First with the news and whats behind it

www.qatar-tribune.com
Ernie Els of South Africa (left) and Paul Lawrie of Scotland (right) walk along the green during the rst round of the
Commercial Bank Qatar Masters at Doha Golf Club, in Doha, on Wednesday. (MANEESH BAKSHI)
SANTHOSH CHANDRAN
DOHA
ASHGHAL, Qatars Public Works
Authority, on Wednesday
unveiled the QR10 billion Inner
Doha Re-sewerage Implemen-
tation Strategy (IDRIS).
The world class drainage net-
work strategy, which will meet
the requirements of Doha South
catchment drainage for the next
50 years, envisages a 73-kilome-
tre-long sewerage network and
has been prepared jointly by
Ashghal and CH2M HILL
International, a US-based global
leader in consulting and design.
IDRIS will overhaul South
Dohas existing networks capabili-
ties and future-proof it for several
decades, Ashghal Drainage
Project Department Manager
Nasser Ghaith al Kuwari said at an
industry brieng on Wednesday.
To be implemented over the
next seven years, the programme
is a result of studies, which exam-
ined various inuences on sewage
ow, including projected commu-
nity growth, the condition of the
current drainage system and
planned developments such as
Doha Expressway Motorway sys-
tem and Metro system.
On completion, the project will
decommission over 30 ageing
pump stations in the inner city
area of Doha and replace them
with a single large deep terminal
pump station 30 kilometres out-
side Doha.
Due to the location of the tun-
nels at a signicant depth, IDRIS
will utilise sub-surface techniques
that will minimise the usual dis-
ruption associated with utility
pipeline work.
The only visible signs in the con-
struction of many kilometres of
pipeline will be occasional access
shafts and worksites.
The deep tunnel pipelines in the
project will link Doha to Al Wakra
and Mesaieed.
The network will be able to meet
the requirements of an additional
one million population expected to
be added to the city and its subur-
ban areas over time.
Treated sewage efuent (TSE)
will be diverted to farm houses
through separate pipe lines. With
the terminal pump station located
60 meters deep, New Doha South
advanced sewage treatment sys-
tem would have an initial capacity
of 500 million litres per day and a
conveyance system consisting of
more than 30 kilometres of deep
QATAR MASTERS GOLF
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
THE recent incident, in which a
student slapped his teacher in
the classroom, has brought bul-
lying in schools back into focus
in the country, leading to a
renewed effort by authorities to
nd a solution to the problem,
according to a report from local
Arabic daily Al Watan.
A survey of 2,140 students, 60
percent of them Qataris, including
male as well as female students
aged between 11 and 15, provides
important insights into different
aspects of the phenomenon.
The study conducted by Al
Aween Centre, found 26.6 per-
cent of male students and 13.8
percent of female students to
be bullies.
Interestingly, a signicant 33
percent of Qatari students suf-
fered at the hands of bullies while
among non-Qataris the number of
such victims was 40 percent.
More females (41.4 percent)
were found to have been vic-
tims of bullying than males
(29.4 percent).
Another predictable but sig-
nicant conclusion of the study
was that poor academic record
had a correlation with bullying
behaviour in schools. A signi-
cant 28.3 percent of the bullies
confessed that they had failed
in their studies.
But students are not the only
bullies at large in schools. The sur-
vey results revealed while 36 per-
cent of the students were bullied by
their fellow students, a sizeable
14.3 percent by the teachers and
another 6 percent by the director.
The survey also documented
An Al Aween Centre study found 26.6 percent of male students and
13.8 percent of female students bully fellow students.
Steps to curb bullying
in schools renewed
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
A RESEARCH project supported by
Qatar National Research Fund
(QNRF) is using signal detection to
improve monitoring of the health of
developing foetuses, with the prom-
ise of signicant potential benets
for women in Qatar.
Through existing technology,
movements of a foetus in the womb
can be read over time to detect any
unusual patterns or a reduction in
activity. However, this requires a
level of expertise based on signal
analysis and interpretation tech-
niques that have been largely over-
looked until now.
Dr Boualem Boashash of Qatar
Universitys College of
Engineering, along with Australian
colleagues from the University of
Queenslands Centre for Clinical
Research and the University of
Melbournes Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology, are
conducting research under QNRFs
National Priorities Research
Programme (NPRP) on how to best
utilise these techniques for moni-
toring foetal health.
There are two major variables in a
signal time and frequency, Dr
Research to improve foetal health
HAZY
HIGH: 25
0
C | LOW: 12
0
C
13,759
+47
PTS
DOW JONES 8,652
+30
PTS
QE
SENSEX
WEATHER
20,026
+45
PTS
CURRENCY
1QR 14.74 Indian Rupees
1QR 11.16 Philippine Pesos
QNB takes control of
Tunisian Qatari Bank
QNB GROUP announced that it
has acquired an additional
49.96 percent stake in the share
capital of the Tunisian Qatari
Bank, thus raising its total share-
holding to 99.96 percent, effec-
tive from the moment the group
receives the required approvals of
the regulatory authorities in
Tunisia and Qatar. (PG 29)
Newsline
42 killed, 75 wounded in Iraq
suicide bombing
A SUICIDE bomb at a funeral in a
Shiite mosque in north Iraq killed at
least 42 people on Wednesday, the
latest in a spate of deadly violence
amid a political crisis engulng the
country. The attack also left 75 peo-
ple wounded. (PG 2)
THURSDAY JANUARY 24, 2013 RABI AL-AWWAL 12, 1434 VOL. 7 NO. 2334 QR 2 I Newsline I Nationline I Businessline I Lifeline I Sportsline
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
CONTINUED ON PAGE 16
Cameron promises Britons
referendum on EU exit
PRIME Minister David Cameron
said on Wednesday he will offer
British citizens a vote on whether to
leave the European Union if his
party wins the next election, a move
which could trigger alarm among
fellow member states. (PG 4)
ASHGHAL READIES QR100BN PROJECTS
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
ASHGHAL plans to invest
QR100 billion in different infra-
structure projects in Qatar over
the next ve years, Ambrose
McGuire, Advisor Infrastructure
Affairs at Ashghal has stated.
The projects will include roads,
drainage networks and munici-
pal buildings he said while
introducing IDRIS on
Wednesday. The projects, in
line with Qatar National Vision
2030 will not only focus on
upgrade and maintenance of
existing national assets but also
on major infrastructure projects
across the country.
PAGE 17
|
NATION PAGE 36
|
CHILL OUT
MICHELLE
OBAMA WEARS
WU TO THE
BALL AGAIN!
Ashghal unveils
QR10bn drainage
network strategy
UK CUSTOMERS
VOTE QA BEST
LONG-HAUL
AIRLINE
AP
AMMAN
JORDANIANS voted on
Wednesday in a rst electoral
test for their kings political
reforms, while a boycott from
his Islamist-led opponents cast
doubt over whether the vote
would quell two years of sim-
mering dissent in the streets.
As part of a reform package
that aims to make the elected
legislature responsible for
much of the day-to-day affairs
of state, King Abdullah II has
given the parliament the right
to choose the prime minister,
previously appointed by the
crown. Broader foreign and
security policy remains how-
ever, for now at least, in the
hands of the king.
The 2011 Arab Spring upris-
ings in the region set off a wave
of demonstrations in Jordan,
albeit much smaller than those
that toppled autocratic leaders
in Egypt, Libya, Yemen and
Tunisia and devolved into a
bloody civil war in Syria.
Abdullah is trying to control
the pace of change.
Just over 600,000
Jordanians, or 27.5 percent of
the 2.3 million who registered
to vote, cast ballots in the rst
seven hours of voting, despite
early technical computer
problems with the balloting,
elections commission head
Abdul-Illah Khatib said.
David Martin, the European
Union Chief Election
Observer, said voting got off to
a relatively smooth start, with
only one or two insignicant
violations of rules due to cam-
paigning outside polling sta-
tions, and no intimidation or
harassment of voters.
EU observers are stationed
in all of Jordans 12 gover-
norates, he said.
Prime Minister Abdullah
Ensour, Jordans last appoint-
ed premier who is expected to
tender his resignation to the
king shortly after the vote,
called it a stepping stone, or a
station, on the path of more vig-
orous, serious, real and genuine
reforms. More democracy is
coming, he told reporters as
he cast his ballot in his north-
western hometown of Salt.
But government critics, led
by the powerful Muslim
Brotherhood, say the kings
moves do not go far or fast
enough to end his monopoly
on power.
The Islamist group is boy-
cotting the vote, as are four
smaller parties, including
communists and Arab nation-
alists, on grounds that an elec-
toral law introduced last year
favored pro-king loyalists and
undercut opposition votes.
The Islamists frustration is
growing because the
Brotherhood has not been able
to rally a large sector of the
public to their side. Though
there is anger over the econo-
my, rising prices and corrup-
tion, many Jordanians also
distrust the Brotherhood, eye-
ing its rise in Egypt and fearing
it could grab power in Jordan
and throw it into instability.
AFP
DUBAI
THE second-in-command of
Al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) has died, a
radical Islamist said in his
Twitter account, according to
a Wednesday report by the
SITE Intelligence group.
The Islamist, identied as
Abdullah bin Muhammad,
said that Saeed al Shehri, a
Saudi, has died after a long
journey in ghting the Zio-
Crusader campaign, accord-
ing to SITE.
Muhammad gave no details
about Shehris alleged death
which also remained uncon-
rmed by Islamist websites
and the Saudi and Yemeni
authorities.
However, the Saudi-owned
daily Al-Hayat reported on
Wednesday that members of
Shehris family said he had
died of wounds sustained in a
US drone attack in Yemen
during the second half of
December.
Last October, Shehri
denied a September 10
announcement by Yemens
defence ministry that he had
been killed in an army raid, in
an audio message posted on
extremist Internet forums.
The militant leader was
released from Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba in 2007 and was
own to Saudi Arabia where
he was put through a rehabil-
itation programme.
But after completing the
programme, Shehri disap-
peared and later resurfaced as
AQAPs No. 2.
AQAP, led by Nasser al
Wuhayshi, is classied by the
United States as the most
active and deadly franchise in
the global Al Qaeda network.
In October 2000, AQAP
militants attacked US Navy
destroyer the USS Cole in
Yemens port of Aden, killing
17 sailors and wounding 40
more.
Although weakened, the
group continues to launch
deadly attacks on Western
and government targets
across Yemen.
AQAP second-in-command dead: SITE
AFP
SAMARRA
A SUICIDE bomb at a funer-
al in a Shiite mosque in
north Iraq killed at least 42
people on Wednesday, the
latest in a spate of deadly
violence amid a political cri-
sis engulng the country.
The attack, which also left
75 people wounded, struck
at the Sayid al-Shuhada
mosque in Tuz Khurmatu,
175 kilometres (110 miles)
north of Baghdad, and tar-
geted the funeral of a rela-
tive of a politician who was
killed a day earlier.
No group claimed respon-
sibility, but Sunni militants
often launch attacks in a bid
to destabilise the govern-
ment and push Iraq back
towards the sectarian vio-
lence that blighted it from
2005 to 2008.
Niyazi Moamer Oghlu,
the secretary-general of the
provincial council of
Salaheddin, which sur-
rounds Tuz Khurmatu, put
the toll from the attack at
42 dead and 75 wounded.
Corpses are on the
ground of the Husseiniyah
(Shiite mosque), said
Shallal Abdul, mayor of Tuz
Khurmatu, which lies 175
kilometres (110 miles) north
of Baghdad. The suicide
bomber managed to enter
and blow himself up in the
middle of the mourners.
Among the wounded were
ofcials and tribal leaders,
including Ali Hashem
Mukhtar, the deputy chief of
the Iraqi Turkman Front
and a provincial councillor
in Salaheddin, which sur-
rounds Tuz Khurmatu.
The funeral had been for
Mukhtars brother-in-law,
who was shot dead in Tuz on
Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesdays suicide bomb
came after a wave of attacks
in and around Baghdad and
in northern Iraq killed 26
people and wounded dozens
more, shattering a relative
calm after a spate of deadly
violence last week.
The unrest comes amid a
political crisis that has pitted
Prime Minister Nuri al
Maliki against several of his
erstwhile government part-
ners and with more than four
weeks of anti-government
protests in Sunni areas hard-
ening opposition against the
Shiite leaders rule.
Egypts top cleric
cancels Saudi trip
over slight
CAIRO Egypts top Muslim
cleric cancelled a visit to
Saudi Arabia at the invita-
tion of its monarch when
he discovered that senior
delegates traveling with
him were assigned econo-
my class seats by their
Saudi hosts, according to
Cairo airport ofcials.
The ofcials said Sheikh
Ahmed al Tayeb, the
Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Sunni Islams highest seat
of learning angrily dis-
embarked from a Saudi-
bound airliner shortly
before takeoff on
Wednesday and instruct-
ed his delegation to fol-
low suit.
Tayeb was assigned a
rst class seat.
The Egyptians were due
to perform the minor pil-
grimage to Mecca, or
umrah, before ying to the
Saudi capital Riyadh to
attend Mondays award
ceremony for the King
Faisal International Prize
for scientic and religious
achievement.
The ofcials spoke on
condition of anonymity
because of the matters
sensitivity. (AP)
Syrian agriculture badly damaged: UN
ROME A UN report says 22 months of war in Syria have
left the countrys agriculture in tatters, with cereal, fruit
and vegetable production down sharply.
A UN mission recently visited the country and found pro-
duction of some commodities down by half, along with
widespread destruction of irrigation and other infrastruc-
ture, said the report released on Wednesday. Dominique
Burgeon of the Rome-based Food and Agriculture
Organisation says it is clear that the longer the conict will
last, the longer it will take to rehabilitate it.
The report says about 10 million Syrians live in rural
area nearly half the population and 80 percent depend
on agriculture for their livelihoods. It says UN Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon will chair a humanitarian pledging
conference for Syria in Kuwait City on January 30. (AP)
3 killed in Cairo
building collapse
CAIRO An Egyptian securi-
ty ofcial says three peo-
ple were killed including a
75-year-old woman when
a two-oor building col-
lapsed in Cairo.
