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GULF TIMES

published in

QATAR

since 1978

MONDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 11035

December 17, 2018Rabia II 10, 1440 AH www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met yesterday at his Amiri Diwan off ice with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his accompanying delegation. The meeting dealt with prospects of co-operation between Qatar and the United Nations and means to develop them. In this context, the UN secretary-general extended thanks to the Amir for Qatar’s humanitarian eff orts in diff erent countries, including Palestine, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. He also thanked the Amir for Qatar’s hosting of the Doha Forum, which discusses a set of regional and international challenges, and for signing the Sustainable and Strategic Partnership agreement between Qatar and the UN, in which Qatar will support UN agencies with $500mn. The Amir and the UN secretary-general also reviewed the situation in Syria, Yemen and Palestine and the repercussions of the Gulf crisis on the region, stressing the importance of solving it through dialogue.

Amir meets UN secretary-general

Doha Forum tackles today’s challenges;ends with call for building trust, hope

The 2018 Doha Forum, held un-der the patronage of His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin

Hamad al-Thani, ended yesterday after two days of thought-provoking discus-sions around the world’s most pressing challenges.

Under the theme “Shaping Policy in an Interconnected World”, this year’s edition brought together international decision-makers, heads of state, min-isters, business executives and advo-cates to examine policy around the critical challenges facing the world today.

Key speakers included the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif, Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad, and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Gu-terres.

The forum had high-level panels, plenaries and workshops around four key themes: Security, Economic De-velopment, Peace and Mediation, and Trends and Transitions.

Delivering the closing keynote ad-dress, Guterres called for increased in-ternational co-operation as it “has never been more critical to repair broken trust and uphold dignity for one and all”.

HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman al-Thani and other dignitaries were present.

“Despite these times of chaos and confusion, I see winds of hope around the world,” the UN secretary-general stated, referring to the historic peace agreements in the Horn of Africa, South Sudan, Korean peninsula and the blooming of hope elsewhere.

“When we work together – we can achieve great things for the good of all

people. International co-operation works,” he pointed out.

Earlier, beginning his address, Gu-terres congratulated the Doha Forum and its mission to serve as a “platform for global dialogue on critical challeng-es facing our world”.

“Perhaps the most precious – and in-creasingly scarce – resource in our world today is dialogue. Places to broaden un-derstanding, share ideas, think out of the box and fi nd common ground.

“We need more such platforms to respond to our collective challenges. I thank you for the space you have cre-ated through the Doha Forum.”

The UN secretary-general reminded the gathering that the world is facing enormous challenges that can’t be solved by any country on its own. These include climate change - which he described as the defi ning challenge of our times - mi-gration and refugees; the multiplication of confl icts that are increasingly inter-linked - which itself is linked to newer

threats of global terrorism and interna-tional criminality; the impacts of new technologies that are diffi cult to manage in all its dimensions.

“Two things are clear. First, more than ever, we need global responses to global challenges. Second, more than ever, multilateralism - international co-operation - is under fi re. This is the ultimate paradox in today’s world. Multilateralism is being questioned precisely when we need it most. The world is more connected, yet socie-ties are becoming more fragmented. Challenges are growing outward, while many people are turning inward.

“Behind this paradox is a huge defi -cit of trust. As I said at the UN General Assembly, our world is suff ering from a bad case of Trust Defi cit Disorder. It’s a defi cit on many levels. Trust between people and political institutions. Trust among countries. Trust in internation-al organisations. And many are profi t-ing from that alienation and distrust.

“The best-selling brand in our world today is fear. It gets ratings. It wins votes. It generates clicks. And the trust defi cit grows ever larger with: uneven economic growth that leaves too many people and communities behind, stag-nant or declining real per capita in-comes, escalating trade disputes, rising debt, an undercurrent of geopolitical tensions adding further pressure to the global economy, and perhaps above all, rising inequalities that undermine sta-bility and social cohesion.

“People are rightly questioning a world where a handful of people – mostly men – hold the same wealth as half of humanity. All of this under-scores the need for a fair globalisation. And the good news is that we have a blueprint for that - the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” To Page 16

QP to invest $20bn in USover next 5 years: al-Kaabi

QP signs deal with Eni forstake in 3 Mexico oilfi eldsBy Pratap JohnChief Business Reporter

Qatar Petroleum has entered into an agreement with Eni to ac-quire a 35% participating inter-

est in three off shore oilfi elds in Mexico.The agreement covers the Amoca,

Mizton, and Tecoalli off shore oil-fi elds, which lie in Area 1 in Mexico’s Campeche Bay.

The agreement is subject to custom-ary regulatory approvals by the gov-ernment of Mexico. Following such ap-proval, both Eni and Qatar Petroleum will jointly hold 100% interest in the Area 1 production sharing contract.

The National Hydrocarbon Commis-sion of Mexico approved the phased de-velopment plan for Area 1 allowing for early production to start by mid- 2019 through a wellhead platform in the Miz-ton fi eld and a multiphase pipeline for treatment at an existing Pemex facility.

The full fi eld production is expected to be achieved in 2021 through a fl oat-ing production, storage, and offl oading facility with a treatment capacity of 90,000 barrels of oil per day.

Two additional platforms will be in-stalled on the Amoca fi eld and the Te-coalli fi eld. Area 1 is estimated to hold 2.1bn barrels of oil equivalent, 90% of which is oil. To Page 21

By Pratap JohnChief Business Reporter

Qatar Petroleum is looking to invest nearly $20bn in the United States over the next

five years “in different projects in dif-ferent areas”, HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi has said.

“In the US, of course with the LNG exports that we will have, we also have upstream position in gas, oil, conven-tional and non-conventional. We think the US has a huge potential in produc-tion, going forward…and for a very long time. So we are looking at invest-ing there,” al-Kaabi said at a plenary session on ‘New age energy policy: a balancing act’ at the Doha Forum yes-terday.

Al-Kaabi said: “In the US, we have very large investments. We have invested in the Golden Pass LNG Terminal. We are in the fi nal stages, assessing with our partners to take a fi nal investment deci-sion on the project. And that should be

coming in the next few weeks. “If that goes ahead…that will be an

increase of about 60mn tonnes of LNG exports that we will be part of, in ad-dition to the 110mn tonnes of LNG ex-ports that we are reaching in fi ve years or so.”

Qatar Petroleum is majority owner of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, with Exxon and ConocoPhillips hold-ing smaller stakes.

Al-Kaabi highlighted Qatar’s strat-egy, under which, he said, “we plan to grow our production from 4.8mn bar-rels of oil equivalent per day to 6.5mn barrels of oil equivalent per day in the next few years.

“In my view, it is a conservative strategy; we are working very hard to achieve that. We are already almost at that target, if you will.”

In September, Qatar Petroleum announced further increase in the capacity of Qatar’s LNG expansion project, by adding a fourth liquefac-tion train, to raise the country’s liq-uefied natural gas capacity to 110mn tonnes per year. To Page 21

HE Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi with Claudio Descalzi, CEO, Eni following the announcement that Qatar Petroleum has entered into an agreement with the Italian energy major to acquire a 35% participating interest in three off shore oilfields in Mexico. PICTURE: Thajuddin

Al Jazeera unveilsSaudi-UAE plan to invade Qatarusing mercenaries

The leader of a French mer-cenary group has revealed a military plan to invade Qa-

tar. The plan was put in place by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in 1996 after the failure of the coup attempt in Doha that year.

Paul Barrell, the mercenary leader, said he was hired to execute the plan. He made the comment for the fi rst time while talking to Al Jazeera journalist Tamer al-Meshal in an exclusive meeting aired on the weekly series What’s Hidden is Greater.

He said the UAE had provided him with considerable support for the operation and hosted him and his team at the InterContinental Hotel in Abu Dhabi, where many weapons were stored. Barrell and his team were also given offi cial UAE passports to facilitate their movements away from sight. He stressed that the current Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mo-hamed bin Zayed - who was then chief of staff – was the one who granted them the passports.

QATAR | Offi cial

Tomorrow offi cial holidayto celebrate National DayOn the occasion of Qatar National Day which will be celebrated on December18, the Amiri Diwan has announced that tomorrow (Tuesday) will be an off icial holiday, and that employees will resume work on Wednesday, December 19.

QATAR | Gesture

Amir pardons anumber of prisonersHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued an Amiri gesture pardoning a number of prisoners, on the occasion of Qatar National Day.

QATAR | Offi cial

Amir congratulatesKazakhstan presidentHis Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday cables of congratulations to the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, on the anniversary of his country’s Independence Day. HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani also sent a similar cable to Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev.

World leaders gather in Doha to discuss and find solutions to the most pressing problems faced by the global community

4 new UN offices tobe opened in Qatar

Qatar has signed a host of partner-ships with the United Nations (UN) on the sidelines of the Doha

Forum in order to strengthen co-opera-tion between the world body and the Gulf state, including the establishment of four new UN offi ces in the country.

The UN and Qatar signed a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) yesterday, endorsing co-operation between both parties, which includes the establish-ment of a Junior Professional Programme and a multi-year non-earmarked contri-bution of $500mn to fund UN agencies.

Doha also signed an agreement with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and an agreement with the UN Offi ce for Counter-Terrorism.

The four new UN offi ces to be opened in Qatar are for the Unicef, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNH-CR), and the Offi ce for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Aff airs (OCHA).

The agreements were signed by Qa-tar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs HE Sheikh Mohamed

bin Abdulrahman al-Thani and Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.

HE Lolwah AlKhater, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs, said the agreements signed underscore Qa-tar’s strong relationship with the United Nations.

“Qatar strongly believes in the power of multilateralism to advance agenda that serves all of humanity without dis-crimination against any sect. The UN through its incredible work embodies that multilateralism, and we are proud to be contributing to its success,” said AlKhater.

Noha Aboueldahab, visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center, told Al Jazeera the moves were signifi cant given the multiple humanitarian crises in the re-gion.

“Increased UN presence in Qatar is a very positive development so it can formalise some of these processes and hopefully streamline them and make them eff ective,” said.

—Al Jazeera News

Doha pledges $500mn for UN agenciesHE the prime minister and the UN secretary-general at the Doha Forum yesterday.

Qatar on right track to host amazing World Cup: Xavi

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201810

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani attended the celebration organised by Qatar Autism Society at the Civil Defence Club yesterday morning on the occasion of the National Day. During the ceremony, a documentary film entitled What do autistic children say to Qatar was screened with children expressing their feelings towards Qatar. The Prime Minister also attended the Qatari Ardha dance, performed by a group of the Qatar Autism Society’s children.

PM attends Qatar Autism Society’s National Day celebration

Amir ratifies MoU between Qatar, US

Amir issues accession document

Amir ratifies cabinet decisions

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday issued Decree No 61 of 2018, ratifying a memorandum of understanding for co-operation in the field of combating human traff icking between the governments of Qatar and the US, signed in Washington on January 30, 2018, annexed to this decree and to have the force of law in line with Article 68 of the constitution.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani issued an accession document approving Qatar’s accession to the Protocol of 1988, for International Convention on Load Lines 1966.

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has ratified following Cabinet decisions:1. No 24 of 2018 on the formation of a steering committee for Qatar Internet exchange Point.2. No 25 of 2018 to modify the organisation of some of the administrative units comprising the Public Works authority and to set its terms of reference.3. No 26 of 2018 on to modify the organisation of some of the administrative units comprising the Ministry of Transport and Communications and to set their terms of reference.4. No 27 of 2018 on modifying the organisation of some administrative units that comprise the Ministry of Culture and Sport and assigning its competences.

Al-Mahmoud praises stand of European Parliament on siege

The Advisory Council has reiterated its deep appre-ciation to the European

Parliament for its rejection of the unjust blockade imposed on Qatar and the fl agrant violation of inter-national laws and humanitarian norms by the siege countries.

This came during a meet-ing yesterday between HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council, Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, and a delegation of the European Parliament for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula head-ed by Michele Alliot-Marie.

HE al-Mahmoud appreciated the European Parliament’s denuncia-tion of the abuses and discrimina-tory actions of blockading coun-tries against Qatari citizens and expressed his deep gratitude to the European Parliament for its stance.

The Speaker pointed out His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s statement during his speech while opening the Doha Forum 2018, wherein the Amir stressed that solution of the Gulf crisis can be attained only by lifting the blockade and resolving the diff erences through dialogue based on mutual respect.

HE al-Mahmoud explained to the delegation the economic, po-litical, legislative cultural devel-opments that Qatar is witnessing, as well as the parameters of Qa-tar’s foreign policy which is gov-erned by the principles of mutual respect, common interests, non-interference in internal aff airs of other countries, abiding by inter-national law, covenants and in-

struments and observance of the rights and supporting of causes of oppressed peoples, combating violence and terrorism and resolv-ing diff erences through dialogue and diplomatic means.

The Speaker stated that the coming period will see more co-operation and closer relationship between the Advisory Council and the European Parliament.

Meanwhile, Michelle Alliot-Marie expressed her pleasure at closely seeing the comprehensive and rapid developments Qatar is witnessing in various fields, and the active and influential role Qatar plays regionally and inter-nationally in the interest of peace and stability.

Michelle Alliot-Marie ex-pressed her satisfaction with Qa-

tar holding the next session of the General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, wherein the European Parliament enjoys the status of associate membership. It will be an important session as it will be held amidst critical region-al and international situations.

Yesterday’s meeting discussed the strategic relations between Qa-tar and the European Union and the

role of the Advisory Council and the European Parliament in support-ing and promoting these relations. Similarly, a number of regional and international issues of common concern were also reviewed.

The meeting, was attended by members of the Advisory Coun-cil and the head of the European Union Delegation to the Arab Gulf Countries.

QNADoha

HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council, Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, with the delegation of the European Parliament for Relations with the Arabian Peninsula headed by Michele Alliot-Marie.

HE the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs, Yousef bin Mohamed al-Othman Fakhroo met Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Aff airs Terence Nicholas Quick, and accompanying delegation, currently visiting Qatar. During the meeting, they discussed areas of co-operation between Qatar and Greece and means of supporting and developing them. Below: HE Yousef bin Mohamed al-Othman Fakhroo, who is also the Chairman of Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities, also met the United Nations Undersecretary-General for |Humanitarian Aff airs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator, Mark Lowcock, and his accompanying delegation, in Doha. During the meeting, they discussed areas of co-operation in the field of humanitarian aff airs and means of supporting and developing them.

Labour minister holds meetings

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201812

Ashghal to open new highways tomorrowThe Public Works Author-

ity (Ashghal) yesterday an-nounced that it will open

sections of Al Wakrah Main Road and a strategic link road between Doha Expressway, the southern part of Doha Express Highway, E Ring Road, F Ring Road and G Ring Road as well as most parts of Al Wati-yyat Interchange on F Ring Road, on Tuesday to coincide with Qatar National Day.

Highway Project Department as-sistant manager Bader Darweesh said that the opening of 3.5km of main carriageway will make for three lanes in each direction and a 126m underpass with two lanes in each direction, extending from Barwa Village east Airport In-terchange on G Ring Road to the existing Pearl Roundabout.

The delivery of the upgraded road will provide free-fl ow traffi c movement between Mesaieed and Al Wakrah City and Doha (via Air-port Interchange), seamless travel along the main carriageway and easy access to local destinations via effi cient traffi c movements at the junctions.

In May, Ashghal launched con-struction works to upgrade 9km of Al Wakrah Main Road. The project will deliver three lanes in each di-rection including an underpass that will span between Al Wakrah City and Doha. As with many other projects on Ashghal’s Expressway programme, the project will also deliver 6.1km of pedestrian and cycle paths to encourage healthy lifestyles and well-being.

Upon completion of the project in the second quarter of 2020, Ashghal anticipates that the upgraded 9km road that will connect Al Wakrah to Doha via Airport Interchange (G Ring Road), will signifi cantly en-hance the travel experience of road users in the area.

Travel time from Al Matar Street up to Pearl Roundabout will be re-duced by approximately 50% due to increased lane capacity to accom-modate up to 600 vehicles per hour and free-fl ow traffi c movements. The replacement of existing round-

A view of the new tunnel being constructed near Al Wakrah Metro station.

One of the newly opened stretches of Al Watiyyat interchange. Off icials at the opening of the new works in Al Wakrah area. PICTURES: Ram Chand

abouts with signalised junctions will contribute towards increasing road safety and improving effi ciency of traffi c movements.

The opening of the fi ve eastbound lanes of main carriageway will pro-vide road users with a 3km free-fl ow stretch linking Doha Expressway, Industrial Area Road, Rawdat Al Khail Street and E Ring Road to Al Watiyyat Interchange where they

can get on F Ring Road to reach Ha-mad International Airport and Abu Hamour Area or continue straight towards Al Wakrah or Mesaieed Area without passing through Al Wak-rah via the southern part of Doha Express Highway.

Meanwhile, Ashghal will continue to work on the under-construction westbound lanes to facilitate the ac-cess of road users coming from Al

Wakrah and Al Wukair towards Doha via the newly-availed road.

The other section of Al Watiyyat Interchange that will be open for public use is a 1.25km ramp bridge that will accommodate traffi c coming north of Al Watiyyat In-terchange and heading towards the Hamad International Airport through eastbound carriageway of F Ring Road.

A view of the road linking Al Wakrah side with Al Watiyyat Interchange.

Ashghal: Roads leading to World Cup venues will be ready by 2020 Public Works Authority

(Ashghal) President Dr Saad bin Ahmad

al-Muhannadi has affi rmed that they will complete all infrastructure works for roads leading to the World Cup stadiums before the start of the championship by about two years.

In 2017, Ashghal has im-plemented the Lusail Ex-pressway, which will di-rectly serve Lusail Stadium where the masses can go from Doha to the stadium in a short time, he said.

“Ashghal has also com-pleted the implementa-tion of Al Shamal Road im-provements project in 2017, which will also facilitate access to the Lusail Sta-dium for those coming from

the north and the western regions,” he said, pointing out that Ashghal is work-ing on the completion of Al Khor Expressway by the end of 2019, which is directly connected to the Lusail Sta-dium and links the northern and eastern regions, in ad-dition, it’s linked to Orbital Road, which facilitates the trip to the stadium from the southern and western regions.

The Lusail Expressway

project is one of the most important projects of the Ashghal’s highway pro-gramme. It is located in a vital area linking Doha with Lusail City. It connects many public destinations such as the Pearl, Katara, the Diplomatic Area, and a large number of residential neighbourhoods, hotels, commercial complexes, and other facilities as well as the Lusail Stadium.

The design focuses on enhancing pedestrian traffi c safety and healthy lifestyles by establishing a total of 13km of separate pedestrian and bicycle paths, as well as a large number of serv-ice roadways to link various destinations to the highway.

It also features one of the

most important architec-tural landmarks in Doha the 5/6 cross arcs, which was inaugurated on December 16, 2017, and embodies an icon of creativity and engi-neering achievement.

The 5/6 cross arcs are the largest and longest in Qa-tar with a height of 100m, a width of 147m, and weigh-ing more than 9,300 tonnes of iron.

The huge drilling, the tunnels construction, mul-ti-level bridges included in the project, and the con-struction of the two water bridges, all have been im-plemented without stop-ping the traffi c. The project also included the imple-mentation of the integrated six kilometres tunnels for

to accommodate electricity networks and water drain-age systems, to allow any future maintenance without drilling, in addition to the construction of a subway tunnel underground that will pass under the water bridge.

More than 75,000 tonnes of iron and more than 345,000 tonnes of as-phalt have been used in the project, with the partici-pation of more than 4,000 workers.

The Lusail Expressway design is an integrated sys-tem that provides traffi c and connectivity between Doha and the West Bay to en-hance access to the region’s important destinations and landmarks. (QNA)

In 2017, Ashghal has implemented the Lusail Expressway, which will directly serve Lusail Stadium where the masses can go from Doha to the stadium in a short time

QNL, British Council sign MoU

Qatar National Library (QNL) and British Council Qatar have signed a memorandum of understanding

(MoU) to promote culture, research, con-ferences, education and skills development.

The MoU was signed by Dr Sohair Wastawy, executive director of QNL, and Sam Ayton, director of the Brit-ish Council in Qatar. Present were Dr James Onley, director of Historical Re-search and Partnerships at QNL; Gihan Mohsen Baraka, communications man-ager at QNL; and Dr Waseem Kotoub, director programmes and partnerships at the British Council.

The agreement will strengthen co-op-eration in the organisation of joint confer-ences, workshops, training and research programmes, and cultural activities.

Dr Wastawy said, “Qatar’s relationship with the United Kingdom is historically strong and deep-rooted, and this part-nership demonstrates a mutual trust and willingness to collaborate on a variety of projects. We look forward to seeing the out-comes of this agreement in the near future,

and building on our existing relationship with the institution.”

Ayton said, “We are delighted to be part-nering with QNL after a successful collabo-ration during Qatar British Festival 2018. We will continue our work as United King-dom’s international organisation for cul-tural relations and educational opportuni-ties. We look forward to fantastic upcoming years and we are excited to be contributing to Qatar National Vision 2030”.

QNL and British Council off icials exchange documents after signing an MoU.

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201814

Elaborate security steps for National Day celebrationsThe Ministry of Inte-

rior (MoI) yesterday an-nounced special security

measures for the Qatar National Day celebrations.

The details were provided by Brigadier Ali Khujaim al-Adbi, director of Establishments and Authorities Security Depart-ment at MoI and chairman of the Security Committee for the 2018 Qatar National Day celebra-tions, during a press conference yesterday.

The details included the se-curity procedures pertaining to the National Day celebrations, traffi c organisation and pub-lic gatherings, along with other regulatory matters, the MoI said in a statement.

The press conference was at-

tended by Brigadier General Jas-sim Mohamed al-Hail, assistant director of the department.

Brigadier al-Adbi noted that while many activities and pro-grammes are held in diff erent parts of the country for commu-nities, the main event of the cel-ebrations is the national parade held on the Doha Corniche.

He said the events will start at 2.45pm tomorrow, calling on the public to be present ahead of time as Corniche Road will be closed from 10am. All roads leading to the Corniche will also be closed.

The public will be guided to other areas after the nearby spots are occupied, it was informed. He said celebrations will take place today also, including fi re-

works, with the events starting at 3pm and ending late at night.

The offi cial explained the assembly points to go to the Corniche and for car park-ing through a map prepared for this purpose. He appreciated the co-operation of all parties participating in the celebrations.

He said the committee has equipped about 25 parking spac-es for the public, near the exhi-bition centre close to the build-ings of Qatar Petroleum along with the parking of Sheraton Doha, the parking area behind Qatar Sports Club and another near the General Post Offi ce.

The committee has also al-located parking spaces for the public at Imam Muhammed bin Abdul Wahab Mosque, the Al

Bidda underground parking fa-cilities in front of the MoI build-ing, near Marmar Palace, at the headquarters of Qatar Bowling Federation near the Mannai un-derpass and a plot close to the old building of the British em-bassy, the statement informed.

The head of the security com-mittee said there would also be parking lots for the public at Souq Waqif and Museum of Islamic Art (MIA).

The committee has allocated Karwa buses to transport the public to and from remote park-ing lots and also allotted some buses for families and persons with special needs as well, he added. Vehicles will be allowed only for authorised persons.

Brigadier al-Adbi said the or-

ganising committee has taken into consideration the possibil-ity that some people - includ-ing both citizens and residents - would not be able reach the spot on time. Accordingly, large screens will be placed in Al Bidda Park and Al Rayyan Park.

In order to provide services to the public, there will be spe-cial emergency points of Ha-mad Medical Corporation where medics would be available for the treatment of injuries or other cases as required. He said the organising committee has also arranged for small stalls to distribute refreshments, water and light food to the public on the Corniche, and there will be temporary toilets as well.

He called on the public to co-

Brigadier Ali Khujaim al-Adbi addressing the press conference.

operate with security personnel and follow their instructions to ensure the success of the security plan developed to provide secu-rity and safety, so that the public enjoy a pleasant time on the joy-ous occasion. He noted that the committee has prepared spaces for families and for the rest of the public. There are also spaces for

persons with special needs.Brigadier al-Adbi said an of-

fi ce has been set up in the old MoI building on the Corniche to deal with cases of missing children. The Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interior, as well as the Juvenile Police Department and Community Police Department, will be working for this.

Italian military band to perform at Katara today

One of the Italian Armed Forces most prestigious and ancient branches,

the Band of the Carabinieri Mili-tary Force, will perform in Doha from today to December 19 in a special musical programme to mark Qatar National Day, the Italian embassy has announced.

The band’s three-day per-formance will take place at the Katara open theatre at 3pm to-day, along with the military bands of the other invited coun-tries, and on December 18 at Doha Corniche at 3pm during the National Day parade.

According to the embassy, the band will also perform outdoors on December 19 at 5pm at Darb Al Saai (Al Sadd). The reper-toire represents the best Italian classical music and opera tradi-tions such as “Nessun Dorma” (Giacomo Puccini) and “Aida” (Giuseppe Verdi).

“It is an honour that Qatar chose and invited the Carabinieri Band to take part in the celebra-tions of this very special day for the Qatari people. The band is one of the corps’ many prestig-ious features and it is at the same time innovative and anchored to its values and traditions,” Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano said.

The envoy noted that the band is known globally for its assorted repertoire, the impeccable ex-ecution of its performances and the charm that its musicians are able to produce, with their im-pressive uniforms, magnifi cent composure and profound music vocation.

Salzano thanked the Com-mander General of Carabinieri, General Giovanni Nistri, for bringing to Doha “these extraor-dinary and talented musicians and for representing here in Qa-tar the excellence of the Italian military forces”.

The embassy noted that the Carabinieri band traces its

roots back to 1820 when for the fi rst time, the Royal Carab-inieri Corps, included a corps of Trumpeters.

The ensemble was later trans-formed into “Fanfara” (1862), “Musica” (1894), the “Banda della Legione Allievi Carab-inieri” (1910) until 1920 - af-ter further changes - when it took on the basis of its current structure.

Since then, the embassy added, it has given concerts in all major European countries, as well as the US, China and Japan, receiving praise every-where. Public participation at its concerts is one of the many examples of the natural fond-ness that people feel for the Carabinieri.

Today, the Carabinieri Band is a complex organisation capa-ble of interpreting the most fa-mous compositions, thanks to its 102 musicians – 85 of them are in Doha for this occasion – coming from the best Italian music academies and selected

through public competitions. The band’s performances

usually include a wide reper-toire, from traditional mili-tary marches to classical sym-phonies, to contemporary compositions.

Concerts are prepared with the meticulous commitment and under the careful guidance of Maestro Director Lieutenant Colonel Massimo Martinelli.

Wherever the band performs, they earn success and the votes of the harshest critics. “A band that sounds like a symphony orchestra” or “an orchestra of wind instruments”: these are just two of the experts’ fl atter-ing comments used to defi ne the Carabinieri Band.

“These musicians show in their performances the dedica-tion, commitment and com-passion that constantly inspire the members of the Carabinieri Force in carrying out their many task to protect and assist peo-ple, both in Italy and abroad,” Salzano said.

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Italy’s renowned Carabinieri Band will perform in Doha for three days to mark Qatar National Day.

AZF invites people to fi rework showsAspire Zone Foundation

(AZF) has invited mem-bers of the community

to attend one of the largest fi re-work displays in Qatar, sched-uled to take place at Aspire park today between 8.30pm and 9pm.

Audiences will be able to en-joy clear views of the fi rework shows from football pitches 10, 11, and 12.

Last Thursday, AZF for-mally launched its Qatar Na-tional Day celebrations with the culmination of the Al-Adaam Flag relay at Aspire Park in the presence of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee.

Mohamed Khalifa al-Suwaidi, chief executive offi cer, AZF, was present to receive the Qatari fl ag as it reached Aspire Zone on the next leg of its journey on from Qatar Foundation. The fl ag was carried by Mutaz Barsham and Abdullah al-Tamimi, both re-nowned Qatari athletes and As-pire Academy graduates.

Included amongst other events planned at Aspire Park is a celebration for AZF employees that will take place today from

Mohamed Khalifa al-Suwaidi was present to receive the Qatari flag.

9-11am. The celebrations will comprise a range of cultural ac-tivities including the traditional “Ardha” sword dance that will be performed by student-ath-letes from Aspire Academy.

Aspire Zone’s week-long Qatar National Day programme features cultural and traditional activities organised in part-

nership with the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Aff airs. In addition, Qatari fi lm makers will screen their work for audi-ences to enjoy in collaboration with the Doha Film Institute. And a Military Parade will be performed by members of the Qatar Armed Forces.

Bangladesh embassy observes Victory DayThe Bangladesh embassy

in Doha yesterday ob-served Victory Day with

due reverence and solemnity. On this occasion, the em-

bassy held a programme that included hoisting of the na-tional fl ag and a discussion meeting.

The programme started with ambassador Ashud Ahmed hoisting the Bangla-desh national fl ag on the mis-sion’s premises in the pres-ence of embassy offi cials and a good number of Bangladeshi expatriates. This was followed by recitation from the Holy Qur’an and the off ering of ‘doa’ for the eternal peace of the departed souls - the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and martyrs of the Liberation War, the embassy said in a statement.

‘Doa’ was also off ered for the continued peace and progress of the country and welfare of the people.

A discussion meeting on the signifi cance of the day was also arranged at the embassy in the morning. At the beginning, those present stood in silence for a minute as a mark of re-spect for the martyrs of the Liberation War.

Messages from the Bangla-desh president, prime minis-ter, foreign minister and min-ister of state for foreign aff airs were read out.

In his speech, the ambassa-

Ambassador Ashud Ahmed hoisting the national flag on the occasion of Bangladesh’s Victory Day yesterday.

dor recalled the extraordinary role played by the Father of the Nation and the freedom fi ght-ers in Bangladesh’s emergence as an independent country. “As we celebrate in the memory of Victory Day, we pay homage

to all our freedom fi ghters,” he noted.

He also thanked Bangladeshi expatriates in Qatar for their hard work and contribution to-wards nation-building through economic development.

E-service launched for rental disputes

The Ministry of Munici-pality and Environment’s (MME) information sys-

tems department yesterday launched a new e-service to re-view rental disputes through its website, www.mme.gov.qa

The new service will help ap-plicants process their requests in “record time with high-quality execution”, the MME has said in a statement.

Hamad Khalifa al-Khalifa, as-sistant undersecretary for joint services aff airs at MME, said, “This is in addition to the exist-ing list of MME e-services for the public, which are part of the ministry’s continued eff orts to

develop its e-services, making them easily accessible for all at any time and place.”

He said as the demand for serv-ices related to rental disputes was growing and the system required the presence of the applicant with the necessary documents, the MME gave special attention to this issue in order to ease the load on applicants.

Procedures have been simpli-fi ed and the new e-service has been developed in line with lat-est features. This digital edition of the service is considered an important step towards ending paper-based transactions and launch more electronic services

as part of the MME’s strategy to raise the quality of life and main-tain the environment, al-Khalifa stressed.

