we look to play him
Mishra made a 63-ball fifty and 2007 World Cups. despite having so far collected straight. We have noticed that
featuring a six and six fours. It “I have a lot of confidence in just two points. he’s had plenty of dismiss-
was his second half-century in my players. We will win against But they need to beat Paki- als either bowled or lbw so we
Zimbabwe to reach the quar- stan and Kenya, dramatically must make sure we don’t look
ter-finals,” said Afridi, whose improve their run-rate and still to go across the line too much,”
SCOREBOARD team face defending champi- hope Australia beat Pakistan. said Chigumbura.

Australia
S. Watson c Ouma b Odhiambo .............. 21
B. Haddin c Patel b Kamande...................65
SPOTLIGHT
R. Ponting lbw b C. Obuya .........................36
M. Clarke c Patel b Odhiambo ................. 93
C. White b Kamande ........................................2
M. Hussey c D. Obuya b Odhiambo ......54
S. Smith not out ................................................ 17
Batsmen not playing for
M. Johnson not out ........................................ 12
Extras (b 2 lb 5 w 16 nb 1) .......................... 24
Total (for six wickets; 50 overs) ...........324
USEFUL KNOCK: Australian batsman Michael Hussey (L) and Michael Clarke complete a run during their World
Cup match against Kenya at The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. (AFP) country, rages skipper Dhoni
Fall of wickets: 1-38 2-127 3-131 4-143 5-257 as many innings following his 51 a full match run-out for over two a six and seven fours during a
6-304
against Canada. weeks after last weekend’s clash composed 80-ball knock be- AFP our instincts and looked to play out the 50 overs,”
Did not bat: B. Lee, J. Krejza, S. Tait
Bowling: Odoyo 10-0-50-0 (1w), Otieno
The pair played Australia’s with Sri Lanka was rained off. fore he holed out off fast bowler Nagpur said the captain. India lost four wickets, includ-
8-0-75-0, Odhiambo 10-1-57-3 (2w), Ngoche lead spin duo of Steven Smith “But full credit to Kenya, they Nehemiah Odhiambo, who took ing those of Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir (69)
8-0-56-0 (1w), Kamande 10-0-46-2 (2w), C. and Jason Krejza with relative fought really well. We tried a few three for 57. for 30 runs during the batting powerplay which

I
Obuya 4-0-33-1 (1nb, 1w) ease, striking several bounda- different things today and hope- Opening batsman Brad Had- ndia skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lashed eventually restricted their total to 296 in 48.4
Kenya ries off the slow bowlers whose fully we’ve shaken off the rust din, dropped twice off tough out at his batsmen for playing to the gallery overs. “Spectators love to see fours and sixes,
M. Ouma c Haddin b Lee ...............................4 combined 14 wicketless overs ahead of the Canada game.” chances early in his innings, and not for their country in the three-wicket but when you lose two-three wickets, you need
A. Obanda b Tait...............................................14
cost 72 runs. Mishra fell for a Kenya captain Jimmy Kaman- made 65 and helped skipper World Cup defeat to South Africa. to change your approach. When you have 270-
C. Obuya not out ............................................98
D. Obuya run out ............................................. 12
career-best 72 after a need- de said: “At the end of the day we Ricky Ponting add 89 for the India looked set to post a mammoth total in 280 runs on the board, batsmen want to play big
T. Mishra run out ............................................. 72 less run out saw him beaten by came out second, so it’s a little second wicket. Saturday’s game when they reached 267-1 follow- shots,” said Dhoni.
T. Odoyo b Tait ................................................. 35 Michael Clarke’s direct hit from disappointing. The worst thing Haddin was caught at deep ing Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliant 111, but lost their “You need to curb your thinking. Different peo-
R. Patel run out ...................................................6 backward point. Collins Obuya is we have only one more game midwicket by Rakep Patel off last nine wickets for just 29 runs in nine overs. ple have different roles and responsibilities.”
J. Kamande not out ......................................... 0 completed his fifty in style with left.” Kenya captain Jimmy Kamande, “In the batting powerplay, it’s important that India’s dramatic collapse was triggered by
Extras (b 2 lb 6 w 12 nb 3)......................... 23 a huge six over long-off against Earlier Australia, now un- who took two for nine in eight you don’t play for the crowd, but for your coun- South African paceman Dale Steyn in a man-of-
Total (for six wickets; 50 overs) .......... 264
Fall of wickets: 1-12 2-21 3-46 4-161 5-247
Shane Watson and later pulled beaten in 33 matches at the balls with his off-spinners. try,” said Dhoni. the-match performance of 5-50.
6-263 him high above square leg. World Cup dating back to 1999, Ponting was lbw to leg-spin- The captain was furious over India’s inability to South Africa achieved their 297-run target with
Did not bat: N. Odhiambo, E. Otieno, J. He needed three off the last lost three wickets for 16 runs to ner Collins Obuya for 36. master the powerplay and he insists his men will two balls to spare.
Ngoche ball, from Tait, to get a hundred slump to 143 for four. Hussey, in at the fall of the have to learn to make the most of the fielding re- “Cricket is a cruel game. This is not the first
Bowling: Lee 8-1-26-1, Tait 8-0-49-2 (2nb, but could only manage a single. But a stand of 114 between fourth wicket, was playing his strictions if they are to achieve their World Cup time I’ve experienced it (the batting collapse). I
5w), M. Johnson 8-1-40-0 (2w), Smith 6-0- In all he faced 129 balls with vice-captain Clarke (93) and the first match of the tournament dream. India still top Group B with seven points am not disappointed, but it is a big learning curve
36-0, Krejza 8-0-36-0, Clarke 5-0-21-0,
three sixes and nine fours. returning Michael Hussey (54) after recovering from a ham- from five games and should still make the quar- and it happens with all sides,” said Dhoni.
Watson 7-0-48-0 (1w)
Result: Australia won by 60 runs
“There was a bit of rust even helped Australia finish on 324 for string problem and getting a late ter-finals, but Dhoni has concerns over his team. “Sometimes, when you look for those extra 20
Australia won the toss and elected to bat. with batting and the fielding,” six. Clarke, on the ground where summons as a replacement for “The batting powerplay was the turning point runs, you risk a few things and end up with 30-40
said Australia skipper Ricky he made a hundred on Test de- injured fast bowler Doug Bol- of the match as we lost too many wickets during runs less, which can matter in the end. Today was
Ponting whose team hadn’t had but against India in 2004, struck linger. that period. After that, we should have curbed an ideal example of that.”