The building, in Old
Cairos shantytown of Abu
Qarn, fell apart when a
cooking gas canister
exploded on Wednesday,
the ofcial said.
Rescue workers pulled
three bodies from under
the debris while searching
for survivors. The ofcial
spoke on condition of
anonymity because he
was not authorised to
speak to the press.
Building collapses are
common in Egypt. Last
week, 26 people died
when their building was
attened in the
Mediterranean city of
Alexandria. Violations of
building codes have been
blamed.
The collapses could
stoke criticism of
President Mohammed
Morsis administration.
Critics accuse the post-
revolutionary government
of failing to do more to
reform the nation and x
public services. (AP)
Inside Gulf/ME 42 killed, 75 wounded in
Iraq suicide bombing
The parked car that exploded in a crowded market, in Baghdad, on Tuesday. (REUTERS)
Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour (centre) after casting his
vote at a polling station, in Al Salt, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)
The suicide
bomber managed
to enter and blow
himself up in the
middle of the
mourners.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 02
GULF / MIDDLE EAST
Jordanians vote for newly
empowered parliament
Bahrain court
upholds death
sentence
AFP
DUBAI
A BAHRAINI appeals court
on Wednesday upheld a
death sentence and a life-
term respectively passed on
two protesters convicted of
murdering a policeman dur-
ing a Shiite-led uprising last
year, lawyers said.
The court upheld the death
sentence handed down in
September 2011 to Ali al
Taweel and the term of life
imprisonment given Ali
Shamlo, both convicted of
running over policeman
Ahmed al Mreyssi with the
intention of killing him.
The attack is said to have
taken place in the Shiite vil-
lage of Sitra during unrest in
the wake of a government
crackdown on demonstra-
tions in mid-March 2011.
Both men said they will
appeal at the court of cassation.
Al-Wefaq, the largest oppo-
sition bloc in Bahrain,
slammed the court verdict as
oppressive, claiming con-
fessions the prisoners made
were extracted under torture.
The sentences were rst
handed down to the protesters
by a court set up under a state
of national safety, a lower level
of emergency law declared by
King Hamad in mid-March
2011. In June that year, the
king lifted the measure.
Last December, a Bahraini
court commuted to life
imprisonment the death
sentences of two other
Shiites convicted of killing
two policemen during unrest
in 2011. The court reduced the
terms of four others held over
the same case from life impris-
onment to 15 years in jail.
A fruits and vegetables market, in Damascus, recently. (REUTERS)
Saeed al Shehri
AFP
JERUSALEM
ISRAELI premier Benja-
min Netanyahu, stung by a
centrist electoral surge,
pledged on Wednesday to
seek a broad coalition
focused on socio-economic
issues, but faced new inter-
national pressure on the
peace process.
After a bruising election
that saw the centrist Yesh
Atid party win a surprise
second place, Netanyahu
said the Israeli electorate
had sent a clear message.
The Israeli public wants
me... to put together a gov-
ernment which will include
three big changes internal-
ly: a greater sharing of the
burden (of military serv-
ice), affordable housing
and changes in the system
of government, he said in
brief remarks broadcast on
Wednesday afternoon.
Netanyahus rightwing
Likud won 31 seats on a
joint list with the hardline
nationalist Yisrael Beitenu
of ex-foreign minister
Avigdor Lieberman, but the
Yesh Atid party, led by for-
mer journalist Yair Lapid,
claimed second place.
In a nod to the shock
showing, Netanyahu said
he would try to form a gov-
ernment which is as broad
as possible.
Yesh Atids performance,
just nine months after its
creation, has turned Lapid
into Israels newest politi-
cal star. But it is a blow for
Netanyahu, who had sought
a bullet-proof rightwing
majority that would give
him freedom to manoeuvre
on key foreign policy issues
including Irans nuclear
programme and peace with
the Palestinians.
Lapids campaign empha-
sised economic reform and
universal military service,
but his party also favours
negotiations with the
Palestinians, and could force
Netanyahu to moderate his
economic policy and take a
new line on peace talks.
On Wednesday night,
Lapid indicated he would
cooperate with the premier
in building a new coalition.
Ive heard talk of an
(anti-Netanyahu) bloc,
Lapid said. I suggest
removing that from the
table. There will not be a
bloc; that will not happen.
He expressed satisfaction
with hearing the prime
minister take on board
everything we have been
saying for the past year
about equality and the need
to protect the middle class
and help it with housing
and education.
The outcome of the elec-
tion is clear: we must work
together, Lapid said.
Coalition negotiations
are expected to be delicate,
particularly as the
Knessets 120 seats are
evenly split between the
rightwing and centre-left
blocs, and Netanyahu is
likely to reach across the
aisle to Lapid.
There is no reasonable
government meaning
none that Netanyahu could
head without becoming an
international pariah
without Lapid, analyst
Yossi Vertner wrote in the
Haaretz daily.
AFP
DAMASCUS
FIGHTING raged in several
Syrian ashpoints on
Wednesday as key Damascus
ally Moscow lashed out the
Syrian opposition for its
obsession with toppling
President Bashar al Assad.
In a related development,
Russian President Vladimir
Putin offered to host an inter-
national conference aimed at
aiding the more than
650,000 refugees the UN
says have ed the 22-month
conict in Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said ve mem-
bers of one family a couple
and three children were
killed in a dawn missile attack
on the village of Abu Taltal in
Aleppo province.
In a video released by
activists, the bodies of the
three children, a boy and two
small girls, can be seen lying
on blankets on a hospital bed.
Their brightly coloured
clothes are stained with blood
and their faces are turned
away from the camera.
The Observatory has previ-
ously reported more than
3,500 child deaths in Syrias
conict.
In Ras al-Ain in the Kurdish
northeast, battles raged
between Kurdish militia and
Islamist rebels, the
Observatory said, adding that
more than 58 people have
been killed in a week of erce
ghting there.
The main opposition Syrian
National Coalition, which has
been recognised by dozens of
states and organisations as
the sole legitimate represen-
tative of the Syrian people,
said it has contacted rebel
leaders in the area, urging
them to stop the ghting.
Wednesdays violence came
a day after at least 123 people
were killed, among them 62
civilians including 15 chil-
dren, said the Observatory.
The UN says more than
60,000 people have died
since the conict rst erupted
in March 2011.
In Moscow, Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov criti-
cised Syrias opposition for its
obsession with toppling
Assad, and warned of a long
conict.
For now, everything is
running up against the oppo-
sitions obsession with top-
pling Bashar Assads regime,
Lavrov told reporters.
As long as this irreconcil-
able position remains in
place, nothing good can hap-
pen. Armed actions will con-
tinue and people will die.
He said that the opposi-
tions insistence on ousting
Assad was stymying efforts to
nd a diplomatic solution
backed by the former interna-
tional peace envoy Ko
Annan and his successor
Lakhdar Brahimi.
Fighting rages in Syria, Russia
lashes out at opposition
Syrians queue to receive new and second-hand clothes at a school, in Aleppo, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)
REUTERS
DUBAI
BAHRAINS government said
on Wednesday talks aimed at
breaking nearly two years of
political deadlock would pro-
ceed after opposition groups
seeking a parliamentary
democracy accepted an invi-
tation from the king.
Bahrain is a key ally of
Washington in a stand-off with
Iran since it provides a base
for the US navys Fifth Fleet.
The small state has been in
political turmoil since protests
led by majority Shiite Muslims
demanding democratic change
in the Sunni-led monarchy
erupted in early 2011.
Information Minister
Samira Rajab told Reuters on
Wednesday that the govern-
ment would ask all parties to
nominate representatives to
the talks, which could start
soon provided they were
very serious about dialogue.
Their statement was posi-
tive, Rajab said of the oppo-
sitions acceptance of the invi-
tation. All the steps will start.
I think the timeframe will go
fast, as long as all the parties
are willing to go through pos-
itive, very serious dialogue,
she said.
She said the government
would moderate the event,
help arrange the agenda and
implement any recommenda-
tions that it produced.
As far as I understand, the
government wont be repre-
sented there. They will be the
moderators, the regulator,
she said without elaborating.
Thirty-ve people died dur-
ing the uprising and over two
months of martial law in
2011, but the opposition says
that gure has risen to over
80. The government rejects
the attribution of many of
those deaths to the political
conict.
It accused opposition
groups of sabotaging
Bahrains image and being
linked to Shiite Muslim
power Iran. Protesters and
opposition parties said they
want to end the ruling fami-
lys domination by giving par-
liament full powers to legis-
late and form governments.
REUTERS
KUWAIT
KUWAITS parliament
approved an amended draft
law on Wednesday paving the
way for the long-overdue pri-
vatisation of Kuwait Airways,
state-run news agency KUNA
reported.
Parliament rst backed pri-
vatising loss-making Kuwait
Airways Corp in 2008 but the
process has been repeatedly
held up by the global econom-
ic crisis, political turmoil and
a restructuring at the airline.
Under the draft law, the
carrier will change its name to
Kuwait Airways Company
and own all assets and prop-
erty of Kuwait Airways Corp,
except for outstanding pay-
ments from the Iraqi govern-
ment and Iraqi Airways,
KUNA said.
Iraq and Kuwait agreed last
year that Baghdad will pay
$500 million in compensa-
tion for Gulf War-era debts.
The cash will go to the state
treasury, not Kuwait Airways
Corp, the report said.
The Kuwaiti carrier faces
challenges such as high labour
costs, an ageing eet and
tough competition from other
Gulf airlines, Communications
Minister Salem al-Athaina
said, according to KUNA.
He did not give a timeline
for the privatisation process.
A preliminary draft earlier
this month suggested the
process could take up to three
years. The plan includes a
seven-member board to run
the airline and provisions for
some employees to be reas-
signed to government posts
or received buyouts.
Kuwait Airways faces sever-
al challenges, including high
labour costs, an aging eet
and stiff competition from
other Gulf carriers such as
Qatar Airways and Dubai-
based Emirates.
Under a plan approved by
the cabinet in April the gov-
ernment will offer a 35-per-
cent stake to companies listed
in Kuwait and to specialised
local or international rms
within three years.
The government would
retain 20 percent with 5 per-
cent to be distributed to Kuwait
Airways Corp employees.
The remaining 40 percent
would be allotted in the same
way to citizens registered with
the Public Authority for Civil
Information, the Kuwaiti body
that issues civil identity cards.
Communications Minister
Salem al Othaina, who over-
sees KAC, told parliament on
Wednesday the privatisation
process had faced major dif-
culties as it came at the onset
of the global nancial crisis.
As a result, no investors
offered to buy shares in the
carrier, he said.
Othaina said that during
the past four years, it had
total losses of $1.0 billion,
and warned that it was
becoming extremely diffi-
cult to get spares for its age-
ing eet.
Kuwait Airways privatisation
plan gets lawmakers nod
Netanyahu leads
Israel vote, but
centrists win big
Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his ofce, in
Jerusalem, on Wednesday. (AP)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 03
GULF / MIDDLE EAST
The government
accused opposition
groups of sabotag-
ing Bahrains
image and being
linked to Shiite
Muslim power Iran.
Bahrain reconciliation talks
set to resume soon
Saudi Arabia
beheads Afghan
drug trafficker
AFP
RIYADH
SAUDI Arabia on Wednesday
beheaded an Afghan man con-
victed of drug trafcking, the
interior ministry announced.
Mohammed Omar Khan
was arrested after he
received a very large amount
of hashish, said the state-
ment cited by the ofcial SPA
news agency.
He was beheaded by the
sword in the western city of
Mecca. The beheading brings
to six the number of people
executed in Saudi Arabia so
far this year.
In 2012, the ultra-conser-
vative Muslim kingdom
beheaded 76 people, accord-
ing to an AFP tally based on
ofcial gures.
The US-based Human
Rights Watch put the num-
ber at 69.
AP
LONDON
PRIME Minister David
Cameron said on Wednesday
he will offer British citizens a
vote on whether to leave the
European Union if his party
wins the next election, a move
which could trigger alarm
among fellow member states.
He acknowledged that public
disillusionment with the EU
is at an all-time high, using
a long-awaited speech in cen-
tral London to say that the
terms of Britains member-
ship in the bloc should be
revised and the countrys citi-
zens should have a say.
Cameron proposed on
Wednesday that his
Conservative Party renegoti-
ate the UKs relationship with
the European Union if it wins
the next general election,
expected in 2015.
Once that new settlement
has been negotiated, we will
give the British people a refer-
endum with a very simple in
or out choice to stay in the EU
on these new terms. Or come
out altogether, Cameron
said. It will be an in-out ref-
erendum.
The stated possibility of a
referendum is expected to
frustrate other EU member
states currently focused on
stemming the euro zone debt
crisis.
Already, speculation over a
vote on leaving the EU has
prompted a chorus of concern
from around the world,
stressing the importance of
the UKs presence in the bloc
and warning about the eco-
nomic consequences of a
British exit. Even the US,
which normally stays out of
disputes among EU states,
waded into the debate.
The White House said last
week President Barack
Obama told Cameron in a
phone call that the United
States values a strong UK in a
strong European Union.
But Cameron stressed that
his rst priority is renegotiat-
ing the EU treaty- not leaving
the bloc. I say to our
European partners, frustrat-
ed as some of them no doubt
are by Britains attitude: work
with us on this, he said.
Much of the criticism
directed at Cameron has
accused him of trying an a la
carte approach to member-
ship in the bloc and seeking to
play by some but not all of its
rules.
French Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius warned on
Wednesday that a British
withdrawal from the EU
would be dangerous for both
the bloc and Britain. Say
that Europe is a soccer club.
You join this soccer club, but
you cant say you want to
play rugby, he told France-
Info radio.
Membership of the EU has
given the UK access to the
massive joint European mar-
ket as well as a say in how the
region should govern itself
and run its nancial markets.
The country has also benet-
ed from EU funds to build
infrastructure such as broad-
band networks.