Hamdah al-Maadeed, director, information systems department at MME, said the advantages of the new e-service include ena-bling multiple parties - govern-ment, semi-government and pri-vate entities, whether individuals or organisations - to submit ap-plications online and instantly follow them up. They can also pay the fees online without the need to visit to the rental disputes settlement committees, print the application form and get the appointment.

Hamad Khalifa al-Khalifa

She explained that an applica-tion should have a memo of the request attached to it and the rented place should not be state-owned property, public property, agricultural land, auxiliary indus-trial services, or hotel or tourist apartments and units. The rental contract should be registered in the municipality concerned, and copies of the ownership docu-ment and IDs of the litigation par-ties need to be provided.

15Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

QATAR

QND celebrations by Qatar Steel were held in the presence of top officials including the managing director and general manager, the division and departments managers and other employees.

QND ‘an occasion to renew loyalty’Qatar Steel, an Industries

Qatar subsidiary, celebrat-ed the Qatar National Day

at the Qatar National Conven-tion Centre as part of eff orts to strengthen and renew loyalty as well as promote national values.

The celebrations, in the pres-ence of top offi cials including the

managing director and general manager, the division and depart-ments managers and other em-ployees, are in line with this year’s National Day slogan “As long as it was proven by our deeds, Qatar will remain free”, which combines a poetic verse from the founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin

Thani and a verse from the Qatari National Anthem.

“Our celebration of the Na-tional Day is an opportunity to renew our resolve to continue the achievements and make every ef-fort to raise the nation and sup-port the process of development and comprehensive renaissance

and achieve more development, growth and prosperity for the peo-ple of Qatar,” Mohamed Nasser al-Hajri, managing director and gen-eral manager of Qatar Steel said.

The company said the achieve-ments and huge successes have contributed to strengthen Qatar at the international level as a model

for comprehensive and sustain-able development.

The celebration of Qatar Na-tional Day represents an occasion to strengthen and renew loyalty, promote national values, and de-vote the principles of love, peace and good to the world, al-Hajri said.

Renowned bloggers M Gazal Shaikh and Zahra al-Anssari jointly unveiled the Qatar National Day special pendants of MGD Lifestyle jewellery (a venture of Malabar Gold & Diamonds) in the presence of Malabar Gold & Diamonds regional head Santhosh, zonal head Noufal and other members of the management team members at Mirqab Mall on December 15.

National Day pendants unveiled

New Selleria watchpays tribute toFendi heritage

Blue Salon has launched the new Selleria Stitches Edition from Fendi Timepieces, which pays tribute to the Fendi heritage featuring a bezel adorned with

a stitching pattern giving a couture look to the watch. Complemented with the interchangeable double tour

straps in a mix of materials and colours, the timepiece re-veals a more playful side.

Celebrating the Fendi origins, the Selleria Stitches case design draws inspiration from the renowned Selleria hand-made stitching technique replicating the practices of Roman master saddlers.

Distinguished by its bezel decorated with delicate stitched details, the new fi nely crafted Selleria timepiece demonstrates the Fendi savoir-faire and attention to de-tail.

The timeless design is enhanced with a white mother-of-pearl dial immediately recognised for the geometric pattern inspired by a Karl Lagerfeld sketch realised in 1971 for the iconic Astuccio fur. The Roman numerals and in-dexes on the dial are also stitched-like, to subtly recall the Selleria codes.

Elegant yet with a touch of creativity, the Selleria Col-lection off ers women the fun option to easily change the strap to any colour or style by simply turning the case back. From the double tour strap with an Open Your Heart motif to express romantic mood to the Selleria Strap You strap with multicoloured studs to give a cool touch to the wrist, each Selleria watch can be personalised to suit any occasion.

Carrying on the tradition of the Fendi craftsmanship, the Selleria Stitches transforms into a myriad of styles for added versatility.

Fendi, the Italian luxury house with roots dating back to 1925, began its foray into the world of luxury timepieces in 1988.

Since then, Fendi Timepieces has unveiled some of the most iconic wrist designs for women and men combin-ing Italian taste and Swiss craftsmanship, and focusing on the opulence of materials and colours. All Fendi Time-pieces are manufactured in Switzerland.

The new Selleria Stitches Edition features a bezel adorned with a stitching pattern.

16 Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

QATAR

Sheikha Moza graces lecture by UN chief

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for

Education, Science and Commu-nity Development (QF), yester-day attended a lecture by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on ‘The Impor-tance of Multilateralism in a Time of Unprecedented Challenge’.

Hosted by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of QF, at Education City, the event was also attended by HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation and chairperson of the Board of Trustees of HBKU.

HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif al-Thani, permanent repre-sentative of Qatar to the United Nations, also attended the lecture, which saw high-level participa-

tion from representatives of min-istries and diplomatic missions in Qatar, as well as the attendance of members of the public.

It formed part of the Education City Speaker Series, a QF initia-tive which provides a platform for the community to engage with lo-cal and international experts on a range of topical issues, promot-ing discourse and the sharing of knowledge.

Guterres said at the lecture, “Young people have an absolutely

crucial role, more than ever, in the evolution of our society, because technology is evolving in such a way that my granddaughters un-derstand it much better than me. The contribution of young people to the drafting of policies and so-lutions to problems is absolutely essential.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Guterres said, “I’m a great admirer of Qatar Foundation and its fantastic actions in Qatar and across the world. It has been an

enormous pleasure to visit. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has been an important partner of the United Nations — when I was United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, she was extremely instrumental in providing education to hundreds of thousands of refugees living in extremely dramatic circum-stances. I want to pay tribute to all those who work at Qatar Foun-dation for their contributions for the well-being of so many people

in diff erent parts of the world.” Dr Ahmad M Hasnah, president, HBKU, said, “Hosting the UN secretary-general at HBKU is a proud moment for our academic institution, which strives to serve as a hub of discourse on topical global issues.

Many of the issues we face to-day are of a global scale as they often transcend geographical and political boundaries, and can no longer be addressed individually or independently.”

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser attends the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ lecture, organised as a part of Education City Speaker Series at Hamad Bin Khalifa University yesterday. PICTURE: AR Al-Baker/HHOPL

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, meeting with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday to discuss Sustainable Development Goals progress and ongoing education eff orts. PICTURE: AR Al-Baker/HHOPL

‘Siege a good time to spur entrepreneurship in Qatar’By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

The Saudi-led blockade on Qatar has been a good testing ground to see if the

government’s eff orts in the past decade or so have been success-ful in meeting the entrepreneurial demand in the country, an assist-ant professor of Islamic Studies and Public Policy Forum in Islam at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) has said.

“Entrepreneurship in Qa-tar. Gulf crisis: Is the blockade a golden opportunity? The answer to this question is yes,” assistant professor, Dr Mohamed Evren Tok told the panel at a book launching session at the Doha Forum 2018 titled ‘The Gulf Crisis: A View from Qatar’ yesterday.

He was sharing his view on the “top down and bottom up per-spectives and dynamics” that are becoming more visible after the blockade, creating a state-led entrepreneurship ecosystem in Qatar. Tok was joined by Dr Gerd Nonneman, professor of Interna-tional Relations and Gulf Studies, Georgetown University – Qatar; Dr Tareq al-Ansari, assistant pro-fessor, College of Science, Engi-neering and Sustainable Devel-opment at HBKU; and Dr Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, assistant profes-sor in Residence at Northwestern University – Qatar. The session was moderated by Dr Roy Mill-er, professor of Government, at Georgetown University – Qatar.

At a conference in 2016, Tok noted that Qatar’s well-struc-tured entrepreneurial ecosystem was showcased, from the public sector to support organisations, the media, educational institu-

tions, fi nance, corporations, and incubators.

“Post blockade we have seen many examples of how the public sector actually has been pushing forward responses to the need of the economy such as the ‘Own your Factory in Qatar in 72 Hours’ project, Jahiz 1&2 – Supporting SMEs in Qatar, and many surveys showcasing how Qataris are now becoming more interested in be-coming entrepreneurs,” he said.

The ‘Own your Factory in Qatar in 72 Hours’ project is a govern-ment initiative aimed at fast-tracking the establishment of more manufacturing companies and factories in Qatar, which at-tracted over 9,000 applications from local and international com-panies representing major indus-trial sectors.

Tok added that they were given a grant by the Qatar National Re-search Fund for a research on lo-calising entrepreneurship educa-tion.

“The entrepreneurship eco-

system in Qatar has been rich, it was quite multidimensional, has a multifaceted structure but what was missing?” he said. “Missing part was the bottom up perspec-tive which is: who are the benefi -ciaries, recipients of this ecosys-tem – mainly the young Qatari entrepreneurs.”

“We started to discuss and try to understand why the level of en-trepreneurship or the intentions, the expressions, the attitudes towards being entrepreneur has been low,” Tok recounted.

Tok said they looked into the educational and training side of the issue, and found out that a very strong state-led entrepre-neurial ecosystem was present but something was missing. HB-KU’s ‘Makerspace’ initiative titled Green Economy, Business, and Entrepreneurship in Qatar, for example, was organised to under-stand how economic behaviour has been rooted and embedded in Qatar’s social and cultural fabric.

“We saw something very in-

teresting, we saw so many young Qataris like for instance in the fashion industry, and waste man-agement (about electronic waste), among others, have so much en-thusiasm to understand and en-hance entrepreneurship in Qatar ,” Tok said.

He also cited a waste manage-ment company owned by a very young successful female Qatari entrepreneur, and those involved in manufacturing, including Ghanim al-Sulaiti.

“But the commonality was that the economic behaviour also co-incided with ethical behaviour in that sense like Ghanim, it was not just about building a com-pany, it was about recycling and contributing to the economy in a more circular way,” Tok pointed out. Another example of such en-thusiasm was Mariam al-Majid, a young female Qatari entrepreneur who was able to turn her passion into something profi table – spe-cialised and customised cards and gift-wrapping.

She was one of the 75 SMEs who were given the opportunity to showcase their works through the 30 popup shops at Mall of Qa-tar during Shop Qatar early this year. The initiative forms part of Qatar Tourism Authority (now National Tourism Council) and Qatar Development Bank’s eff orts to support SMEs, giving them ample exposure to further pro-mote and market their products.

“Finally this shows something very interesting, that Qatar has been doing so well in terms of re-gional ranking and global ranking when it comes to entrepreneur-ship indexes, which means that we are in the right track on lo-calising entrepreneurship educa-tion,” Tok said.

(From left) Dr Gerd Nonneman, Dr Mohamed Evren Tok, Dr Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, and Dr Tareq al-Ansari on stage at Doha Forum 2018 yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

Turkey respects freedom of opinion and expression: FMQNADoha

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that his country respects

freedom of opinion and expres-sion.

Addressing a session of the 18th Doha Forum, Turkish For-eign Minister said Turkey has a president who has done much reform and has carried out a successful reformist revolution in the last fi ve years.

He added that the Turkish president transformed the coun-try and overcome many chal-lenges, including the failed coup in the summer of 2016, adding that if there were arrests of jour-nalists or others as a result of this coup, it is up to the judiciary to decide on the matter.

The FM stressed that his country adopts the standards of the Council of Europe and the European Union in this regard, adding, “We have a list of names of those in prison, and their list and the charges against each of them can be found on the Min-istry of Justice website,” noting that being a journalist or other is not important, but what is important is the crime against Turkey.

He pointed out that many of those who call for freedom of the press, including the Euro-peans, turn a blind eye to what

encourages violations and abuses in this regard. On the is-sue of US priest Andrew Bran-son, who was recently released by Turkey, the Turkish minister described him as a US spy.

He also noted the US support for the Kurdish People’s protec-tion units in Syria and supply-ing them with weapons, as well as to US sheltering of Fethullah Gulen, the leader of the failed coup.

Regarding the US and Turkish presence in Syria, he said that there is co-operation between the two countries in terms of stability of the northern region of Syria, pointing out that An-kara has a roadmap for the city of Manbj after operations in the

eastern part of the Euphrates River in order to protect the re-gion and local people from the risk of terrorist elements, add-ing this is important for Turkey and the peace of the region.

Cavusoglu pointed out that the Syrian constitution com-mittee will be announced next week, pointing to co-operation between his country, Russia and Iran.

He stressed that the Syr-ians themselves should write a comprehensive constitution for their country, followed by preparation for democratic and transparent elections under the umbrella of the United Nations so that the Syrian people choose who will rule after the elections.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaking at Doha Forum. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

Industry minister highlights investment options in Doha

HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari held a series of separate meetings with several ministers on the sidelines of Doha Forum, wherein he highlighted investment opportunities Doha off ers for investors. Al-Kuwari, the former chief executive of QNB, held talks with Dr Tariq Mohamad Hammouri, Jordan’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply; Pablo Campana, Ecuador’s Minister of Commerce; and Gamal Mohamed Hassan, Somalia’s Minister of Planning, Investment and Economic Development.He also met with Dr Volker Trier, deputy chief executive of the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Sigmar Gabriel, vice-chancellor of Germany, former minister of foreign aff airs and a member of Germany’s Federal Parliament; Christian Sewing, chief executive of Deutsche Bank; Ashok Aram, chief executive of Europe, Middle East and Africa at Deutsche Bank;

and Lois Labrianidis, secretary-general for Strategic and Private Investments at the Greek Ministry of Economy and Development.Discussions touched on the promotion of bilateral relations and the development of joint co-operation, particularly in the fields of trade, investment and industry.

Developments that the Qatari economy has witnessed over the past years were also discussed. Al-Kuwari outlined the investment opportunities that Qatar off ers across various sectors, as well as the legislations adopted by the state and the initiatives launched to support the private sector,

which will bolster foreign direct investments and attract a growing number of foreign companies to the Qatari market.The meetings also touched on measures to boost bilateral trade and investments as well as co-operation prospects across a number of fields.

HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari’s meeting at Doha Forum.

Nobel laureate urges Yazidi protection until IS leaders triedNobel laureate and former IS captive Nadia Murad called for the protection of women belonging to her Yazidi minority until Islamic State leaders are tried for crimes against the community. “All the victims need a safe haven until Daesh is brought to the international courts,” the 25-year-old Iraqi said at an international conference in Doha, using an Arabic acronym for the militant group. Murad also renewed calls for Iraq and other countries to investigate the fate of members of her Yazidi minority kidnapped by IS. Murad was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo earlier this month with Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege for her work

highlighting the plight of Iraq’s Yazidis. Like thousands of other Yazidi women and girls, Murad was abducted by IS in 2014 as the militants overran the minority’s stronghold of Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the border with Syria. They were

held captive, tortured, raped and sold as sex slaves by IS. Attending the Doha Forum, Murad – the first Iraqi to receive the Nobel prize – said yesterday that she dreams of returning home. “I dream about returning to Sinjar and living a noble life, opening a beauty salon as a way to help Yazidi women,” she said. More than 3,000 Yazidi women and children are still missing, probably still held captive, according to Murad. IS captured large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, proclaiming a “caliphate” in land it controlled. The militants have since lost most of their territory to off ensives by multiple forces in both countries, retreating to desert holdouts.

Nobel laureate Nadia Murad speaking in Doha. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

Doha Forum tackles today’s challengesFrom Page 1

The closing also witnessed the announcement of the Doha Forum Award which will be given for the fi rst time in 2019 to outstanding achievements to diversity, dialogue and diplo-macy, and will be worth half a million US Dollars.

The 2018 Forum’s overarch-ing strategic partners were the

Munich Security Conference, the International Crisis Group, and the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Content partners included RAND, Global Dryland Alli-ance, Brookings Center in Doha and International Center for the Study of Violent Extrem-ism, The Observer Research Foundation, The Center for the National Interest, The S.

Rajaratnam School for Inter-national Studies, The Doha In-stitute, and Valdai Discussion Club.

This edition’s institutional partners included the Minis-try of Finance, the Ministry of commerce and Industry, Qatar Petroleum, the Supreme Com-mittee for Delivery and Legacy, the National Tourism Council and Qatar Foundation.

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UPI) Gabriela Cuevas Barron, on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum, at Sheraton Hotel Doha yesterday. During the meeting, they reviewed co-operation relations between the State of Qatar and the UPI, in addition to discussing a number of topics on the forum’s agenda. — QNA

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his accompanying delegation, on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum, at Sheraton Doha Hotel yesterday. During the meeting, they reviewed co-operation relations between the State of Qatar and the UN, in addition to discussing a number of regional and international issues of common concern and a number of topics on the forum’s agenda. — QNA

Prime minister meets top officials

FM holds several meetingsQNADoha

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minis-ter of Foreign Aff airs

Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-rahman al-Thani met separately yesterday with Foreign Minister of Mongolia Damdin Tsogtbaa-tar, Minister of Foreign Aff airs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Tudor Ulianovschi, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, and Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of De-fence and the Ministry of For-eign Aff airs Dr Mohamad Ma-liki bin Osman, on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum. The

meetings discussed bilateral relations and ways of boosting them, as well as a number of is-sues of common interest.

Sheikh Mohamed also met with a delegation of members of the US Congress. During the meeting, they discussed the strategic co-operation re-lations between the State of Qatar and the United States of America, as well as a number of issues of common concern. Later, the FM met separately with Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisa-tion Dr Saeb Erekat and African Union Commissioner for Peace and Security Amb. Smail Cher-gui on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum. They discussed bilateral relations and means of

enhancing them, in addition to a number of issues of common concern. The FM met with US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Brett McGurk.

The meeting discussed the relations of co-operation, means of strengthening and developing them, eff orts to combat ISIS and enhance secu-rity and stability in the region. Further,

Sheikh Mohamed met with Chairman of the Munich Secu-rity Conference (MSC) Wolf-gang Ischinger. During the meeting, they discussed co-operation relations between Qatar and the MSC and means of developing them, in addition to a number of issues of com-mon concern.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met separately yesterday with Foreign Minister of Mongolia Damdin Tsogtbaatar, Minister of Foreign Aff airs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Tudor Ulianovschi, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel, and Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Dr Mohamad Maliki bin Osman, on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum. The meetings discussed bilateral relations and ways of boosting them, as well as a number of issues of common interest.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with a delegation of members of the US Congress. During the meeting, they discussed the strategic co-operation relations between the State of Qatar and the United States of America, as well as a number of issues of common concern.

HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIS Brett McGurk.

MoFA fetes winners of Qatar Global AwardThe Qatari Committee for the Alliance of Civilisation at the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs (MoFA) and the ISESCO Chair in Alliance of Civilisations at the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University celebrated the winners of ‘Qatar Global Award for Dialogue Among Civilisations’ in its first edition 2018.The awards were handed out to the three winners on Saturday on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum by HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs and Chairman of Qatar Committee for Alliance of Civilisations Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.The awards were handed out to Dr Zuhair Sokaj from Heinrich-Heine University Dusseldorf (HHU), Germany, for his research ‘From the Dialogue of Civilisations to the Civilisations of Dialogue: An Evaluating Vision’. The award was received on behalf of him by Dr Ezz El Din Maamish. Dr Edris Maqbol from Ibn Ghazi Center for Research and Strategic Studies in Meknes city in Morocco also receive the award for his research ‘Civilizational Dialogue: A Study in the System of Qur’anic Knowledge and Values.’ It was also handed out to Dr Anmar Ahmad, of Iraqi nationality, and works at the Fatih Sultan Mehmet University in Istanbul, Turkey, for his research on ‘Dialogue Among the Followers of the Three Monotheistic Faiths in the Middle East’. The award is part of the State of Qatar’s eff orts to promote the Alliance of Civilisations and its contribution to building peace and coexistence among multicultural societies and peoples. – QNA

The awards were handed out to the three winners on the sidelines of the 18th Doha Forum by HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs and Chairman of Qatar Committee for Alliance of Civilisations Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.

‘Blockade liberated Qatar from

conservative infl uence of Saudi’By Joey Aguilar Staff Reporter

The blockade on Qatar has given the country the opportunity to break away from “the conservative infl u-

ence of Saudi Arabia” and chart its own course on important social, political and economic issues, according to Dr Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, assistant professor in Resi-dence at Northwestern University – Qatar (NU-Q).

“Although international crisis is never a desired situation, this blockade has al-lowed Qatar to address and improve several long-standing issues in its own which were previously hindered by the conservative preferences of other members of the GCC,” Mitchell told the panel at a book launching session at the Doha Forum 2018 titled ‘The Gulf Crisis: A View from Qatar’ yesterday.

The NU-Q assistant professor’s chap-ter focuses on the opportunities for Qatar’s domestic political sphere of this blockade, which are being transformed “into some very benefi cial ways.”

Since the diplomatic crisis began, she not-ed that Qatar has been too busy: from chang-ing its airline routes and ports for shipping to importing food from new sources, as well as bringing in 4,000 cows to establish a home-grown dairy farm. Mitchell said the ongoing blockade has weakened the GCC and it is no

longer what she described as “the coercive force to push countries in line with certain conservative preferences.” “In other words, the GCC is no longer able to hold countries back from doing what they individually think is best for their own country,” she stressed.

“From my research over the years, it is pretty clear that Qatari leadership is one of the most progressive in the GCC, but they’ve been held back by the conservative prefer-ences the GCC led by Saudi,” Mitchell noted. “Now Qatar doesn’t have to listen to Saudi Arabia anymore.” She noted that the country has a big opportunity to move forward in a lot of domestic issues that have been previ-ously blocked.

While the residency law is just one of the many things that have changed quickly in Qatar since the blockade began, Mitchell noted that eff orts to be self-suffi cient (food security) and policies like improved relations with Iran have been advantageous and ben-efi cial for the country.

She said Qatar also issued free-entry visas and visas-on-arrival to citizens of 80 coun-tries to promote tourism, provided more op-portunities for foreign businesses, saw an improved labour rights for workers and an increased respect for Qatari artists.

“Perhaps most importantly, more space for citizens themselves to voice their opin-ions and support their government in na-tional goals including the appointment of four women to Qatar’s Advisory Council

(Shura Council) for the fi rst time, and prom-ises of His Highness the Amir and the foreign minister to have elections for the council in 2019,” Mitchell added.

She stressed that such changes are not shallow but deep and meaningful, having the power to reshape Qatari politics and society in the future.

“In three years to fi ve years we might all look back and say that June 5, 2017 was the moment when things started to change in Qatar and for the better,” Mitchell said.

Dr Jocelyn Sage Mitchell at the Doha Forum. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

Al-Muraikhi meets FMs at Doha ForumHE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi met yesterday with Minister of Foreign Aff airs and International Co-operation of the Republic of Mali Kamissa Camara during her participation in the 18th Doha Forum. The meeting discussed bilateral relations, ways to bolster them and matters of common interests. An agreement was also signed between the State of Qatar and the Republic of Mali on co-operation in the field of the environment. Al-Muraikhi also met yesterday with Minister of Foreign Aff airs of Romania Teodor-Viorel Melescanu, during his participation in the 18th Doha Forum. — QNA

Qatar gets expertise from Russia in World Cup hostingBy Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Russia has been sharing a lot of its experiences and expertise with Qatar

aimed at helping the latter “to deliver an even better tourna-ment,” Qatar’s ambassador to Russia Fahad bin Mohamed al-Attiyah has said. “Russia ex-celled in hosting the World Cup and we are actually getting a lot of experiences from them,” the envoy told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the two-day Doha Forum 2018, which concluded yesterday.

Al-Attiyah also highlighted the strong bilateral relations between Qatar and Russia in various fi elds of co-operation, which he said is continuously improving. He hopes there will

be greater mutual ties in the fu-ture between the two countries, especially through trade and in-vestments. “These are the two agenda that we are working on right now.”As we progress we are establishing more and more ties and relationship, and we aim to achieve certain targets over the next year and hopefully

by 2022,” the envoy said. “We hope to have a greater trade and investment than it is now, it is a work in progress.”

Al-Attiyah earlier described the recent visit of His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Moscow as “very successful,” saying it has contributed to developing bi-lateral relations in the fi elds of economy, defence and invest-ments.

He cited Qatar’s keen interest to invest in the Russian econ-omy and in helping to spread Russian products in the Middle East. About the Doha Forum, al-Attiyah lauded the event’s excellent organisation this year: “an edition to be far more su-perior than any other editions, I congratulate the organisers and I hope that they go to success to success.”

Qatar’s ambassador to Russia Fahad bin Mohamed al-Attiyah at the Doha Forum yesterday. PICTURE: Joey Aguilar

QATAR17Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

QATAR

Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 201818

France-Qatar ties ‘remain strong’By Ramesh MathewStaff Reporter

France-Qatar bilateral rela-tions have been exception-ally good all along, French

ambassador Franck Gellet told Gulf Times in an interview in connection with the Qatar Na-tional Day.

“The co-operation in such ar-eas as defence and military, fi ght against terrorism and its fi nanc-ing, advocacy for climate change action, sports, economy and culture has grown by leaps and bounds,” he observed.

Recalling the two visits made by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to France this year, he said it is sig-nifi cant that both the visits were made after French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit of Qa-tar in December 2017.

The envoy said Qatar is a friend and reliable partner of France and their ties have re-mained strong as Qatar is pursu-ing its rapid development in line with its National Vision 2030.

Speaking on the political dia-logue between the two coun-tries, he said: “Indeed, both the countries have a common ground as far as such areas as multilateralism, international law, environment issues, secu-rity, fi ght against terrorism are concerned.

“The co-operation is focused on some of the major threats we have to deal with such as terrorism and organised crime, including cybersecurity. This year our partnership has wit-nessed a qualitative leap, cover-ing a wide range of issues such as crisis management, public order, specialised intervention

or VIP protection. We have not only strengthened our historical relations with the Internal Se-curity Force (Lekhwiya) but also paved the way for a successful co-operation with the Ministry of Interior.”

The co-operation was en-hanced in the fi ght against ter-rorism, its fi nancing and radical-isation with the signing of MoUs in the presence of President Ma-cron and the Amir in December 2017, said Gellet.

Both Qatari and French com-panies and institutions have en-hanced their joint eff orts in such sectors as culture, education, research, health, sport and Fran-cophonie.

“France and Qatar share a common passion for sport and our co-operation in the past few years has built growing con-fi dence. As Qatar is a country which hosts major sports events at regular intervals, France has also shared its expertise and experience with this country in such areas as hospitality, secu-rity and healthcare sectors.

“France stands with Qatari authorities to make the 2022 FIFA World Cup a success as we are able to meet some of Qatar’s major requirements. France will continue to propose the best so-lutions and the most advanced technology for Qatar.”

“France is looking forward to lessons from Qatar’s experience in 2022 for the Olympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024.”

The cultural bilateral co-operation plays an important part in bringing together com-mon projects as the forthcoming Qatar-France Year of Culture in 2020, as well as featuring French cultural excellence in artistic genres (music, dance, storytell-

ing, cinema), the ambassador said.

As Qatar has been an associate member of the International Or-ganisation of the Francophonie (OIF) since 2012, the Francoph-one environment in the country need to be increased, felt Gellet.

The ambassador also high-lighted the importance of aca-demic and professional ex-changes with French-speaking countries. While answering a query on 2018 being considered as an exceptional year for Qa-

tar’s diplomacy despite all chal-lenges of the crisis, the ambas-sador said: “Qatar is now a major player who wants to be part of shaping the world of tomorrow. Qatari authorities have capital-ised on the challenges of the cri-sis whether they are economic, political or security-related with relevant behaviour, policy and diplomacy.”

Replying to a query on the progress in cultural and educa-tion co-operation, the ambas-sador said France is strengthen-

ing its co-operation in education with diff erent Qatari institu-tions.

“In partnership with the Min-ister of Education and Higher Education, France is promoting education in France for Qatari students,” he said, while recall-ing his attendance in a meeting on the benefi ts of studying in France organised last month by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education with second-ary public school students.

Gellet also remembered at-tending the maiden University Expo Qatar held in Doha where the French pavilion showcased higher education opportunities.

The ambassador recalled the fi rst joint committee meeting between Qatar University (QU) and the French embassy earlier this year.

“It focused on areas of co-operation, regarding the training and rehabilitation of students, scientifi c research and develop-ment and promotion of French language education at the uni-versity”, he said.

Gellet said he is really proud of the works being initiated by HEC Paris in Qatar, which he said is providing world-class executive education to students in Qatar. “I am proud of this successful partnership with Qatar Founda-tion”.

The ambassador also in-formed that as part of the run up to the Qatar-France Year of Culture 2020, several projects have already been scheduled. “This includes exhibitions and events to be held both in France and Qatar.”

The envoy also noted that the economic relations between France and Qatar shot up phe-nomenally by almost 30% last

year compared to the previous year (2016). “We hope it will still continue to rise rise this year and a new record will be set with a volume exceeding QR12bn (over 3bn euros). French companies are doing their best to meet the Qatari market’s high expecta-tions.”

Aircraft, pharmaceutical products, chemical products, perfumes and metal products are France’s main exports to Qatar with Qatar Airways being one of Airbus’ major clients.

The Qatari investments in France exceeded QR72.8bn (18mn euros), based on offi cial fi gures released in Qatar. “It re-fl ected France’s call to Qatari public and private investors. They include participation in some of the biggest French, real estate assets, and investments in fast-growing SMEs and start-ups, for the latter ones mostly through our joint investment fund.” France is welcoming more Qatari investments in innovative companies. “Some of my Qatari friends have invested in world’s biggest startup campus ‘Station F’ in France,” he said.

French investments in Qatar have also been on the rise, re-fl ecting dynamism and the level of commitment of French com-panies operating in Qatar, some of them for decades. “Around 200 French companies are work-ing on key projects in oil and gas, electricity and water, transport, urban development assisting Qatar in achieving its goals, en-shrined in the Qatar National Vi-sion 2030.”

French companies operating in Qatar were involved in the construction of Hamad Port, the metro and the tram, roads and other industrial facilities, re-

called the ambassador.He also remembered that

MoUs were signed between the Ministry of Municipality and Environment and the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food during the Amir’s visit to Paris earlier this year.

Last month, the French em-bassy and the French Federation of Businessmen, MEDEF Inter-national, organised the fi rst Qa-tar-France Business and Invest-ment Forum. For the fi rst time, a delegation of 60 leaders of major French groups and SMEs visited Qatar to discuss new export and investment opportunities in or-der to build new partnerships in a wide range of fi elds, as ag-riculture, food production, lo-gistics, health, information and communication technologies, thereby strengthening business and investment relations.

French energy major Total is a natural and reliable partner for Qatar and they started here more than 80 years ago, said the am-bassador while speaking about growing co-operation between the two countries in oil and gas sectors.

Replying to a query on post-blockade Qatar, Gellet said he is very impressed by Qatar’s ability to overcome the challenges and he said even a year and a half af-ter the embargo began Qatar has been able to transform the crisis into an opportunity with re-markable achievements in self-suffi ciency, food security, and logistics with the development of air and sea freight at the Ha-mad International Airport and Hamad Port.

The ambassador also added that about 30,000 visas were is-sued by the French embassy so far this year.

French ambassador Franck Gellet has said that Qatar is a true friend and reliable partner of his country in many areas of activity. PICTURE: Ram Chand

Cultural exchanges ‘help raise art awareness in Qatar’By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

Eff orts of museums and pri-vate galleries in the coun-try to promote cultural

exchanges have signifi cantly helped in raising awareness on the importance of art in a mul-ticultural society such as Qatar, Anima Gallery founder Ghada Sholy has said.