PREVIEW

Confident Bangladesh eye Netherlands scalp

AFP a tournament they are co-hosting for young team for the thrilling two-wick- bowlers did a fantastic job on a really known to the Tigers, having met them the West Indies by 215 runs and were
Chittagong the first time with India and Sri Lanka. et win over England that left Andrew good wicket.” just once before, even though the thrashed by South Africa by 231 runs,
A victory over the Dutch would also Strauss’s men on the verge of elimina- It was just the boost Bangladesh Dutch are taking part in their fourth before bowing to India by five wickets.
see them through if England, who have tion. needed after being shot out for their World Cup and have played 61 one- “We’ve been inconsistent,” admit-

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angladesh, on a high after up- five points, lose their last match to the lowest one-day total of 58 by the West dayers so far. ted Borren. “It’s never easy because we
setting England to rescue their West Indies in Chennai on Thursday. ‘ There will be ups and downs but Indies in Dhaka a week earlier, a per- The two sides met in Glasgow last don’t get to play at this level very often.
World Cup campaign, will But if the unpredictable group con- this team is winning like it hasn’t formance that angered fans and local year in a rain-shortened 30-over game But we still want to get a win or two on
seek to boost their run-rate tinues to throw up surprises, run-rate done in the past’ media. which the Dutch won by six wickets the board.”
when they tackle winless Netherlands could determine which teams make it “It was a tough week for everyone,” with current captain Peter Borren tak- Bangladesh will be wary of all-
today. through to the knockout phase. Bangladesh had plunged to 169-8 the coach said. “We had one hiccup but ing 3-20 and Wesley Barresi making rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, who
The Tigers, whose shock victory on “If we play the two games well, the chasing England’s modest 225 when we have done very well in the recent 64. smashed 119 off 110 balls against Eng-
Friday took them to four points, are run-rate will take care of itself,” Bang- the gutsy ninth-wicket pair of Mo- past. Everyone needs to understand The non-Test nation has lost all four land earlier in the tournament, and
currently fifth in group B with a net ladesh coach Jamie Siddons said. “The hammad Mahmudullah and Shafiul Is- that this is a young team and Shakib (Al matches in this tournament so far and batsman Tom Cooper.
run-rate of -1.241, which is even lower important thing is to keep winning. lam hammered 58 runs to see the hosts Hasan) is a a young captain. will need to lift their game to beat the Left-arm spinner Pieter Seelaar
than sixth-placed Ireland’s -0.444 “We are focusing on the Netherlands home. “There will be ups and downs but Tigers in the day match at the Zahur picked up three wickets each against
Bangladesh must beat both the game. We have given ourselves every “It was good that we pulled it off,” this team is winning like it hasn’t done Ahmed Chowdhury stadium. the West Indies and India, where his
Dutch and power-packed South Af- chance to be in the quarter-finals.” said Siddons. “But it was just amazing in the past.” The Dutch extended England in victims were Virender Sehwag, Sachin
rica to cement a quarter-final berth in Siddons paid glowing tribute to his that we kept England down to 225. The The Netherlands are virtually un- their opening game, but then lost to Tendulkar and Yusuf Pathan.