Cameron insisted on
Wednesday that a one size
ts all approach to the 27-
nation EU is misguided.
Britain, a ercly independent
island nation, has always had
a fraught relationship with
the bloc. It benets from the
single market but is among
10 of the EU countries not to
use the euro. Let us not be
misled by the fallacy that a
deep and workable single
market requires everything
to be harmonised, to hanker
after some unattainable and
innitely level playing eld,
he said. Countries are dif-
ferent. They make different
choices. We cannot har-
monise everything.
Even as he raised the spec-
tre of a referendum,
Cameron reiterated his view
that Britain should stay in the
EU.
I speak as British prime
minister with a positive
vision for the future of the
European Union. A future in
which Britain wants, and
should want, to play a com-
mitted and active part,
Cameron said. There is no
doubt that we are more pow-
erful in Washington, in
Beijing, in Delhi because we
are a powerful player in the
European Union.
But in order to stay, the
bloc needs to change,
Cameron said, as he laid out
a vision of a new EU built
on ve principles: competi-
tiveness; exibility; power
owing back to, not just
away from, member states;
democratic accountability;
and fairness.
Taking a direct swipe at
those who have warned that
raising the possibility of a ref-
erendum has created uncer-
tainty for business, Cameron
will say that questions about
EU membership are already
there and wont go away.
Cameron promises Britons
straight choice on EU exit
British Prime Minister David Cameron (left) delivers a speech, in central London, on Wednesday. (AFP)
AFP
MANCHESTER
BRITISH police said on
Wednesday they do not
believe an Indian student
whose body was found in a
canal was attacked.
Souvik Pal, an 18-year-old
student at Manchester
Metropolitan University in
northwest England, had
been missing since New
Years Eve after celebrating
with friends at a nightclub in
the city.
Police said his body was
found in a canal in the Old
Trafford area of the city,
which is home to the stadium
of Manchester United
Football Club.
Detective Chief Inspector
Colin Larkin of Greater
Manchester Police said: Our
thoughts and condolences
are with Souviks family at
this devastating time and our
ofcers are doing all they can
to support them.
Indian student
found in British
canal was not
attacked, says
police
REUTERS
LONDON
BRITISH unemployment
fell for the 10th quarter run-
ning at the end of last year
and jobless claims hit their
lowest since mid-2011 in
December, a rare bright
spot as the economy irts
with another recession.
The falls, which follow
other numbers that have
suggested the economy
shrank again at the end of
2012, strengthen the case
for the Bank of England to
hold re on any further
bond-buying to bolster
growth.
Separately, minutes
from the banks policy
meeting earlier this month
revealed growing doubts
about the case for further
monetary stimulus after it
completed its last bond
purchases in October.
Gilts fell in response to
the two releases, which
also helped sterling higher.
Both unemployment
and jobs creation are com-
pletely at odds with the
weakness (in) much of the
real economy data that are
being published, said
Investec economist Philip
Shaw.
The bottom line is that
a robustly performing
labour market is good for
condence and good for
public finances. The
Office for National
Statistics said the number
of people claiming unem-
ployment benet fell by
12,100 last month, con-
founding analysts expec-
tations for a at reading.
The claimant count was
1.557 million - the lowest
since June 2011.
The number of people
without a job on the wider
ILO measure also dropped
by 37,000 in the three
months to November, to
2.490 million - the lowest
since March-May 2011.
Strong private sector job
creation has been one of
the few recent positives for
Britains economy, which
is struggling to avoid its
third technical recession
since 2008.
The number of people in
work hit 29.681 million in
the three months to
November, the highest
since records began in
1971.
The ILO jobless rate also
ticked down to 7.7 percent,
compared with forecasts
for a steady reading of 7.8
percent.
Economists and policy-
makers were already puz-
zled by the performance of
the labour market at a time
when the government is
cutting public sector jobs
and a raft of major compa-
nies have slashed jobs.
Airline Flybe was one of
the latest to announce it
was cutting 10 percent of
its UK workforce on
Wednesday, while
Londons biggest banks
continue to cut back heavi-
ly.
The latest ofcial data
follows surveys of pur-
chasing managers that
showed a fall in employ-
ment last month both in
Britains factories and
service rms, as well as
another poll pointing to
slower growth in recruit-
ment.
Annalisa Piazza of
Newedge Strategy noted
that a slowdown in nomi-
nal growth of earnings -
which have been falling
steadily in real terms - was
evidence that the underly-
ing picture may be weaker
than the employment g-
ures suggest.
Despite the relative
strength of the labour mar-
ket, earnings growth con-
tinued to moderate, she
said. This is a clear sign of
moderate negotiation
power from employees
that feel the pressure of
earnings growing far less
than ination.
Unemployment
rate dips to 7.7%
in UK, allows
BoE more time
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 04
UNITED KINGDOM
Cameron proposed
on Wednesday that
his Conservative
Party renegotiate
the UKs relation-
ship with the Euro-
pean Union if it
wins the next gen-
eral election,
expected in 2015.
The latest official
data follows sur-
veys of purchas-
ing managers
that showed a fall
in employment
last month both
in Britains
factories and
service firms.
REUTERS
BERLIN/PARIS
BRITAINS European partners
told David Cameron on
Wednesday his demand for
radical reform of the EU and
an in-out referendum on UK
membership showed a selsh
and ignorant attitude.
France went so far as to
call Britains bluff and say it
was free to leave. Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius said
he had told a recent meeting
with British businessmen: If
Britain wants to leave
Europe we will roll out the
red carpet for you. That was
a riposte to Cameron who
last year used the same
phrase to welcome wealthy
French tax exiles to Britain.
EUpoliticians turned to culi-
nary and sporting metaphors
to vent frustration at the prime
ministers promise to renegoti-
ate Britains already semi-
detached membership of the
EU and put it to a popular vote
if he wins re-election in 2015.
Cherry-picking is not an
option, German Foreign
Minister Guido Westerwelle
said. Two French cabinet
ministers accused Cameron
of treating Europe like an a
la carte menu from which
Britain thought it could
pick and choose.
Peter Mandelson, a former
EU trade commissioner and
veteran British Labour govern-
ment minister, called it a
schizophrenic speech and
said Europe would not respond
positively to being treated as a
cafeteria service where you
bring your own tray and leave
with what you want.
Fabius said it was as if
Britain had joined a football
club and then suddenly said
lets play rugby.
Martin Schulz, the head of
the European Parliament
which with the European
Commission was the butt of
Camerons criticism of scle-
rotic EU decision-making,
was just plain angry.
Britain was pointing the n-
ger but was overwhelmingly to
blame for all the delays in
Europe, said Schulz. He just
wants change in the single inter-
est of Britain and thats not fair.
In Germany, where
Chancellor Angela Merkels
conservative sympathies for
Camerons party are overshad-
owed by anger at their exit
from the centre-right EU bloc
and veto of her scal pact, the
view is that the UK premier has
painted himself into a corner.
German politicians face
eurosceptic pressures of their
own but say Cameron pays too
much attention to a loud
minority who play up what he
called disillusionment at an
all-time high.
Cameron is using EU mem-
bership as a tactical tool for
domestic politics, said Manuel
Sarrazin of the German
Greens. Even if opinion to
Britain was warmer, it is far
from clear how it could initiate
and successfully pilot a treaty
negotiation, EU ofcials said.
Guy Verhofstadt, former
Belgian prime minister and
now leader of the liberals in
the European Parliament, said
the British premier was play-
ing with re by trying to rene-
gotiate Britains EU member-
ship and put it to the vote.
EU leaders call Camerons
remarks selfish, ignorant
AFP
VATICAN CITY
THE Vatican defended itself
on Wednesday against accu-
sations it encourages illegal
ivory trafcking, telling ele-
phant lovers it would do
what it could to help combat
a serious and unjustiable
phenomenon but warning
campaigners not to expect
too much.
The publication of a
National Geographic report
in September 2012 on illegal
ivory pointed the nger at
the Vatican, noting the use
of ivory in making precious
religious tokens and accus-
ing Pope Benedict XVI of
accepting or giving ivory
items as gifts.
The report sparked a ur-
ry of angry letters and the
Vatican responded on
Wednesday with a long and
personal response penned
by its spokesman Federico
Lombardi to friends of the
elephants.
Lombardi, 70, said he had
never heard or even read a
word that would encourage
the use of ivory for devotional
objects since he began work-
ing at the Vatican and had
never seen a gift in ivory
given by the Pope.
Shops within the tiny
Vatican state do not sell items
made of ivory and nearby
stores which og religious
items to tourists are on Italian
territory and do not come
under the Holy Sees jurisdic-
tion, he said.
The Vatican has no
responsibility and no control
to exercise over... businesses
that are located in the neigh-
bourhood around the
Vatican, he added.
The massacre of elephants
for their ivory is a serious
problem that Christians can
and should unite against, as
against all problems concern-
ing the safeguarding of cre-
ation, he said.
However, it is impossible
to think that the Vatican
might have at its disposal
powerful and effective tools
for combatting the massacre
of elephants by destroying the
burgeoning illegal trade in
ivory, he added.
Patriot missiles in Turkey to become ready by weekend
Vatican defends ivory record, vows
to help end elephant poaching
The report sparked
a flurry of angry
letters and the Vat-
ican responded on
Wednesday with a
long and personal
response
German military vehicles carrying equipment for NATO patriot defence missiles at a military base, in
Kahramanmaras, Turkey, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)
German President Joachim Gauck (left) with French President Francois Hollande (centre) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a reception at the German federal
parliament, in Berlin, on Tuesday. (AP)
Stolen Matisse
returns to
Stockholm
after 25 years
AFP
STOCKHOLM
A MATISSE painting
stolen 25 years ago has
been returned to the
Museum of Modern Art in
Stockholm, its owner said
on Wednesday, after a
dealer had tried to sell it in
London. The painting Le
Jardin has been brought
home from London. Right
now the painting is in its
transportation case, the
museum said in a state-
ment, adding that the art-
work would need 24 hours
to acclimatise to its new
surroundings before being
unpacked.
Henri Matisses oil on
canvas from 1920, which is
now worth about $1 mil-
lion (760,000 euros), was
found when an art dealer
based outside London ran
it through a global data-
base of stolen art, standard
practice before a sale.
The team at the Art Loss
Register quickly identied
the painting as the one
stolen from the Swedish
museum on May 11, 1987,
when a burglar broke in
with a sledgehammer and
made off with the artwork
in the early morning hours.
The dealer, Charles
Roberts, said he had been
asked to sell the painting
by an elderly man in
Poland who had owned it
since the 1990s and now
wanted to raise money for
his grandchildren.
AFP
BRUSSELS
NATO PATRIOT missiles
deployed in Turkey to protect
against a spillover of the con-
ict in neighbouring Syria
will be operational this week-
end, a senior NATO ofcer
said on Wednesday.
We expect to have an ini-
tial operating capability this
weekend, thats what were
aiming at. This is when we
will have the capability to
defend some aspects of the
population, said British
Brigadier General Gary
Deakin.
The rst two Patriot mis-
sile batteries to operate have
been supplied by The
Netherlands and will deploy
in the southern city of
Adana, arriving on station at
the weekend to plug in to the
NATO command and com-
munication network, he said.
Two German Patriot mis-
sile batteries will be posi-
tioned in the southeastern
province of
Kahramanmaras while a
further two US batteries will
stationed in Gaziantep, just
50 kilometres (30 miles)
north of the border.
Each contributing nation
has also sent up to 350
troops.
The full capability, we
expect to deliver at the end
of the month, the NATO
ofcer said.
We estimates that once it
is in place at those locations,
we will provide protection
against missiles for up to 3.5
million Turkish people, he
added.
Turkey requested help from
its NATO allies after shells
landed on its border areas
from Syria in October, killing
several villagers.
NATO approved deploy-
ment of the US-made mis-
siles, effective against air-
craft and short-range mis-
siles, in December, saying
the use of ballistic missiles
by the Syrian regime posed a
threat to Turkey.
40 asylum-seekers
halt 31-day hunger
strike in Austria
AFP
VIENNA
SOME 40 asylum seekers
were eating again on
Wednesday after calling a
temporary halt to a 31-day
hunger strike in a Vienna
church against conditions
for refugees in Austria.
We are interrupting our
hunger strike for several
days, 20-year-old Pakistani
Sayed Muhammed Mustafa
told the Kurier daily on
Tuesday, without giving a rea-
son for the halt. But we are
going to stay in the church.
Doctors had begun to
express serious concerns
about the strikers, who on
average have lost 15 percent
of their body weight, with
ambulances being called out
to the Votivkirche in central
Vienna around 30 times to
provide treatment.
The protesters demands
include being able to choose
where they live, access to
jobs, schools and social
security and no more forced
deportations. They had con-
sumed nothing but water,
tea and clear soup since late
December.
Klaus Schwertner from
the charity Caritas wel-
comed the halt to the hunger
strike, telling Kurier that he
hoped the government will
now take steps to engage
with the refugees.
The interior ministry said
however that no further
meeting was planned and
called on the protesters to
accept offers of sheltered
accommodation.
We welcome the end of
the hunger strike as a rst
step. We hope now that the
second step will be to accept
that offer, a spokesman said.
Interior Minister Johanna
Mikl-Leitner said that she
would look into improving
the provision of interpreters
for asylum seekers and that
the creation this year of a
new authority for refugees
would improve matters.
She rejected however giv-
ing asylum seekers work
permits after six months in
the country, saying that after
three months they could
perform seasonal work such
as in agriculture or tourism.
She ruled out any struc-
tural changes in the way
Austria handles refugees.
Last year 17,415 people
applied for asylum in
Austria, 20.8 percent more
than in 2011, with Afghans
the biggest group.
Rules on asylum seekers
in Austria, which has the
lowest unemployment rate
in the European Union, are
often EU-wide regulations
and therefore difficult to
change.
Government figures on
Tuesday showed that 81 per-
cent of applications for asy-
lum from Syrians were
accepted in 2012, against 73
percent for Iranians and 60
percent from Somalia.