“People now are more in-terested in art and they enjoy exploring new exhibitions and visiting museums and art galler-ies,” she told Gulf Times, citing the initiatives of Qatar Museums (QM) and Anima in educating the young generation on art.

Established in March 2012, Anima focuses on two main areas: exhibitions, art con-sulting and execution. It rep-resents emerging, mid-career and established artists working in a broad range of styles and mediums, featuring paintings, sculptures, installations and all other contemporary forms of art. It is located at The Pearl-Qatar.

Sholy, also a member of the Qatari Businesswomen Associa-tion, said museums in Doha such as the Museum of Islamic Art, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Mod-ern Art and the Doha Fire Sta-tion, among others, teach people of all ages to appreciate and un-derstand art.

QM Chairperson HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Kha-lifa al-Thani, she noted, is “the main fi gure” behind the boom-ing art scene in Qatar stressing that “she has a great vision and doing an amazing job.”

“We are promoting an ex-change of cultures, we bring international art here and take local art abroad to international art fairs. This is very important for the promotion of our local artists as well,” she said.

Featuring contemporary art from the local, regional, and in-ternational levels, Anima holds exhibitions, talks and lectures for visitors, students and arts professionals.

With high quality exhibitions, collection displays, artist com-missions, education resources and trendy art lounge, Anima quickly has become an impor-tant part of Qatar’s cultural art scene.

Sholy said they give school and university students a tour

at the gallery and explain about the artworks on show, this month for example, is Lebanese artist Nadim Karam’s ‘Memory Lapse’.

“Their teachers are very happy and they give students an as-signment to talk and write about so that also helps to promote

art appreciation ‘cause you re-ally have to start when you are young,’” she explained.

“Of course it is never too late to start anything, but the younger the better, and we are very happy when we see parents coming on weekends and bring-ing their children to the gallery

and that’s also one of the very important ways to promote art,” the Anima founder added. The gallery also organises informal talks every other week called ‘Anima Tuesday chat,’ inviting people to share their views on certain topics.

“For instance, we had one talk about the importance of dance to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and to diminish the signs of demen-tia, we had one about startups, how to start your own business, another was about insurance,” Sholy said.

“Next time we will talk about interior design, it is one way to gather people and each time it will be about a diff erent topic.”

Anima gallery is adjacent to its art cafe Anima Lounge – home to several pieces of impressive artworks by renowned local, re-gional and international artists such as Ali Hassan and Yasser al-Mulla (Qatar), Tsi Wei Chen (Taiwan), Fernando Botero (Co-lombia), and Boo Sze Yang (Ko-rea), among others.

“Visitors look and ask who is that, what is that and we explain it to them and get them curious and informed. Even our waiters and waitresses are artistically trained. The Lounge and the gal-lery go hand in hand. Art is the message.”

Ghada Sholy with one of the sculptures by Nadim Karam, Lebanon, from the current exhibition, ‘Memory Lapse.’ PICTURES: Joey Aguilar

Colombian artist Fernando Botero’s ‘Man on a horse’ is among Anima’s permanent and most expensive pieces.

Vodafone off ers next-level gaming

experience to mark National Day

Vodafone, the telecom-munications partner for Qatar National Day cel-

ebrations at Katara, is laying on a next-level gaming experience as part of its event programme, providing visitors with a range of rich and varied entertain-ment options.

Running until December 19, Qatar’s gaming fans can get a taste of what 5G will provide by playing their favourite on-line games powered by the 5G site in a specially dedicated corner of the “Vodafone Vil-lage” at Katara. There they will experience superfast, seamless connectivity thanks to the re-cent deployment of 5G ready sites in Katara in recent days. 5G connectivity will enable gamers to enjoy extremely fast speeds and ultra-low latency, eliminating the lag often expe-rienced in gaming with current technologies.

Multiplayer favourites such as Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds will be available to play at the Vodafone Village, connected to Wi-Fi via 5G and broadcast on digital screens for all to see.

The gaming corner is a key highlight of the “Vodafone Vil-lage” which has been carefully

designed to provide something for everyone and blends the historical and modern. Other attractions at the village in-clude an augmented reality table demonstrating the capa-bilities of 5G as well as a digital photo booth.

These are intertwined with much loved cultural activities such as henna painting, a falcon and trainer, traditional games in the sand area, and classical cars on display – all of which pay homage to the rich cultural

elements of Qatari heritage. Vodafone Qatar is the strategic telecommunications partner of the celebrations at Katara – the Cultural Village. The business’ participation in the event re-fl ects its commitment to facili-tating community-wide con-nections. By bridging the gap between physical and digital, Vodafone aims to provide solu-tions that can inspire consum-ers and demonstrate how the latest technologies can enhance their lives.

Vodafone Qatar is the strategic telecommunications partner of the Qatar National Day celebrations at Katara – the Cultural Village.

AAB campaign to celebrate QND

Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB), the exclusive dealers for

Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, is celebrating Qatar National Day (QND) by off ering loyal cus-tomers an opportunity to win the Toyota Camry and Toyota Rush.

Customers purchasing new cars from the Toyota or Lexus showrooms, pre-owned vehi-cles, or those servicing their vehicles or buying spare parts from the Central Parts De-partment (Industrial Area) will have a chance to win the Toyota Camry or Rush. The campaign is running until December 22.

The initiative has been or-ganised as part of National Day celebrations to thank custom-ers of Toyota and Lexus for their loyalty and in helping the two brands to be the No 1 auto-motive brand in Qatar, AAB has said in a statement.

R K Murugan, ACEO of AAB, said: “AAB is committed to the

core values of being a company that is keen to satisfy its cus-tomers. Our goal is always to delight customers and all our internal activities and invest-ments are towards enhancing the total ownership experience. To express our deep gratitude to our customers for their dedi-cation, trust and continued support to Toyota and Lexus, AAB is organising the customer week as one of our methods for thanking customers.”

AAB was established in 1958 as part of Qatar’s infrastructure development. In 1964, AAB

was awarded the Toyota deal-ership. “As one of the forerun-ners of successful businesses in Qatar, AAB has established a name for itself with sound business practices and ethics – a reputation earned through honesty, integrity and impec-cable relationship with its customers, business partners and employees,” the statement added. “AAB has grown to be one of Qatar’s leading automo-bile companies with operations spanning heavy equipment, pre-owned vehicles, rental and leasing.”

AAB customer appreciation week.

Qatar is working for a promising future,says US diplomat

The Charge d’Aff aires of the US embassy in Qatar, Wil-liam Grant, said: “Qataris

do not rest on past accomplish-ments — they look to the future. So do Americans. We are expect-ing more great accomplishments in 2019.”

In a statement to Qatar News Agency, the US diplomat praised all the work done by Qatar to im-prove people’s lives, and its con-tinued eff orts to achieve its goals in various fi elds.

He congratulated His High-ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, the govern-ment and the citizens of Qatar on the National Day on the be-half of the American people.

He said that the “National Day is an opportunity to celebrate the ideals upon which our two coun-tries were built. For the United States, we recall our Declaration of Independence, recounting that our nation values ‘life, lib-erty, and the pursuit of happi-ness.’ I believe that Qatar shares the same ideals for its citizens.”

He further expressed his hap-piness to learn about the Qatari society, culture and history and visit many amazing projects in

Qatar, including Qatar National Museum and the Education Above All initiative.

He also said that he was im-pressed by how Qatar is focused on solving its own problems while building new international relationships in spite of recent challenges as this was an at-titude that can be seen among Qatari society and it starts at the top.

The diplomat that “the US has seen Qatar’s resilience and determination to become more self-reliant,” clarifying that the US is proud of the extensive connections between the two

countries in so many areas, in-cluding education, trade, natural gas, military, counter-terrorism. “We see more on the way,” he said. The charge d’aff aires point-ed out that Qatar focuses on the future and how it can make life better for all those who live here.

He mentioned, as examples, how the country’s is working on improving protection for work-ers and making people from diff erent backgrounds feel wel-come.

He also highlighted that all of this is done while respecting Qa-tar’s deep-seeded cultural roots and famously warm hospitality.

He stressed that the Middle East continues to be very impor-tant to the US, which values its close co-operation with Qatar and deems the Gulf unity as es-sential to common interests and ensuring a prosperous future for the people of the region.

He further emphasised that resolving the current dispute is in the interest of the region and the US.

He stressed that the rela-tions between the US and Qatari governments have never been stronger as the US provides more direct investment in Qatar than any other country and it is Qa-tar’s largest trading partner.

The two countries have made

advances in 2018 in trade, mili-tary co-operation, eff orts to combat terrorism, upgrading the skills of law enforcement, higher education, cultural partner-ships, and many more areas.

The charge d’aff aires high-lighted the Amir’s visit to the United States in April 2018, add-ing that senior US government offi cials and members of the US Congress consistently visit Qa-tar, including several Cabinet-level secretaries, to continue to build on bilateral co-operation.

The two sides also held the fi rst Strategic Dialogue between Qatar and the US and second Strategic Dialogue on counter terrorism this year.

Both the US and Qatar want to build on these initiatives, he stressed.

The diplomat concluded say-ing that hundreds of students study and receive their degrees from six US universities in Edu-cation City, and thousands more are getting their degrees in the US.

He added to that the Doha Port welcomed the largest US Navy ship ever to visit Qatar, the USS Sampson. Sailors and Marines from the ship greatly enjoyed the hospitality here and, in 2019, there will be even more engagements with the US Navy.

QNADoha

The Charge d’Aff aires of the US embassy in Qatar, William Grant.

Brazilian envoy: Qatar faced challenges with courage

Brazil’s ambassador to Qa-tar, Roberto Abdalla, said that Qatar has faced the

challenges posed to it with cour-age and strength.

He praised the measures aimed at seeking self-suffi cien-cy in food and manufacturing, making the country’s economy more dynamic.

In remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on Qatar National Day, the ambassador said that it is easy to notice that the coun-try is taking fast steps towards a more diversifi ed and innovative economy.

He explained that Qatar has a soft-power approach in dealing with regional and international is-sues and has adopted a strategy of national modernisation and global integration. “Since the beginning of my tenure as Brazil’s ambassador to Qatar, I have been witnessing a ro-bust development in environmen-tal, social, economic and human fi elds. It is clear that the country is doing its best to become a better place for the future generations to come,” he added.

Ambassador Abdalla pointed out that Qatar has accomplished great achievements that it will be the fi rst Middle Eastern country to host the football World Cup “which means a lot to us, Bra-zilians,” he said adding that it has established one of the most important airlines in the world, has extensively expanded its ur-ban infrastructure and through Qatar Foundation and other in-stitutions it has contributed to human development nationally, regionally and internationally,

among other successful attain-ments.

He stressed that over the last few years, the country and its people have been resilient, steadfast and determined.

The ambassador said that the celebration of the National Day represents an occasion when people express pride not only on their nationality but also on the conquests of the forefathers of the nation.

Ambassador Abdalla extend-ed sincere congratulations to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for the accomplishments of Qatar, off ering best wishes of continu-ous peace and prosperity for its citizens and residents.

He added that Qatar’s posi-tions in the international arena show a lot of similarities to the foreign policies implemented by Brazil, explaining that both countries’ international rela-tions have been based on the principles of multilateralism, peaceful dispute settlement, and

non-intervention in the aff airs of other countries.”As much as Brazil, Qatar engages in multi-lateral diplomacy through the United Nations and regional organisations, and over the last decades have increased ties with other countries geographically distant,” he added.

He added: “These diplomatic approaches hold in favour of Qatar. Nowadays, the country is well-known as a rising power in the Middle East as well as in the international realm. The ma-turity that Qatar has displayed when handling foreign dilem-mas is really worth emulating: despite the ongoing diplomatic crisis, Qatar has, from day one, called for dialogue to resolve any diff erences while defending its sovereignty. In this regard, I would like to once again con-gratulate His Highness the Amir for his wise leadership in the face of the crisis and the people of Qatar on the way they have han-dled the blockade”.

He stressed that the relation-ship between his country and Qatar is excellent, pointing that Brazil opened its resident embassy in Doha in 2005 and the establish-ment of diplomatic bilateral rela-tions date back to 41 years.

It is also important to note that today there are over 1,500 Brazilians living and working in Qatar, he added.

In addition, His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani also paid an of-fi cial visit to Brazil in 2010.

During all these years, both governments have been working for a closer approach in the ar-eas of energy, sports, education, trade and investments, among other things.Pages 32, 33, 34

QNADoha

Ambassador Roberto Abdalla

Thailand ambassador praises Qatar’s handling of problems

Thailand’s ambassador to Qatar, Nathapol Khanta-hiran, hailed the strong

relations between the two coun-tries and the close co-operation between them in various fi elds.

The ambassador said in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on Qatar National Day, that the diplomatic relations between the two countries have achieved, over 38 years, a re-markable development in all fi elds including trade, invest-ment, energy and tourism, say-ing: Thailand and Qatar will continue to strengthen and deepen their ties in all fi elds under the aspirations of trust,

respect as well as mutual and reciprocating interest which are what the two countries always

hold on to for the past 38 years and many years to come.

He praised Qatar’s handling of the problems for the past year - with effi ciency and strong de-termination of all government agencies, the livelihood of all residents and business confi -dence have been restored quickly after the diplomatic tension last year without much impact.

The ambassador said: “We have no doubt that Qatar is one of the countries that advance in all those areas. With continued develop-ment, unbeatable modernisation, high security assurance from ex-ternal threats and exceptional peace within the country, Qatar can easily make herself a liveable second home for expatriates.”

He commended Qatar’s deci-sion to abolish exit permit sys-

tem which is another big step in assuring the security for the for-eign workers.

He also noted that the Nation-al Day celebration helps develop a sense of unity and solidar-ity among the citizens and gives them a chance to appreciate their history, traditions and cul-ture, pointing that the celebra-tion of Qatar National Day this year will be a good opportunity for the whole country to, once again, show international com-munity the strength, determi-nation and wisdom of Qatar and the Qataris.

The ambassador, on behalf of the Thai community in Qatar, congratulated Qatar and its citi-zens on the National Day, wish-ing Qatar continued prosper and progress.

QNADoha

Ambassador Nathapol Khantahiran

Bangladeshi envoy lauds the spirit of Qatari people

Bangladesh’s ambassador in Doha, Ashud Ahmed, stressed that Qatar cel-

ebration of National Day on De-cember 18 each year represents an occasion for all Qatari citizens to renew their commitment to the values, mission and national vision of the state.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), the ambassador appreciated the spirit and deter-mination which the Government and people demonstrated, par-ticularly after the blockade. “The perception about self-reliance is now diff erently defi ned by the globalised world. However, in the broader perspective I see the spirit of Qatari people in achieving

self-reliance as their aspiration to explore the potentials which long remained untapped,” he said.

Qatar is creating the strong base for a developed and modern society with guarantee for peace and security through investing in education, health and culture and engaging the young people.

One of the foreign policy pil-lars of Bangladesh is the peaceful settlement of dispute.

“I see, therefore, strong merit in Qatar’s consistent foreign policy approach in resolving tensions between states through diplomatic channel and peaceful means,” ambassador Ashud said.

“The bilateral relations be-tween Bangladesh and Qatar based on shared values and mu-tual respect are growing from strength to strength. A large number of Bangladeshi expatri-ates in Qatar are contributing both economies of Qatar and Bangladesh and building people to people contact. Both Bang-ladesh and Qatar are working to further explore bilateral trade and investment potentials and increase contacts between young people of the two countries.”

QNADoha

Bangladesh’s ambassador in Doha, Ashud Ahmed.

Katara to feature ‘All united hand in hand’ operetta today

Katara – the Cultural Vil-lage Foundation has said it has “become a hotspot

for families” to celebrate Qatar National Day as “new events and amazing shows” add colour to the festivities every day.

Squadrons of warplanes from Al Zaeem Mohammed Bin Ab-dullah Al Attiya Air Academy huddled in harmony to perform fantastic air shows for the audi-ence in the skies above Katara yesterday. This was followed by air shows by colourful drones, which were also appreciated by the audience, Katara said in a statement.

On this occasion, Salem al-

Merri, Public Relations director at Katara, said the Cultural Vil-lage will host the ‘All united hand in hand’ operetta today, high-lighting the strong unity among expatriates and citizens living in Qatar.

The operetta will be staged again on December 19. “This op-eretta represents the harmony and co-existence between resi-dents and citizens in Qatar,” he explained.

Visitors to the Katara Nation-al Day celebrations can enjoy “military musical performances by bands from countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Italy” to-morrow. The military orchestra

shows will begin at 3pm and will be held in addition to a perform-ance by the Amiri cavalry fol-lowed by fi reworks, according to the Katara statement.

A number of art workshops have been organised for children to create the best artworks in-volving Qatari symbols. This has been done to enhance the patri-otic spirit among children and boost their artistic and cultural knowledge.

Also, Katara general manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti will tomorrow inaugurate the planetarium at Katara, which will become the fi rst such facility of its kind in Qatar.

Highlights of Qatar National Day celebrations at Katara.

QATAR19Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

Hyatt Plaza hosts falcons’ expo to mark National DayHyatt Plaza is hosting the Falcons Ex-

hibition as a part of the mall’s Qatar National Day celebrations.

Visitors have the opportunity to see and take photographs with more than 18 types of falcons exhibited at the mall. Moreover, the exhibition is hosting a traditional tent that represents Qatari culture with a crafts-man making falconry-related tools.

Such an initiative has been organised for the fi rst time at a shopping mall in Qatar, Hyatt Plaza has said in a statement.

The exhibition, which coincides with Qatar’s National Day, shows visitors how falcons are an essential part of the Qatari tradition and gives them an idea of how to feed, train and look after falcons.

The mall has been decorated with the Qa-tar fl ag and various items related to the Na-tional Day, creating a special atmosphere. Also, in celebration of the special occasion, the mall will distribute fl ags to visitors on December 18.

The Falcons Exhibition coincides with a mass campaign of promotions and off ers at Hyatt Plaza outlets during the National Day celebrations, the statement added. This campaign is part of Shop Qatar 2019 hosted by the mall in co-operation with the Na-tional Tourism Council.

The exhibition located at Gate No 2 opens its doors to visitors daily from Saturday to Wednesday – 12 noon to 10pm ; Thursday – 12 noon to 11pm; and on Friday – 2pm to 11pm, until tomorrow. The Falcons Exhibition at Hyatt Plaza.

Safari Optical’s third outlet was inaugurated at The Centre, near the Jabr Bin Ahmed Intersection (near Radisson Blu Hotel Doha), by Safari Group of Companies chairman Hamad Dhafar Abdulhadi al-Ahbabi along with Safari Group director and general manager Zainul Abideen on December 14.

Safari Optical’s third outlet opens

Ooredoo’s free data off er to mark QND

Ooredoo’s free data off er to celebrate the upcom-ing Qatar National Day

(QND) has been updated and improved to give customers even more value, it was announced yesterday.

From today and until Wednesday, customers using their augmented reality cam-eras on the Ooredoo app to scan the relevant Ooredoo adver-tisements will receive a full 1GB of data free, and can double their data with an extra 1GB by redeeming 200 Nojoom points.

All that the customers will need to do is watch out for the augmented reality compatible advertisement, use the aug-

mented reality camera – avail-able in the newest version of Ooredoo App- to scan the art-work on it and the 1GB free data will then be added immediately to their accounts.

Augmented reality is an in-teractive experience of a real-world environment where ob-jects residing in the real world are enhanced, or augmented, by computer-generated per-ceptual information such as animation, on any screen or device.

Unlike virtual reality, where the user is immersed in a com-pletely created environment, augmented reality combines both the real world and the computer-generated enhance-ments.

Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi, director PR and Corporate Communications at Ooredoo, said of the offer: “We know our customers will be celebrating Qatar National Day and to help them get the best from their celebrations, we’re pleased to extend and improve our of-fer. We hope they’ll enjoy us-ing our new augmented reality technology to access this great deal.”

Panel in Sealine tie-up for Al Enna project

In line with Qatar’s continuing eff orts to partner with the pri-vate sector in providing excel-

lent tourist experiences, National Tourism Council has engaged the experience and expertise of Sealine Beach, a Murwab Resort, to operate Al Enna Project.

This will be open until March 2019.

Al Enna project aims to enhance the overall desert and camping ex-perience through improved serv-ices and safety while ensuring the protection and preservation of the environment and its natural life.

Al Enna is open for all visitors and families from 8am to 10pm daily with an entrance fee of QR30 for adults and QR15 for kids be-tween 6-12 years; entry is free for six years and below.

Al Enna has dedicated a zone for families which consists of six Cabanas, closely located to the playground area with slides, climb-ing free access games and many more chargeable games.

Security personnel, life guards

and fi rst aiders are available round-the-clock during opera-tional hours. In addition, there are 30 food stalls off ering variety of cuisines for all tastes. No live bar-beque is allowed for preserving the heritage and protecting one of the most beautiful natural areas in the world.

Guests can make the reserva-tions by calling Sealine’s direct booking number 55847854 or at the ticketing offi ce on site.

Nawaf Ali al-Obaidly, gen-eral manager of Sealine Beach, a Murwab Resort said, ‘We are hon-oured to gain National Tourism Council’s confi dence by entering into this partnership for Al Enna Project on its fi rst launching, un-der which Al Enna occupies over 6mn sqm and managing six areas (Market – ATV tracks- Car Racing Tracks – Camping area – Herit-age area - Beach which is called Al Seif). As we strive for excellence we trust that we will make the camp-ing experience at Al Enna camping project a memorable experience.” A view of the VIP cabanas at Sealine Beach.

Ministry recalls 2018 model Jeep Wrangler

The Ministry of Com-merce and Industry, in collaboration with

United Cars Almana (After Sales), has announced the re-call of Jeep Wrangler model of 2018 because the track bar bracket may separate and fall out.

The Ministry said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing ef-forts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs. The Ministry said that it will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance

and repair works and will com-municate with customers to en-sure that the necessary repairs are carried out.

The Ministry urges all cus-tomers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquires and sug-gestions through the following channels: Call Centre: 16001, e-mail: info@mec.gov.qa, Twitter: @MOCIQATAR, In-stagram: MOCIQATAR, Min-istry of Commerce and Indus-try mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_QATAR

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with Pro-tech Powered Sports Co, has announced the recall of Polaris Ranger HD Diesel model of 2018 over a potential defect in the parking brake cable routing. The Ministry said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and en-sure that vehicle dealers follow up on bike defects and repairs.

2018 Polaris Ranger HD Diesel recalled

Barwa Bank picks Thara’a savings account campaign draw winners

Barwa Bank has announced the names of the most recent round of draw winners for Thara’a, its Shariah-compliant savings ac-

count, at the bank’s headquarters. As the draw results showed, Issa Ali al-Ansari

and Iqbal Ahmed Abdul Bari each won a cash prize of QR10,000, the bank said in a statement.

Also, a cash prize worth QR5,000 was awarded to the following bank clients: Sahar Kamel Zarandah, Mubarakah Saeed al-Marri, Hally Sanicas, Salem Saeed al-Khelaifi , Nafj a Abdul Rahman al-Maa-deed, Kathy Sok Theng, Amel Mohamed al-Yafei, Yusra Mohamed al-Maskri, Fatima Abdul Rahman al-Mohannadi, Ghanim Nasser al-Nuaimi, Rashid Hamad al-Adbah, Mohamed Ahmed al-Alwi, Kha-led Mohamed al-Yazidi, Ahmed Samy El-Ghamry, Jory Gelaidan, Sumaya Mehdar al-Yafei, Yasin Juma Gul, Mohamed Eissa Shamiyeh, Maryam Faroogh Amani, Elafraa Mohamed and Anas Badawy.

The draw was conducted under the supervision of a representative from the qualitative licence and market control department at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Thara’a off ers account holders the chance to benefi t from cash rewards up to QR1,000,000. Based on several criteria, Thara’a account holders are eligible for a number of periodic draws for cash prizes. Totalling QR3,300,000, Thara’a cash re-wards are distributed on both a monthly and bian-nual basis to customers holding a minimum balance of QR10,000. On a monthly basis, there are 21 win-ners per draw for the cash prize of QR5,000 each, as

well as two winners per draw for the cash prize of QR10,000. Additionally, twice, a year, there are two winners per draw for the cash prize of QR25,000 each, two winners per draw for the cash prize of QR50,000 each, and yearly there are two winners of the grand prize of QR1,000,000 for each winner – rewarding 194 winners in total with cash prizes up to QR3,300,000, the statement explained.

Customers may learn about the many benefi ts of the Thara’a savings account by visiting Barwa Bank’s website, www.barwabank.com, or by calling the Contact Centre at 800 8555.

French concept bakery proves popular at The Pearl-Qatar

France Delice Cafe, a French concept bakery and pastry shop at Medina Centrale in The Pearl-Qatar is in great demand for its novel

concepts and items. “We started as a bakery and pastry shop some

eight months ago and we have recently expanded our services into a restaurant serving meals. At our bakery, we serve French concept items while our restaurant serves national food items,” said Ahmed Ramadan, manager of the restaurant and bakery.

“There is a great demand for our restaurant items. Our breakfast is very popular in the area.We serve national food items and one special thing about our restaurant is that these items are avail-able not just for breakfast but all through the day,” explained Ramadan.

“We sell several items such as salad, pasta and other items for lunch and other meals. Our juic-es are very special and there is great demand for them. All our products are moderately priced and our bakery and pastry items are all made in-house,” said Ramadan.

“We started as a bakery and pastry shop. Still, we are the only bakery in Medina Centrale. Our French bread is very famous all across the area. Several people visit us daily from all over Pearl Qa-tar just for the bread. We make croissants as well as chocolates. We also provide cheesecake and caramel,” said the bakery manager.

France Delice Cafe is also planning to cater food outside. “We are planning to supply our bread to other shops in Pearl and other places. We are open from 7am to 11pm on weekdays and from 7am to midnight on Fridays,” added Ramadan. An exterior view of France Delice Cafe.

20 Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

QATAR

QATAR/REGION/ARAB WORLD/AFRICA21Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

Cisco offi cial lectures at CNA-QCollege of the North At-

lantic - Qatar (CNA-Q) hosted Cisco Systems

Inc’s vice president, Public Policy and Government Aff airs, Pastora Valero at its campus. Valero gave a presentation to the College’s School of Information Technology and School of Engi-neering Technology faculty, and IT Operations staff .

Her talk focused on the ad-vancement of digitalisation, and preparing for workforce needs in

a rapidly-advancing technology environment, especially in Qa-tar. Valero pointed out that there is already a shortage of 3mn se-curity technology workers to meet current demands across the globe.

Such a topic is extremely im-portant to CNA-Q as Qatar’s na-tional technical and vocational college, which aims to meet the needs of Qatar’s growing and diversifying economy. With advanced diplomas in four IT

programmes and telecommu-nications engineering, CNA-Q graduates are poised to lead as the next generation of digital knowledge workers. As the col-lege is a major player in the fi eld of Information Technology, having Valero and senior Cisco representatives on campus in-creases the college’s industry outreach and enhances linkages between CNA-Q and Qatar’s IT sector.

“We are constantly bringing

high-profi le and high-quality speakers from industry to speak with our faculty and staff to share vital information that ensures our delivery of curriculum meets the expectations of employers. Stay-ing in touch with industry allows us to stay current, build relation-ships, and remain relevant in the economy. Through industry part-nerships, we are ensuring our stu-dents graduate technically-com-petent and employment-ready,” said Dr Salem al-Naemi, vice

president, Finance and Adminis-tration.

“Partnering with CNA-Q, is helping us build strong relation-ships with local education insti-tutions. This will help us give back to Qatar, where we have been es-tablished for over 10 years,” Shane Hearty, managing director, Cisco Qatar. The meeting culminated with a mutual understanding that CNA-Q and Cisco will to continue partnering on various activities to ensure that both parties prosper. Cisco International vice president Pastora Valero speaks at CNA-Q.

Car bomb kills nine in Syria’s Afrin: monitorAFP Afrin

A car bomb killed at least nine people including fi ve civilians near a pro-Tur-

key rebel post in the northern Syrian city of Afrin yesterday, a British-based war monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not clear who was behind the blast in the city, which was seized from Kurdish forces earlier this year.

The explosion comes af-ter the Turkish president on Wednesday threatened to launch a new offensive against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria.

The Observatory said the blast wounded dozens, and the toll was likely to rise.

“The car bomb exploded near a position of pro-Turkey fighters” in a market, killing five civilians and four fighters, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

At the site of the explosion, fresh herbs and vegetables were strewn on the ground near blackened market stalls.

Vegetable seller Abu Yazan al-Qabuni said he was in the market towards midday when he saw a van enter.

“We thought it was carrying vegetables,” he said.

After a huge blast rocked the area, he ran to the site of the explosion, finding wounded people and body parts on the

ground. “I put them in a bag and buried them,” he said.

“There are no armed gangs, no terrorists here. We’re a veg-etable market,” he added, in-dignant.

The city of Afrin was cap-tured in March this year from the YPG by Turkish armed forces and Syrian rebels backed by Ankara.

Turkey accuses the YPG of being “terrorists”, but the

Kurdish militia also forms the backbone of a US-backed alli-ance fighting the Islamic State group in Syria. YPG forces are present in areas along the Turkish border to the east of Afrin.

On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdog-an said Turkey was planning to launch a new offensive within the “next few days” against the YPG in northern Syria.

A day later, a Turkish soldier was killed in the Afrin region after coming under fire from the YPG, the Turkish defence ministry said.

On Friday, US President Don-ald Trump agreed with Erdogan on “more effective co-ordina-tion” between both countries in the war-torn country.

American forces are present in an area along the Turkish border east of Afrin, as part of

the US-led coalition fighting IS. Erdogan has strongly criti-cised Washington’s support for the YPG-led Syrian Demo-cratic Forces fighting IS in their last holdout in the far east of the country.

Syria’s war has killed more than 360,000 people and dis-placed millions since starting in 2011 with the brutal repres-sion of anti-government pro-tests.

A pro-Turkish Syrian fighter inspects the remains of a car that reportedly exploded in a market in the northern Syrian city of Afrin, killing and wounding several people, yesterday.

Air strikes, clashes hit Hodeidah despite truceAFPDubai

The UN’s envoy to Yemen called yesterday for pro-government forces and

rebels to respect a ceasefi re in the Red Sea port city of Hodei-dah, after repeated clashes be-tween the two sides threatened to unravel a hard-won accord hammered out in Sweden last week.

“The special envoy expects the two parties to respect their obligations as per the text and spirit of the Stockholm Agree-ment and to engage in the im-mediate implementation of its provisions,” envoy Martin Grif-fi ths tweeted.

He said the UN was work-ing with Yemen’s Saudi-backed government and Houthi rebels to ensure the accord on Hodeidah reached on Thursday was “im-plemented timely and properly”. Clashes shook Hodeidah Sunday after air strikes and deadly fi ght-ing on the outskirts overnight, residents said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres warned that “much worse” lay in store for the country in 2019 unless its warring parties strike a peace deal and head off a hu-manitarian crisis.