However only 14 percent
of Pakistanis, who made up
a large number of the
hunger-strikers in the
imposing Votivkirche, were
given permission to stay, the
interior ministry data
showed.
The gures also showed
that there was a bottleneck
in processing applications,
with 21,806 cases still pend-
ing on December 31, leading
to delays of several years in
some cases and overcrowd-
ed processing centres, cam-
paigners say.
05
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com
EUROPE
Klaus Schwertner
from the charity
Caritas welcomed
the halt to the
hunger strike,
telling Kurier that
he hoped the gov-
ernment will now
take steps to
engage with the
refugees.
AP
THE HAGUE
DUTCH detectives and a
prosecutor will travel to
Romania to investigate the
possible involvement of three
men in a multimillion-dollar
art heist in the Netherlands, a
police spokesman said on
Wednesday.
The Dutch team will travel
to Bucharest in coming days
to share with Romanian
authorities details of their
investigation into the
October 16 theft from
Rotterdams Kunsthal
gallery of seven extremely
valuable paintings by artists
including Picasso, Monet
and Matisse, said Roland
Ekkers of Rotterdam Police.
Romanian police arrested
the suspects on Monday
night in another art-related
investigation in Romania,
but there are indications
they also have something to
do with the art heist in
Rotterdam, Ekkers said.
The arrests marked the rst
breakthrough for police since
the late-night raid at the
Kunsthal, the biggest art theft
in more than a decade in the
Netherlands.
Ekkers said reports that
some of the paintings were
recovered were wrong.
Romanian police checked,
double checked and checked
again and it is not true, he
said.
Dutch detectives to probe
Romania art heist
AFP
KUALA LUMPUR
FOR years, charges have
swirled that a secret
Malaysian scheme gave citi-
zenship to huge numbers of
illegal migrants in a political-
ly important state in
exchange for votes for the rul-
ing coalition.
Now, an inquiry is nally
airing detailed allegations
that have the government
on the defensive ahead of
elections that pose the great-
est threat yet faced by the
ruling bloc that has con-
trolled Malaysia for 56
years.
A Royal Commission of
Inquiry opened last week with
ex-ofcials admitting they
gave citizenship to Filipinos
and Indonesians in resource-
rich Sabah, one of two
Malaysian states on jungly
Borneo island.
One former ofcial said
some 100,000 identity cards
(ICs) were handed out in 1993
ahead of a crucial state elec-
tion, Malaysian news reports
said. Another admitted sign-
ing hundreds of thousands of
ICs in the 1990s.
The testimony has revived
accusations of treason
against former prime minis-
ter Mahathir Mohamad, who
is alleged to have master-
minded the scheme to shore
up support for his govern-
ment.
As head of the ruling
Barisan Nasional (BN) coali-
tion, Mahathir dominated
Malaysia for 22 years with his
famously hardball political
tactics until he resigned in
2003.
Current prime minister
Najib Razak is now battling
to rally support for the BN
ahead of polls he is expected
to call within months, in an
era when the coalitions
power grip has slipped.
But outrage over Project
IC, as the alleged scheme is
widely known, is undercut-
ting his claims that the
national electoral roll is free
of fraud.
The opposition and elec-
tion-reform advocates
allege massive fraud in voter
rolls nationwide and have
seized on the testimony as
proof of government vote-
tampering.
What we are concerned
about is that this is still
going on. Thats what we
want to stop, Ambiga
Sreenevasan, head of the
clean-elections activist
coalition known as Bersih,
or Clean, told a press con-
ference Tuesday.
The outlines of Project
IC have been whispered
about for three decades and
have bolstered the view of
Sabah as a reliable xed
deposit of votes for the BN
to help it weather challenges
elsewhere.
The government allegedly
targeted Muslims from
neighbouring Indonesia and
the predominantly Muslim
southern Philippines.
More than half of
Malaysias 29 million people
are Muslim ethnic Malays,
but indigenous tribes, many
of them Christian, predomi-
nate in Sabah.
They have bridled at the
foreigners, blaming them
for crime, drug abuse and
economic competition, and
alleging their homeland was
being stolen.
Najib last June gave in to
calls for an inquiry, but the
move could backre, said
Ibrahim Suffian, head of
independent polling firm
Merdeka Centre, calling the
revelations explosive.
It probably will create a
wave of resentment and
dissatisfaction among
native Sabah voters. This
conrms their worst fears,
he said.
The population of Sabah,
a region of rugged moun-
tains and powerful rainfor-
est rivers that is about the
size of Ireland, has surged
from some 600,000 citizens
in 1970 to more than three
million more than double
the national growth rate.
Malaysias opposition
alleges some 700,000 may
have illegally received ICs. A
one-time battleground
state, Sabah has been pro-
BN since the mid-1990s.
Najib insists the national
electoral system is clean and
has highlighted recent
reforms such as plans to use
indelible ink to prevent mul-
tiple voting.
AFP
BANGKOK
A THAI political activist was
jailed for 11 years on
Wednesday in the latest
tough sentence under the
kingdoms controversial royal
defamation law, to the dismay
of human rights defenders.
The European Union said it
was deeply concerned by the
punishment imposed on
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, 51,
in connection with two articles
that appeared in his magazine
in 2010. The verdict seriously
undermines the right to free-
dom of expression and press
freedom, the EU delegation in
Bangkok said in a statement.
Amnesty International,
which considers Somyot to be
a prisoner of conscience,
described the Bangkok
Criminal Court ruling as a
serious setback for freedom of
expression in Thailand.
Somyot is a supporter of the
Red Shirt protest group,
which is broadly loyal to oust-
ed former premier Thaksin
Shinawatra.
The activists defence team
said he would appeal the long
jail term, which comprises 10
years for two counts of lese
majeste and one year for an
earlier suspended defamation
sentence. I can conrm that
he did not intend to violate
Article 112, his lawyer Karom
Polpornklang said after the
verdict, referring to the lese
majeste legislation. He was
doing his job as a journalist.
We will seek bail for him, he
added.
Rights groups noted the
activists arrest in April 2011
came just days after he
launched a campaign to col-
lect 10,000 signatures for a
parliamentary review of the
lese majeste law. He was
brought to court in shackles,
having been held for nearly
two years without bail.
The courts seem to have
adopted the role of chief pro-
tector of the monarchy at the
expense of free expression
rights, said Brad Adams,
Asia director at New York-
based Human Rights Watch.
The courts ruling appears
to be more about Somyots
strong support for amending
the lese majeste law than
about any harm incurred by
the monarchy.
Philippine poll
season crime
claims first
political victim
US Navy ship
ruins 1,000
sq metres
of Philippine
coral reef
DPA
MANILA
SOME 1,000 square metres
of coral reef in a World
Heritage Site in the
Philippines were damaged by
a US Navy ship that ran
aground in the marine sanc-
tuary, the coast guard said on
Wednesday.
The initial assessment was
made by US Navy and
Philippine coast guard teams
that checked on the USS
Guardian, which has been
stuck at the Tubbataha
National Marine Park off
Palawan province, 600 kilo-
metres south of Manila, since
January 17. Based on the ini-
tial ndings, more or less
1,000 square metres of the
reef were damaged, said
Lieutenant Commander
Armand Balilo, spokesman
for the Philippine coast guard.
Angelique Songco, superin-
tendent of the Tubbataha
Management Ofce, expressed
dismay about the extent of the
damage. Its a staggering g-
ure, she told a Manila cable
news television. We were hop-
ing it was smaller.
Songco said the US Navy
would be ned an estimated
24 million pesos (600,000
dollars), which covers the
penalty for the damage to the
reef and restoration cost. I
dont think 24 million pesos is
a fair price, but thats the
price indicated in the law,
Songco said. The damage
to the reef is escalating. If it
remains there a few more
days, can you imagine whats
going to happen? she said.
Balilo said the extraction
team plans to lighten the
1,300-tonne Guardian by
removing fuel and equipment
before attempting to remove
it from the reef.
The US Navy apologised for
the accident and said the may
have been caused by a faulty
navigation chart.
In 2005, environmental
activist group Greenpeace
was ned almost 7,000 dol-
lars when its ship ran
aground at the Tubbataha
Reef.
AGENCIES
MANILA
THE country is still lagging
behind in achieving certain
Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), specically in
attaining universal primary
education, maternal health,
but most of all in battling
inequality, according to a civil
society group.
Leonor Magtolis-Briones,
lead convenor of Social Watch
Philippines, explained to
members of the House of
Representatives how far
President Benigno Aquino III
has taken his straight path
and what the government
needs to address as the MDGs
draw to a close by 2015.
The assessments Briones
made were part of Social
Watch Philippines report
entitled Breaking Through to
Sustainability, copies of
which the group furnished
the House of Representatives
with on Wednesday.
The country still had a lot to
do in terms of providing uni-
versal primary education with
some schools in far-ung
areas operating without com-
puters and adequate school
buildings.
Maternal health and the
rising cases of HIV-AIDS
were also something that the
government had yet to effec-
tively address, said Briones.
She lamented that health
might not be considered as
important as education
because health is only num-
ber 7 in our budget, even as
we are happy that education
is number 1.
She said that poverty,
hunger and unemployment
continue to be challenging
issues for the government this
year, as growth did not neces-
sarily equate to better living
standards for all Filipinos.
The country, she said, suffers
from decades of corruption
and impunity.
Briones aired worries over
the Conditional Cash
Transfer program which may
not necessarily be reaching all
of the poor and its correlation
with the elections, especially
as the midterm polls are near.
But National Economic
Development Authority
director general Arsenio
Balisacan dismissed worries
of the CCT being associated
with the elections saying as
you may know, the bulk of the
expenditures occurred in
2011 and 2012not election
years.
Aquino was doing well
overall but others say that it is
inadequate. We are calling for
a change in development
strategy, said Briones, point-
ing out that despite the
growth being monitored the
Philippines economy needs
to be inclusive.
Deputy Speaker Lorenzo
Taada III said that the gov-
ernment was exerting efforts
to be on track in achieving the
MDGs but some seem to be
far from reach.
We need to accelerate,
catch up, Brion said, explain-
ing that the government had
to create more jobs and con-
sider alternative learning sys-
tems for those who have been
left behind by the education
system.
The report said growth
beneted a few and excluded
so many, thereby widening
the rich-poor gap even more.
AFP
MANILA
A MAYOR of a remote
Philippine town was shot
dead in a Manila hotel
car park, authorities said
on Wednesday, in one of
the first salvos of the
countrys traditionally
bloody election campaign
season.
Political rivalry is
strongly suspected as the
motive of the attack on
Tuesday night that killed
Erlinda Domingo and
wounded her bodyguard,
Commission on Election
spokesman James
Jimenez told AFP.
Police are looking at it
as election-related.
Remember we are
already in the campaign
period. At the turn of the
year everyone was
already on edge,
Jimenez said.
Tuesdays attack came
amid mounting calls to
impose stricter gun con-
trol laws in a high-crime
country where politicians
employ private armies
and hundreds of thou-
sands of unlicensed
firearms are on the
streets.
Violence often erupts
ahead of elections, when
politicians seek to elimi-
nate or intimidate their
opponents.
The most infamous
case occurred in 2009,
when 58 people in the
southern Philippines
were massacred as a
powerful political clan
allegedly sought to stamp
out a rivals challenge for
a provincial governors
post.
With politicians gear-
ing up to contest thou-
sands of local and nation-
al positions during mid-
term elections in May,
authorities imposed a
nationwide gun ban on
January 13, meant to stop
rearms from being car-
ried in public.
Domingo, the slain
mayor, was standing to
retain her post as mayor
of Maconacon, a north-
ern town about 340 kilo-
metres (210 miles) from
the nations capital,
according to election
commission spokesman
Jimenez.
The town has a history
of political violence.
Domingo, a member of
the opposition United
Nationalist Alliance, had
been elected vice mayor
in 2007 but she assumed
the mayoral post in 2009
after the incumbent was
killed in another ambush
in 2009.
Spokesmen for the
opposition party could
not be reached for com-
ment by AFP on
Wednesday but another
local politician said
Domingo was a 52-year-
old mother of two chil-
dren.
Senior Superintendent
Richard Albano, police
chief of the Manila dis-
trict where the shooting
occurred, said a suspect
was arrested shortly after
the attack on the mayor,
who had just checked
into the hotel.
Police investigators
detained two other peo-
ple overnight, according
to local media.
Philippines lagging behind
in achieving MDGs
A billboard of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, in 1995. (AFP)
Malaysia citizenship-for-vote probe stirs rage Thai activist gets
11-year jail for
royal slurs
06
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III: Poverty, hunger and unemployment continue to be challenging issues for the Aquino government.
PHILIPPINES / EAST ASIA
Aquino was doing
well overall but
others say that it
is inadequate. We
are calling for a
change in develop-
ment strategy.
LEONOR MAGTOLIS-BRIONES
SOCIAL WATCH PHILIPPINES
Amnesty Interna-
tional described
the Bangkok
Criminal Court rul-
ing as a serious
setback for free-
dom of expression
in Thailand.
Tuesdays attack
came amid
mounting calls to
impose stricter
gun control laws
in a high-crime
country.
AFP & AGENCIES
YANGON
FOURTEEN people were
killed and 33 injured on
Wednesday when a passen-
ger bus plunged off the side
of a mountain in western
Myanmar, police said.
The accident occurred on
Wednesday morning at 3
am, about 30 miles away
from Taungup Township,
when an overnight bus trav-
elling through the Arakan
Mountains in western
Burma plunged 40 meters
down a mountain slope, a
post on the ofcial Facebook
page of the Myanmar Police
Force said.
It said brake failure was
the suspected cause. There
were no reports of any for-
eigners on board.
Road trafc accidents are
common in Myanmar, whose
transport network is in poor
condition owing to decades
of underinvestment by the
junta which ruled the coun-
try for almost half a century
until early 2011.
AFP
COLOMBO
SRI LANKAS top lawyers on
Wednesday boycotted a cer-
emony to welcome the new
chief justice as international
jurists said his predecessors
sacking had brought the
country close to authoritari-
an rule.