The two sides exchanged ac-cusations of violating the cease-fi re accord that took eff ect on Friday but which quickly came under pressure.

A resident of the city reached by telephone said that the clashes were “fi erce” and the sounds of jets could be heard throughout the night until about

5am (0200 GMT) yesterday.Another resident, who spoke

on condition of anonymity, also reported ongoing fi ghting in the city, home to a lifeline port.

“There are sounds of jets and air strikes, but we don’t know what they are targeting,” he told AFP by telephone.

At least 29 fi ghters, including 22 Houthi rebels and seven pro-government troops, were killed on Saturday night in clashes and air strikes in Hodeida province, a pro-government military source told AFP.

No other sources could con-fi rm the death toll.

The pro-government source added that seven rebels were captured during a Houthi attack on Al-Durayhimi district, which lies about 20 kilometres south of Hodeidah city.

According to the insurgents’ Al-Masirah television yesterday, there were ongoing clashes and air strikes in the city and its out-skirts. The truce between Yem-

eni government forces, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition and the Houthi rebels was due to be followed by the withdrawal of fi ghters from Hodeidah within days on both sides.

In comments published Sat-urday on the rebel-run Saba news agency, the Houthis ac-cused pro-government forces of shelling residential neighbour-hoods in Hodeidah city.

Thursday’s ceasefi re accord has been seen as the most sig-nifi cant step towards ending the devastating confl ict in Yemen, where more than 14mn people are on the brink of famine.

The United States commend-ed yesterday the two sides that took part in the Sweden nego-tiations for “making progress on key initiatives”, calling for a de-escalation of tensions.

“Moving forward, all must continue to engage, de-escalate tensions, and cease ongoing hostilities,” the US embassy in Riyadh tweeted.

A child patient is checked by an ophthalmologist in Sanaa.Hamas chief praises ‘resistance’ after attacksAFP Gaza City

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya praised “resist-ance” in the occupied

West Bank in a speech to tens of thousands yesterday after recent deadly attacks against Israelis.

Haniya made the comments at a rally in Gaza City for the 31st anniversary of the Palestinian movement’s founding.

“We place our hopes in the West Bank, which is the main area where events are occurring and the most appropriate area to resolve the confl ict with our Zi-onist enemy,” he told the crowd, which waived green Hamas fl ags.

“The West Bank has shaken and stood up with glory, strength and skill, as if it wanted to say to our people on the occasion of this glorious anniversary that it

was with the resistance, in total harmony.”

Members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, participated in the rally in camoufl age and carrying rifl es, while presenting a range of weapons.

Hamas runs the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank, where its rivals from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah are based.

Palestinian fi ghters in Gaza, in-cluding Hamas, have fought three wars with Israel since 2008.

The group has claimed two recent deadly shootings in the West Bank, which has seen an upsurge in violence over the past week.

They included a December 9 attack near a settlement that led to the death of a baby prema-turely delivered after his mother was shot and wounded.

Iraq lays cornerstone to rebuild iconic mosqueAFPMosul

Iraqis yesterday laid the cornerstone in rebuilding Mosul’s Al-Nuri mosque

and leaning minaret, national emblems destroyed last year in the ferocious battle against the Islamic State group.

The famed 12th century mosque and minaret, dubbed Al-Hadba or “the hunchback,” hosted Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s only public appearance as IS chief, when he declared a self-styled “caliphate” after the militants swept into Mosul in 2014.

The structures were rav-

aged three years later in the fi nal, most brutal stages of the months-long fi ght to rid Iraq’s second city of IS.

Yesterday, dozens of gov-ernment offi cials, religious fi gures, United Nations repre-sentatives and European am-bassadors gathered in the large square in front of the battered mosque to see the foundation laid. Abdullatif al-Humaym, the head of endowments in Iraq, set down the stone in a simple ceremony.

It bore a black Arabic inscrip-tion: “This cornerstone for the rebuilding and restoration of the Al-Hadba minaret and the Great Al-Nuri Mosque was laid on December 16, 2018.”

At least 12 Nigerian soldiers were killed and dozens of others are missing after fighting with hardliners in the northeastern state of Borno, three military sources said yesterday, one of the largest known losses of life by the army in the last month. The army said it repelled the attack in which it said one soldier was killed and another injured. The fighting followed an attack on Friday by insurgents in Gudumbali local government area — a part of Borno where Boko Haram breakaway group Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) is influential. The sources said the poor commu-nication network in the remote area delayed details of the attack being relayed. The attack, which the sources say was carried out on a military base and a nearby community in the Gudumbali local government area, comes as President Muhamadu Buhari’s security record has become a campaign issue two months ahead of an election in which he is seeking a second term.

Twenty-one people were killed and at least 61 injured in ethnic violence in southern Ethiopia, off icials said. Surew Mohamed, a communications off icial in the Somali province of Ethiopia, told the Ethiopian News Agency on Saturday that the clashes caused people to flee across the border into Kenya.

12 Nigerian soldiers die in fighting

Clashes leave 21 dead in south Ethiopia

UNREST

CONFLICT

QP in deal with Eni for stake in Mexico oilfi eldsFrom Page 1

This is the second presence for Qatar Petroleum in Mexico. At the end of January 2018, Qa-tar Petroleum won exploration rights in fi ve off shore blocks in the Perdido and Campeche ba-sins as part of a consortium com-prising Shell and Eni respectively.

On the agreement, HE the Minister of State for Energy Af-fairs, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, also President & CEO of Qa-tar Petroleum, said: “We are pleased to sign this agreement, with our valued partner, Eni, to participate in the development and production of oilfi elds in Mexico. This agreement marks another milestone for Qatar Petroleum as it strengthens its international footprint and ex-pands its presence in Mexico.”

Al-Kaabi added: “Qatar Pe-troleum is pleased to enhance its fruitful co-operation and partnerships with a major en-ergy player like Eni. We are also excited about participating in this development in Mexico’s

Campeche Bay, and with fi rst oil production expected by mid-2019; we look forward to col-laborating with Eni to ramp up production to around 90,000 barrels of oil per day by 2021.”

In line with its growth plans, this opportunity represents an-other step in implementing Qa-tar Petroleum’s strategy to ex-pand its international footprint, and to pursue Latin America as an important core area for its upstream activities.

Qatar Petroleum’s interna-tional upstream footprint has been expanding recently in Bra-zil, Mexico, Argentina, Cyprus, Congo, South Africa, Mozam-bique and Oman.

“These expansions go hand in hand with our previous an-nouncements to develop and increase our natural gas produc-tion from 77mn tonnes per year to 110mn tonnes in the coming years; and to raise our produc-tion capability from 4.8mn bar-rels oil equivalent per day to 6.5mn barrels during the next decade,” al-Kaabi added.

QP to invest $20bn in USover next 5 years: al-KaabiFrom Page 1

The fourth liquefaction train, like the three trains announced earlier as part of a project to de-velop additional gas from the North Field, will be of nearly 8mn tonnes per year capacity.

Asked why resource-rich Qatar was investing in the US, where many say the assets are “incredibly overpriced”, al-Kaabi said: “We are expanding and have achieved an exponential growth in our home- Qatar. In 1991, we started the fi rst gas production at 0.8bn standard cu ft a day. We are today at almost 23bn standard cu ft a day. We are reaching around 30bn standard cu ft a day.

“This is an exponential growth we have achieved. We are really utilising our resources. We have done it methodically.”

Al-Kaabi said: “QP is looking nationally- long term growth and strategy for production, which can be sustainable for generations. Externally, we are working to add on to that ca-pability to basically expand our horizon. We are called a national oil company, but I see ourselves being transformed into an inter-national oil company – and an international player. We want to

go for viable projects and long-term projects.”

“We are long term planners and think of long term horizon. You have to broaden your spec-trum, if you really want to grow in oil and gas business,” the min-ister emphasised.

On Qatar’s decision to pull out of the Opec from early 2019, al-Kaabi said: “A lot of people will politicise it (Qatar’s Opec with-drawal). I assure you this purely was a decision on what’s right for Qatar, long term. It’s a strat-egy decision.”

The minister added that “Our strategy is to remain focused on its core business and activities in Qatar and to enhance Qatar’s international standing as the world’s leading natural gas pro-ducer.”

He said he did not agree with the term ‘Gas Opec’ (when many refer to Doha-based GECF). “It is a forum of gas exporting countries. “We look at data and analysis. We are not Gas Opec.”

Yury Sentyurin, GECF Sec-retary-General and Claudio Descalzi, chief executive offi cer, ENI were also on the panel at a session moderated by Dmitry Zhdannikov, Thomson Reuters, Editor in Charge, Energy, EMEA.

AMERICAS

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201822

A lawyer for Donald Trump has pushed back against reports that the special

counsel investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election might be seeking to interview the president, saying that it would happen only “over my dead body”.

Rudy Giuliani said that special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors could not be trusted to deal fairly with the president, suggesting that they had trapped another witness into committing perjury.

Asked on Fox News Sunday about reports that Mueller now wants a face-to-face interview to follow up on Trump’s submission of written answers, Giuliani shot

back: “Good luck. Good luck. Over my dead body.”

Mueller’s 19-month-long probe into Russian collusion with the Trump election campaign has led to dozens of indictments for federal crimes and several guilty pleas or convictions.

Regarding a separate federal inquiry into hush-money pay-ments by Trump to two women alleging sexual encounters with him, Giuliani said that they did not violate federal election law because, he said, they were in-tended to help Trump avoid em-barrassing his family – not to in-fl uence the 2016 election.

“I can produce witnesses that the president was concerned about how it would aff ect his children, his marriage,” Giuliani told Fox. “I know what he was concerned about. I can produce 20 witnesses to tell you what he

was concerned about.”Trump’s former personal

lawyer Michael Cohen was sen-tenced last week to three years in prison in connection with the payments to an adult fi lm star and a former Playboy model.

Cohen said that he regretted having helped the president car-ry out his “dirty deeds”.

Trump, who fi rst denied knowledge of the payments, then blamed them on bad advice from Cohen, posted an angry tweet yesterday, blasting the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s handling of his former lawyer.

“Remember, Michael Cohen only became a ‘Rat’ after the FBI did something which was abso-lutely unthinkable & unheard of until the Witch Hunt was illegally started. They BROKE INTO AN ATTORNEY’S OFFICE!”

The FBI had a legal search war-

rant to raid Cohen’s offi ce.Asked on Fox whether anyone

had suggested to Cohen that he might receive a presidential par-

don if he refused to testify against Trump, Giuliani said: “The liar can say whatever he wants. There will be no pardons.”

Let Mueller speak to Trump? Over my dead body: GiulianiAFPWashington

Giuliani: said Mueller and his team could not be trusted to deal fairly with Trump.

One of Mick Mulvaney’s fi rst tasks as acting chief of staff to Donald Trump

will perhaps be explaining why he previously publicly called his boss “a terrible human being”.

A video has emerged of Mul-vaney, previously a Republican congressman, admitting his dis-dain for Trump shortly before the presidential election in 2016.

“Yes, I’m supporting Donald Trump; I’m doing so as enthu-siastically as I can do. In fact, I think he’s a terrible human be-ing,” Mulvaney said.

Referencing Trump’s oppo-

nent Hillary Clinton, he added: “But the choice on the other side is just as bad.”

The videoed remarks, pub-lished by the Daily Beast, oc-curred during a debate between Mulvaney and the Democrat Fran Person in York, South Carolina.

Following Trump’s unexpected election win, Mulvaney became a key part of the administration, at one point being both the White House budget director and head of the Consumer Protection Bu-reau.

A staunch conservative, Mulvaney outlined deep fed-eral spending cuts that Congress balked at, as well as a weakening of consumer protection rules.

He now becomes, temporarily

at least, the latest chief of staff for Trump.

John Kelly, a retired Marine general, is set to depart the role at the end of the year.

Kelly, in turn, replaced Reince Priebus, Trump’s fi rst chief of staff .

His hunt for a chief of staff has not gone smoothly and has been defi ned more by people declining the job than queuing up to fi ll it.

His fi rst choice was Nick Ay-ers, Vice-President Mike Pence’s chief of staff , who bowed out af-ter being unable to agree on how long he would serve in the post.

On Friday, Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, also ruled himself out of conten-tion.

Video shows Mulvaney calling the president a ‘terrible human being’By Oliver MilmanGuardian News & Media

Mulvaney: previously a Republican congressman.

Fun at rally for funds

Children play under a banner as teachers protest against cuts to US education funding. during the ‘March for Public Education’ rally, in Los Angeles, on Saturday.

Matthew Whitaker fl ew to Dallas last week to deliver his lat-

est speech since US President Donald Trump installed him as acting attorney general, an ap-pointment embroiled in criti-cism and court challenges.

In the aftermath of the blow-up, Whitaker’s public remarks in the last fi ve weeks have been notable for what they lacked – any hint of controversy.

Whitaker’s speeches, which have to largely stuck to con-ventional subjects such as opioid crisis, refl ect the incon-spicuous approach adopted by the 49-year-old lawyer since Trump named him as the na-tion’s top law enforcement of-fi cial.

So far, fears among some Democrats that Whitaker would interfere with an inves-tigation into whether Trump’s presidential campaign collud-ed with Russia have not come to pass.

He’s waded into few legal issues, and largely stayed the course set by his predecessor, ousted attorney general Jeff Sessions.

Meanwhile, the initial criti-cism of his appointment, cen-tred partly on his lack of cre-dentials and questions about his confl icts of interest in the Russia probe, has turned into a constitutional fi ght.

There are at least nine cases questioning the legality of his appointment, many of which contend Trump violated the US Constitution by installing him without Senate confi rma-tion.

Two of those are slated for oral arguments this week in federal courts, while a third case was argued on Friday morning.

Those court fi ghts appear to have limited Whitaker’s reach, experts say, since almost any action he takes could be chal-lenged and put on hold.

“It’s quite possible, although we’ll never really know, that the controversies surround-ing his appointment have had a chilling eff ect on Whitaker,” said George Conway, an attor-ney who is married to White House adviser Kellyanne Con-way.

Conway is among those who believe the appointment vio-lated the Constitution.

“One of the reasons he is not making any sudden moves is because of the question mark over him,” said Victoria Bas-setti, a contributor with the Brennan Centre for Justice, a judicial advocacy group at New York University. “As long as these cases are pending, they are acting as sort of a guard rail.”

Whitaker declined an inter-view request.

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Kerri Ku-pec, said in a statement that Whitaker has “worked tire-lessly to maintain the momen-tum and achieve the priorities” of the department and cited examples including his meet-ings with US attorneys offi ces and the creation of a Mem-phis Crime Gun Strike Force, among other things.

One of the few areas where Whitaker has sought to make policy during his brief tenure is immigration, where he singled out two cases in early Decem-ber for special attention.

Since US immigration courts fall under the Justice Depart-ment’s jurisdiction, the attor-ney general can intervene and help set precedents.

However, the controversy surrounding Whitaker’s ap-pointment could complicate

the two cases that he has se-lected to review.

One of them, called Mat-ter of Castillo-Perez, turns on whether multiple drunk-driv-ing convictions should dis-qualify an immigrant seeking relief from deportation pro-ceedings.

The other, known as the Matter of LEA, is focused on whether immigrants may seek asylum because their mem-bership in a family is central to why they face persecution.

Bradley Jenkins, a lawyer with the Catholic Legal Immi-gration Network representing LEA, said he anticipates chal-lenging Whitaker’s authority to review the case.

“We are certainly concerned at the aggressiveness with which this person, who was appointed via an unprecedent-ed procedure, seems eager to exercise one of the powers of the offi ce in an acting capac-ity,” Jenkins said.

It remains to be seen wheth-er Whitaker will issue a deci-sion on his reviews before he leaves the post.

Earlier this month, Trump said he will nominate William Barr, who was attorney general under former president George HW Bush, to fi ll the job.

Some critics say that nomi-nation should not negate con-cerns about Whitaker and any actions he may take, including on these two cases.

“The attorney general has an enormous amount of power vested in him,” said Ben Ber-wick, a lawyer with Protect Democracy, one of the groups leading a legal challenge to Whitaker’s appointment fi led by three Senate Democrats.

Berwick added that Whitak-er probably has a few more months in the job before Barr’s nomination is considered by the Senate.

“Someone who wields that much power in this country needs to be approved by the Senate,” he said.

The legal challenges to Whitaker mostly centre on whether Trump violated the “Appointments Clause” of the US Constitution because the job of attorney general is a “principal offi cer” who must be appointed by the president and confi rmed by the Senate.

They also allege that he violated a succession statute which calls for the deputy at-torney general – in this case Rod Rosenstein – to take over as acting attorney general.

The Justice Department has defended Whitaker’s ap-pointment, saying that Trump is allowed to install a senior, non-Senate confi rmed staff er temporarily under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

So far, one judge has sided with the Justice Department by declaring that Whitaker’s appointment is constitutional, after a defendant in a criminal case tried to have the charges dismissed.

There are still a number of pending cases, however, in-cluding two this week, and the lawsuit brought by the three Senators who say they were denied their right to provide advice and consent.

Legal experts said that it is possible many of these law-suits could be rendered moot if the Senate acts quickly to con-fi rm Barr.

But some say that it is im-portant that a judge make a ruling, or else future presi-dents could seek to sidestep Senate confi rmation.

“If a president can fi re a cab-inet member and replace them with staff ers who have never been reviewed by the Senate, that is a major historical prec-edent,” said Walter Dellinger, a former solicitor general.

Whitaker treading lightly after outcry over appointmentBy Sarah N Lynch, ReutersWashington

This picture taken last month shows Whitaker during a presentation of the colours at the Annual Veterans Appreciation Day Ceremony at the Justice Department in Washington, US.

Federal authorities are fi nal-ising leases for two tempo-rary sites in Butte County

where hundreds of mobile and manufactured homes will be lo-cated to house families displaced by the devastating Camp fi re.

A privately owned vacant lot in Chico will be the site of 250 homes, and offi cials in the nearby

city of Gridley will consider to-day a federal plan to locate 405 manufactured and mobile homes there, a federal offi cial told the Butte County Board of Supervi-sors.

Kevin Hannes, a co-ordinating offi cer with the Federal Emer-gency Management Agency, said about 705 families have qualifi ed for direct housing assistance.

“I think that number will go up,” he told the board last week.

The Camp fi re was the worst

in California history, destroying nearly 14,000 homes and killing 86 people.

Much of the town of Paradise was levelled, and there has been much debate about how the city could be rebuilt.

The fi re displaced thousands of residents who are not sure where they are going to live and don’t know whether they will be able to rebuild their homes.

Hannes said the agency already has secured leases for about 105

commercial pads where trailers can be placed and is working to get 250 more.

Group sites at two other loca-tions will help provide space for most of the displaced families, though their construction is time-consuming and expensive, he said.

After a lease is signed it will take about 45 days to move the fi rst families into those sites.

More people will move in waves until the sites are com-

pletely built out, about 120 days after a lease is signed.

Families will be allowed to live at the sites for an 18-month peri-od that started with the Novem-ber 11 disaster declaration, but Hannes said that will probably be extended.

Hannes said $38mn in housing grants has been awarded to about 5,800 families in Butte County, including 440 families that re-ceived the maximum $34,000 grant.

Hundreds of mobile homes for those displaced by wildfi reDPALos Angeles

Canada gains consular access to second citizen detained in China

Canadian off icials were granted consular access to the second of two Canadians detained in China last week.“Today, Canada was granted consular access to Michael Spavor,” a statement by Global Aff airs Canada said.Canada’s ambassador to China, John McCallum, met the Canadian entrepreneur, according to the statement.Spavor’s arrest near the border with North Korea has been interpreted as another step in increasing tensions between China and Canada, which exploded when Canada arrested Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou earlier this month.The US is seeking Meng’s extradition on fraud charges linked to possible violations of US sanctions on Iran.Beijing confirmed last week that Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig are being investigated for endangering national security, a move seen by some as retaliation for Meng’s arrest

Wickremesinghe returns as Lanka prime ministerSri Lanka’s president yes-

terday reappointed as prime minister the same

man he sacked from the job nearly two months ago, end-ing a power struggle and im-mediately setting off an uneasy cohabitation government.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, whose shock dismissal in late October threw Sri Lanka into an unprec-edented constitutional crisis, was sworn in at a closed-door ceremony in the president’s offi ce in Colombo.

In a scathing attack on Wick-remesinghe and his United Na-tional Party (UNP), President Maithripala Sirisena said he grudgingly gave the job back and intends to check his premier every step of the way.

“I still believe that I should not have made Ranil Wick-remesinghe the prime minister, but I bow to the wishes of the majority in parliament,” Sirisena said. “But, I don’t know how far we will succeed in fulfi lling the wishes of our people.”

Sirisena came to power in January 2015 with the help of Wickremesinghe’s UNP, but in the past three years they have drifted apart with clashes com-ing to a head when he was sacked in October.

The 69-year-old Wickremes-inghe refused to step aside since being dumped and replaced by controversial strongman Ma-hinda Rajapakse - leaving the country with two men claim-ing the premiership and no functioning government.

The ousted premier had long asserted his dismissal was ille-gal, a view supported by Sri Lan-ka’s parliament which six times voted against Rajapakse’s claim

AFPColombo

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, right, seen handing over documents to Ranil Wickremesinghe as he is reappointed as prime minister in Colombo yesterday.

to rule during tumultuous ses-sions that erupted into brawls.

The acrimony between the two leaders was underlined yesterday when Sirisena berated Wick-remesinghe and his supporters at length following the swear-ing-in, according to a 45-minute video released by the presidential secretariat.

After the frosty reception, which Sirisena closed to the press, the reinstated premier thanked parliament and “all those who campaigned to restore democracy”.

“The fi rst priority is to restore normality,” he said in a brief ad-dress to the nation.

“The work we initiated had been brought to a standstill.”

There was no immediate reac-

tion from Rajapakse, who stood down Saturday. But Namal Ra-japakse, his son and also a legis-lator, publicly extended his con-gratulations to Wickremesinghe.

India, which like the United States and others in the global community urged the warring factions to resolve their diff er-ences and refused to recognise Ra-japakse’s government, welcomed an end to the power struggle.

“This is a refl ection of the maturity demonstrated by all political forces, and also of the resilience of Sri Lankan democ-racy and its institutions,” India’s foreign ministry spokesman said yesterday.

Wickremesinghe said he will form a cabinet in the coming days.

The country has been head-ing for a government shutdown as parliament failed to approve spending for 2019, and credit rating agencies downgraded its debt amid fears of a sovereign default.

Sirisena’s resistance became untenable after the country’s highest court last week ruled that he acted outside the constitution when he dissolved parliament on November 9 and called early elections.

Some factions within Sri Lan-ka’s parliament have pushed for Sirisena to be investigated - and possibly impeached - for orches-trating what they say was a coup.

Rajapakse, who Sirisena ap-pointed in a sudden, late-night oath-taking ceremony, pressed

ahead forming a purported gov-ernment and naming a cabinet even as parliament cut off state funds to his offi ce.

The Supreme Court confi rmed Rajapakse could not exercise the powers of a prime minister until he proved his legitimacy - which without enough support in par-liament was impossible.

On Saturday Rajapakse - who presided over the bloody end to Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009 - backed down, signalling the standoff had come to a bitter close.

However, the strongman, whose past administrations were accused of gross rights abuses and whose family still holds considerable sway in Sri Lanka, promised to make a comeback at local elections next year.

Opposition accuses Awami League govt of pre-poll persecution

Bangladesh’s main op-position party has ac-cused the government

of cracking down on its work-ers to prevent them from cam-paigning for the general elec-tion set to be held end of the month.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is contest-ing the December 30 election, after boycotting the one in 2014, alleged that in several parts of the country its mem-bers were not able to begin their campaign because of po-lice crackdown and attacks by workers of the ruling Awami League party.

“I don’t know even who their (BNP) candidate is. All I see here is just boat (the election symbol of Awami League),” said a rickshaw-puller Abdur Rahman.

The BNP, in a statement cit-ed by Efe news, claimed that its leaders and members were attacked in at least 20 of the country’s 64 districts.

Since the election schedule was announced on November 8, a total of 158 new cases were fi led against BNP workers, while 2,546 were arrested, the report said.

Since the start of the cam-paign on December 10, 556 workers have been arrested.

Around 1,858 members of the Jamaat-e-Islami politi-cal party were also arrested between November 1 and De-cember 13, non-profi t Human Rights Watch said.

“There is no environment for free and fair election. The much-talked about level play-ing fi eld, we don’t see any sign of it either,” BNP spokesperson Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.

“This election is unique in many senses as fi rst time all political parties are contest-ing the election,” said Ataur Rahman, president of Bang-ladesh Political Scientists Association.

The fact that Prime Min-ister Sheikh Hasina has had two terms in power and op-position leader Khaleda Zia is in prison, could aff ect outcomes, he said.

IANSDhaka

Bangladesh marks 47th Victory DayBangladesh yesterday celebrated the 47th Victory Day commemorating the day when Pakistan surrendered and Bangladesh emerged as a new country, ending the decades-long rule of West Pakistan.On December 16, 1971, the then East Pakistan under the leadership of founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won its emancipation and emerged as an independent state, Bangladesh, reports Xinhua news agency.The day’s programmes commenced with a 31-gun salute followed by tributes by President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

at National Mausoleum in Savar on the outskirts of capital Dhaka.The national flag was hoisted atop all government and private buildings while other public places were illuminated and roads decorated with flags and festoons across the country.However, there was no parade in Dhaka this year due to the national elections slated for December 30.The day is a public holiday in Bangladesh.Special prayers were being off ered in mosques, temples, pagodas and other places of worship. (IANS)

Maldives seizes $6.5mn from former president

Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen is un-der investigation for cor-

ruption, police said yesterday, after a court ordered accounts holding $6.5mn to be frozen.

Yameen, who was defeated in a September election, was inter-viewed by police on the honey-moon islands on Saturday.

He has been dogged by alle-gations that he received close to $1.5mn in illicit payments dur-ing his failed bid for re-election in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

The country’s monetary authority has lodged a police complaint about the alleged donations made into a private

account held by Yameen in two suspicious tranches, local media reported.

The former strongman presi-dent, who ruled the popular holiday islands with an iron fi st, jailing or exiling his opponents, has denied the allegations.

Yameen relied heavily on China for political and fi nan-cial support in the nation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims, troubling neighbouring India.

Beijing has challenged New Delhi for regional infl uence, including in strategically-lo-cated nations like the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal which have traditionally been within India’s orbit.

China has loaned billions of dollars to countries around the Indian Ocean and beyond for infrastructure development,

AFPColombo

Abdulla Yameen

stoking fears of a debt trap.But Yameen’s defeat to Ibra-

him Mohamed Solih signalled something of a reset, with the new president accusing China of a land grab in the Maldives and turning to India for help.

Solih departed for India yes-terday on his fi rst offi cial visit abroad since assuming offi ce.

He is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi today.

Yameen’s fi ve-year tenure was marked by the jailing of all his key rivals most of whom have returned to the country after his toppling.

N Korea slams US sanctions, warns denuclearisation at riskReutersSeoul

North Korea yesterday condemned the US ad-ministration for step-

ping up sanctions and pres-sure on the nuclear-armed country, warning of a return to “exchanges of fi re” and that disarming Pyongyang could be blocked forever.

The North’s stinging re-sponse came after the United States said last Monday it had introduced sanctions on three North Korean offi cials, includ-ing a top aide to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, for al-leged human rights abuses.

Denuclearising North Ko-rea has made little progress

since Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump met in Singapore in June in a his-toric summit.

The two sides have yet to reschedule working-level talks between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and sen-ior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol, which were can-celled abruptly in November.

While crediting Trump for his “willingness” to improve relations with the North, also known as DPRK, Pyongyang accused the US State De-partment of being “bent on bringing the DPRK-US rela-tions back to the status of last year which was marked by ex-changes of fire.”

North Korea’s foreign min-istry said in a statement that

Washington had taken “sanc-tions measures for as many as eight times against the com-panies, individuals and ships of not only the DPRK but also Russia, China and other third countries...”

If the US administration believed that heightened sanctions and pressure would force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons, “it will count as (its) greatest miscal-culation, and it will block the path to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula forever – a result desired by no one,” according to the statement.

The foreign ministry state-ment was released under the name of the policy research director of the Institute for American Studies.

Nepali foreign minister to meet US secretary

Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, DC tomorrow during his visit to the United States, the ministry of foreign aff airs said yesterday.Gyawali’s visit is at the invitation of Pompeo. Their talks will be revolved around further expanding bilateral co-operation in the field of economy, tourism, trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges, senior off icials at the ministry said.The two sides will review the political and strategic ties between the two countries, the off icials said.The two countries are holding the off icial talks at the level of foreign ministers after a gap of 16 years, according to senior off icials of the ministry.During his visit, the Nepali foreign minister will also have meetings with high-level off icials from the White House, United States Agency for International Development, and Millennium Challenge Corporation, among others, the ministry said. (IANS)

Over 40 injured in Kyodo explosionReutersTokyo

More than 40 people were injured in an explosion yester-

day at a bar in Sapporo in northern Japan, Kyodo news agency reported. There was no immediate word on the cause of the blast, which the agency said had caused a number of buildings to collapse. Kyodo said one person was in critical con-dition.

Video of the incident posted on social media showed fl ames and dark smoke billowing into the night sky and people scrambling to safety beside a street strewn with debris and shattered glass.

Police and firefighters worked to get the site under control, fighting flames and smoke, and warned people in the neighbourhood of the possibility of another explosion, the agency re-ported.

“I heard a bang which

sounded like thunder, and my condo was shaken,” a man who lives nearby was

quoted as saying by the Ja-pan Times. Eyewitnesses reported smelling gas in the

area following the explo-sion, which Kyodo said hap-pened at 8.30pm.

Nepal implements new air travel convention

Nepal started yesterday the implementation of the Convention for the

Unifi cation of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air, also known as the Montreal Convention 1999.

The implementation of the convention will pave the way for travellers boarding on interna-tional airlines registered in Nepal to get signifi cant rise in compen-sation in the case of death, injury, and damages to their baggage and fl ight delays, according to Nepal’s ministry of culture tourism and civil aviation on Friday.

Nepal’s Lower House, the House of Representatives, endorsed the convention on August 23. The Nepali government then deposited the ratifi cation instrument with the International Civil Aviation Organi-sation (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada.

After the ICAO notifi ed its members about Nepal becoming part of the convention, Nepal

started implementing the con-vention from Saturday.

The convention imposes a mini-mum liability of 113,100 special drawing rights (SDR), equivalent to $155,963 for each passenger in the case of death or injury. If it is proved that the staff members of the concerned airlines are involved deliberately in causing damages, the convention has made provision of unlimited liabilities from the carrier, according to the ministry.

Before endorsing the Mon-treal Convention, Nepali airlines were governed by the Warsaw Convention drafted in 1929 and its protocols. The Hague Pro-tocol 1955 which is an exten-sion of Warsaw Convention has prescribed the maximum com-pensation limit at $20,000 per passenger for death or injury.