The 11,000-strong Bar
Association of Sri Lanka kept
away from the Supreme Court
ceremony in Colombo for
Mohan Peiris who was
appointed in place of Shirani
Bandaranayake who has been
impeached.
The ceremonial sitting that
was held in breach of tradi-
tions that has been followed
for well over 200 years was
boycotted by the Bar
Association of Sri Lanka, it
said in a statement.
Lawyers usually take a
leading role in welcoming a
new chief justice to the bench,
but the traditional welcome
speech from the Bar
Association was absent on
Wednesday.
Bandaranayake was for-
mally dismissed by President
Mahinda Rajapakse on
January 13 two days after par-
liament voted to impeach her,
despite two successive court
rulings that the process was
illegal as well as a chorus of
international criticism.
In an open letter to
Rajapakse on Wednesday, the
International Commission of
Jurists said Bandaranayakes
removal was unconstitution-
al and in contravention of
international standards on
judicial independence as it
called for her reinstatement.
The Rajapakse govern-
ment has brought Sri Lanka
within steps of authoritarian
rule, dismantling the system
of checks and balances and
eviscerating judicial inde-
pendence, said Wilder
Tayler, the organisations sec-
retary general.
Bandaranayake has
already been replaced by for-
mer attorney general Mohan
Peiris who had been serving
the governments chief legal
adviser.
The impeachment process
was launched in November
after court decisions went
against the regime of
Rajapakse, who has tightened
his hold on power since
crushing Tamil Tiger rebels in
May 2009 to end a decades-
long ethnic war.
Lawmakers found her
guilty of tampering with a
case involving a company
from which her sister bought
an apartment, of failing to
declare dormant bank
accounts, and of staying in
ofce while her husband
faced a bribery charge.
She has said the charges
were politically motivated
and that she was denied a
fair trial.
AFP
COLOMBO
THE price of a cup of tea
could rise after the worlds
biggest producers agreed to
join forces to boost prots, a
Sri Lankan minister
announced on Wednesday.
After two days of talks in
Colombo between Sri Lanka,
India, Kenya, Indonesia,
Malawi and Rwanda, which
account for more than 50
percent of global production,
the nations announced the
formation of the Interna-
tional Tea Producers Forum.
Sri Lankas Plantations
Minister Mahinda Samara-
singhe said exporting nations
had been trying to establish a
forum for 80 years. In that
context, what we have just
achieved is a historic land
mark in the tea industry, he
said.
Efforts will initially focus
on sharing knowledge and
boosting demand for tea to
raise prices, but he suggested
more sophisticated and
controversial methods
such as supply controls
would be raised in the future.
Production quotas are not
part of the objectives listed in
the constitution, but I am
sure these are matters which
will be discussed some time
in the future, he added.
In 1994, Colombo pro-
posed a tea cartel on the lines
of the Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the crude
oil cartel dominated by Saudi
Arabia, but there was no
unity among producing
nations at the time.
Price stability is one of the
objectives to improve the
livelihoods of tea small hold-
ers (farmers owning small
plots of tea), he said.
Another objective is to
ensure high quality stan-
dards.
Samarasinghe explained
that unity among producers
was very important from a
variety of aspects like foreign
exchange earnings, income
generation, employment
opportunities and several
other very useful aspects.
Global tea prices are
around $2.5 a kilo, down
from about $2.84 a year ear-
lier, while world-wide con-
sumption is set to rise mar-
ginally over one percent this
year, Sri Lanka tea ofcials
said.
Sri Lankas tea promotion
chief Janaki Kuruppu said
prices were much lower com-
pared to other beverages and
noted there was room to
increase the price of a cup of
tea.
People can pay a little
more for tea, Kuruppu said.
In Sri Lanka, tea is cheaper
than bottled water.
China and Iran, two of the
big consumer nations, have
been invited to be observers
to the Forum. China is also
the worlds biggest producer
of green tea.
Top Sri Lankan lawyers
boycott new chief justice
AFP
DHAKA
BANGLADESH will start
building its rst nuclear power
plant by October this year after
signing a loan deal with Russia
to fund the construction,
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
announced on Wednesday.
The Rooppur nuclear power
plant in the countrys north-
west will have two reactors
with each producing 1,000
megawatts and it will be built
with the help of Russian state-
owned nuclear giant Rosatom,
Hasina said.
The plant is seen as a neces-
sary but risky move by the
power-starved country to di-
versify its energy mix as Dhaka
has been overwhelmingly rely-
ing on its fast dwindling gas
reserves to produce electricity
for its booming economy.
Rosatom has shown special
interest to start the main con-
struction work of the nuclear
power plant within this year,
Hasina said, brieng reporters
on a $500 million loan deal
she signed with Russia last
week.
Design has to be complete
by May. Construction area will
be prepared by August and the
main construction work will
begin by September-October,
she said.
She said soft loans from
Russia would nance 90 per-
cent of the plant, estimated to
cost around $4 billion, with an
initial half a billion loan to be
used for preparatory work.
The prime minister dis-
missed safety concerns, saying
that Russia would take back
and deal with the nuclear
waste.
Bangladeshs atomic energy
agency signed a deal with
Rosatom in November 2011 to
build the plant, but work has
been delayed as Dhaka had to
ratify a series of laws to make
sure it addresses all safety
issues.
Rosatom chief Sergei Kiri-
yenko had said the Rooppur
plant would be designed to
avoid the kind of accidents
that took place at Japans
Fukushima nuclear plant fol-
lowing an earthquake and
tsunami in 2011.
Bangladesh has long suf-
fered severe power outages as
demand for electricity soars.
14 killed, 33
wounded in
Myanmar
bus crash
AFP
PESHAWAR
MILITANTS on Wednesday
dumped the mutilated body of
a purported Afghan spy
accused of collaborating on US
drone strikes that killed a
prominent warlord in Pakistan
this month, ofcials said.
The body of the man identi-
ed as Asmatullah Kharoti was
found in Wana, the main town
of the South Waziristan tribal
district, which borders Afghan-
istan. Local ofcials said he had
been shot dead and there were
wounds on his neck.
Two notes on the body or-
dered the remains to be left on
the roadside until 10:00 am so
that everyone could see the fate
of spies, and the second accus-
ing him of being a spy and
being responsible for US drone
attacks.
He is a spy and was giving
information to US and ISAF
forces in Afghanistan about
our activities, a local ofcial
quoted the note as saying.
He is responsible for the
killing of ve of our senior
members, including Mullah
Nazir, in drone attacks. He
confessed that he installed
chips in digital Holy Qurans.
Nazir was killed in a US
drone strike on January 2. He
was the main militant com-
mander in South Waziristan
and sent insurgents to ght US,
NATO and Afghan govern-
ment troops in Afghanistan,
and was accused of sheltering
Al Qaeda.
He was one of the most high-
prole victims of US drone
strikes in Pakistan, which
Islamabad publicly criticises as
a violation of sovereignty but
which US ofcials believe are a
vital weapon in the war against
Islamist militants.
Two militants from Nazirs
group accused Kharoti of giv-
ing Nazir a digital Holy Quran,
tted with chips to track his
movements, during a meeting
at an undisclosed location in
Afghanistan. He presented
Nazir and others digital Holy
Qurans as a gift which were t-
ted with chips which help US
drones strike their targets, one
of the militants said. When
Nazir was returning, US
drones red missiles at him.
Afghan rebels kill
suspected spy
REUTERS
KATHMANDU
OPPONENTS of Nepals
Maoist prime minister hurled
stones at rivals and erected
barricades in a provincial town
on Wednesday, police and
media said, raising tensions
that threaten a peace process
in a country still recovering
from a decade of civil war.
At least two dozen people
were injured in Dailekh, 300
km west of the capital,
Kathmandu, where activists
from seven opposition parties,
calling for Prime Minister
Baburam Bhattarai to resign,
massed outside the venue of a
Maoist conference. Police red
tear gas to try to disperse the
crowds.
A building housing the local
Maoist party ofce was set on
re, police said. Opposition
activists blocked the main
roads leading into town and
burned tires to enforce a gen-
eral strike against the govern-
ment, witnesses said.
The trouble started after
the main Maoist conference
had ended when rival groups
pelted stones at each other
forcing police to re several
shells of teargas to bring the
situation under control, said
police spokesman Keshav
Adhikari.
Television news channels
said more than 25 people were
injured but Adhikari said he
had no gures. TV footage
showed black smoke rising
from burning tires and
activists chanting and pump-
ing their sts into the air.
This is the rst time the
Maoists and opposition parties
have clashed since parliament
was dissolved in May, having
failed to nalise a new consti-
tution seen as key to the coun-
trys long term stability.
The opposition parties want
Bhattarai to quit to pave the
way for the formation of a
national unity government to
oversee parliamentary elec-
tions expected in May, a
demand the former rebel
leader has refused.
Pressure on Bhattarai, 58, is
mounting after he failed to
hold the elections he ordered
for November last year.
The Maoists waged an
armed struggle against the
countrys now toppled monar-
chy. They joined the political
mainstream in 2006 after the
end of the civil war that killed
more than 16,000 people.
They won elections two years
later and are now leading a
coalition government in the
impoverished Himalayan
republic.
Clashes in Nepal
threatens peace
process; 25 hurt
Bangladesh plans to
build nuclear plant
Senior Sri Lankan lawyers greet new Chief Justice Mohan Peiris (right) following his ceremonial sittings at the superior courts complex, in
Colombo, on Wednesday. (EPA)
FEMALE POWER
An Afghan National Army female ofcer with her graduation
certicate during a ceremony at the ANA training centre, in
Herat, on Tuesday. Twenty-three women graduated after
completing a four-month training course. (AFP)
Worlds tea producers brew up plan to raise prices
SOUTH ASIA
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 07
Efforts will initially
focus on sharing
knowledge and
boosting demand
for tea to raise
prices, but he sug-
gested more
sophisticated
and controversial
methods such as
supply controls
would be raised in
the future.
The trouble
started after
the main Maoist
conference had
ended when rival
groups pelted
stones at each
other forcing
police to fire
several shells of
teargas to bring
the situation
under control.
US & M-E Peace Process
Iran Wants A Nuclear Deal, Not War
I
SRAELIS went to the polls on
Tuesday in an election that will
likely give Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu a third
term; like the current one, Israels
next governing coalition will probably
be heavily reliant on right-wingers and
religious parties.
Even so, Obamas second term could
offer a pivotal opportunity to restart
the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
In his first term, he backed away from
the process, figuring that America
could mediate only if the parties them-
selves wanted to make peace and
that new talks were unlikely to be pro-
ductive.
This is a mistake. The greatest
enemy to a two-state solution is the
sheer pessimism on both sides. Unless
President Obama uses his new man-
date to show leadership, the region will
have no place for moderates or for
America either.
The rationale for inaction rests on
four related assumptions: that strident
forces dominate because their ideolo-
gies do; that the status quo demo-
graphic trends that would lead to the
enfranchisement of occupied
Palestinians, a one-state solution
and the end of Israel as a Jewish
democracy will eventually force
Israel to its senses; that the observer-
state status secured by Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas at the
United Nations is empty because his
West Bank government is broke, dys-
functional and lacking in broad sup-
port; and that given the strength of the
Israeli lobby, Obamas hands are tied.
These assumptions seem daunting,
but they are misguided. First, while
Hamas, the militant Islamists who
control Gaza, and Israels ultra-right-
ists, who drive the settlement enter-
prise, are rising in popularity, the rea-
son is not their ideologies, but young
peoples despair over the occupations
grinding violence.
Last month, a poll by the S Daniel
Abraham Center for Middle East
Peace, based in Washington, found
that two-thirds of Israelis would sup-
port a two-state deal, but that more
than half of even left-of-center Israelis
said Abbas could not reach binding
decisions to end the conflict. The same
month, the Palestinian Center for
Policy and Survey Research, in
Ramallah, found that 52 percent of
Palestinians favored a two-state reso-
lution (a drop from three-quarters in
2006, before two Israeli clashes over
Gaza). But two-thirds judged the
chance of a fully functional Palestinian
state in the next five years to be low or
nonexistent. In short, moderates on
both sides still want peace, but first
they need hope.
Second, the status quo is not a path
to a one-state solution, but to Bosnian-
style ethnic cleansing, which could
erupt as quickly as the Gaza fighting
did last year and spread to Israeli Arab
cities. Right-wing Israelis and Hamas
leaders alike are pushing for a cata-
clysmic fight. Abbas, whose Fatah
party controls the West Bank, has
renounced violence, but without signs
of a viable diplomatic path he cannot
unify his people to support new talks.
If his government falls apart, or if the
more Palestinian territory is annexed
(as right-wing Israeli want), or if the
standoff in Gaza leads to an Israeli
ground invasion, bloodshed and
protests across the Arab world will be
inevitable. Such chaos might also pro-
voke missiles from Hezbollah, the
Iranian-backed Shiite militant group
based in Lebanon.
Third, the Palestinian state is not a
Fatah-imposed fiction, but a path
toward economic development,
backed by international diplomacy and
donations, that most Palestinians want
to succeed. It has a $4 billion econo-
my; an expanding network of entre-
preneurs and professionals; and a
banking system with about $8 billion
in deposits. A robust private sector can
develop if given a chance.
Fourth, American support need not
only mean direct talks. The adminis-
tration could promote investments in
Palestinian education and civil society
that do not undermine Israeli security.
Obama could demand that Israel allow
Palestinian businesses freer access to
talent, suppliers and customers. He
could also demand a West Bank-Gaza
transportation corridor, to which
Israel committed in the 1993 Oslo
accords.
America is as much a player as a
facilitator. The signal it sends helps
determine whether the parties move
toward war or peace. The White
House, despite its frosty relationship
with Netanyahu, hasnt set itself up as
a worthy mediator by opposing
Palestinian membership in the United
Nations and vetoing condemnations of
settlements.
In nominating Chuck Hagel to lead
the Pentagon, Obama rightly ignored
attacks by pro-Israel (really pro-
Netanyahu) groups. He should
appoint a Middle East negotiator trust-
ed by all sides say, Bill Clinton or
Colin L. Powell. He should lead, not
thwart, European attempts to make a
deal. He has stated that the settle-
ments will lead to Israels global isola-
tion; he should make clear that they
endanger American interests, too.
Washington has crucial leverage,
though this wont last forever. When
it weighs in, it becomes a preoccupy-
ing political fact for both sides. If it
continues to stand back, hopelessness
will win.
(Bernard Avishai is an
Israeli-American writer in
Jerusalem. Sam Bahour is a
Palestinian-American business
consultant in Ramallah.)
BERNARD AVISHAI & SAM BAHOUR | NYT SYNDICATE
Obamas inaction may lead to America losing its leverage in the region
T
O stop Iran achieving critical
capability to produce nuclear
weapons in the coming months,
President Obama must impose
maximal sanctions - that is the
message of a new report issued in
Washington by five senior non-prolifer-
ation specialists.
They call on Obama to implement a
de facto international embargo on trade
with Iran, declaring: A successful out-
come in any negotiations with Iran
depends on the immediate implemen-
tation of these sanctions, along with
simultaneously reinforcing the credibil-
ity of President Obamas threat to use
military force, if necessary, to prevent
Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Although the report is the work of The
Project on US Middle East
Nonproliferation Strategy - and is sup-
posedly about nonproliferation - its
authors have concentrated on punitive
measures against Iran, and none against
Israel. However, Iran has been fairly
compliant: it has ratified the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has
given the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) more than 4,000 man-
days worth of inspections in recent
years. According to the US National
Intelligence Estimates assessment in
2007 and 2011, Iran does not have an
active nuclear-weapons programme.
There is no conclusive evidence that
Iran has made any effort to build the
bomb since 2003, and Irans leadership
has not yet made a political decision to
do so. In contrast, Israel is not a signato-
ry to the NPT, has not permitted the
IAEA even a single inspection and pos-
sesses hundreds of nuclear weapons.
The reasons that international efforts to
realise a nuclear-weapon-free zone in
the Middle East have made no progress
since Iran proposed the idea almost 40
years ago must therefore be clear.
Nevertheless, the report states that
the US should offer nuclear sanctions
relief to Iran only in response to mean-
ingful concessions ... consistent with
the multiple relevant UN security coun-
cil resolutions, IAEA board of gover-
nors resolutions, and US laws.
In order to develop a more realistic
approach, we need to assess the status
quo in negotiations between Iran, the
P5+1 group (US, UK, France, Russia,
China and Germany) and the IAEA, the
UN watchdog. The latest talks this
month between the watchdog and Iran
have not resulted in a deal. The IAEA
and the P5+1 have a number of major
demands, including the implementa-
tion of the additional protocol to the
non-proliferation treaty, which man-
dates greater access for inspectors; co-
operation on the possible military
dimension of Irans nuclear activities;
capping uranium enrichment at 5 per-
cent; and exporting enriched uranium
not consumed domestically.
The demands on capping and export-
ing go beyond the treaty, and even the
additional protocol. More than 70
countries have not yet signed up to the
protocol; and certain member states of
the IAEA enrich uranium to 96 percent,
with tonnes of uranium stockpiled
beyond domestic needs.
Moreover, the IAEA requires Iran to
give access beyond that required by the
additional protocol in order to address
the possible military dimension. Iran
cannot accept such demands for free,
and the IAEA is not in position to nego-
tiate reciprocations. That is why it was a
mistake to have the IAEAs visit to
Tehran take place prior to the meeting
between P5+1 and Iran.
Nevertheless, those familiar with the
realities of nuclear negotiations know
very well that Iran has both publicly
and in private meetings with the P5+1
indicated its readiness to accept all the
above major demands. In return Iran
expects recognition of its legitimate
right to enrichment under the NPT and
the lifting of sanctions - but unfortu-
nately the western powers among the
P5+1 have not signed up to such a deal.
The art of negotiation is to frame
such a package with a specific
timetable, and implemented by a step-
by-step plan with appropriate recipro-
cations at each stage. It would be pru-
dent for President Obama and the
world powers to advance such a fair
deal in upcoming talks and ignore
attempts by warmongers to target
advocates of a diplomatic solution.
Promoters of further sanctions, iso-
lation and other punitive measures
aim to make war with Iran inevitable.
But such a war would make the US
war in Iraq look like a walk in a park.
Instead we should take the opportu-
nity for diplomacy to prevail and
devote the necessary political will to
make it succeed.
(Hossein Mousavian, a former
spokesman for Irans nuclear
negotiators, is author of
The Iranian Nuclear
Crisis: A Memoir)
N-talks with Iran, in the right spirit, will work. Trade embargos and military threats will not
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THE OPINION AND ANALYSIS PAGES ARE THE AUTHORS OWN. QATAR TRIBUNE BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY.
P
RESIDENTBarack Obamas first inau-
gural address offered a clear and brac-
ing vision for a way out of the depth of an
economic crisis and two foreign wars. His
second, on Monday, revealed less of his
specific plans for the next four years but
more of his political philosophy.
He argued eloquently for a progressive
view of government, founded on history
and his own deep conviction that
American prosperity and the preservation
of freedom depend on collective action. In
the coming days, there will be no letup of
political combat over the debt ceiling, gun
control, national security, and tax policies
that can either reduce income inequality
or allow such inequality to stifle economic
growth and opportunity for all but the
very wealthiest in this society.
But, on Monday, the president stepped
back from those immediate battles to
explain what it means in the broadest
sense to be we the people, Obamas most
eloquent description of our common her-
itage.
We have always understood that when
times change, so must we, he said, that
fidelity to our founding principles
requires new responses to new challenges;
that preserving our individual freedoms
ultimately requires collective action.
In every sphere of life improving edu-
cation, building roads, caring for the poor
and elderly, training workers, recovering
from natural disasters, providing for our
defense progress requires that
Americans do these things together,
Obama said.
That applies, he said, to the commit-
ments we make to each other through
Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social
Security these things do not sap our ini-
tiative; they strengthen us. They do not
make us a nation of takers; they free us to
take the risks that make this country
great.
Obama rejected any argument that the
American people can be divided into
groups whose interests are opposed to
each other.
The choice is not between caring for
the generation that built this country and
investing in the generation that will build
its future, he said. For we remember the
lessons of our past, when twilight years
were spent in poverty, and parents of a
child with a disability had nowhere to
turn.We do not believe that in this country
freedom is reserved for the lucky, or hap-
piness for the few.
He spoke only obliquely of the persist-
ent gridlock in Congress, where he will
face right-wing Republicans whose bleak
agenda would weaken civil rights, shred
the social safety net and block important
programs that could help put millions of
jobless Americans back to work. We can-
not mistake absolutism for principle, or
substitute spectacle for politics, or treat
name-calling as reasoned debate.We must
act, knowing that our work will be imper-
fect, he said.
Instead, he took the fight to the people,
laying out his principles and priorities:
addressing the threat of climate change,
embracing sustainable energy sources,
ensuring equality of gays and lesbians,
expanding immigration and equal pay for
women. Disappointingly, the need for
stricter gun controls was noted solely in a
reference to the safety of children in
places like Newtown, Connecticut.
On foreign policy, Obama expressed
with fervour a view of the role of the
United States in a world that is threatened
by terrorism on many continents. We will
show the courage to try and resolve our
differences with other nations peacefully
not because we are naive about the dan-
gers we face, but because engagement can
more durably lift suspicion and fear, he
said. America will remain the anchor of
strong alliances in every corner of the
globe; and we will renew those institu-
tions that extend our capacity to manage
crisis abroad, for no one has a greater
stake in a peaceful world than its most
powerful nation.
Obama has stressed USs commitment to global outreach
Agenda For Second Term
(NYT)
Obama should appoint a
Middle East negotiator
trusted by all sides say,
Bill Clinton or Colin L
Powell. He should lead,
not thwart, European
attempts to make a deal.
He has stated that the
settlements will lead to
Israels global isolation;
he should make clear
that they endanger
American interests, too.
Iran has both publicly
and in private meetings
with the P5+1 indicated
its readiness to accept
all major demands. In
return Iran expects
recognition of its legiti-
mate right to enrichment
under the NPT and the
lifting of sanctions
HOSSEIN MOUSAVIAN |
GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 08
OPINION
HAMAD BIN SUHAIM AL THANI
CHAIRMAN
DR HASSAN MOHAMMED AL ANSARI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ADEL ALI BIN ALI
MANAGING DIRECTOR
ESTABLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2006
PRINTED AT ALI BIN ALI PRINTING PRESS
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 09
STEVEN REINBERG | HEALTHDAY-NYT
L
ONG-TERM aspirin use may slightly raise
the risk of developing age-related macular
degeneration, a leading cause of blindness
among the elderly, a new study suggests.
An estimated 19 percent of US adults report
using aspirin regularly, often for its heart-pro-
tective benefits, and its use increases with age.
Incidence of age-related macular degeneration
also rises in older age, making this association
important to examine, the study authors said.
About 1.8 million Americans currently have the
eye disease, which destroys sharp, central
vision.
The study found that the potential risk is
small but statistically significant and needs to
be balanced with the significant morbidity and
mortality of undertreated cardiovascular dis-
ease, said study senior researcher Jie Jin
Wang, a senior research fellow at the Center for
Vision Research at the University of Sydney.
Also, the increased risk of age-related mac-
ular degeneration was only detected after 10 or
15 years, suggesting cumulative dosage of
aspirin may be important, Wang said.
Although aspirin is among the most effective
cardiovascular disease preventives, regular use
over the long term has been associated with
adverse side effects, Wang added. Study results
regarding aspirins link to macular degenera-
tion have been inconsistent to date.
The report, published on January 21 in the
online edition of the journal JAMA Internal
Medicine, collected data on more than 2,300
people. Regular aspirin use was defined as
once or more a week. As part of the study, the
participants had four eye exams over 15 years.
Almost 11 percent of patients used aspirin
regularly. After 15 years, about 25 percent of
the aspirin users developed what is called neo-
vascular age-related macular degeneration.
The cumulative rate was about 9 percent
among aspirin users compared to less than 4
percent among non-aspirin users.
People taking aspirin for heart and stroke
prevention benefits should not be alarmed,
however, Wang said.
Currently, there is insufficient evidence to
recommend changing clinical practice, except
perhaps in cases of patients with strong risk
factors for age-related macular degeneration,
such as existing age-related macular degenera-
tion in one eye, she said.
Other experts agreed Randomised con-
trolled trials of aspirin use with follow-up as
long as 10 years have not demonstrated any
increase in the risk of age-related macular
degeneration, said Dr Gregg Fonarow, a
spokesman for the American Heart
Association and professor of cardiology at the
University of California, Los Angeles.
For most patients, the cardiovascular bene-
fits of regular low-dose aspirin use outweigh
the potential risks, he said.
THE DEATH OF
DIPLOMACY
E
FFECTIVE diplomacy
the kind that produced
Nixons breakthrough with
China, an end to the Cold
War on American terms, or
the Dayton peace accord in Bosnia
requires patience, persistence,
empathy, discretion, boldness and
a willingness to talk to the enemy.
This is an age of impatience,
changeableness, palaver, small-
mindedness and an unwillingness
to talk to bad guys. Human rights
are in fashion, a good thing of
course, but the space for realist
statesmanship of the kind that pro-
duced the Bosnian peace in 1995
has diminished. The late Richard
Holbrookes realpolitik was not for
the squeamish.
There are other reasons for diplo-
macys demise. The United States
has lost its dominant position with-
out any other nation rising to take
its place. The result is nobodys
world. It is a place where America
acts as a cautious boss, alternately
encouraging others to take the lead
and worrying about loss of authori-
ty. Syria has been an unedifying les-
son in the course of crisis when
diplomacy is dead. Algeria shows
how the dead pile up when talking
is dismissed as a waste of time.
Violence, of the kind diplomacy
once resolved, has shifted. As
William Luers, a former ambassa-
dor to Venezuela and the director of
The Iran Project, said in an e-mail,
it occurs less between states and
more dealing with terrorists. One
result is that the military and the
CIA have been in the drivers seat in
dealing with governments through-
out the Middle East and in state to
state (Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq)
relations. The role of professional
diplomats is squeezed.
Indeed the very word diploma-
cy has become unfashionable on
Capitol Hill, where its wimpy asso-
ciations trade-offs, compromise,
pliancy, concessions and the like
are shunned by representatives
who these days prefer beating the
post-9/11 drums of confrontation,
toughness and inflexibility: All of
which may sound good but often
get you nowhere (or into long,
intractable wars) at great cost.
Stephen Heintz, president of the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund, wrote
in an e-mail that, When domestic
politics devolve into polarisation
and paralysis the impact on diplo-
matic possibility becomes inordi-
nately constraining. He cited Cuba
and Iran as examples of this; I
would add Israel-Palestine. These
critical foreign policy issues are
viewed less as diplomatic chal-
lenges than potential sources of
domestic political capital.
So when I asked myself what I
hoped Barack Obamas second
term would inaugurate, my answer
was a new era of diplomacy. It is
not too late for the president to
earn that Nobel Peace Prize.
Of course diplomats do many
worthy things around the world,
and even in the first term there
were a couple of significant shifts
in Burma where patient US diplo-
macy has produced an opening,
and in the yo-yoing new Egypt
where US engagement with the
Muslim Brotherhood was impor-
tant and long overdue (and raised
the question of when America
would do the same with the
Brotherhoods offshoot, Hamas.)
But Obama has not had a big
breakthrough. Americas diplomat-
ic doldrums are approaching their
20th year.
There are some modest reasons
to think the lid on diplomacys cof-
fin may open a crack. This is a sec-
ond term; Obama is less beholden
to the strident whims of Congress.
The Republican never-give-an-inch
right is weaker. In John Kerry and
Chuck Hagel, his nominees for sec-
retary of state and secretary of
defense, Obama has chosen two
knowledgeable professionals who
have seen enough war to loathe it
and have deep experience of the
world. They know peace involves
risk. They know it may not be pret-
ty. The big wars are winding down.