“A signifi cant rise in compen-sation amount to be borne by the Nepali carriers following the imple-mentation of the convention would encourage international travellers to fl y on Nepal-based international airlines,” Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the ministry, said.

IANSKathmandu

Fire rages at the site of an explosion at a bar in Sapporo, Japan.

6.1-magnitude earthquake rocks Indonesia’s PapuaA 6.1-magnitude earthquake hit Papua, in eastern Indonesia yesterday, US seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued.The quake was about 158km (98 miles) south-southwest of the province’s capital Jayapura at 6:42pm, at a depth of 61km, according to the US Geological Survey. The quake was felt in Jayapura, but residents didn’t panic, a military spokesman said. “I felt it at home,”

7 dead in China mining accidentSeven miners were killed and three others injured in an accident at a coal mine in southwestern China, state media reported. The accident occurred around 6pm on Saturday after the connecting segment of a mining skip broke, causing it to plummet down the mine shaft.

ASIA23Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

24 Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

BRITAIN

Labourfl ays govt’s police cutsGuardian News and MediaLondon

Labour has accused the gov-ernment of putting people in danger through police

cuts, after fi gures showed that the proportion of arrests for sus-pected violent off ences that led to a charge had fallen by a third in two years.

The fi gures, which come days after a new funding settlement for police was criticised as insuf-fi cient, showed it was not pos-sible to “keep people safe on the cheap”, said the shadow police minister, Louise Haigh.

Analysis by the House of Com-mons library found that across 43 police forces in England and Wales, the proportion of arrests on suspicion of a violent off ence that resulted in a charge or a summons fell from 17.5% in 2015-16 to 11.3% in 2017-18.

For some types of crime the fall was even more signifi cant. The proportion of people arrest-ed on suspicion of sexual off enc-es who were charged or given a summons more than halved in the two years, from 13.1% to 6%.

Some individual police forces saw notably higher-than-aver-age overall falls in the percentage of arrestees charged. In Greater Manchester and Northumbria, the rate dropped by 51% in the two years, and in Durham it fell by 48%.

Even starker were some drops in the charge rate for specifi c types of crime in individual force areas. In Humberside in 2015-16, 15% of ar-rests for suspected sexual off ences led to a charge or summons. By 2017-18 this was just 3.8%.

On Thursday the govern-ment announced an additional £970mn in police funding for 2019, which the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, said was the biggest increase since 2010.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council welcomed the settle-ment, but the West Midlands police and crime commissioner, David Jamieson, said his force still faced cuts.

Responding to the analysis of charging rates, Haigh said: “This is chilling evidence that Tory police cuts have put people in danger”.

Stores slash prices asBrexit impacts salesDaily MailLondon

Desperate stores are slash-ing prices by up to 80% in a high street bloodbath.

Sales that kicked off on Black Friday last month are expected to continue well beyond Christ-mas.

It is feared some big chains could even run out of cash.

Price tracking of 800,000 products by accountants Deloitte shows the average dis-count on sale items is already 44%.

However, retail analysts still expect footfall at stores to be 4% lower than last year.

Seven out of 10 high street and online stores are expected by consultants PwC to be launching sales next week. It is the “tough-est retail market anyone has ever seen”, according to retail analyst Richard Hyman.

He added: “We don’t want to blame Brexit for too much. But the inescapable truth is that it is definitely having an impact. Christmas 2018 will come very late, and fail to deliver the

respite many in the industry need.

“Most retailers will enter 2019 with less fat than needed to see them through the weakest trad-ing period of the year. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

The dire trading conditions could herald more store clo-sures and further damage to high streets.

Mike Ashley, the Sports Di-rect tycoon who bought House of Fraser out of administration, is making plans to close many of its outlets. He has also suggested that Debenhams cannot survive without an injection of cash.

Both department store chains are promising savings of up to 60%. Their rival John Lewis has been dragged into the fray under its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise.

Other household names such as Gap, H&M, Laura Ashley, Next, Hobbs and Argos are pro-moting winter sales, mega deals and clearance stock.

Bon Marche issued a profi ts warning this week and Primark, a leader in cheap fast fashion, has warned of tough trading conditions.

Corbyn slides inapproval ratingsGuardian News and MediaLondon

Only 25% of voters thinks Jeremy Corbyn is deci-sive, according to a sur-

vey, down from 31% in October. The Labour leader’s fall to his lowest score at any point since the 2017 general election came despite most voters seeing the Tory party as divided following a week of Brexit infi ghting.

Corbyn also recorded his low-est score for being trustwor-thy and someone that sticks to his principles, according to an Opinium poll of 2,016 adults on-line on December 13 and 14, fall-ing below the prime minister.

The poll found that more than two-thirds of voters regarded the Tory party as divided fol-lowing a week of infi ghting that included an attempt to top-ple Theresa May. Some 69% of voters saw the party as split, up signifi cantly from 54% in Octo-ber. In contrast, less than half of voters (47%) now see Labour as

divided – the lowest proportion for a year.

The perception of the Tories as deeply divided comes in the wake of the confi dence vote in May’s leadership called by Con-servative MPs this week. The polling suggests the vote may have backfi red on those who called it. The move was unpopu-lar among Conservatives, with 57% of Tory voters thinking it was wrong. A majority of both Tory Leavers and Tory Remain-ers were against the vote.

However, some 37% of Con-servative voters think Tory MPs should vote down the Brexit deal, up from 27% last month. Only 17% of all voters believe the UK is likely to emerge with a sat-isfactory deal.

However, the party closed Labour’s overall lead from three points last month to just one point. The poll put Labour on 39% of the vote, with the Tories up two point on 38% – after po-tentially having gained ground among Leave voters.

Some voters reacted favourably

to May after her tumultuous week: almost half (47%) of voters now see her as brave, up from 43% in October, while 41% see the prime minister as decisive – the highest since the election last year.

Almost half (47%) see May as someone who sticks to their principles, the highest fi gure re-corded for her and the fi rst time she has overtaken Corbyn on the measure. Approval for the way the prime minister has handled Brexit is low, but slightly higher than last month, with 53% dis-approving and 28% approving.

Meanwhile, with Labour di-vided over its Brexit policy and as pressure grows from MPs to back a second referendum, support for the way Corbyn is responding to Brexit is low and falling. This month only 16% approve of his handling of the issue, against 55% who disapprove. Last month, 19% approved and 50% disapproved.

Campaigners for a second ref-erendum pointed to polling that they said showed Labour would lose the next election if it backed a compromise Brexit deal.

May deal notin nationalinterest,insists BlairGuardian News and MediaLondon

Tony Blair has hit back at Theresa May after she accused him of insulting

the offi ce of prime minister by advocating a second Brexit ref-erendum to Britain’s negotiating partners.

In a strongly worded rebuke, May said on Saturday: “For Tony Blair to go to Brussels and seek to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referen-dum is an insult to the offi ce he once held and the people he once served.”

Downing Street has been ir-ritated by what it regards as out-of-touch grandees using their formidable contacts books to pursue the goal of keeping Brit-ain in the EU while May has been negotiating an exit deal.

But Blair’s offi ce published a statement yesterday saying it was “not irresponsible or insult-ing to put forward an alternative way to achieve resolution” since it was “perfectly clear neither the British people nor their par-liament will unite behind the prime minister’s deal”.

Blair added: “I have always said, and did again in my speech on Friday in London, that I per-sonally sympathise with the PM’s heavy burden in doing her job. I do not disrespect her at all. I understand her frustration. But I profoundly believe that the course she is pursuing will not work and is emphatically not in the national interest. And that’s the reason I am speaking out and shall continue to do so.”

Former prime ministers have generally restrained themselves from intervening in frontline politics in recent years, and the public spat between the pair un-derlines the bitter tone of much of the Brexit debate.

Blair called for MPs to be given a series of votes on alternative Brexit options – an approach now favoured by several Cabi-net ministers, including Amber Rudd and Liam Fox.

“The sensible thing is now to allow parliament to vote on each of the forms of Brexit canvassed, including the prime minis-ter’s deal. If they can’t reach an agreement then the logical thing is to go back to the people,” Blair said.

Together with Nick Clegg be-fore he took a senior job at Fa-cebook, and Peter Mandelson, Blair has been urging senior EU27 politicians to keep open the option of a second referen-dum.

He suggested on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday that private conversations had convinced him other EU states might be willing to offer con-cessions on free movement to help clinch a referendum win for Remain. “As one senior Eu-ropean leader said to me just a short time ago, let’s be clear, in the last 30 months European politics has been transformed,” he said.

By contrast, May was keen to underline her objections to the idea of a second referendum, which has been gathering mo-mentum at Westminster and which reports have suggested her own aides are considering.

“We cannot, as he would, ab-dicate responsibility for this de-cision. Parliament has a demo-cratic duty to deliver what the British people voted for,” May said. “I remain determined to see that happen. I will not let the British people down.”

Meanwhile Conservative par-ty lawmakers yesterday called for parliament to vote on new Brexit options. Conservative lawmaker Sam Gyimah said “in-dicative votes” in the Commons should follow a vote on May’s deal.

Votes on several cross-party options should be free of party lines and the government should agree to honour the results, tweeted Gyimah, who resigned from a junior ministerial post to oppose May’s deal.

Facing a crushing defeat, May postponed last week’s scheduled “meaningful vote” on her deal at the last minute.

“There is no point in delaying the (meaningful vote) till after Christmas, now we know the EU will not renegotiate,” Gyimah tweeted earlier.

“Running down the clock is a reckless strategy,” Gyimah add-ed.

International Trade Secre-tary Liam Fox also told the BBC yesterday that if, as expected, lawmakers do not approve May’s deal, “parliament would have to decide on the alternatives.”

Fox added that talks with the European Union to secure “as-surances” for parliament on Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal will take time, with a decision expected in the New Year.

Conservative Party MP and chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks at a political rally organised by the pro-Brexit Leave Means Leave campaign group in central London.

Festive lights decorate New Bond Street as people shop in central London yesterday.

BBC unable to stop Brexit war among its sports broadcastersGuardian News and MediaLondon

Brexit has already split a nation, enraged millions on both sides of the de-

bate and left a country teeter-ing on the brink. Now it has come for the nation’s sports stars, with leading former foot-ballers and cricketers squab-bling about an exit on World

Trade Organisation terms.To confuse things further,

many of these sporting fi gures also work for the BBC – prompt-ing further handwringing at the corporation and a debate over whether the broadcaster’s sports presenters should be subject to the same impartiality rules as its news reporters.

At the heart of the debate is the role of Gary Lineker, the former England player and host

of Match of the Day, who has used his Twitter account to wage a campaign for a second refer-endum alongside an unrelent-ing war on Theresa May and the Brexit process – angering some colleagues.

“Gary. You are the face of BBC Sport. Please observe BBC edi-torial guidelines and keep your political views, whatever they are and whatever the subject, to yourself,” tweeted Jonathan

Agnew, a former Leicestershire player and now a Test Match Special commentator. “I’d be sacked if I followed your exam-ple. Thanks.”

Lineker shot back, insisting there was no ban on the BBC’s non-news staff taking political stands. “I’m the face of my own Twitter account. I’ll continue to tweet what I like and if folk disagree with me then so be it,” he said. “Thank you so much for

your concern, which, I imagine, wouldn’t be a concern at all if you agreed with me.”

A BBC spokesperson con-firmed that Lineker’s inter-pretation of the rules was cor-rect and it was only news and current affairs staff who must silence their own views on Brexit. The situation is compli-cated by the fact that a decade ago, in a pre-social media age, Lineker would not have had

an easy outlet for his views on politics, beyond the occasional intervention during a newspa-per interview.

But Lineker’s 7mn Twit-ter followers – a number that is substantially higher than the following of any leading British politician – have given the BBC’s highest-paid star a direct line to his audience, enabling him to create news headlines with every tweet.

In addition to Agnew, who felt compelled as a result of their exchange to say publicly that he had voted Remain, Lineker has also recently taken on the former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan and former England football colleagues. As guest host of Have I Got News for You on Friday night, he joked that the issue should be settled by a pen-alty shootout between Remain-ers and Brexiters.

A five-year-old boy has become the third member of the same family to die after a house fire in Nottinghamshire. The child was among five people rescued from the property. Police said yesterday he had died in hospital. Nottinghamshire police said emergency serv-ices were called at about 7am on Saturday to the blaze on Woodhill Road in Collingham, near Newark. An eight-year-old girl and a 33-year-old woman died on Saturday. A 34-year-old man remains in a serious condi-tion in hospital, and a 53-year-old woman was led to safety from the house. Police said all the casualties were members of the same family.

Scotland Yard is to train facial recognition cameras on Christmas shoppers for the first time. The surveillance devices in Soho, Pic-cadilly Circus and Leicester Square will scan for ‘people wanted by police and the courts’. The equipment will be on show and uniformed officers will hand out leaflets explaining what is going on. They are likely to be accompanied by plainclothes ‘spotters’ watching for those who act suspiciously when they see the equipment. The cameras will capture images that will be cross-referenced against a database of wanted people. Ivan Balhatchet, of the Metropolitan Police, said it was one of ten camera trials in London.

Four children were among a group of 11 peo-ple rescued from a boat off the Kent coast. The vessel was reported to Border Force at about 4am by “maritime colleagues”, a spokesperson for the Home Office confirmed. “A Border Force cutter and a lifeboat were deployed to assist a dinghy off the coast of Dover with 11 people on board,” he said. “The group consisted of six men, one woman and four children. Eight have presented them-selves as Iraqi nationals with the remaining three claiming to be Iranian nationals.” After receiving medical assessments, the members of the group were transferred to immigration officials for interview.

A ‘homeless’ beggar has been arrested on sus-picion of dealing drugs after police caught him with class A substances – and discovered even more at his home address. A spokesman for the Devon force said the suspect, who is in his 40s, was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply. “This (purporting to be) “homeless” male is often seen begging,” they said. “We were disappointed to find food vouchers in this man’s possession, which are redeemable for a hot meal and given out to our homeless community to ensure nobody goes hungry.” Locals reacted with anger at the prospect that others in need may have missed out.

A hospital has apologised after a surgeon put a left knee joint into a patient’s right knee. The unnamed patient was having surgery to replace a right knee joint at St Albans City Hospital in Hertfordshire earlier this year. But a bungle meant that the implant used was one designed specifically for a left knee. The so-called ‘never event’ was revealed this week – and now bosses at the hospital have changed its policy to ensure that both the surgeon and scrub nurse check implants before they are fitted. Mike van der Watt, medical director of West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital, said: “The prostheses for left and right are very similar and therefore it was decided that the prosthesis should remain in situ. We have formally apologised to the patient.”

Three of family die afterNottinghamshire fire

Police to use cameras to scan faces of shoppers

11 people rescued fromboat off Kent coast

‘Homeless’ beggararrested in drugs probe

Hospital apologises for surgery blunder

TRAGEDY LAW AND ORDERMIGRATION CRIME HEALTHCARE

Ministers urgedto halt rollout ofpepper spray for prison offi cersGuardian News and MediaLondon

Ministers have been urged to halt the planned roll-out of pepper spray to

prison offi cers after an analysis found it may have been used in breach of offi cial guidance in al-most two thirds of recorded inci-dents during a pilot scheme.

When the decision to roll out Pava, a synthetic incapacitant pepper spray, was announced in early October, the Prisons Min-ister Rory Stewart said it would only be used in “exceptional circumstances” to protect staff from threats of serious violence.

However, the Prison Reform Trust suggested guidance was routinely ignored by offi cers dur-ing the pilot, and that the rollout was “likely to do more harm than good and undermine the safety of prisoners and prison offi cers”.

Pava was deployed 50 times during the pilot scheme, which took place in four prisons – Hull, Preston, Risley and Wealstun – between January and June.

PRT’s analysis revealed that in 64% of incidents it was deployed by prison staff who may have con-travened the guidance for its use. In 34% of cases offi cers used Pava without an appropriate justifi ca-tion; in 24% of cases its use was unsafe, and in 24% of cases an al-ternative option was available.

In several incidents the guid-ance, which states Pava must only be used when other re-straining techniques had failed or were unviable, was breached for multiple reasons.

On one occasion, Pava was deployed against a prisoner who was self-harming and where there was no indication of a threat towards the offi cer.

In another, Pava was sprayed at the same prisoner three times in 10 minutes, including at point-blank range through the cell fl ap. The prisoner against whom it was deployed had clear, known and obvious mental health is-sues, the report said.

In a number of incidents there was no indication of a threat of harm, with Pava used merely to enforce an order, in direct con-travention of the guidance.

In some cases, it was deployed against the wrong prisoner, and in others offi cers mistakenly sprayed themselves and other colleagues.

“The availability of such a potent weapon has immedi-ately created a norm for its use which is diff erent from what you intended, and which the safe-guards in place – even in a closely monitored pilot – failed to con-trol,” PRT’s director and a former prison governor, Peter Dawson, wrote in a letter to Stewart.

“Perhaps as a consequence, there is clear evidence from the pilot that deployment of Pava undermined the trust that prisoners had in officers and in the legitimacy of the authority those officers hold.” The UK’s human rights watchdog had previously warned that the roll-out of Pava would put inmates at risk of inhumane treatment, and it has now reiterated those concerns.

“We do not understand how or why this decision has been tak-en,” said Rebecca Hilsenrath, the chief executive of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. “There is no sound evidence to support rolling out Pava spray in this way.

“We agree that it is of the high-est importance that prison offi c-ers are able to protect themselves and others but such protections must not be at the expense of the basic rights of prisoners. Every-one has the right to live without fear of inhumane treatment.” She said the EHRC would be writing to Stewart again to ask for a full impact assessment in line with legal obligations.

A spokesman for the Prison Service told the BBC there was no evidence to suggest Pava was used unlawfully during the pilot and it would be wrong to imply that cases of misuse were ig-nored.

Households to pick upbill for bust energy fi rmsGuardian News and MediaLondon

British households face a £80mn bill to cover the costs of transferring

more than half a million cus-tomers from bust energy firms, raising questions over whether the regulatory regime is fit for purpose.

Eight suppliers have ceased trading this year amid rising wholesale prices, forcing en-ergy regulator Ofgem to step in and appoint new suppliers. Four have collapsed in the past two months alone, including One Select on Monday.

Each of the UK’s 28mn homes could have an average of £1.75

added to their energy bills to compensate the new suppliers, according to a Guardian analy-sis.

Ovo, ScottishPower and other suppliers who have taken on customers of failed fi rms can recoup some costs through a mechanism known as “Supplier of Last Resort”, ultimately paid for by all consumers via their bills.

Those claims will take months to settle, but there are historical fi gures that provide a guide to the bill awaiting consumers.

Co-Operative Energy suc-cessfully claimed £14mn for taking on the 160,000 custom-ers of GB Energy when it went bust in 2016, implying the cost for rehoming 551,500 residen-

tial customers in 2018 would be £48.2mn.

Industry experts said the number was credible, and could be higher still depending on the credit balances held by the col-lapsed fi rms. An initial applica-tion for compensation by one supplier this year would indicate a bill more like £76mn.

Even taking the more con-servative fi gure, the amount all households are liable for looks likely to be around £80mn, or nearly £3 per annual energy bill, once renewable energy subsidies left unpaid by failed fi rms are counted.

Spark Energy and Extra Ener-gy, which ceased trading within days of each other in November, together owed around half of a

£58mn shortfall in renewables obligation payments.

Stephen Littlechild, the former chief energy regulator, said questions should be asked about Ofgem’s administration. “The shortfall is to be recovered from other suppliers. So prudent suppliers, and ultimately their customers, will have to bail out imprudent ones,” he wrote in a letter to the Guardian.

He added: “How were some suppliers allowed to build up debts of £58mn? Should there not be more frequent monitor-ing, say at quarterly or monthly intervals rather than annu-ally, with payments on account throughout the year?”

The costs facing all consum-ers could rise signifi cantly if

more fi rms falter, which indus-try sources warn is a serious possibility.

Concerns have been raised over the future of Economy Energy, which has 250,000 customers, after it came un-der Ofgem investigation for not meeting renewables obligation payments, one indicator that a fi rm is under stress.

The company has also re-cently closed all its social me-dia pages. It declined to tell the Guardian why.

“In response to the recent speculation and circulating misinformation, we would like to provide assurance that we at Economy Energy have no inten-tion of closing our doors,” the company said on its website.

Fracking policy facescourt challengesGuardian News and MediaLondon

Ministers face a pair of legal challenges to their planning rules on

fracking this week, from a na-tional environmental group and the son of fashion designer Vivi-enne Westwood.

The government used its re-vamped planning rulebook to tell local authorities in July that they should recognise the benefi ts of shale gas and facilitate its extrac-tion.

Business Secretary Greg Clark also proposed removing the need for exploratory wells to get plan-ning permission, to speed shale projects through the planning system.

The high court will fi rst hear a challenge from Friends of the Earth, which has been granted a judicial review that the group hopes will force the government to change its planning policy.

The case hinges on whether ministers and offi cials unlaw-fully failed to assess the change’s environmental impact.

Will Rundle, the group’s head of legal, said: “The government’s national planning framework, which directs development in every single community in Eng-land, has never been environ-mentally assessed. This makes a mockery of the government’s green credentials and under-mines sustainable development.”

The court will also hear an ap-plication for a legal challenge against the new planning regime from Joe Corre, the founder of lin-gerie company Agent Provocateur.

He said: “So desperate are they (the government) to make fracking easier for their friends in the fossil fuel industry – they have have tried to bypass local government objection, scientifi c facts and the will of the people.”

The entrepreneur argued that the science has moved on since a 2013 offi cial report that has been the basis for the govern-ment arguing shale gas can act as a “bridge” in the transition to renewable energy.

The fi rst exploratory fracking in seven years is underway at a site near Blackpool and due to fi nish later this month.

Chester zoo confi rmsanimals died in fi reGuardian News and MediaLondon

Exotic animals including small birds, fi sh and frogs were killed in a devastating

fi re at Chester zoo.The zoo confi rmed the loss of

life as an appeal raised more than £50,000 in donations barely 24 hours after the blaze on Saturday.

Jamie Christon, the zoo’s chief operating offi cer, said keep-ers had been “completely over-whelmed” by the generosity.

The zoo said no staff or visi-tors were harmed and that all mammals – including critically endangered orangutans, gibbons, crocodiles, turtles and exotic birds – were rescued.

However, it added that it was unable to save some insects, frogs, fi sh and small birds near the outbreak of the fi re in the monsoon forest area, billed as Britain’s biggest indoor habitat.

Christon said yesterday: “It’s absolutely heartbreaking to lose

any animal, especially when conservationists have worked so hard to breed these wonderful species.

“New homes have been found within the zoo for all of the ani-mals that were led to safety and our teams are working around the clock to relocate them as soon as possible.”

The zoo, which reopened yes-terday, said the cause of the fi re was unknown and that it was assisting an investigation by the fi re service.

Hundreds of people donated more than £50,000 to the zoo after it launched a fundraising drive to pay for repairs to the monsoon forest enclosure.

Christon added: “The strength and support from the public has been incredibly overwhelming and the mes-sages of goodwill have been of great comfort to our teams. We will support each other in re-building this part of the zoo and continue our mission of pre-venting extinction.”

The zoo said it had been in-undated with messages from people asking how they could help. “We remain committed to our mission to prevent extinc-tion and for those who are ask-ing how they can help, we would welcome a donation to our con-tinuing conservation work,” the zoo said.

The Cheshire fi re and rescue service declared a major inci-dent after it was called to the zoo shortly before 11.30am. Wit-nesses described how visitors to the attraction were rushed to safety as the blaze spread rapidly through the roof.

Zoo staff led the animals housed in the structure to safe-ty as fi refi ghters arrived on the scene. Armed police offi cers were reportedly sent to the zoo in case any dangerous animals escaped and became a threat to the pub-lic.

One person was treated for smoke inhalation as a result of the fi re, according to the North West ambulance service.

Participants take part in the annual London Pantomime Horse Race in Greenwich London, Britain, yesterday.

London Pantomime Horse Race

A car lies in a ditch beside the A9 near Dalwhinnie, Scotland, yesterday.

Car crash

BRITAIN25Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

EUROPE

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201826

A month of “yellow vest” protests have taken a fur-ther toll on the popularity

of French President Emmanuel Macron, a new poll showed yes-terday, with analysts saying that he will be forced to change his style of governing.

Around 66,000 protesters turned out again on Saturday on the fi fth round of anti-gov-ernment demonstrations, which sprung up over fuel tax hikes last month.

The fi gure was about half the number of the previous weekend, suggesting that momentum was waning and the most acute polit-ical crisis of Macron’s 19-month presidency was coming to an end.

“It is calming down, but what remains of it all is a strong feeling of hatred towards Macron,” said veteran sociologist Herve Le Bras from the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences.

A major poll by the Ifop group published in Journal du Diman-che newspaper showed Macron’s approval had slipped another two points in the last month, to 23%.

The proportion of people who declared themselves “very dissatisfi ed” by his leadership jumped by six points to 45%.

Many of the protesters have targeted Macron personally, call-ing on him to resign or attacking his background as an investment banker and his alleged elitism.

Le Bras said that the protests had underlined the depth of dis-like for Macron’s personality and style of governing, which critics see as arrogant and too distant.

Until last week, a clear ma-jority of French people backed the protests, which sprung up initially over high taxes before snowballing into broader oppo-sition to Macron.

In a bid to end the stand-off , he announced a package of meas-ures for low-income workers last Monday in a televised address, estimated by economists to cost up to €15bn ($17bn).

The 40-year-old also ac-knowledged widespread animos-ity towards him and came close to apologising for a series of verbal gaff es seen as dismissive of the poor or jobless.

Two polls published last Tues-day – in the wake of Macron’s concessions – suggested that the country was now split broadly 50-50 on whether the protests should continue.

“It’s a movement that has succeeded in forcing back what looked like a strong government,” Jerome Sainte-Marie, a public opinion expert at the Pollingvox group, told AFP.

“People have confi dence in themselves now, so things won’t return to how they were on No-vember 15” before the protests started, he said. “The context in which Emmanuel Macron holds power has changed,” he added.

The former investment banker had until now styled himself as a determined pro-business re-former who would not yield to pressure from protests like his predecessors.

“Macron has given an indi-cation that he is more open to dialogue,” Jean-Daniel Levy from the Harris Interactiv polling group told AFP.

The government has an-nounced a six-month consulta-tion with civil society groups, mayors, businesses and the “yel-low vests” to discuss tax and oth-er economic reforms.

Hikes in petrol and diesel tax-es, as well as tougher emissions controls on old vehicles – justi-fi ed on the grounds of environ-mental protection – were what initially sparked the “yellow vest” movement.

Macron “won’t necessarily change the overall course of his reforms, rather the way he carries them out,” Levy added.

In Paris on Saturday, more than 8,000 police on duty easily outnumbered the 2,200 protest-ers counted by local authorities.

There were 168 arrests by early evening, far fewer than the 1,000 or so of last Saturday.

Tear gas was occasionally fi red, but only a fraction compared

with the weekends of December 8 or December 1 when graffi ti was daubed on the Arc de Triomphe in scenes that shocked France.

At Toulouse, in the southwest, police said they had arrested 31 people and were still detaining 26 after clashes during ‘yellow jacket’ protests in the city.

Two motorway tollbooths at Narbonne and Perpignan in the south were burned overnight, fi re services reported.

Both had been targeted in pre-vious protests.

Richard Ferrand, the head of the National Assembly, wel-comed the “necessary” weak-ening of “yellow vest” rallies on Saturday, adding that “there had been a massive response to their demands”.

Now, he added: “The time for dialogue has come.”

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner called on protesters to halt their blockades across the country which have disrupted traffi c and businesses.

“Everyone’s safety has to be-come the rule again,” he tweeted.

“Dialogue now needs to unite all those who want to transform France.”

He said eight people had died since the start of the movement.

Around 69,000 security forces were mobilised across France on Saturday, down from 89,000 the previous weekend, when 2,000 people were detained.

Macron’s ratings fall further after month of protestsBy Adam Plowright and Camille Malpas, AFPParis

Macron: has acknowledged widespread animosity towards him and came close to apologising for a series of verbal gaff es seen as dismissive of the poor or jobless.

Police in Brussels inter-vened yesterday to stop violence that broke out

after a demonstration against a UN migration pact.

Security forces used tear gas and water cannon after some demonstrators threw stones and other objects at the European Commission building in the city, news agency Belga reported.

About 5,500 people took part in the “March against Marra-kech”, police said.

Police stepped in to disperse the crowd after projectiles and fi recrackers were thrown, an AFP journalist on the scene re-ported.

The UN’s Global Compact on Migration was endorsed by more than 150 countries in the Moroccan city last Monday.

The agreement is designed to frame an eff ective international approach to migration – a deep-ly divisive issue across Europe and beyond.

The demonstrators were re-portedly calling for priority for “our own people”, for closed borders, and for the resigna-tion of Prime Minister Charles Michel.

Right-wing and extreme right-wing Flemish groups or-ganised the rally.

Left-wing groups organised a counter-demonstration that drew about 1,000 people to the

streets, but they kept their dis-tance from the rival marchers.

Belgian authorities initially banned both rallies fearing un-rest but the country’s supreme

administrative court – the Council of State – overturned the decision.

Non-governmental organisa-tions have voiced doubts about

the agreement approved last Monday – a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration – on whether it can be implemented both on the ground and the high seas.

Pope Francis has voiced his support for the agreement and urged the international com-munity to show “responsibility, solidarity and compassion” in dealing with migrants.

The Pontiff stressed the pact was designed to secure “safe, ordered and regular migration”.

However, its provisions are not legally binding and detrac-tors warn it could might encour-age uncontrolled people fl ows.

In Belgium the issue has be-come a political hot potato.

Belgian Prime Minister Michel was left leading a mi-nority administration after the biggest party in his coalition – the Flemish nationalist N-VA, which held four ministries – quit over the accord.

The UN pact was agreed in July by all 193 UN members ex-cept the United States, but only 164 formally signed it at the meeting last Monday.

Ten countries, mostly in formerly Communist Eastern Europe, have pulled out of the non-binding pact.

With a record 21.3mn refugees globally, the United Nations be-gan work on the pact after more than one million people arrived in Europe in 2015, many fl eeing civil war in Syria and poverty in Africa.

Mass Brussels protest against migration pactDPA/AFP/ReutersBrussels

A far-right supporter throws a traff ic sign during a protest in Brussels against the UN migration pact.

Georgia has sworn in its fi rst female president, Salome Zurabishvili, as

opposition parties continue to denounce her election as fraudu-lent and demand snap parlia-mentary polls.

The inauguration paved the way for a new constitution to come into force, transforming the country into a parliamentary republic with a largely ceremo-nial president.

The event was held in the me-diaeval town of Telavi, in Geor-gia’s eastern winemaking region of Kakheti.

French-born Zurabishvili, 66, took the oath of offi ce in the courtyard of an 18th-century manor that belonged to Georgia’s penultimate king Heraclius II.

“The goal of my presidency is to make Georgia’s democratic development and its path to-wards Europe irreversible,” she said in an inaugural speech. “I will facilitate this process with the support of our strategic part-ner, the United States of Ameri-ca, and our European friends.”

Opposition parties have re-fused to recognise Zurabishvili’s election last month and tried to hold a protest rally outside the royal residence.

But the plan was thwarted by

police, who blocked a kilome-tres-long opposition motorcade on a road leading from the capital Tbilisi to Telavi.

Pro-opposition Rustavi-2 TV channel reported that clashes briefl y erupted between police offi cers and protesters as they tried to break through police ranks.

“Georgian Dream has taken away our constitution, our state institutions, our freedom of ex-pression,” defeated candidate Grigol Vashadze told journalists after a failed attempt to stage a protest in Telavi.

He was the candidate of an 11-party opposition alliance led by exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United Na-tional Movement.

Zurabishvili was backed in the election by the ruling Georgian Dream party of Georgia’s ex-premier and billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili.

Ivanishvili, Georgia’s rich-est man, stepped down as prime minister in 2013 after just a year in offi ce but is still widely be-lieved to be Georgia’s de facto ruler.

His critics accuse him of “state capture” as his loyalists hold key cabinet posts.

Former French diplomat Zura-bishvili has said her election was a step forward for women and a move closer to Europe.

But opposition parties have re-

fused to accept the result, point-ing to instances of alleged vote-buying, multiple voting, voter intimidation, and ballot-stuffi ng in the November 28 election.

On December 2, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets in Tbilisi against the election result, demanding snap parliamentary polls.

Georgia’s leading rights groups denounced the electoral ir-regularities, which the US State Department said were “not consistent with the country’s commitment to fully fair and transparent elections”.

Observers from the Organisa-tion for Security and Co-opera-tion in Europe said that while the election was “competitive” and candidates campaigned freely, it was concerned over “the misuse of state resources” by the ruling party.

In what critics derided as “vote-buying” ahead of the elec-tion, Ivanishvili promised the government would drastically increase social spending and pledged to spend his own mon-ey to write off the bank loans of more than 600,000 people.

Georgia’s fi rst female president sworn inAFPTelavi, Georgia

Zurabishvili

Thousands march in Budapest

ReutersBudapest

Thousands of Hungarians protested in Budapest yesterday against a new

labour law and what they see as the increasingly authoritarian rule of right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The protest, called “Merry Xmas Mr Prime Minister” by or-ganisers, was the fourth demon-stration in a week by leftist op-position parties, student groups and civilians against Orban’s government.

Protesters waved Hungarian and EU fl ags as they walked from the historic Heroes’ Square to-wards parliament in crispy win-ter cold, holding up banners with slogans including “Don’t steal” and “Independent courts!”

The new labour law allows employers to ask for up to 400 hours of overtime work per year, leading critics to label it the “slave law”.

The government also passed a law to set up new administrative courts that will answer to the government and oversee sensi-tive issues such as electoral law, protests and corruption issues.

Civil rights watchdogs said the new courts law was the latest erosion of democratic institu-tions under Orban, who rose to power in 2010.

A protester holds a sign reading ‘Stop Orban’ during the march in Budapest.

UN chief Antonio Gu-terres has called for a “credible” probe into

journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in Saudi Arabia’s consu-late in Istanbul.

“It is absolutely essential to

have a credible investigation and to have the punishment of those that were guilty,” Guterres said at a conference in Doha.

The UN chief said he had no information on the case except what had been reported in the media.

Khashoggi, a Saudi contribu-tor to the Washington Post, was killed on October 2 shortly after

entering the kingdom’s con-sulate in what Riyadh called a “rogue” operation.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly rejected Turkish demands to extradite suspects connected to the murder of the journalist, a critic of Crown Prince Moham-ed bin Salman.

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Saturday that his country

would “not give up” on estab-lishing the truth.

“We haven’t received any new information or outcome of the investigation from the Saudi side,” Mevlut Cavusoglu said, also in Qatar which has been the target of a Saudi-led boycott since June 2017. “Turkey will not give up on this, we will go to the end.”

UN calls for ‘credible’ Khashoggi case probeAFPDoha

An Italian woman was killed and more than 40 other people were in-

jured early yesterday when their

long-distance bus swerved and hit a wall on an icy motorway near Zurich, police said.

Three people were severely injured, and one of the Italian drivers is in critical condition, police spokeswoman Rebecca Tilen said.

The bus was en route from the Italian city of Genoa to Dussel-dorf in Germany.

“At the time of the accident, the motorway was covered with snow and ice, and it was snow-ing,” Tilen told DPA, adding that investigators still have to deter-

mine the exact cause of the ac-cident.

The bus was operated by a subcontractor of Flixbus, a Ger-man company that off ers inter-city services.

The vehicle had Italian li-cence plates.

Bus crash on icy Swiss road leaves one deadDPAVienna

Three die in overtaking manoeuvreThree people have lost their lives in a failed overtaking manoeuvre on a main road in east-central Germany.Investigations have so far revealed that a car had moved into oncoming traff ic in order to overtake and in doing so collided with another vehicle, the police said yesterday.A third car crashed while avoiding a tree, they said.The accident happened yesterday on federal highway 7 between the cities of Erfurt and Gotha in the state of Thuringia.The dead are adults, a spokesman for the state’s police headquarters said.Two children were seriously injured in the accident.

Gritter skids off road and crashesA gritting machine has skidded off a German road in snow and icy conditions in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.The gritter – which spreads salt on roads in winter to prevent them becoming slippery – skidded off the road yesterday and into a shop window in the village of Saulheim in the Alzey-Worms district, the police said.The entire window was broken and parts of the masonry were damaged.

Fifth victim of Strasbourg attack diesThe Paris prosecutor’s off ice said yesterday that a fifth person had died from their wounds following Tuesday’s Strasbourg Christmas market shooting. An off icial with the prosecutor’s off ice said the victim was a Polish national and gave no other details.

27Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

INDIA

Taj ticket price hiked for Indian visitorsAFPNew Delhi

Authorities have hiked fi ve-fold ticket prices for Indian visitors to the

Taj Mahal, in the latest attempt to lower tourist numbers and reduce damage at the coun-try’s top tourist site.

Indians make up the major-ity of the Taj Mahal’s 10,000-15,000 average daily visitors.

Nearly 6.5mn people mar-velled at the white marble 17th-century masterpiece in 2016.

An all-inclusive ticket for Indian citizens including entry into the Taj Mahal was raised from Rs50 to Rs250.

International tourists will pay roughly $19 to enter the Unesco World Heritage com-plex in Agra, up from $16.

“We want people to pay more to limit the footfall,” an offi cial from the Archaeologi-

cal Survey of India, the gov-ernment body responsible for upkeep, said.

“This will cut down the number of visitors to the mau-soleum by at least 15-20% and generate revenue for its con-servation,” the offi cial said.

The latest move comes only months after authorities re-stricted the number of tourists to 40,000 per day.

Previously up to 70,000 people would throng the site at weekends.

Experts say the huge fl ow of people is causing irreversible damage to the marble fl oor, walls and foundations.

Offi cials have also struggled to stop the white marble from turning yellow as pollution levels rise in the northern city of Agra.

Further damage is being caused by excrement by in-sects from the noxious adja-cent Yamuna river, one of In-dia’s most polluted waterways.

Monkeys run amok in India’s corridors of powerReutersNew Delhi

India’s government faces a tough re-election battle next year but fi rst it must deal

with an opponent as wily as any political rival, troops of monkeys that have become a big threat around its offi ces in New Delhi.

Red-faced rhesus macaques have spread havoc, snatching food and mobile telephones, breaking into homes and terror-ising people in and around the Indian capital.

They have colonised areas around parliament and the sites of key ministries, from the prime minister’s offi ce to the fi nance and defence ministries, fright-ening both civil servants and the public.

“Very often they snatch food from people as they are walking, and sometimes they even tear

fi les and documents by climbing in through the windows,” said Ragini Sharma, a home ministry employee.

Ahead of Tuesday’s start of parliament’s winter session, an advisory to members of parlia-ment last month detailed ways they could keep simian attacks at bay.

Don’t tease or make direct eye contact with a monkey, the ad-visory said, and defi nitely don’t get between a mother and her infant.

The rapid growth of cities has displaced macaques, geographi-cally the most widely distributed primates in the world after hu-mans, driving them into human habitats to hunt for food.

Many in India revere and feed the animals.

“This socio-religious tradi-tion of feeding has created a vicious cycle,” said ecology re-searcher Asmita Sengupta.

“They become used to being fed by humans and lose their sense of fear,” said Sengupta, of the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environ-ment.

“They start actively seeking supplementary food and if we don’t feed them, they turn ag-gressive.”

The monkeys have hardly proved an ally for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Hundreds of macaques feast-ing on optic fi bre cables strung along the banks of the river Ganges derailed his plan to roll out Wi-Fi in his constituency in 2015.

Men were hired to swat the monkeys away with broomsticks and slingshots, when then US president Barack Obama toured New Delhi that year, media said.

Some monkey-human en-counters have turned tragic.

In 2007, monkeys pushed the

deputy mayor of Delhi, S S Ba-jwa, off his balcony to his death.

Last month, one of the ani-mals snatched a 12-day-old boy from his mother and killed him in Agra, home to the famed mon-ument to love, the Taj Mahal.

Monkeys have bred rapidly in Delhi and neighbouring states as they have protected status, but there is no offi cial estimate of their numbers.

India has tried several strate-gies to fi ght the menace.

Several years ago, it brought in larger, black-faced langurs, feared by the macaques, to patrol

key areas but that stopped after it became illegal to keep langurs in captivity.

Authorities stumbled on a partially successful solution four years ago, after hiring 40 men to disguise themselves as langurs and squeal monkey-like to try and terrify the macaques away.

“We call them ‘ape repellers’ and they are contract employ-ees,” said a government offi cial, who asked not to be identifi ed.

The stratagem works tem-porarily as the monkeys fl ee on hearing the calls, but they return once the men depart.

Oppositionwants SC torecall verdicton RafaleIANSNew Delhi

The Congress party yester-day claimed that the Su-preme Court judgment on

the Rafale case was “void” as it was based on “false and mislead-ing submissions” by the govern-ment, and demanded an immedi-ate recall of the verdict and a notice to be issued to the government for perjury and contempt of court.

The opposition party also urged the Supreme Court to not entertain the government’s ap-plication fi led on Saturday seek-ing rectifi cation of errors in the judgment, which the govern-ment claimed “occurred, per-haps, on account of misinterpre-tation” by the court.

At the centre of controversy is paragraph 25 of the judgment which said: “The pricing de-tails have, however, been shared with the Comptroller and Audi-tor General (CAG) and the CAG report has been examined by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). Only a redacted portion of the report was placed before par-liament and is in public domain.”

However, PAC chairman Mal-likarjun Kharge and the Con-gress have maintained that “no portion of the CAG report has been placed before parliament or was in the public domain”.

Stepping up the attack, Con-gress leader Anand Sharma said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government not only committed perjury by making

false assertions before the court but was also guilty of breach of parliamentary privileges.

“The Supreme Court judg-ment is not only self-contradic-tory but is shocking in terms of having factual inaccuracies that are a result of false and mislead-ing submissions made by the government.

“We demand that the Su-preme Court immediately recalls the judgment which is void as it is made on the premise of false submission by the government. The entire episode has dented the dignity of the highest court in the country and it should give notice to the Modi govern-ment for perjury and contempt of court,” Sharma told reporters.

The former federal minis-ter slammed Modi government over its plea to rectify two sen-tences in the judgment where due to “misinterpretation” by the court, saying “is” was inter-preted as “has been” at one place and as “was” in another.

“What the Modi government has done is unprecedented and its curative petition adds only to the injury it has caused to the Su-preme Court. Instead of admitting its lies and apologising, it is giving grammar lessons to the chief jus-tice and his fellow judges.

“The court should take seri-ous note of this and take action against the government for per-jury and contempt of court,” said Sharma, adding that the matter of breach of parliamentary privi-leges will also be raised in both houses of parliament.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspects the Modern Rail Factory in Rae Barel in Uttar Pradesh yesterday.

Congress is trying toweaken army, says PMIANSRae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday launched over Rs10bn worth of

projects in Rae Bareli and ac-cused the Congress of aiding those who he said wanted to weaken the Indian army.

“Today, there are two camps in the country. One is the government that is trying to strengthen our army. The other wants to weaken our army at any cost,” Modi said, fl agging off the 900th coach of Mod-ern Rail Factory and a Humsa-far Rake in Rae Bareli, which is Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

“The country is seeing that the Congress stands by those powers who don’t want our armed forces to be strength-ened,” Modi added, in an ob-

vious reference to Sonia’s son and Congress president Ra-hul Gandhi’s attacks on him over the Rafale jet deal with France.

The prime minister said the country was watching “such people” who he added were “getting support of countries pitted against India”.

“What is the reason that peo-ple in Pakistan clap when some of our leaders speak?”

The prime minister pointedly accused the Congress of raising questions over the dignity of the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Air Force, France and the Supreme Court over the pur-chase of Rafale jet aircraft.

“Some people only accept lies and speak lies. For them the country’s Defence Ministry, de-fence minster and air force of-fi cers are liars. The French gov-ernment is also a liar. Now, the

country’s Supreme Court is also a liar for them.

“But truth does not need ‘shringaar’ (makeup) and lies will always die. The country will never forgive the Congress over its attitude towards the army.” Again, the prime min-ister said “some people” felt ashamed of shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.

“What kind of people are they who do not care about the country? I know that they want to abuse Modi. They want to frame Modi for corruption. But I want to know why they have put the country’s pride at stake for this. Why is national secu-rity being put on stake?”

Laying the foundation stone for development projects worth over Rs10bn in Rae Bareli, Modi accused the Congress of ignor-ing the military’s demand for modern aircraft and bulletproof jackets.

“After the Kargil War, our armed forces sought modern aircraft. The Congress ruled the country for 10 years but it did not strengthen the air force. The army demanded 186,000 bulletproof jackets in 2009 but the demand was not met. Af-ter forming the government in 2014, we purchased and handed over 50,000 bulletproof jackets. In April, an order has been given to procure all 186,000 bullet-proof jackets which are being manufactured here,” Modi said.

It would take more than a week to speak about the “sins” of the Congress, he said.

On defence deals, the Con-gress history was linked with Bofors scamst accused “Quat-trocchi Mama”, he added. Ital-ian businessman Quattrocchi was linked to bribery charges in the Bofors scandal.

Another “uncle Christian Michel”, Modi said, was in-

volved in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper procurement deal.

“We have also seen how the Congress sent its lawyer to save this accused. I want to know why the Congress is enraged and speaking lies. Is it all be-cause there is no ‘Quattrocchi mama’ and ‘Christian Michel uncle’ in defence deals being done by BJP government? Had a Congress government been formed after 2014, our pride, Tejas fi ghter jet, would have been put in cold storage...

“Our government gave per-mission to buy 83 new Tejas fi ghter planes. We also gave permission to sanction Rs1,400 crore to double the capacity of HAL to manufacture Tejas.

“The Congress attacks the army with a pre-decided strat-egy to weaken it... In Congress regime, neither soldier nor farmer was taken care of.”

Domestic politics can’t be refl ected in foreign policy: BJP, CongressIANSNew Delhi

Emotions and domestic politics cannot be refl ect-ed in a country’s foreign

policy and that national interest must reign supreme, two senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress said.

“I don’t think we should bring our ideology in our for-eign policy,” BJP general sec-retary Ram Madhav said at a

panel discussion at the launch of a book Open Embrace: India-US Ties in the Age of Modi and Trump by senior journalist Var-ghese K George in New Delhi on Saturday evening.

Madhav said Indo-US rela-tions had been steady between the two governments, highlight-ing the continuation in New Delhi’s policy vis-a-vis Wash-ington.

He said that in the last four-and-a-half years, the BJP-led government tried to manage In-

dia’s relationship with the US, becoming a major defence part-ner of Washington and being treated at par with North Atlan-tic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies.

“I don’t see any commonality how(President Donald) Trump deals with his voters and how (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi deals with his domestic constit-uency,” he said. “I don’t think it is right to give any colour to the India-US relationship.

“Foreign policy cannot be

made through emotions but should be made keeping national interests in mind,” senior Con-gress leader Anand Sharma said, adding there cannot be abrupt departures in foreign policy with change of governments.

“You cannot allow your do-mestic politics to be refl ected in your foreign policy,” he said.

Stating that the Congress had been formulating the foreign policy since the time of the free-dom movement, Sharma said India made it clear after inde-

pendence that it should be re-spected for what it is.

“You must have the confi -dence to deal as an equal partner (with major powers).”

Modi’s engagements with the Indian diaspora on his travels abroad, Madhav said that the government was trying to give a new dimension to New Delhi’s foreign policy by including the diaspora.

“Modi wanted to leverage the Indian diaspora and that is why we made the diaspora an important

part of our foreign policy,” he said.In reply to a question on Trump

trying to bring in fundamental changes in Washington’s foreign policy, Madhav said: “You have to ensure that India is least aff ected by these policy changes.”

In this connection, he men-tioned the US exempting India from Washington’s fresh bans on deals with Russian defence fi rms and Iranian oil imports.

Asked about Trump’s tough immigration policies, Madhav said New Delhi had ensured that

Indians were least aff ected by these.

Academic and foreign policy analyst C Rajamohan was of the view that large countries cannot be turned around by individual leaders.

Varghese, who started work-ing on the book before Trump assumed offi ce in 2016 after be-ing posted as the Washington correspondent of The Hindu daily, said he looked at foreign policy purely from the perspec-tive of domestic politics.

A monkey sits on a pavement outside parliament building in New Delhi.

Andhra Pradesh yesterday sounded a high alert in the coastal region as a cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal was heading towards it and was likely to cross the region between Kakinada and Visakhapatnam today. Real Time Governance Society (RTGS) of the state government alerted all nine coastal districts. The State Disaster Response Force

(SRDF) and National Disaster Response Force were kept on standby. Parts of the coastal region, especially Krishna district, yesterday started experiencing rains and strong winds. The sea became rough. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the collectors of coastal districts to take all precaution to prevent loss of lives.

Andhra coast braces for cyclone

Baghel to besworn in asChhattisgarhCM today

TDP will become irrelevant after 2019 polls, says TRS

IANSRaipur

Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel was yesterday named the

new chief minister of the state and he vowed in no time to can-cel within 10 days bank loans taken by farmers – a campaign promise that led to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s rout in assembly elections.

Shortly after the 58-year-old Baghel was elected the Congress Legislature Party leader by party lawmakers, he announced that he would take oath as the third chief minister of Chhattisgarh today at 4.30pm at the Science College Ground in Raipur.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Con-gress observer for Chhattisgarh, told reporters that Baghel was elected unanimously by the leg-islators but only he would take oath tomorrow. The names of ministers would be declared later “after detailed discussions with all stakeholders”.

“I am committed to waiving farmers’ bank loans within 10 days,” said Baghel.

He added that the Congress government would unravel the conspiracy that led to the killing of top Congress leaders by Mao-ist rebels in the Jheeram Valley in Bastar in May 2013. Among the dead were then state Congress chief Nandkumar Patel, veteran V C Shukla and Mahendra Kar-ma.

In his fi rst tweet as chief min-ister-elect, Baghel expressed his gratitude to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who he said had given him the responsibility of building “a new Chhattisgarh”.

“I can assure the great people of Chhattisgarh that the new Congress government would

live up to their expectations and wishes.”

The Congress said on Twit-ter: “We wish him the best as he forms a government of equal-ity, transparency and integrity starting off with farm loan waiv-er for farmers as we promised.”

Baghel is a powerful leader of the OBC community which makes up 52% of the state’s 2.55 crore population.

The fi ve-time MLA was elected from Patan in Durg dis-trict. He was revenue minister in Ajit Jogi’s fi rst government in Chhattisgarh that was voted out in 2003.

Baghel was also in the centre-stage of the ousted BJP govern-ment’s attacks and was recently jailed for some days in Raipur af-ter he was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged role in the circula-tion of a sleaze CD against a pow-erful BJP minister in Chhattisgarh.

He launched his political ca-reer in early 1980s from Durg district under the guidance of the late Chandulal Chandrakar. He joined the Youth Congress in 1985 and was elected to the undivided Madhya Pradesh As-sembly for the fi rst time in 1993.

Hailing from a farmer’s family, Baghel is credited with leading the party from the front in the fi ght

against the BJP and scripting the crushing defeat of the 15-year-old regime of Raman Singh. The Con-gress won 68 of 90 seats.

And although there were other contenders for the chief minister’s post, Baghel was far ahead of them unlike in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where there was intense tussle on who would get to helm the states.

Ashok Gehlot is Rajasthan’s chief minister designate and Madhya Pradesh has Kamal Nath in the top post. They too will take oath today.

All three states in the Hindi heartland where the BJP lost power to the Congress now have chief ministers.

Meanwhile in a signifi cant development, the Congress yes-terday invited Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the swear-ing in ceremonies of the three chief ministers.

“The Congress has invited our party and our Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) has authorised me to go as the party representa-tive to Rajasthan,” Sanjay Singh told IANS.

Sanjay Singh, a confi dant of Kejriwal, quickly added that “no politics” should be read into this Congress invitation which came amid persistent speculation that the two parties may team up in Delhi against the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

In Delhi, the Congress and the BJP remain in opposition to the Kejriwal-led AAP government but there has been unending speculation that the equations may change, at least in the na-tional capital.

On Saturday, Kejriwal said the AAP’s main aim was to stop the BJP from coming back to power in 2019 and for this alliances cannot be ruled out. But he did not say who the AAP would ally with.

IANSPanaji

With the Bombay High Court due to pro-nounce an order on

a petition seeking to know the health status of Manohar Parri-kar, the ailing Goa chief minister made a surprise public appear-ance by visiting an upcoming bridge site – his pet project – near Panaji.

Photographs, some of which were issued by the Chief Min-ister’s Offi ce (CMO), showed a gaunt-looking Parrikar, with medical appendage suspended from his nose and wearing a safe-ty helmet, speaking to govern-ment offi cials and engineers who are overseeing the construction of the third bridge across the Mandovi river off Panaji.

“Manohar Parrikar visited the construction site on the third

Mandovi bridge and inspected the progress of work. Offi cials of GSIDC (Goa State Infrastruc-ture Development Corp) and L&T engineers were present on the site to brief the CM. He later also inspected the ongoing work of the new Zuari bridge,” a state-ment issued by the CMO said.

Parrikar is suff ering from ad-vanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi since February.

He returned from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 14.

The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court last week reserved its judgment, after hearing a petition fi led by local politician Trajano D’Mello who has sought the former defence minister’s health condition evaluated by a panel of expert doctors and release the medical report in the public domain.

Parrikar visits bridge under construction

IANSHyderabad

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K T Rama Rao yesterday predicted

that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will become irrelevant and inconsequential, both in Andhra Pradesh and national politics af-ter the 2019 elections.

He believes other regional parties from Andhra Pradesh might take centre-stage and may have a bigger role to play in Andhra Pradesh and national politics.

Rao was speaking at an event organised by the Hyderabad Press Club a day after he was ap-pointed the TRS working presi-dent by his father, party chief and Chief Minister K Chan-drashekhar Rao.

KTR, as Rama Rao is popularly

known, said the front which TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu was trying to form at the national level was to strengthen his own party while KCR’s proposed Fed-eral Front was aimed at bringing a qualitative change in the coun-try’s polity.

The TRS leader said his par-ty would play a role in And-hra Pradesh politics. “We will defi nitely have a role in Andhra Pradesh politics. In what form you will see in due course,” he said.

KTR said he wanted a strong regional party to win the elec-tions in Andhra Pradesh.

“People of Andhra Pradesh will decide who is best for them but we will also tell them who is right for them and who can safeguard their interests,” he said.

KTR evaded direct reply when asked if TRS will support

YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh. YSR Congress had not contested Telangana elections but backed the TRS.

He was confi dent that the proposed Federal Front would emerge as an alternative to both the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress.

“Recent trends show BJP can’t cross 150 Lok Sabha seats and even if Congress doubles its 2014 tally of 44 seats, it can’t cross 90. Even if the two parties come together they can’t form the government. The remaining seats will be with regional par-ties, who will provide the alter-native.”

The TRS leader said Telan-gana off ers a development model to the entire country and the schemes implemented in the state during the last four-and-half years could be replicated across the country.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson and former Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi yesterday unveiled the bronze statue of late Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai. She unveiled the former chief minister’s statute installed at the DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam in the presence of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, chief ministers N Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala and V Narayanasamy of Puducherry, leaders of DMK and several other parties, actors and industrialists. Actor-turned-politician Rajnikanth also participated in the function. Later in the evening Sonia, Rahul, DMK president M K Stalin, Naidu, Vijayan, Narayanasamy and others addressed a public rally in Chennai.

The West Bengal unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party yesterday said it would go to court against the state government’s rejection of its application to hold a ‘rath yatra’. The BJP had planned to hold the Ganatantra Bachao Yatra or rally to save democracy, in north Bengal’s Cooch Behar, South 24 Parganas district’s Gangasagar and Birbhum district’s temple town of Tarapith but the state government on Saturday rejected its plea stating there was “grave apprehension of major breach of peace and communal violence during and in the aftermath” of the programme. “We will shortly move court against the government’s decision to stop the rath yatra. Our party will also hold demonstrations against the murder of democracy,” state BJP president Dilip Ghosh said.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu yesterday said cyber technology was a big and new weapon of anti-nationalists, hence security forces need new equipment and advanced technologies to deal with the threats. Naidu was addressing the passing out ceremony of the 50th batch of the Directly Appointed Gazetted Off icers (DAGOs) at the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) Kadarpur academy, 20km from Gurugram. The batch has a total of 48 off icers, including four women. Naidu said that terrorists, Maoists and other anti-national forces were receiving funding through ‘hawala’. Calling the role of CRPF personnel in tackling terrorism and other threats as great and glorious, he said the government must emphasise on providing more facilities to those fighting for the nation.

As part of its proposed manned space mission, India will launch the Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS) to improve data relay and communication links with its remote sensing/earth observation satellites, the chief of the space agency said. The two-satellite IDRSS will maintain continuous communication link with India’s remote sensing/earth observation satellites and also with the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III) that would carry three Indian astronauts to the space in 2022. “We are planning to launch two satellites under IDRSS. The first one is expected to be launched in 2019,” K Sivan, chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said.

At least six people were killed in an explosion in a boiler at a sugar factory in Bagalkot district of Karnataka yesterday. At least three others were injured due to the blast in Kulali village,” police said in Mudhol, about 550km northwest of Bengaluru. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy ordered off icials to shift the injured to hospitals immediately and asked for the site to be inspected to establish the cause of the explosion. “The death of the six people is saddening. Bagalkot district off icials have been directed to conduct a probe and submit a report. The state government will provide compensation to the kin of the deceased,” the chief minister said in a statement. The sugar factory is run by the Nirani Group, owned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Murugesh Nirani and his brothers.

Sonia unveils Karunanidhi’s statue at DMK party off ice

BJP to go to court againstW Bengal order on rally

Cyber technology is the new weapon, says Naidu

IDRSS to improve data relay, says ISRO chief

Six killed in blast in Karnataka sugar factory

HONOUR POLITICSSECURITY TECHNOLOGY ACCIDENT

TRS’ newly-appointed working president K T Rama Rao being greeted by party leaders in Hyderabad yesterday.

Rebel AAP leaders formnew alliancein Punjab

IANSChandigarh

Rebel leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and others yesterday launched

a new political front in Punjab. It has been named Punjab Demo-cratic Alliance (PDA).

The PDA was launched for-mally at a rally in Patiala, around 75km from Chandigarh, in the presence of Patiala MP Dharam Vira Gandhi, former Leader of Opposition and legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira, Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) legislators Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) state president Rashpal Raju.

Khaira said the new politi-cal formation of “like-minded leaders” aims to clean the cor-rupt polity of Punjab.

Khaira, who was removed as LoP by the AAP central leadership in August this year and suspended from the party last month, said the alliance would aim to liberate Punjab from the clutches of cor-rupt traditional parties and the corrupt feudal families.

“The actions of these corrupt parties and leaders had ruined a glorious state like Punjab for their lust to amass ill-gotten wealth by looting the people. Punjab is facing a colossal debt of Rs2.5 lakh crore, farmers and labourers are commit-ting suicide, lakhs of unemployed youth have taken to drugs or are migrating to foreign shores because of hopelessness, frustration and dejection,” Khaira said.

Dharam Vira Gandhi con-demned the central government for encroaching upon the rights of the states, including Punjab through gross centralisation.

Gandhi, who was suspended from the AAP in 2015, said the larger aim of the PDA would be to strive for a federal India and a democratic Punjab.

He said it was unfair for the cen-tral government to unilaterally im-plement schemes for education, healthcare, rural development and MNREGA, without taking into consideration the aspirations of the people of the state.

Other leaders criticised the Bharatiya Janata Partty-led cen-tral government and the Con-gress government in Punjab for failing to fulfi l promises made before the elections.

The LIP was an alliance part-ner of the AAP earlier.

28 Gulf TimesMonday, December 17, 2018

INDIA

A pet owner pushes a stroller carrying dogs during the ‘Pet Fed’, India’s biggest pet festival, in New Delhi yesterday. The two-day pet festival ended yesterday and showcased activities like adoption camps, fashion and security dog shows.

Pet festival

Baghel: vows to waive off farmers’ bank loans within 10 days

Ortega fl ayedfor raids onNGOs, mediain Nicaragua

Mexico budget keepsexpectations in check

Guardian News and MediaManagua

Activists and promi-nent members of Latin America’s left have con-

demned Nicaragua’s increas-ingly authoritarian regime under President Daniel Ortega after the former revolutionary hero stepped up his attack on political opponents by raiding some the country’s most important non-governmental organisations and media.

Since Thursday armed police have seized the headquarters of one of Nicaragua’s top inde-pendent media outlets, Confi -dencial, and its leading human rights group, CENIDH, in the latest phase of a crackdown de-signed to cement Ortega’s grip on power after months of pro-tests.

Pro-Ortega lawmakers last week stripped nine NGOs of their legal status, with the gov-ernment claiming the groups had “actively participated” in terrorist acts, hate crimes and a failed coup attempt against Or-tega’s Sandinista regime.

Jose Miguel Vivanco, Hu-man Rights Watch’s Americas director, said that by attacking such well-known organisations Nicaragua’s president was mak-ing clear his intention “to rule by terror and intimidation”.

He said: “This is a deliber-ate decision by Ortega to stay in power through brutal repres-sion. There is no more facade of negotiation, or of a demo-cratic regime … The policy be-ing imposed … is zero tolerance to criticism.” Shutting down such groups was “something we haven’t even seen in Venezuela under Nicolas Maduro”.

Nicaraguan human rights de-fender Bianca Jagger rejected claims the targeted groups were part of a rightwing US-backed conspiracy to topple Ortega as “a complete and total fallacy”.