Military commanders may cede
some space to diplomats.
Breakthrough diplomacy is not
conducted with friends. It is con-
ducted with the likes of the Taliban,
the ayatollahs and Hamas. It
involves accepting that in order to
get what you want you have to give
something. The central question is:
What do I want to get out of my
rival and what do I have to give to
get it? Or, put the way Nixon put it
in seeking common ground with
Communist China: What do we
want, what do they want, and what
do we both want?
Obama tried a bunch of special
envoys in the first term. It did not
work. He needs to empower his
secretary of state to do the neces-
sary heavy lifting on Iran and
Israel-Palestine. Luers suggested
that one idea for a New Diplomacy
would be for Hagel and Kerry to
take along senators from both par-
ties on trips abroad and to trouble
spots. This used to be standard
practice. Be bold with the Senate
and try to bring them along.
For diplomacy to succeed noise
has to be shut out. There are a lot of
pie-in-the-sky citizen-diplomats
out there these days blathering on
about dreamy one-state solutions
for Israel-Palestine and the like.
Social media and hyper-connectivi-
ty bring huge benefits. They helped
ignite the wave of liberation known
as the Arab Spring. They are force-
multipliers for openness and citi-
zenship. But they may distract from
the focused, realpolitik diplomacy
that brought the major break-
throughs of 1972, 1989 and 1995.
Its time for another.
ADDRESS
PO Box 23493, Doha, Qatar
TELEPHONE
+974.44422077
FAX
+974.44416790
EMAIL
letters@qatar-tribune.com
The Son Rises in India
CONGRATULATIONS to Rahul Gandhi on his appointment as vice-presi-
dent of the real Congress Party of India.
My prayer to God is to protect him after his decision to step into the lime-
light after years of political gestation. Congress needs him desperately, as
does the common Indian.
In 1985, the year the Congress party turned 100, Rajiv Gandhi , Rahuls
father, delivered one of the most searing indictments of the political and
administrative system as it existed in the country then.
Speaking as an outsider to the system (which he truly was), Rajiv
Gandhi was particularly harsh on the Congress party, which, he said, had
shrunk from a party that had once fired the imagination of the masses, to
a party that had lost touch with people and was being controlled by power
brokers and self-perpetuating cliques.
We are a party of social transformation, but in our preoccupation with
governance, we are drifting away from the people. Thereby, we have weak-
ened ourselves and fallen prey to the ills that the loss of invigorating mass
contact brings.
Indians have waited these many years for Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
The 42 year old is still the most plausible prime ministerial candidate for
the Congress at the 2014 election.
But the man of immense privilege, rising only because of his family
name, struggles to look convincing when he talks of meritocracy. He feels
obliged to work in politics. Yes, why not? What has the country given to
this family which has sacrificed two of its members for the unity and
integrity of the nation?
But Congress veterans and young guns alike say they are sure Rahul
Gandhi is the man to galvanise the party and lead it to a third straight vic-
tory in the Lok Sabha elections slated for next year.
RAKESH VERMA
DOHA
Is there an issue you feel
strongly about, or an article
you want to comment on? QT
will carry your voice to the
public and to places where it
matters. Write to us at
Great show by Chinese
fencers at
World Cup 2013.
KASHIF KHAN
Change will not come if we
wait for some other person
or some other time. We are
the ones weve been waiting
for. We are the change that
we seek.
BARACK OBAMA
Health is
Wealth
Have
your say
PENNY LOVE HOFF | HUFFINGTONPOST.COM
E
VENthough my life looks like a multi-vehicle
accident on I-95 during Friday afternoon
rush hour, I continue to feel pretty happy most
days. Still, I like to think that I laugh more on a
daily basis than the average Greenwich mother.
Now I know thats not saying much and you may
call me simple-minded. I admit that Im no
longer marching around twirling a baton, but
still Im able to find pleasure in the simplest
parts of my day. No one is more surprised than
me that Im not under my bed right now with my
friends outside in the hallway planning an inter-
vention and arguing about whos going to pay for
it. I guess that Im not a worrier by nature and
that is a gift from God. Even at a funeral, laugh-
ing beats crying every time (unless its my own).
Maybe it has to do with being healthy.
Research shows that healthy people are happier
than than unhealthy people. Or wait. Is it that
happier people are healthier than unhappy
folks? Did your body feeling good make you
happy?
Which came first? The chicken or the egg?
Its a hard call. I do know that lack of good
health can lead to many symptoms, up to and
including death.
And being unhappy can ruin even the shortest
lifespan.
But regardless of which came first, the good
news is that good health in general and fitness in
particular is within almost everyones grasp.
Last week I wrote about the wellness iceberg
as a metaphor for our selves, and how our bod-
ies are just a small tip of our overall well-being
and is just the part of us that shows. I wrote
about how we need to go down deep below the
surface of ourselves to make lasting lifestyle
changes.
We are not just a body. We are all so much
more. But since our body is the most concrete
connection that we have with who we are, how
we feel in it affects how we feel about ourselves.
Ask anyone who lives with chronic pain how
they feel about themselves and they will give
youre an earful.
And being obese has the same effect on us
be it five or 50 pounds. Its hard to rock your jeg-
gings if they feel too tight, and that spills over
into the non-physical part of us, although actual-
ly the reverse is true. What you are feeling in
your achy knees or in your jeggings is a byprod-
uct of the invisible side of you. Our thoughts
affect our body.
What we think, what we dwell on in our heads
whether it is despair or dreams has a direct
connection with what shows up on and in our
bodies. The more you focus on feeling fat, the
greater the odds that you will be fat. And the
more you focus on success, the more likely you
will be to achieve it.
Abraham Lincoln said If you look for dark-
ness in this world, you surely will find it.
What to do? Start to watch your thoughts.
What is your relationship with them? Do they
drag you every which way like an unmanned
team of runaway horses? Are you even aware of
them? Your most important relationship is with
your self, and your thoughts can give you the key
to the most important thing a human being can
learn, which is how to have a relationship with
whatever is happening in the present moment.
Its being where we are, not off in the future or
past where we are not.
All any of us want at the end of our life is to be
able to say that we did what we were called to do.
We find this calling by not letting ourselves be
swept away by thoughts about things that dont
matter.
The subconscious mind accepts whatever you
choose to believe. What you choose to think
about yourself and your life becomes true for
you. We have unlimited choices about what we
can think about.
We can refuse to think certain thoughts. Look
how often youve refused to think a positive
thought about yourself. You can also refuse to
think a negative thought.
Can you name your five most frequent
thoughts? A few of mine are, Im going to be
late, or What do they think about me? or Its
never enough. Start to cultivate an awareness of
whats happening between you and you.
Dont be like people on a bus passing through
a beautiful countryside while inside they have all
the shades pulled down and are bickering over
who gets to sit in the front seat.
Imagine some moments in your life that were
small but filled with contentment like sinking
a particularly tricky birdie, throwing a ball for a
dog and having him come right back and drop it
at your feet, or the front door slamming and
hearing the sound of Mom! Im home!
The small moments of your life can expand
into the banality of bliss if you want. You just
have to make up your mind to reach down deep
for the better thought.
What You Think
Becomes How
You Live
Breakthrough diplomacy
involves accepting that in order
to get what you want you have
to give something. The central
question is: What do I want to
get out of my rival and what do
I have to give to get it?
Global bytes
ROGER COHEN | NYT NEWS SERVICE
Nixon-Kissinger style diplomacy must be revived to resolve global issues
Long-Term Aspirin
Use Could Lead To
Vision Loss
Bloggers
Borough
ANALYSIS
Indeed the very word
diplomacy has
become unfashionable
on Capitol Hill, where
its wimpy associations
are shunned
Probe into death of PM investigator ordered
Media flays
political
corruption
IANS
ISLAMABAD
PAKISTAN is facing a
danger that in some parts
of the country the election
is going to be tainted to the
point at which it is consti-
tutionally invalid, warned
a daily that called the coun-
trys political culture mon-
strously corrupt.
An editorial in the News
International on Wednesday
said that the entire political
culture of the country is
monstrously corrupt where
nding honesty is akin to
seeking the proverbial needle
in a haystack.
Elections bring out the
very worst in our politicians,
and many are limbering up
for a corruption-fest like no
other - the general election
later this year.
Elections being all about
votes, now is the time to buy.
How better to buy a vote than
by giving the voter a job in
these times when jobs are
hard to come by, and pre-poll
rigging is now in full swing.
Thousands are being induct-
ed into jobs and billions of
rupees diverted from devel-
opment projects to the discre-
tionary fund of the prime
minister for its utilisation in
his own constituency, said
the daily.
The editorial stressed that
so blatant has this manipula-
tion become that the Election
Commission on Monday
banned all such moves, and
not before time.
It went on to warn that
there is a danger in some
parts of the country the elec-
tion is going to be tainted to
the point at which it is consti-
tutionally invalid...
The induction of thou-
sands of people into govern-
ment departments amounts
to a political bribe. It is thus
imperative to take action to
stop the rot, though putting
the brakes on a juggernaut
like our political class when it
has the scent of power and
money in its collective nos-
trils might not be easy, the
editorial added.
The daily noted that ban-
ning of recruitment into fed-
eral government positions
and the freezing of funds
before they disappear into
pockets they were never des-
tined for is not going to
change the corrupt mindset
that is all-pervasive.
AFP
KARACHI
MORE than 100 children have
died of measles in Pakistan this
month, the World Health
Organization (WHO) said on
Wednesday, calling it an
alarming outbreak.
Some 103 Pakistani chil-
dren have died from Jan 1 to
Jan 19 this year because of the
post-measles complications
such as pneumonia, post-
measles encephalitis and diar-
rhoea, WHO spokeswoman
Maryam Yunus told AFP.
Sixty-three of the cases
occurred in the southern
province of Sindh, which was
hit by severe ooding in 2010,
2011 and 2012.
More than 300 Pakistani
children died of measles in
2012, a staggering increase
on the previous twelve
months and a result of three
consecutive years of ooding,
ofcials said.
The WHO said 64 children
died of measles in Pakistan in
2011, 28 of them in Sindh. It
was not immediately able to
provide statistics for earlier
years.
The UN body said most of
the cases occurred between
October and December in
northern parts of Sindh, but
was unable to provide a break-
down.
The UN body said 33 chil-
dren died in southwestern
Baluchistan province, which is
plagued by separatist insur-
gency and sectarian strife.
The most populous Punjab
province reported seven chil-
drens deaths. Half of a total of
2,447 cases were reported from
Sindh province, of which
Karachi is capital. It is certain-
ly an alarming situation. It is an
outbreak, said Yunus.
She said WHO and UNICEF
provided a combined 4.4 mil-
lion doses of measles vaccines
since last year to target the chil-
dren in Sindhs ood affected
areas.
A senior health ministry of-
cial conrmed the WHO g-
ures. We cant dispute the g-
ures. Our own teams have sim-
ilar reports, he said.
Something must have gone
wrong...we are weighing where
have we gone wrong, he said.
WHO spokeswoman said a
key factor behind more deaths
in Sindh was malnourishment,
particularly in the ood affect-
ed districts.
The ministry ofcial said the
number of deaths in January is
already a record high.
Children under nine months
are not eligible for the vaccine.
DANGEROUS DRIVE
Students ride a passenger bus to their schools, in Islamabad, on Monday. Overcrowded public transportaion has become a common thing in Pakistan due to paucity
of investment in the sector by the government. (AFP)
AFP
ISLAMABAD
PAKISTANS top judge on
Wednesday ordered the
Supreme Court to investi-
gate the death of an ofcial
probing a corruption scan-
dal involving the prime
minister.
Kamran Faisal was found
dead last Friday in a govern-
ment hostel just days after
the Supreme Court ordered
the arrest of Prime Minister
Raja Pervez Ashraf over the
long-running graft scandal
into so-called Rental Power
Plants (RPPs).
According to the initial
findings of an autopsy,
Faisal committed suicide,
but his family and some col-
leagues dispute that he
killed himself.
Chief Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhry, who
is hearing the corruption
case, ordered another bench
to probe Faisals death, fol-
lowing a report from the
courts registrar listing the
doubts of his friends and
family.
The ofce is directed to
place this case before anoth-
er bench on January 24 for
further proceedings,
Chaudhry told the court.
He described Faisals
death as shocking and said
that his family, friends and
colleagues were not satised
with the current investiga-
tion, being carried out by
police and a government-
appointed commission.
His family members, col-
leagues, friends and the
public at large have shown
annoyance and grievances,
said Chaudhry, reading out
the report submitted by the
Supreme Court registrar.
And according to them,
they are not expecting free,
fair and honest investiga-
tion because of the involve-
ment of highly inuential
political and executive
authorities of the country in
the RPP scam, said the
judge.
The long-running probe
into the prime minister and
other ofcials relates to alle-
gations of kickbacks during
Ashrafs tenure as minister
for water and power.
Pakistans anti-corruption
watchdog, the National
Accountability Bureau
(NAB), for which Faisal
worked, has suspended its
probe into the scandal
pending inquiries into the
death.
NAB says Faisal, second
in charge of the RPP probe,
suffered from mental
stress and psychological
issues. He had asked to be
taken off the case, but the
Supreme Court refused a
written request on January
7 and ordered he be rein-
stated.
Suicide is frowned upon
under Islam and Faisals
family say they believe he
was murdered.
We need justice and it is
not a case of suicide. We are
100 percent sure he has
been murdered, his broth-
er-in-law, Hamid Munir,
told reporters on
Wednesday, calling for the
killers to be unmasked.
Visiting players to get $2 million insurance
REUTERS
KARACHI
PAKISTAN will offer visiting
players insurance worth two
million dollars each in a bid to
overcome security fears and
revive international cricket in
the country, the chairman of
the national cricket board
(PCB) Zaka Ashraf said on
Wednesday.
We are taking all steps to
revive international cricket
here and everyone should feel
proud about the efforts we
have made in this regard,
Ashraf told Dawn newspaper.