“He wants to eliminate any voice of dissent,” Jagger said of Nicaragua’s president, who be-came a fl ag-bearer for the global left thanks to his role in toppling the Somoza dictatorship in 1979. “As someone who supported the revolution in the beginning I feel betrayed.”

There was censure too from prominent Latin American left-ists including Colombia’s Gus-tavo Petro.

“Ortega is not leading a dem-ocratic revolution,” tweeted the former guerrilla and mayor of Bogota. “On the contrary, by im-posing neoliberal and conserva-tive measures on his people, he is building a tyranny.”

The United Nation’s hu-man rights chief, former Chil-ean president Michelle Bachelet, urged Ortega to “immediately halt the persecution of human rights defenders, civil society organisations (and) journalists and news organisations that are critical of the government”.

The political turbulence rock-ing what had been considered central America’s most stable country erupted in April with the outbreak of student-led pro-tests in Managua.

Those demonstrations swelled into a nationwide revolt after attempts to put them down with deadly force. Protesters seized control of key highways and towns including the long-time Sandinista stronghold of Masaya.

For a while the uprising looked set to dethrone Ortega, 73, whose cold war tussle with Washington

made him a revolutionary icon but who is now increasingly seen as an autocrat.

But a counter-attack by secu-rity forces and armed paramili-tary gangs in July helped Ortega reclaim control of the streets and force thousands of dissidents into exile.

Since then, he has continued to turn up the heat on oppo-nents, banning street protests and, most recently, targeting NGOs and media outlets who were documenting the turmoil. Journalists have been subjected to a campaign of intimidation and violence intended to snuff out coverage of the crisis, which activists blame for upwards of 325 deaths.

As this week’s crackdown un-folded, Ortega made what was reportedly his fi rst overseas trip since the crisis began, travel-ling to a “Bolivarian” summit in Cuba where he met Maduro and Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, and railed against “the tyranny of global capitalism”.

In an editorial, the opposition newspaper La Prensa slammed Ortega’s “massacre” of civil so-ciety. “Deep down what this is all about is that the dictatorship does not tolerate the existence of civil groups who nourish and strength-en democracy and denounce the abuse of power. That is why it is trying to liquidate them.”

The ratcheting up of repres-sion has been accompanied by growing pushback from the US.

In November, the US national security adviser, John Bolton, branded Nicaragua part of a Latin American “troika of ter-ror” alongside Venezuela and Cuba. The Trump administra-tion would “no longer appease dictators and despots near our shores”, Bolton vowed.

ReutersQuito

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange re-ceived a series of

medical exams, Ecuador’s top attorney said, in line with a new set of rules for his asylum at the Andean country’s Lon-don embassy that prompted him to sue the government.

Assange fi rst took asylum in the embassy in 2012, but his relationship with Ecuador has grown increasingly tense, with President Lenin Moreno saying he does not like his presence in the embassy.

The government in October imposed new rules requiring him to receive routine medical exams, following concerns he was not getting the medical at-tention he needed.

The rules also ordered Assange to pay his medical and phone bills and clean up after his pet cat.

Inigo Salvador told reporters Ecuador did not have access to re-sults of the tests, which were con-

ducted by doctors Assange trust-ed, out of respect for his privacy.

But he said Assange, who has sued Ecuador arguing that the new rules violate his rights, ap-peared coherent and lucid to him.

On Wednesday, Assange ap-peared via videoconference in an Ecuadorean court to appeal a previous ruling that had up-held the new rules.

Assange is concerned that Ecuador is seeking to end his asylum and extradite him to the US, but Ecuador has said the United Kingdom told it he would not be extradited.

US offi cials have acknowl-edged that federal prosecu-tors have been conducting a lengthy criminal probe into Assange and WikiLeaks.

WikiLeaks published US dip-lomatic and military secrets when Assange ran the operation.

A lawyer for Assange said he did not know the results of the medical tests, and called on Ec-uador to produce documenta-tion proving that the UK would not extradite him to any country where his life was at risk.

Assange undergoesmedical tests

ReutersMexico City

Mexico’s new leftist gov-ernment presented a fi rst budget aimed at

calming nervous markets while honouring pledges to increase welfare spending, saying it would run a bigger surplus next year once interest payments on debt were excluded.

Finance Minister Carlos Urzua set out plans to fi nd more money for both the elderly and unem-ployed youngsters by slimming down several government min-istries and through forecasts of higher tax revenues.

The budget is a major test of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s economic credibility, which was shaken when he said on October 29 he was scrap-ping a partly-built $13bn new Mexico City airport on the basis of a referendum that was widely panned as illegitimate.

Lopez Obrador took offi ce on December 1, and much of the new spending covered pledges made during the election cam-paign.

Markets might even be some-what buoyed by the fact the spending plan is more or less what was expected, said Raul Feliz, an economist at the CIDE think tank in Mexico City.

“As a sort of relief that there’s no really crazy stuff in it,” he said.

The plan, which is due to by approved by Congress before the end of the year, forecasts a slight slowdown in economic growth to about 2% next year from an estimated 2.3% in 2018.

The package also targets a 2019 primary budget surplus — a fi gure which strips out payments on existing debts — of 1% of gross domestic product (GDP).That would be better than the 0.7% primary surplus estimated for 2018.

That was an important signal, analysts said.

“The new government’s 2019 budget proposal is fi scally re-sponsible both on the cover and in the details,” Gabriel Casillas, chief economist at bank Banorte, said on Twitter.

Still, markets are likely to monitor the progress of the budget well into next year to see if Urzua can meet his tar-gets.

Investors soured on Lopez Obrador following his an-nouncement cancelling the air-port, dumping Mexican bonds, stocks and the peso.

He argued the project was too costly and tainted by corruption, though he has not produced evi-dence to support this.

Since then, the government has been trying to craft a deal with the holders of bonds that were issued to fi nance the air-port.

Although the two sides have been moving closer, the dispute remains a factor of uncertainty, said the CIDE’s Feliz.

A Mapuche indigenous activist argues with riot policemen during a protest demanding justice for Camilo Catrillanca, an indigenous Mapuche man who was shot in the head during a police operation, in Santiago.

Anger at Chile killing

Bolsonaroally seeksMaduroousterGuardian News and MediaCaracas

The incoming foreign min-ister under Brazil’s far-right president-elect, Jair

Bolsonaro, has called on the in-ternational community to unite to “liberate” Venezuela from the rule of its authoritarian leftist leader, Nicolas Maduro.

Ernesto Araujo, a pro-Trump climate change sceptic, made the appeal yesterday as he announced that Maduro was not being in-vited to Bolsonaro’s inauguration next month “out of respect for the Venezuelan people”.

“Maduro has no place at a cel-ebration of democracy,” Araujo tweeted. “All of the world’s countries must stop supporting him and come together to liber-ate Venezuela.”

The start of Bolsonaro’s four-year term on January 1 portends a fractious new phase in relations be-tween Brazil and its crisis-stricken northern neighbour.

Bolsonaro, whose election campaign was built partly on a pledge to rout socialism, is famed for his attacks on Maduro and the “despicable and mur-derous ideology” he believes he represents. In an interview last year, Bolsonaro pledged to “do whatever is possible to see that government deposed”.

Such declarations have gone down badly in Caracas.

Last week Maduro accused Bolsonaro’s running mate, Hamilton Mourao, of plotting a “crazy” invasion of Venezuela as part of a wider conspiracy to assassinate him allegedly being concocted by the White House.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minis-ter, Jorge Arreaza, said such an intervention would be repelled with “the mother of all battles”.

Like his boss, Araujo has strong views on Maduro’s Vene-zuela, which he has compared on his blog to Stalin’s Soviet Union and chairman Mao’s China.

In September Araujo repro-duced a Donald Trump address in which the US president de-nounced “the socialist Maduro regime and its Cuban sponsors”. “All nations of the world should resist socialism and the mis-ery that it brings to everyone,” Trump said.

Former Cuba president Raul Castro greets Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the 14th anniversary of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP) during the XVI ALBA-TCP summit, at the Convention Palace in Havana.

The US won a legal battle over “dolphin safe” tuna-labelling, when the World Trade Organisation’s appeals judges dismissed Mexico’s argument that the US labelling rules violated WTO rules. More than 10 years after the dispute first came to the WTO in October 2008, the WTO ruling ended Mexico’s claim that US labelling rules unfairly penalised its fishing industry. Mexico said it had cut dolphin deaths to minimal levels but that it was being discriminated against by US demands for paperwork and sometimes government observers. Tuna catches from other regions did not face the same stringent tests, it said.

Chile will take the place of Brazil in hosting next year’s UN climate summit, delegates at crunch talks in Poland were informed. Brazil last month pulled out as host of the COP25 summit, set for late 2019, claiming that holding the negotiations would be too expensive. Its president-elect Jair Bolsonaro said during campaigning he was considering pulling the country from the landmark 2015 Paris accord and his victory has alarmed environmentalists at home and abroad. Chile’s Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt told negotiators at the COP24 in the Polish mining city of Katowice that her country would step in and hold the two-week summit.

A Colombian tribunal ordered the government to suspend the awarding of mining licences until it establishes protected areas, while the mines and energy ministry said it would appeal against the decision. The ruling by a tribunal in Cundinamarca province is the latest headache for miners in Colombia, where a series of referendums to ban mining led to the closure of at least one major project. The country has reserves of coal, gold, emeralds and nickel, but is looking to expand licensing to other minerals like copper. The decision was a response to a suit by senator Ivan Cepeda, among others, and said all Colombians have a collective right to a healthy environment.

A councilwoman assassinated in Rio in March was killed by a militia looking to protect its interests controlling land in unregulated slums, the head of Rio de Janeiro state’s public security secretariat said. Marielle Franco, a high-profile lawmaker who was critical of police violence, was gunned down with her driver on March 14 in what looked to be a professional hit. General Richard Nunes, head of the state security authority, said Franco was active “in a certain area of Rio controlled by militia, where they have economic interests of all sorts.” Nunes said: “What led to the councilwoman’s murder was the perception that she was putting those interests of these criminal groups at risk.”

Brazil’s President Michel Temer has signed a provisional order that would lift limits on foreign ownership of airlines in the country, his chief of staff said. The measure gets rid of a 20% cap on the proportion of an airline that can be in foreign hands, allowing up to 100% foreign ownership. “This resolves one of the principal problems in Brazilian aviation, which is the source of financing for airlines,” said chief of staff Eliseu Padilha, who briefly headed the civil aeronautics department in the previous government and previously served as transport minister. Padilha said the order will take eff ect immediately but required congressional approval in 2019 to be fixed in place.

Mexico loses WTO battleover US tuna labelling

Chile to replace Brazil asUN climate summit host

Awarding of Colombia mining licences suspended

Councilwoman ‘slain bymilitia behind land grabs’

Temer moves to fully openairlines to foreign capital

SETBACK DECISIONLEGAL CLAIM POLICY

LATIN AMERICA29Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

PAKISTAN

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201830

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a message on the fourth anniversary of the terrorist

attack on Peshawar’s Army Pub-lic School (APS), reiterated the nation’s resolve towards nation-al, regional and world peace, Ra-dio Pakistan reported yesterday.

He said that the massacre had united the whole nation against a common enemy, which he de-scribed as a “blot on humanity”.

He added that education is the best tool to eliminate extremism and terrorism permanently.

Khan paid tribute to members of the armed forces and law en-forcement agencies who have rendered countless sacrifi ces in the war against terror.

The premier expressed the government’s commitment to turn Pakistan into a society which does not tolerate extrem-ism or violence in the name of sect, religion, language, skin col-our, or ethnicity.

The prime minister also tweeted about his government’s commitment towards the imple-mentation of the National Action Plan (NAP):

“Today, as we remember and pray for the survivors and the victims’ families, especially the parents, of the Peshawar APS terrorist attack, my government commits itself to fully imple-menting the NAP to rid Pakistan of all forms of terrorism, violence and hatred.”

President Arif Alvi said that the APS incident is a national tragedy.

He said the anniversary is a day to reiterate the country’s com-mitment against inimical forces.

Alvi urged the nation to be ready to make every sacrifi ce to curb extremism in the country.

A memorial was also arranged at APS Peshawar to pay homage to the students and teachers of the school who were slain.

Similar events were also held

in other parts of the country.In the deadliest terror attack

in the country’s history, at least 144 people – mostly students – were killed when heavily-armed militants stormed the army-run public school on December 16, 2014.

Seven soldiers of the Special Services Group and two offi cers were among the wounded.

When the nightmare unfolded, the teachers and students had just returned to their classes fol-lowing a recess.

Some of the students were gathered in the large auditorium for a lecture.

Days after the attack, the gov-ernment launched the NAP to counter terrorism.

The NAP comprised policy in-itiatives aimed at wiping out ter-

rorist outfi ts across the country, integrating security eff orts of the federal and provincial govern-ments by engaging all the stake-holders, dismantling terrorist networks, and ensuring deter-rence by utilising available capa-bilities and resources of the se-curity organisations to overcome internal threats to state security.

The newly-elected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led gov-ernment plans to unveil a new version of the NAP and restruc-ture the National Counter Ter-rorism Authority (Nacta) to ef-fectively tackle internal threats to security.

Coined NAP-2, the plan is aimed at bridging gaps in the fi rst version rolled out in January 2015.

According to a document, the

interior ministry plans to create a cyber- security organisation to eff ectively counter the growing threat of cyber-crimes.

The interior ministry plan also envisages restructuring

the Nacta to make it more func-tional, building capacity of civil armed forces, upgrading the safe city project, and taking steps to curb currency smuggling from airports and borders.

Imran hails nation’s resolve for peaceInternewsIslamabad

Children hold oil lamps after lighting them with others during a vigil in Karachi to remember the victims of an attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School in 2014.

Prime Minister Khan: my government commits itself to fully implementing the NAP to rid Pakistan of all forms of terrorism, violence and hatred.

A candlelight vigil was held here on Saturday evening on the eve of the fourth

anniversary of the December 2014 Army Public School (APS) attack, which left 144 students and staff members dead.

Besides parents and relatives of the slain, noted civil society activists Sana Ijaz, Dr Said Alam Mehsud, and Fazl Khan also at-tended the event at the Shuhada APS memorial, which was put up on the premises of the archives library.

The parents displayed pictures of the students and lit candles.

Main functions to mark the fourth anniversary of the mas-sacre was held at the APS and ar-chives library yesterday.

Ijaz said that arrangements had been made for the function at the archives hall.

“Most parents have displayed the pictures of their martyred sons inside and outside the ar-chives hall,” she said.

Meanwhile, Awami National Party (ANP) central president Asfandyar Wali Khan said that the deep wounds caused by the killing of the APS students had not healed, even four years after the attack.

“One of the killers of those in-nocent students has now been treated as a state guest, while

their parents have been pushed from pillar to post for justice,” he said in a statement issued here.

The ANP leader said the state had failed to bring before the na-tion the actual motive behind the massacre.

“Peace can’t be restored in the country until the elimination of safe havens and sanctuaries of terrorists,” he said.

Wali Khan said that had the state taken action against ter-rorists, the acts of terrorism at the Bacha Khan University Char-sadda and Peshawar’s Agricul-ture Research Centre would have been averted.

ANP central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the images of the APS Peshawar

carnage had been imprinted on his mind.

He said that on December 16, 2014, he saw the bodies of stu-dents wrapped in blood-stained shrouds at the CMH (Combined Military Hospital), and that those scenes would remain, with the parents and witnesses in par-ticular and society in general, forever.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pa-khtunkhwa Chief Minister Mah-mood Khan said that the deaths of the APS students would al-ways be remembered.

In a statement issued here, the chief minister said that after-math of the incident showed the resilience of Pakistanis against terrorism.

“The December 2014 incident showed the brutality of terror-ists’ mindset. The terrorists tar-geted innocent children inside an educational institution and thus, exposing their nefarious designs against humanity, education and knowledge,” he said.

Mahmood Khan said that af-ter the APS attack, the security forces and the entire nation were on the same page to execute the National Action Plan (NAP) for the complete elimination of ter-rorists and terrorism.

He said the government had successfully played its role for the NAP’s execution.

“We suff ered and made sacri-fi ces, which were recognised at international level,” he said.

Candlelight vigil held on eve of school attack anniversaryInternewsPeshawar

All in a day’s work

A man sits in a wheelbarrow near sacks of onions at a wholesale market in Islamabad.

Prime Minister Imran Khan may set up a poverty alle-viation unit at his offi ce, to

be headed by a special assistant, to implement a new broad-based strategy to pull millions of people out of poverty.

About 16 government and semi-government organisations will liaison with the offi ce of the special assistant on poverty al-leviation and social protection, said sources in the Prime Minis-ter’s Offi ce.

Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan, a member of the Economic Advi-sory Council, is likely to be ap-pointed as the special assistant to implement this strategy.

The prime minister has already approved the strategy, with a summary due to be sent for ap-proval to the federal cabinet to establish the unit at the Prime Minister’s Offi ce, sources said.

The new institutional arrange-ment is being considered after

a proposal made to set up the Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection Authority by merg-ing all the existing government

organisations turned out to be unfeasible due to legal obstacles, according to people privy to the developments.

The authority could not be set up because organisations, like the Employees Old Age Benefi ts Institution, the Workers Welfare

Fund, and the Benazir Income Support Programme, were work-ing under various laws of parlia-ment.

In the new set-up, organisa-tions like the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and Pakistan Baitul Mal will also report to the special assistant.

The initial idea to set up the council on poverty was also re-jected as it is not acceptable to all the stakeholders, sources said.

A summary in this regard was prepared by the ministry of plan-ning and development, which was opposed by a handful of stakeholders.

The new strategy on poverty is styled after the Chinese model that lifted 700mn people out of poverty.

The government aims to move away from the cash disburse-ment strategy to a “diff erentiated strategy”.

The proposed strategy is also focused on ending the monop-oly of existing players who have turned the task of poverty alle-viation into a profi table business.

Less than half a dozen people, sitting at some key poverty alle-viation organisations, are alleged to have made huge amounts of money over the past two decades.

The government will also face some genuine problems because under the constitution, some of the subject matters fall within the jurisdiction of provincial governments.

However, in three provinces, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of Prime Minister Khan is in power.

The new strategy will also tar-get people living in rural areas through intervention in the agri-culture sector.

The new offi ce will conduct district-wise mapping of poor people.

The poverty unit will also work to improve the skill sets for technical education, increase employment opportunities, enhance access to fi nancial as-sistance for promotion of small-sized businesses, and provide inexpensive accommodation, social protection and the Sehat Insaf Card.

Offi cially, the poverty level in Pakistan declined to 24.3% in 2015-16, according to the Paki-stan Economic Survey 2017-18 released in April this year.

In absolute terms, 50.4mn are recognised as poor.

Over the past decade, Paki-stan’s poverty headcount has declined both at national and re-gional levels, it added.

However, independent re-ports, which use diff erent meth-odology, paint a bleak picture.

According to the latest World Bank report titled State of Water Supply, Sanitation and Poverty in Pakistan, Baluchistan has by far the highest rural poverty rate, with more than 62% of its rural population living below the pov-erty line.

According to the multidimen-sional poverty index of the Unit-ed Nations, half of the country’s population lives in poverty and lack access to basic needs of edu-cation and health.

A majority of the rural popula-tion (54.6%) lives in acute pov-erty.

Prime minister mulls poverty alleviation unitInternewsIslamabad

Buildings selected in Islamabad for shelters for homeless people

On the directions of the interior ministry, the capital

territory administration has selected two abandoned

buildings for the establishment of shelters (Panah Gah)

for homeless people.

One of the buildings, in Tarlai, can house around 150

males and 50 females.

The other building is in Sector I-11, and can accommo-

date around 100 males.

An off icial of the capital administration said that

the building in Tarlai is being used to store goods

belonging to current and former off icials of the local

administration.

It has been decided to vacate the building, which is in a

good condition, for use as a Panah Gah, he said.

“The building has two halls, in which more than 100

people can be housed. There is one dining hall and five

rooms on the first floor. There is another wing in the

building in which women can be housed. Moreover,

there are separate rooms for the staff ,” he said.

Every day, many labourers and other people head for

Tarlai, which is emerging as a new city, to find work.

These workers would be able to stay in the shelter.

“The other building has been selected in Sabzi Mandi

(I-11) where a large number of labourers also work but

have no shelter.

“We are expecting the buildings to be inaugurated as

shelters before the end of the current year,” the off icial

said.

He said that Chief Commissioner Amer Ali Ahmed had

been supervising renovation work on both buildings.

Security cameras would be installed in the buildings

along with the deployment of guards.

In the past, there was a shelter in Sector G-7, but it

would not serve as shelter now as there are many

long-time residents there.

In reply to a question, the off icial said that as such shel-

ters cannot be run by the government departments,

it has been suggested that the administration of both

shelters be handed over to philanthropists.

“We may involve philanthropists to run and finance

the shelters, with the capital administration acting as

facilitator. As far as modalities to house people in the

buildings are concerned, they should also be left to the

administrator,” he said.

On Saturday Minister of State for Interior Shehryar

Khan Afridi visited the building in Tarlai.

Following the government’s decision to off er the chairmanship of the powerful Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, the two sides have also agreed on a formula for chairmanship of the National Assembly standing committees.The PAC is the apex parliamentary watchdog that oversees the audit of revenue and expenditure by the government, and is considered to be the most powerful and important committee of the parliament.Under the formula, the chairmanship of 23 standing committees would go to the government, and 19 to the opposition.National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser has summoned a meeting of the government and opposition to take a final decision on the committees’ composition and chairmanship.According to parliamentary sources, it has not been decided which standing committee chairmanship would go to the government and opposition, it was principally agreed that the opposition – including the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and the Awami National Party (ANP).The opposition has agreed to distribute the chairmanship of the standing committees among themselves.According to the agreed formula, the PML-N will get the chairmanship of 10 standing committees, including the Public Accounts Committee, while the PPP will get chairmanship of six, the MMA of two, and ANP, one.The two legislators of the Pashtoon Tahafuz Movement (PTM), who are supporting the opposition, will not get chairmanship of any standing committee.

Government, opposition ready todiscuss formation of NA committees

Pakistani elected chief of regional telecom regulators’ councilPakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman Mohamed Naveed has been unanimously elected as the next head of the South Asian Telecommunication Regulators Council (SATRC) at the 19th meeting of the council.Representatives from nine countries from the region – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Iran, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka – as well from the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, attended the three-day meeting which started on December 13.The aims and goals of the meeting were to enhance co-operation between regulators and industry, and work towards a harmonised regulatory environment.

Apex court tells central, provincial governments to depoliticise police

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has issued notices and ordered the federal and all provincial governments to submit their written replies by December 26 on a constitutional petition calling for depoliticising the police.A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar heard the petition of Mohamed Ahmed Misar, who was represented by Barrister Salman Safdar.The petitioner pleaded for implementation of the Police Order of 2002 throughout the country, saying that provincial governments had introduced their own laws and made some of its clauses ineff ective.

PHILIPPINES31Gulf Times

Monday, December 17, 2018

People attend the first of nine dawn masses signalling the off icial start of Christmas at Saint Joseph Parish in Manila, yesterday. The tradition of dawn masses dates back to the Spanish era and culminates on Christmas Eve and is a belief that anyone who completes the chain will have their wish granted.

Festive gathering

Go seeks rural development to decongest capitalManila TimesManila

Former special assistant to the President Christopher Law-rence “Bong” Go pushed for ru-

ral development to decongest the me-tropolis, as he visited fi re victims in Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City and gave them assistance on Monday night.

Go committed to provide students aff ected by the fi re with school sup-plies and uniforms. He also off ered uniforms for the employees as well as some construction materials from his supporters to help the victims build temporary shelters.

“I will ask the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB)

to come here and see how they can help,” he said.

Go, who is running for a Senate seat in the 2019 polls, lamented that con-gestion in the metropolis, particularly in poor areas with houses built of light materials, is one of the causes of fre-quent fi re outbreaks in Metro Manila.

He believes the solution to this is fair distribution of infrastructure projects in all areas of the country that will spur inclusive development.

Go was asked to comment on the controversy over the alleged inser-tions of some lawmakers in the pro-posed 2019 national budget that trig-gered a word war between the House of Representatives and the Senate.

He said that President Rodrigo Du-terte respects the prerogative of law-makers to allocate government funds as long as these are divided fairly

among all the regions.Go said that countryside develop-

ment would gain further momentum through a shift to a federal form of government that President Duterte is pushing for since each state would have greater control over their own resources.

He stressed though that there should be a more active education campaign to inform the people about the benefi ts of federalism.

Once development spreads to the province, Go said it would provide more employment and business op-portunities in the countryside. He also encouraged some of the fi re vic-tims to go back to their provinces and start their lives anew.

Go also said those who need medi-cal assistance could go to Malasakit Centers that cater to all Filipinos es-pecially the poor who cannot aff ord to avail themselves of medical treat-ment and medicines. The centre is a one-stop shop programme of Presi-dent Duterte that Go helped estab-lish during his stint as assistant to the president. The Malasakit Center houses concerned government offi ces to hasten the delivery of medical and fi nancial assistance particularly for poor patients. Go wants to institu-tionalise the establishment of Mala-sakit Centers in all the provinces and urban centres of the country through an appropriate law.

As a staunch supporter of the presi-dent’s anti-drug war, Go also urged the fi re victims and nearby residents to stay away from illegal drugs. After the visit to fi re victims, he joined tri-cycle drivers in a boodle fi ght and took the opportunity to remind them about the government’s war against illegal drugs, corruption, and criminality.

Former special assistant to the president Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go greets one of the fire victims in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City.

Corrections bureau chief’s son tests negative for drugsBy Roy NarraManila Times

The son of Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Director Nicanor Fael-don who was arrested on Friday

in an anti-illegal drug operation has tested negative in a drug test while three other suspects tested positive.

An initial laboratory report from Camarines Sur Provincial Crime Lab-oratory Office showed that Nicanor Faeldon Jr tested negative for the presence of methamphetamine and tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites, which are both dangerous drugs.

Russel Lanuzo alias “Bubbles,” Al-lan Valdes and Manuel Niebres tested positive for methamphetamine me-tabolite. The crime laboratory con-firmed that the seven transparent plastic sachets seized in the operation contained shabu.

Jose Dino Jr, spokesman and law-yer for Nicanor Jr, said the drug test

results did not surprise their camp as his client has no vices or criminal record.

“The truth shall set Nicanor Fael-

don Jr free. He has no criminal record and no vices, so we already knew that his drug test would be negative. In any event, the Naga (City) police should continue doing their duties without fear or favour,” he added.

The younger Faeldon was arrested on Friday morning after he was seen by police operatives in their search warrant implementation in a sus-pected drug den in Barangay Mabolo, Naga City, Camarines Sur.

His father earlier said he would re-sign from his post as BuCor chief and kill his son if the latter was proven guilty of being involved in illegal drugs. He also offered to take a leave of absence while the investigation of his son is ongoing.

Dino also earlier said his client would not interfere with the investi-gation.

For being a supposed visitor to the suspected drug den, Nicanor Jr will face charges under the Comprehen-sive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Nicanor Faeldon Jr

Massive hike planned for war veterans’ pensionBy Bernadette E Tamayo Manila Times

More than 6,000 Filipino war veterans will receive a P20,000 monthly pension,

up from P5,000, if a bill increasing to 300% their old-age pension is signed into law.

Senate Bill 1766, which aims to in-crease the monthly pension of war vet-erans, was transmitted directly to Ma-lacanang on November 26 for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature after the House of Representatives adopted the Senate version on November 13.

Filipino veterans who fought during World War II, as well as in the Korean and Vietnam wars, will benefi t from the measure.

“Recognising the urgency of the said measure, we believe that the president will sign it into law,” said Sen.

Gregorio Honasan, principal author and sponsor of SB 1766.

“It will lapse into law after 30 days (from November 26) if the president fails to act on it,” said Honasan, chair-man of the Senate Committee on Na-tional Defense and Security.

He added: “The challenge is to in-stitutionalise this to the point that

it’s almost engraved in the stone, that whoever is the president, whoever sits in Congress, will make sure that our veterans will live forever in the memory of this nation.”

Honasan, a retired Army offi cer and a member of Philippine Military Acad-emy (PMA) Class of 1971, said the gov-ernment needs P887.94mn to grant the increase. “The House (of Representa-tives), even if they fi rst started this

(piece of legislation), decided to adopt the amendments of the Senate, practi-cally adopting the Senate version,” said Honasan, whose term of offi ce is set to expire in June 2019.

The higher benefi t, however, is not transferable to any member of their family or dependents. In the event of death of the war veteran, the pension of the surviving spouse will remain at P5,000 a month.

File photo of Filipino war veterans.

Mayor’s home faces grenade attackManila TimesZamboanga City

Police reported a grenade attack on the house of a southern Phil-ippine town ahead of midterm

elections in the restive region of Mind-anao.

Police said an unidentifi ed assailant lobbed the grenade on the compound of the house of Lambayong town mayor Ramon Abalos in Sultan Kudarat prov-ince late Friday.

The politician was not in the house at the time of the blast and police said no one was reported killed or injured in the explosion.

It was the second attack on the may-or’s house in just fi ve months.

Senior Inspector Herman Luna said the attacker was on a motorbike driven by another man and both escaped af-ter the blast. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the attack, he said.

In July, police said the mayor’s brother, Carlos, who is a town council

member; and a cousin, Richard, were both wounded in another grenade at-tack on his house.

There was no immediate statement from the mayor and police did not say whether the latest attack was con-nected to politics or not. Filipinos are to elect their new set of leaders, from senators, congressman to local govern-ment positions.

Elections in Mindanao are tradition-ally violent, particularly in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Basilan, among other provinces.

ONE SMOKER.TWO PATIENTS.

TOBACCO KILLS

Issued in Public Interest by GULF TIMES

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 2018

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Outlook bright forcruise tourismseason in Qatar

It is a matter of pride and joy that Qatar’s cruise tourism season (2018/2019) has taken off smoothly and continues with great momentum. As forecast by the National Tourism Council (NTC), this season is expected to be the busiest since the development of the country’s maritime tourism sector. As many as 43 cruise ships are scheduled to reach the Doha port this season which will continue until May 2019, carrying about 140,000 visitors, an increase of roughly 115% over the previous season when 22 cruises brought in more than 65% visitors.

The season will also see the launch of 10 new cruise ships that will visit Doha for the fi rst time, including the Queen Mary 2, which is more than 345m long and can accommodate about 4,000 passengers, including a crew of 1,253. Another indicator refl ecting the momentum expected this season is the Doha Port receiving more than two giant cruise ships at the same time, an event that will be repeated fi ve times during the same season, refl ecting the port’s ability to deal with the growth of the marine tourism sector.

The future outlook is also bright. During the 2019-2020 season, NTC expects that the number of visitors to Qatar through maritime tourism will reach about 200,000, and by 2021-2022 there will be 300,000

tourists. NTC believes that the marine tourism sector is an essential part in supporting the tourism sector in Qatar because of the geographical location of the

country in the heart of the Arabian Gulf. The promising development in the maritime tourism sector is just part of the great shape the tourism sector in Qatar generally is in. This comes after the sector made great strides in terms of growth level after the activation of the national tourism strategy 2017-2023.

Qatar has been able to make progress in tourism, becoming the most accessible destination in the Middle East and the eighth in the world. It has also entered the three best maritime tourism areas in the world, with a regular review of visa policy by its stakeholders, as it worked to exempt citizens of 88 countries across the world from entering the country visa and without the need to pay any fees.

The series of visa moves led to increase Qatar’s ranking from 177th in 2014 to 8th in the world in 2018, a diff erence of 71.3 points between the two ranks. The fi rst half of 2018 witnessed a remarkable growth in the number of visitors to Qatar compared to the fi rst half of 2017. For example, the number of visitors from India increased by 18% and China (43%), while Russia recorded the largest growth rate of 366%. It was in late 2015 that Qatar announced a plan to ‘redevelop’ the Doha Port to receive more tourists and cruise ships. The quantum leap in the growth of cruise tourism is a stellar example of the ensuing success. The tourism sector contributes 6.7% directly and indirectly to Qatar’s GDP. If the trend is any indication it could be safely concluded that more growth is around the corner the country’s cruise tourism sector.

By 2021-2022 there will be 300,000 visitors to Qatar through maritime tourism

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CHAIRMANAbdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFFaisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka

Deputy Managing EditorK T Chacko

QNADoha

Despite the unjust siege imposed on Qatar, the government’s strategies are progressing as planned with

close follow-up by all the ministers and offi cials in diff erent sectors in the country, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani has stressed.

In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of the National Day, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani said : “We can confi rm that our country has overcome the siege and its eff ects and is now going for self-suffi ciency in goods and essential products and the provision of their strategic stocks to meet the needs of the country. We can also confi rm that the productive sectors of the State are now going to achieve self-suffi ciency in goods and non-essential products.”

“Under the siege, we have also realised international achievements in various sectors and our economy has been growing in the light of the progress achieved by our foreign trade with various countries, along our continued contribution with international organisations to enhance Qatar’s role and mission at the regional and international levels,” he said.

On the country’s eff orts to address the siege, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior said: “It became clear to everyone that the siege imposed on us is an unjust and illegal blockade aimed at infl uencing the sovereign decision of the State and undermining the stability of the country. Therefore, all false allegations made by the siege countries were refuted thanks to the wise policy of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.”

“Qatar has taken proactive steps in the fi ght against terrorism and signed memorandums of understanding in this fi eld with the United States of America, and our country was the fi rst to respond to the anti-terrorism summit, and by then no one accuses Qatar of such false allegations,” he added.

As for the steadfastness of Qatar in the face of the siege, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani stressed that the State managed in accordance with well-studied plans to deal with this unjust siege and meet its challenges, overcome its eff ects and make it a failure, through the contribution of national energies, through the continuing implementation of infrastructure, development, health and education projects, and through the consolidation of its international relations.

Regarding the economic challenges that accompanied the crisis, he stressed that Qatar, with Allah’s grace and under the directives of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, has overcome any negative eff ects that may aff ect citizens and residents, as diff erent sectors in the country strived continuously and professionally to provide us with quick and urgent solutions for any emergency that may happen.

He pointed out that the State has increasingly encouraged the private sector to develop the local products through concessions and exemptions

granted to the projects implemented by this sector to support food and water security and raise local production to cover the market needs of the Qatari national product.

“We look forward to achieving self-suffi ciency in some commodities and materials in the short term by diversifying our sources of production and economic resources in accordance with Vision 2030 regarding diversifi cation of sources of economy and production,” he pointed out.

He said Qatar National Day on 18 December is a great and important occasion to commemorate the late Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani, who laid the fi rst building blocks for the glorious State of Qatar.

It is also an incentive to inspire the sense of belonging to the homeland and the values of sacrifi ce and selfl essness, and serves as a motive to deepen the pride and development of the State.

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior off ered his sincere congratulations to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. He also congratulated all the citizens and expatriates living in Qatar, on the occasion of the Qatar National Day, praying to Allah the Almighty to return this day with the country enjoying the pride and happiness, and everyone enjoying security, stability and tranquility.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior affi rmed that the celebration of the National Day has great symbolic signifi cance in the national memory and embodies the meaning of unity and true brotherhood among its people and brings lofty meanings to the hearts and minds of all citizens and expatriates living on this good land.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani said that the anniversary of this day, which is marked on 18 December every year, comes when Qatar is experiencing extraordinary circumstances because of the siege imposed on it. This shows the importance of sending messages to the whole world that Qatar is following in the footsteps of the Founder in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives by promoting the process of sustainable and comprehensive development and presenting leading models in various sectors.

He stressed that the current crisis has strengthened the values of solidarity

and cohesion between citizens and expatriates in the face of unjust measures by the siege countries, which are contrary to all religions and all international conventions, laws and norms.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani noted that the celebration of the National Day also refl ects the citizens’ association with the leader of their progress, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who places the interest of the nation and the citizen above all considerations, by removing barriers and promoting interaction of citizens and residents with the leadership in a loving manner and with a sense of responsibility.

Celebrating the National Day is a great opportunity to affi rm and strengthen national sentiment, he added.

On Qatar’s achievements, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani said that the country continues to make progress in accordance with the wise leadership’s vision that has taken into consideration all dimensions and aspects, foremost of which is the development of infrastructure in all fi elds and the provision of accessible and advanced services in health and economy, in addition to strengthening foreign policy, building outstanding relations with the international community, paying attention to human cadres, and maintaining security and stability.

On education, he said that Qatar has moved from providing education to providing quality education, adding that this has been achieved through continuous review of curricula and admission policies and monitoring the educational process while ensuring the provision of material and human resources.

The Prime Minister and Minister of Interior also underlined the importance of sending outstanding Qatari students on scholarships abroad to acquire new knowledge and sciences, along with developing and providing university education locally through national institutions and foreign educational institutions that have opened branches in Qatar, contributing greatly to the development of quality education.

In the fi eld of health, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani said: “We are working to provide integrated healthcare for citizens and residents through the development of infrastructure and attention to health projects of a continuous nature and the provision of modern technologies necessary for health promotion, human resources development and required disciplines.”

He pointed out that the legislative and

legal aspects have witnessed a similar development in terms of reviewing and issuing new laws that keep pace with latest developments and contribute to the building of the State of justice and law.

The whole world followed a series of laws issued recently, which have won praise from various international institutions, including the law of permanent residency, the amendment of the law on travel notifi cation (exit permit), the law of free media zones and other pieces of legislation needed for change and to keep pace with the necessity of the comprehensive development.

In the fi eld of security, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior stressed that security is one of the most important priorities of Qatar; therefore, the State enjoys great security and stability. The security-related crimes are very low, which contributed to the country’s advanced rankings in many international indicators on the state of security and stability in the world, he said, adding: “Many of our institutions have already met the required international security standards, such as Hamad International Airport.”

Stressing that Qatar continues to develop the path of security renaissance and strengthen its pillars, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani said: “We will be the fi rst country in the Middle East to host the 2022 World Cup, which will be a source of pride for all Arabs, not just for Qataris.”

On the foreign policy front, he stressed that the experience has proved the success of Qatar’s foreign policy that is independent and fl exible to serve its national interests and protect its sovereignty. “We will continue to deepen our relations and closer co-operation with sisterly and friendly countries and exert eff orts to achieve regional and international peace and stability, especially in countering terrorism and extremism and active participation in all international eff orts to achieve this,” he said.

In this context, he spoke about the role of Qatar in the settlement of disputes and the consolidation of world peace, adding: “Proceeding from the State of Qatar’s belief in resolving disputes through peaceful means, we have made an active diplomatic move based on dialogue with all countries, bodies and organisations to clarify the Qatari perspective on this issue.”

He stressed that this diplomatic move has contributed to strengthening communication between Qatar and its regional and international environment, opening up to the world, developing relations with sisterly and friendly countries, and continuing to build international relations based on mutual respect and non-interference in internal aff airs. It also contributed to refuting many misleading propagandas by some media outlets of the countries of the blockade.

In the economic fi eld, His Excellency pointed out that eff orts continue to upgrade the Qatari economy, encourage local investments, protect the national product, increase production to achieve self-suffi ciency by encouraging food, water and medicine security projects, improving the business environment in Qatar and increasing tourism demand. He stressed that these economic sectors have been activated and have become more competitive, developed and attractive to domestic and foreign investments.

Qatar has overcome eff ects of siege: PM

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani

COMMENT

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 2018 33

QP surging ahead despite siege: Minister

QNADoha

Qatar Airways became one of the most infl uential and innovative airlines in the world after it made many

achievements in a short period of time.The carrier won the Best Airline

in the World award four times by Skytrax.

2017/2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the airline and the introduction of the fi rst Airbus 1000-A350, which was the most important events during the past year.

During the last fi scal year, Qatar Airways added a total of 14 new destinations, providing people with more travel options to major business and tourism destinations around the world.

Despite the challenges faced by the company due to the blockade, Qatar Airways won a record number of awards in 2017, with a rate of an award each week and more than 50 awards during the year.

Qatar Airways took the lead again when it won the World’s Best Airline for 2017 by Skytrax for the fourth time in its history.

It also won the Best Business Class of the Year, Best Airline in the Middle East and Best First Class Passenger Lounge in the world.

Qatar Airways is currently supporting the ongoing consultations with the European Union to complete the Comprehensive EU Air Transport Agreement, which aims to free the aviation system between Qatar and the member states of the Union.

Qatar Airways also welcomed the European Commission’s eff orts to reach a comprehensive agreement between EU and Qatar and, over the past 18 months, it supported bilateral talks aimed at cooperation in the civil aviation sector.

During 2018, Qatar Airways launched fl ights to Cardiff , Mykonos and Malaga.

It affi rmed that it will continue to explore further growth opportunities to enhance its access to more markets and improve its relationship with its European partners in the aviation sector.

Qatar Airways continued, last year, to expand, which refl ect the company’s desire to grow despite the challenges.

Qatar Airways welcomed last year its 200th aircraft.

Its fl eet since last March has been 213 aircraft.

Currently, it is using one of the most modern fl eet of aircraft.

In February 2018, Qatar Airways

received the world’s fi rst Airbus 1000-A350, the fi rst in a purchase order of 37 aircraft.

It was also the fi rst Airbus aircraft equipped with Qsuite seats for Business Class passengers.

In September and December of 2017, the airline added two Boeing 747-8 cargo aircraft to its fleet to support Qatar Airway’s cargo operations.

It is important to point out that Qatar Airways is the second largest air cargo company in the world.

It has 23 modern cargo aircraft, which paves the way for it to become one of the most important subsidiaries of Qatar Airways Group.

The company said that it will invest to expand its cargo fl eet by announcing a purchase order for four Boeing 777-300ER aircraft worth $4.1bn.

The new aircraft are expected to be added to 95 Boeing aircraft with wide body.

There is also a purchase order for 116 Boeing aircraft in addition to the deal

with Boeing in 2016, which includes the purchase of 30 787 Dreamliners and 10 300ER-777 aircraft worth $7.11bn.

These deals are evidence of the airline’s commitment to making every eff ort to expand its fl eet in the coming years.

In December 2017, Qatar Airways reconfi rmed the purchase order for 50 Airbus A320neo aircraft by updating the order and replacing it with a confi rmed order for 50 A321neo aircraft, which are the largest in the Airbus A320 category.

The new aircraft are expected to join Qatar Airways in 2019 to support the continued growth of Qatar Airways’ global destination network, which will benefi t from the outstanding capabilities and services off ered by the A321neo aircraft.

The total value of the deal is $47.6bn based on the 2018 price list.

While the investment in the development of its fl eet is a top priority for Qatar Airways, this year also witnessed a diversifi cation of Qatar Airways’ investment portfolio in other airlines.

The most important investment in the fi scal year 2010-2017 was the acquisition of a 94.9% stake in Cathy Pacifi c and a 49% in AK Holding, the parent company of Meridiana. The investment in Meridiana Airlines has provided the opportunity to develop the existing airline and enhance its operations by launching a new look and modernising and re-launching the service under the name Air Italy as part of an exceptional project that will provide a unique and effi cient alternative for travellers from Italy when planning their future trips.

QNADoha

HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and Managing Director and Chief Executive

Officer of Qatar Petroleum Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi said that the National Day is an occasion when QP remembers the history of this land and all the sacrifices made to build it and defend its freedom and dignity.

In an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of Qatar National Day, Minister al-Kaabi said that, thanks to the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, QP has become more self-suffi cient and capable of overcoming the unjust siege imposed on Qatar last year and move forward.

Despite the siege, which is mostly painful as it was imposed by Qatar’s neighbouring countries, QP has not been aff ected by it and is operating

as per usual and can go on like this forever, he added.

The minister pointed out that on this day it is remembered with pride the eff orts of the Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani who faced challenges and obstacles, united the people and worked on deepening their relationship with the land, adding that the Founder made Qatar the source of pride and dignity and a deterrent to injustice that stands by the oppressed.

He stressed that all the people of Qatar are in debt to the leaders of Qatar who planned a path of pride, glory, progress and prosperity for the present and future. The minister reiterated QP’s loyalty to the nation and its leadership following the principles established by the Founder for a better future and towards greater glory under the wise leadership of the Amir.

The minister said QP continues to

develop the oil and gas sector.As part of this development it

announced in September its decision to increase LNG (liquefi ed natural gas) production in Qatar by adding a fourth liquefaction train to reach a capacity of 110mn tonnes per annum which is a 43% increase from its current production capacity.

With regard to petrochemical industries, QP invited a group of leading international companies, with extensive experiences in the petrochemicals industry, to submit proposals for partnering with QP in the development and operation of a new world-scale Petrochemicals Complex at Ras Laff an Industrial City.

The Petrochemicals Complex will include an ethane cracker with a capacity of more than 1.6mn tonnes per annum (MTPA) of ethylene, making it the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East, and one of the largest in the world.

Qatar Airways most innovative airline in world

Focus on self-reliance, economic opennessQNADoha

HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari has stressed that Qatar has established the

principle of self-reliance and economic openness as two strategic options to face regional and global challenges.

He pointed out that this approach has contributed to strengthening of national industries and Qatar’s position as a major commercial hub in the region.

In a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the occasion of the National Day, the minister said that the great developments achieved under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is a strong message to the region and the world that Qatar will remain free and dignifi ed in the face of those who are trying to prey on its sovereignty and its economic and political security and independence.

He added that the private sector plays a pivotal role in this regard as the building of a competitive Qatari industry depends heavily on the growth of small and medium enterprises along with major national industrial companies.

He pointed out that the State sought to motivate investors, businessmen and manufacturers to expand production and open new industrial lines to cope with local needs in various sectors, especially in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.

He also highlighted the role played by the private sector in strengthening trade and investment ties with Qatar’s strategic partners around the world.

He praised the eff orts of Qatari businessmen and national companies who formed the fi rst line of defence to deter economic and trade repercussions since the early days of

the unjust blockade.The Minister of Commerce and

Industry said that the eff orts of Qatar to enhance its economic openness and respect all its trade commitments with all countries of the world consolidated its reputation as a reliable and credible economic and trade partner with all components of the international community.

He concluded his statements by congratulating His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the occasion of the National Day and wishing further progress, growth and prosperity for the country.

He also said that the National Day symbolises belonging to the nation and loyalty to its wise leadership, adding that the motto of the National Day “As long as it is proven by our deeds...Qatar remains free” refl ects the values and principles inherent in the history of Qatar since it was founded by Sheikh Jassim bin Mohamed bin Thani.

This motto embodies the steadfastness and determination of Qatar since the imposition of the unjust blockade on June 5, 2017.

As for the achievements of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry last year, the Ministry stated that it was keen on focusing on the private sector due to its pivotal role in achieving the developmental plans set by the State.

The Ministry aimed to provide an appropriate business climate in the commercial and industrial sectors so that they can meet the needs of the State and build a strong production base that will achieve balanced economic growth for Qatar.

At the same time, the Ministry had ambitious plans to develop the trade sector and raise it to distinct levels that contribute to the establishment of Qatar as a strategic trading hub linking the region with major commercial

centres around the world.As part of its eff orts to break the

illegal blockade imposed on Qatar, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry announced, this year, that it has initiated proceedings to fi le a new lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation’s Dispute Settlement Body against Saudi Arabia for its violations of intellectual property of Qatari citizens and entities.

As for supporting national products, enhancing their position and upgrading local companies to promote self-suffi ciency in all sectors, the Cabinet approved the draft law of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on supporting the competitiveness of national products and combating practices harming them in international trade.

The draft law affi rms that the

provision of this law shall be applied in a manner that does not contradict the provisions of the WTO agreements.

Under the provisions of the draft, a committee called the “Committee to Support the Competitiveness of National Products and Combat Practices to them in International Trade” is to be established at the Ministry of Economy and Commerce.

Furthermore, the Ministry announced the completion of the seasonal market initiatives, which started with the seasonal market for camping supplies in 2017.

The Ministry also organised, during 2018, seasonal date market, which is the largest market specialised in dates of all kinds.

The market off ers a unique opportunity by providing a place for traders, entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises to display their products to the public.

Additionally, the Ministry organised

the seasonal honey market in co-operation with Souq Waqif.

The Ministry also announced the opening of the second camping seasonal market during November 2018, which was held in Al Riff a area, with the participation of nearly 100 local and foreign companies off ering camping products.

Qatar has sought to open the economy, expand its international relations in trade and investment and conclude bilateral agreements with partners around the world, which in turn contributed to the increase in the volume of trade with many countries of the world.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry organised a number of important economic forums, including Qatar-China Economic Forum, Qatari-Pakistani Business Forum and the Qatar-Belgium Economic Forum in order to strengthen and expand trade and economic relations with these countries and open prospects for communication between private sector representatives to establish joint investment projects. Additionally, the Ministry organised the Qatari-Bulgarian Economic Forum, with the aim of improving communication between the private sector in the two countries and encouraging them to establish joint investment projects that serve the aspirations and interests of Qatar and Bulgaria.

As part of its eff orts to strengthen co-operation between Qatar and the United States of America, the Ministry has been an important participant in the Qatar-US strategic dialogue and its associated activities. The Ministry also organised four economic forums between Qatar and US in Miami, Washington DC, Charleston in South Carolina and Raleigh in North Carolina.

Furthermore, an agreement was signed to encourage and protect the mutual investments between Qatar and Paraguay. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry signed a co-operation

agreement with the Dutch company /HERE GLOBAL/, which specialises in navigation systems data used by most international manufacturers of cars, on the sidelines of Qatar’s participation in the Hannover International Industrial Fair 2018 (Hannover Messe).

A comprehensive trade and economic partnership agreement was also signed between Qatar and Turkey. The agreement sought to enhance trade exchange, ease restrictions on investments, services’ trade and electronic Commerce and boost co-operation in customs, education, research and development, capacity building, exhibitions, forums and economic conferences. The agreement is the fi rst of its kind signed by Qatar with a business partner.

At the regional level, Qatar and Oman signed a memorandum of understanding on co-operation in the area of consumer protection. The memorandum of understanding aims to improve technical and legal co-operation and achieve co-ordination in all areas related to the consumer.

As part of Qatar’s eff orts to strengthen bilateral relations with its various trading partners, the delegation of the Qatar participated in the Qatar-Pakistan Business Conference organised in Islamabad as part of an offi cial visit to Pakistan from 4 to 5 July 2018 to discuss prospects for bilateral co-operation.

The Ministry also participated in the Qatar-Germany Business and Investment Forum, which aims at enhancing the levels of economic, trade and investment co-operation between the two countries.

Qatar has also sought to modernised legislations and laws regulating business environment in order to attract investments.

The State has also passed laws allowing foreign investors 100% ownership in all sectors and economic and commercial activities.

HE the Minister of Commerce and Industry Ali bin Ahmed al-Kuwari.

HE the Minister of State for Energy Af-fairs and Managing Director and Chief Executive Off icer of Qatar Petroleum Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi.

WARNINGInshore : Nil Offshore : Nil

WEATHERInshore : Misty at places by early

morning becomes moderate temperature daytime with some clouds, relatively cold by night

Offshore : Partly cloudy at times

WINDInshore : Northeasterly-South-

easterly 05-15 KTOffshrore : Northwesterly-North-

easterly 03-13 KT

Visibility : 4-8/3 KMOffshore : 1-2/3 FT

TODAY

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Minimum Temperature : 190c

Maximum Temperature : 250c

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BaghdadKuwait City ManamaMuscat Tehran

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QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201834

Spirit of patriotism fl ies high at Flag Relay 2018

More than 1,500 people took part in the second edition of Flag Relay

covering over 300km across Qa-tar as the fl ag travelled up and around the country as part of National Day celebrations.

Participants came from all walks of life, including current and former Team Qatar athletes, ambassadors, diplomatic core, nearly 800 schoolchildren, 10 cancer survivors, as well as hun-dreds from the public.

The fl ag’s journey took it through many key landmarks where it was welcomed and cel-ebrated by participants.

The fl ag was transported via diff erent sporting activities in-cluding cycling, running, swim-ming and more which refl ected the strength and depth of Team Qatar athletes.

Commenting on Flag Relay 2018, HE Sheikh Joaan bin Ha-mad al-Thani, President of Qa-tar Olympic Committee said: “The second edition of the Flag Relay has united the hearts and minds of more than 1,500 people under one fl ag. They came to-gether in harmony and solidarity to express love for Qatar side by side with our athletes who con-tinue to inspire us all as we cel-ebrate National Day.”

“Our fl ag will always be the bea-con that lights our path to guide us towards more success and glory to make our nation proud. I would like to sincerely thank all the partici-pants and partners who contribut-ed to the success of this event,” HE Sheikh Joaan added.

Hundreds of participants ex-

changed the Qatari fl ag as it trav-elled through iconic landmarks around the country, starting from Team Qatar’s Winter Camp in Sea-line and transporting it towards a grand fi nale at Aspire Park.

“It is events like this that give me tremendous confi dence and hope about the future of Qatar. The show of unity and solidar-ity among citizens and residents from all cultures, backgrounds, and fi elds was unrivalled. We are grateful to everyone who shared with us the celebration of the fl ag and made this event a day to re-member,” HE Jassim Rashid al-Buenain, Secretary-General of Qatar Olympic Committee, said.

This edition of the Flag Relay invited a diverse number of ex-pat communities to participate and raise the fl ag with Team Qa-tar athletes and be part of the

country’s celebrations.“I was very proud to be part of

the celebration and carry the fl ag while riding my motorbike. It was an opportunity for my whole community to come together and show unity and solidarity for Qatar and I’m honoured to share these feelings with my fellow members of the community,” said Margarita Zuniga, Qatari, Historian Offi cer Qatar Chapter.

Meanwhile, Jawaher al-Muta-wa, Flag Relay ambassador who carried the fl ag at The Pearl, was excited to show what it means for her as a Qatari woman to be part of the occasion.

“As a Qatari woman, today meant so much to me. Not only did I carry the fl ag at such a glo-rious occasion but also, I repre-sented women and I hope that inspires some of them to take up

sport and seek their passions,” al-Mutawa said.

The day ended with celebra-tions at Aspire Park where a gath-ering of Team Qatar athletes, stakeholders of Qatar Olympic Committee and the public came together to watch the fi nale.

Team Qatar’s squash player Abdulla al-Tamimi was one of three athletes making the fi nal act as Flag Relay 2018 came to an end after uniting a nation and inspiring solidarity and hope.

“I’ve been blessed enough to car-ry Qatar’s fl ag at the Asian Games and today as I raised it again for Flag Relay the feeling of pride and hon-our was as strong. Raising that fl ag carries so many emotions that no words can describe.

I hope I will continue to raise it in front of my people and the whole world,” al-Tamimi said.

Standing beside him was Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul-lah al-Thani, the fi rst Qatari to climb Mount Everest, who said: “Carrying the maroon fl ag to-day brought back so many proud memories from the top of Mount Everest when I raised it there. It’s a great honour to be able to rep-resent my country and celebrate with my community at such a great occasion.”

Qatar Olympic Committee ex-tended its thanks to the sponsors and suppliers for their support, namely: Abdullah Abdulghani and Bros, Co, Abu Issa Holding, Aspire Zone Foundation, Baladna, Nation-al Tourism Committee, Al Meera and Hamad Medical Corporation.

Qatar Olympic Committee also thanked the media for their con-tinuous support to bring coverage of the event to the public.

Flag Relay also could not have taken place without the support of Sealine, Hamad International Airport, Msheireb Properties, Hamad Medical Hospital, Mu-seum of Islamic Art, Katara, The Pearl, Qatar University, Lusail City, and Qatar Foundation.

Each partner, supplier, athlete and participant saw the value of Flag Relay 2018 and how it aims to unite the community on this important occasion.

Flag Relay aimed to dem-onstrate what it means to be #IAmQatar; the campaign that was launched to encourage the nation to come together and support Team Qatar at the Asian Games Jakarta-Palembang 2018.

Qatar Olympic Committee wanted to share the success of its athletes with the nation and to highlight that the athlete’s suc-cesses are in due part to the sup-port and backing of its nation.

QNADoha

People participate in the Flag Relay on Doha Corniche.

QRCS deploys 40 ambulances, medics for National Day

Qatar Red Crescent Soci-ety (QRCS) has said it is actively participating in

the Qatar National Day celebra-tions.

Since the launch of the cel-ebrations, a section has been opened at the Doha Event pa-vilion to receive the public, in-troduce them to QRCS’ humani-tarian mission, off er blood sugar and pressure tests free of charge, inform young visitors about the Safe School Programme and hold diverse interactive and fun activities for kids.

QRCS’ Medical Aff airs Divi-sion has deployed 40 ambulance vehicles, medical workers and mobile clinics at diff erent cel-ebration venues, working until December 24, from 7am to mid-night.

At Darb Al Saai, one ambu-lance vehicle, one ambulance club car, two cycle responders and two mobile clinics (one each for men and women) have been deployed, QRCS has said in a statement.

As for the Corniche, there are seven ambulances, six cycle re-sponders, one ambulance club car, 12 paramedics and an emer-

gency rescue boat with three lifeguards.

Other celebrations medically covered by QRCS’s ambulances include Al Rayyan Sports Club, the cricket club (Industrial Area), Barwa Workers Sports Complex (Al Khor), and Al Refaa Ardat St.

Dr Abdulsalam al-Qahtani, board member and director of Medical Aff airs at QRCS, said: “The slogan of this year’s cel-ebrations refl ects noble charac-teristics that everyone should assimilate, such as morality, good deeds, justice, respect of other people’s rights, generosity, helpfulness and other ideals that are universal.

“As a tradition of Qatar, we work hard to help and empower vulnerable individuals and com-munities without partiality or discrimination. Serving as an auxiliary to the State of Qatar in its humanitarian eff orts, our ultimate goal is to mobilise the power of humanity to save lives and preserve dignity.

“Over our 40 years of human-itarian action, we are a proven role model of excellency and professionalism.”

QRCS is informing young visitors about the Safe School Programme and holding diverse interactive and fun activities for kids.

QATAR

Gulf Times Monday, December 17, 201836

Qatar Airways celebrates National Day

Qatar Airways yesterday organised an array of ac-tivities, including a live

performance by Qatari singer Fahad al-Kubaisi, to celebrate National Day.

The event, held under the pa-tronage of HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti, and in collaboration with Qatar Airways, Hamad Port Project, Mowasalat, Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA), Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and Qatar Ports Man-agement Company, showcased the country’s rich culture and traditions in a festive mood.

“This is a great occasion to renew determination to con-tinue building on the previous achievements and the eff orts for more advancement and prosper-ity for this nation,” HE al-Sulaiti said, adding, “It is also a renewed determination to move on for more progress and advance for

the Qatari people. This is also an occasion to show the achieve-ments done and successes re-corded, which contributed to boosting Qatar’s ranking at the international level.”

The festivity was attended by several dignitaries, including Qatar Airways Group chief ex-ecutive Akbar al-Baker, QCAA president Abdullah bin Nasser Turki al-Subaie, and Hamad International Airport COO Badr al-Meer, among others.

Performances also included special poem about Qatar and Qatar Airways by Al Maha Acad-emy students Shahwan Misfer al-Hajri and Sabah Mohamed al-Nuaimi.

Other activities featured local Qatari culture such as henna art, falconry, traditional handicrafts and traditional local food.

“We are delighted to be a part of today’s celebration of our be-loved country alongside mem-bers of our local community. One of Qatar Airways’ core values is expressing our pride, loyalty and love for Qatar, and National Day off ers a chance for us to express

the patriotism that is shared by all of Qatar’s residents and citi-zens, regardless of their country of origin,” al-Baker said.

“As the national carrier of Qa-tar, we are delighted to enable visitors to explore our country’s remarkable culture and hospi-tality, as well as to connect the world to more than 160 busi-ness and leisure destinations from our home and hub, HIA,” he noted, adding, “We look forward to welcoming visitors to Qatar to discover our country’s unique heritage.”

Sheikh Jabor bin Hamad M al-Thani, director general, Qa-tar Aeronautical College, said: “The National Day is an op-portunity to celebrate our ac-complishments in Qatar, which contributed to the well-being of the Qatari citizens and raised our country among the nations.”

Sheikh Jabor also congratulat-ed His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on the occasion.

Khalid Nasser al-Hail, man-

aging director and CEO, Mow-asalat, said Qatar proudly cel-ebrates its National Day with its motto of this year: “As long as it was proven by our deeds”.

“We do not consider the Na-tional Day to be just another celebration, but an occasion to renew our commitment to fulfi l our promises to the nation,” he said, adding, “With the wisdom and foresight of our wise leader-ship, Qatar has made remarkable achievements.”

Jassim Mohamed al-Shirawi, executive director, Hamad Port Project, said the celebration demonstrates their solidar-ity and loyalty to Qatar and to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

Meanwhile, Mwani Qa-tar CEO Captain Abdulla al-Khanji said the National Day is an annual occasion close to the hearts of Qatar’s people and a chance to remember their wonderful history and the many accomplishments achieved over the years.

For his part, CRA president Mohamed Ali al-Mannai

By Joey AguilarStaff Reporter

HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti (right) and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker lead the cake-cutting ceremony yesterday to mark Qatar National Day.

HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti and Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker and other dignitaries attending the National Day celebrations yesterday.

Qatari singer Fahad al-Kubaisi entertains the crowd at the event.

said: “On the occasion of Qa-tar’s National Day, we would like to congratulate the gov-ernment and people of Qatar. CRA celebrates this yearly oc-casion to convey the love and loyalty towards our country

and our wise leadership.”Al-Subaie said that celebrat-

ing this special day under its motto of this year (‘As long as it was proven by our deeds’), proves that good deeds are what build nations.

“Our faith in Qatar is what brought the country to this lead-ing position and set it as an ex-ample to be followed by devel-oped countries whose citizens enjoy progress and prosperity,” he noted.