The steps would include
offering insurance and provid-
ing security for visiting teams,
he said. (People) are afraid that
they would be subjected to a
shoot-out as soon as they come
out of the airport, Ashraf said.
There is lot of effort
required to change this percep-
tion because things are de-
nitely not so bad here, he said.
International cricket has been
suspended in Pakistan since
2009 when militants attacked
the Sri Lankan team bus in
Lahore. Six Pakistani policemen
and a driver were killed and ve
players were wounded.
No test team has toured
Pakistan since and the
International Cricket Council
(ICC) moved 2011 World Cup
matches away from the country
because of security concerns.
When a World XI played two
Twenty20 exhibitions in
Pakistan last October, the
country supplied 5,000 police
and para-military personnel to
provide security.
Earlier, the head of the
Federation of International
Cricketers Associations (FICA)
warned players not to take part
in the Pakistan Super League
(PSL), due to start on March 2,
because of the unmanage-
able security risk.
No international cricket has
been played in Pakistan since
militants attacked the Sri
Lankan team bus during a Test
match in Lahore in 2009 and
the country is still rocked by
almost daily bombings and
shootings.
PSL adviser Haroon Lorgat
insisted the dire warnings from
FICA chief executive Tim May
were not an attack on the league
itself and said the competition
had had a positive response
from players and sponsors.
While we understand that
sort of a statement from the
players association but I dont
think we necessarily agree
with it the reality is different
and the league will happen,
said Lorgat.
103 child measles deaths
in 19 days, says WHO
PMLN leader shot
dead in Karachi
KARACHI A Pakistani
politician was shot dead
in Karachi in the second
such killing in a week,
police said on
Wednesday, fuelling fears
that violence may over-
shadow general elections
expected this year.
Mian Taimur was a
leader in the southern
province of Sindh for the
Pakistan Muslim League-
N, the countrys main
opposition party led by
former premier Nawaz
Sharif.
Mian Taimur and his
father died when gun-
men on a motorcycle
opened re on their vehi-
cle, said police
spokesman Imran
Shaukat.
The attack late
Tuesday took place in
the upscale neighbour-
hood of Defence. Taimur
was the partys deputy
secretary in Sindh, of
which Karachi is the
capital.
The police spokesman
said nine other people
were shot dead in tar-
geted killings across the
city over the last 24
hours.
A security ofcial con-
rmed the toll and said a
doctor was among the
dead. (AFP)
Four pro-govt
tribesmen shot dead
PESHAWAR Four tribes-
men from a militia which
supports the Pakistani
government against mili-
tants were shot dead on
Wednesday on the out-
skirts of the northwestern
city of Peshawar, police
said.
The incident happened
in the village of Badaber
where residents found the
blood-soaked and bullet-
ridden bodies in a house
that had been rented by
the victims, tribesmen from
the tribal district of Khyber.
Unknown gunmen shot
dead four men in Badaber.
We suspect they were
killed because they were
the members of a lashkar
(militia) against militants,
senior police ofcial Javed
Khan told AFP.
The tribesmen were
from the Khyber town of
Bara but were living in
Badaber and were sleep-
ing when they were shot,
Khan said. (AFP)
5 killed in blast at
bomb factory
ISLAMABAD An explosion
on Wednesday at a sus-
pected bomb-making
facility in north-western
Pakistan killed at least
ve militants, an intelli-
gence ofcial said.
Three others were also
injured in the blast in
Jandre Kalay area of
Orakzai tribal district, the
ofcial said on condition
of anonymity.
The identities of those
killed were not immedi-
ately known, but Taliban-
linked militants are
known to have hideouts
in Orakzai.
Homemade bombs
triggered remotely have
become one of their
favourite weapons
against military and
other targets.
Elsewehere, an Afghan
allegedly linked to the
killings of several Taliban
gures was found dead
near a market in Wana,
the main town in South
Waziristan tribal district,
security and local sources
said. (DPA)
A Pakistani health worker gives polio vaccine to a child, in Lahore,
on Wednesday, (AP)
10
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com
PAKISTAN
Inside
Pakistan
Chief Justice
Iftikhar Muham-
mad Chaudhry,
who is hearing the
corruption case,
ordered another
bench to probe
Faisals death, fol-
lowing a report
from the courts
registrar listing the
doubts of his
friends and family.
AP
HOUSTON
LUIS Resendiz hid quietly in a
small room with dozens of
classmates after gunshots
erupted in a courtyard on his
college campus north of
Houston.
There his mind quickly drift-
ed to last months Connecticut
elementary school massacre
that left 20 children dead, won-
dering if another gunman was
on a rampage on the other side
of the door.
I didnt think something
like this could happen, said
Resendiz, 22, who crouched in
the room for about 20 minutes
before being allowed to leave.
You dont think about it hap-
pening to you.
A volley of gunshots around
noon on Tuesday at Lone Star
College prompted a lockdown
then evacuation of the campus.
A maintenance worker who
was caught in the crossre was
sent to a hospital, along with
two others who authorities
believe were involved in the
shooting.
Carlton Berry, 22, was
arrested on Tuesday and for-
mally booked on Wednesday
on two counts of aggravated
assault with a deadly weapon,
according to Harris County
Sheriffs Ofce records. Berry
will be arraigned on Thursday.
Bond is set at $60,000.
Berry was hospitalised, sher-
iffs ofcials said. His condi-
tion, along with the conditions
of the other person involved in
the shooting and maintenance
worker were not available.
A fourth person also was
taken to a hospital for treat-
ment of a medical condition,
Harris County sheriffs Major
Armando Tello said, without
describing that medical condi-
tion.
Authorities offered no details
on what prompted the shoot-
ing. One of the two people
involved had a student ID, and
both people were hospitalised,
Tello said.
At least 10 patrol cars clus-
tered on the campus west side
as emergency personnel tend-
ed to the wounded and loaded
them onto stretchers. Students
led by ofcers ran from the
buildings where they had been
hiding as authorities evacuated
the campus.
Keisha Cohn, 27, was in a
building about 50 feet away
and began running as soon as
she heard the shots.
To stay where I was wasnt
an option, said Cohn, who ed
from a building that houses
computers and study areas. All
the students were eventually
evacuated, running out of
buildings as police ofcers led
them to safety.
Harris County Sheriff ofcers at the scene of shooting at Lone Star Campus, in The Woodlands, Texas,
on Tuesday. (AFP)
REUTERS
WASHINGTON
THEY belong to an exclu-
sive group in the US
Congress: survivors of gun
violence.
They number at least
seven. A few were nearly
killed. Others lost family
members or colleagues
before they came to Wash-
ington and became players
in the national debate on
guns.
Still carrying the emo-
tional and, in some cases,
physical scars from those
episodes, most of the legis-
lators believe a string of
mass killings notably the
Newtown, Connecticut
school shooting that killed
26 last month has put the
goal of more stringent gun
control laws within tantalis-
ing reach.
Democratic Senator
Dianne Feinstein of Cali-
fornia plans to introduce
her own gun control meas-
ure on Thursday 35 years
after she faced a double
homicide at work.
If we cant get real
reforms this time, I dont
know what kind of slaugh-
ter it will take, said
Democratic Representative
Carolyn McCarthy, whose
husband was killed and son
paralysed 20 years ago in a
New York commuter train
shooting.
The six Democrats with
personal experience of gun
violence support many, if
not all, the proposals put
forward by President
Barack Obama, a package
that includes upgrades in
mental health and
improved school security.
Some of the proposals
could be implemented by
executive order. The most
controversial an assault
weapons ban would
renew a 10-year prohibition
of these guns that expired in
2004 and would require a
vote by Congress.
But even among those in
Congress whose lives have
been directly touched by
gun violence, not all are
behind the cause.
Republican Representa-
tive Kevin Brady of Texas,
whose father, an attorney,
was shot and killed in a
courtroom decades ago,
joined fellow Republicans
last week in denouncing
Obamas proposals.
I want our children safe
at school and our Second
Amendment (gun) rights
protected at home, Brady
said. The presidents pro-
posals do neither.
I dont want any family
to go through what our fam-
ily experienced, but I
absolutely dont believe that
more gun control will pre-
vent that from happening,
he said.
With 310 million guns in
civilian hands and about
11,000 gun homicides last
year, the United States is
one of the worlds most vio-
lent and heavily armed
nations.
Representative Bobby
Rush of Illinois lost his 19-
year-old son, Huey, in 1999
to a man wielding a hand-
gun. He said his personal
tragedy changed his priori-
ties in Congress.
Gun violence
victims take
debate personally
Clinton denies Benghazi cover-up
AFP
WASHINGTON
SECRETARY of State Hillary
Clinton came out guns blazing
on Wednesday, angrily dis-
missing Republican charges of
a cover-up over the deadly
Benghazi attack and warning
of a rise in militant extremism.
At times emotional and often
ery, Clinton gave no ground
to congressional critics still
seeking to determine why the
administration at rst blamed
the September 11 attack on a
protest outside the US mission
in eastern Libya.
With all due respect, the fact
is, we had four dead Ameri-
cans. Was it because of a pro-
test or because of guys out for a
walk one night and (who)
decided to go kill some Ameri-
cans? she told the tense hear-
ing.
What difference does it
make? she demanded,
thumping her st on the table
as Senator Ron Johnson
repeatedly asked her why the
administration had falsely ini-
tially linked the attack to
protests against an anti-Islam
Internet video.
It is our job to gure out
what happened and do every-
thing we can to prevent it from
ever happening again, sena-
tor, she said.
She insisted there was no
administration cover-up of the
events of the night, when
dozens of heavily-armed Al
Qaeda-linked militants over-
ran the compound and a near-
by CIA-run annex, setting off
an eight-hour reght in which
four people, including US
ambassador Chris Stevens,
were killed. Nothing could be
further from the truth, Clinton
insisted, stressing that in the
days afterwards the adminis-
tration did not have a clear
picture yet.
In one of her last major
appearances before stepping
down at the end of the month,
Clinton showed no signs of the
ill-health which plagued her in
December. She also choked
back a sob as she described
having to call the families with
the news that Stevens, and
information manager Sean
Smith, had been killed.
This is not just a matter of
policy. Its personal. I stood
next to President Obama as the
Marines carried those ag-
draped caskets off the plane at
Andrews air force base,
Clinton told the senators.
I put my arms around the
mothers and fathers, the sisters
and brothers, the sons and
daughters, and the wives left
alone to raise their children.
And she urged senators to
learn from the attack as they
confront a rapidly evolving
political landscape in the wake
of the Arab Spring.
Benghazi didnt happen in a
vacuum, Clinton said. The
Arab revolutions have scram-
bled power dynamics and shat-
tered security forces across the
region, she told the Senate
Foreign Relations committee.
But top Republican senators
rejected her explanations, with
Senator Rand Paul suggesting
she should have been red for
not reading requests for addi-
tional security.
Had I been president at the
time and I found that you did
not read the cables from
Benghazi, you did not read the
cables from Ambassador
Stevens, I would have relieved
you of your post. I think its
inexcusable, he said.
Senator John McCain also
categorically rejected some
answers, saying four months
on the American public still did
not have basic information.
Its a tragedy when we lose
four brave Americans there
are many questions that are
unanswered. And the answers,
frankly, that youve given this
morning are not satisfactory to
me, he told Clinton.
He said he still wanted to
know why US ambassador to
the United Nations Susan Rice
said days after the attack that it
was triggered by a spontaneous
protest outside the mission,
when no such demonstration
had taken place.
Appearing at her last con-
gressional hearings as secre-
tary of state, Clinton reiterated
that she took full responsibility
for deciencies at the mission
and insisted she had taken
steps to boost security in high-
threat regions.
The FBI was also following
some very promising leads as
they investigate exactly who
was behind the Benghazi
attack, she said, warning that
no one should doubt Pres-
ident Barack Obamas promise
that America would respond.
But Clinton stressed that
Congress ultimately had the
power to better fund security,
highlighting how the State
Departments 2012 budget for
diplomatic security was $340
million or 10 percent less
than requested.
She had been initially set to
testify in December after a
scathing internal inquiry
blamed grossly inadequate
security at the outpost in
Benghazi.
But Clinton was forced to
send two deputy secretaries
instead when she fell ill with a
stomach bug, later suffering a
concussion which led to a
blood clot.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham testies on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Wednesday. (AP)
REUTERS
WASHINGTON
US ADULTS who qualify for
Medicaid often must have
incomes well below the feder-
al poverty line, while adults
who have no dependent chil-
dren are allowed to receive
benets in only nine of the 50
states, according to a survey
released on Wednesday.
The survey by the nonpar-
tisan Kaiser Family
Foundation provides a snap-
shot of widespread coverage
gaps in national healthcare
programme for the poor, less
than a year before Medicaid
is scheduled to undergo a
dramatic expansion under
President Barack Obamas
healthcare reform law.
Kaiser, which tracks health
issues, found that Medicaid
coverage in 2012 was stable
for children and pregnant
women, who are among the
programmes targeted bene-
ciary groups.
But eligibility for parents
was limited on average to
those earning no more than
61 percent of the federal
poverty line, which equals
about $19,000 a year for a
family of three. Thirty-three
states required parents to
earn less than the poverty
rate, with 16 restricting eligi-
bility to less than 50 percent.
Nine states extended full
Medicaid coverage to adults
without dependent children
while three states, Hawaii,
Illinois and Minnesota,
reduced eligibility for adults
where it was not required by
federal rules.
Medicaid, which is run by
states but has federal funding
and oversight, represents a
major budget expenditure for
state governments. Many
have sought to curtail bene-
ts and eligibility in recent
years because of scal con-
straints imposed by the
recession and a slow eco-
nomic recovery.
Benets and eligibility can
vary widely from state to
state, with many limiting
Medicaid coverage to dened
groups, including children
and their parents, pregnant
women, the very old and peo-
ple suffering from certain
health conditions.
Obamas reform law,
known as the Patient
Protection and Affordable
Care Act, offers states
Medicaid funding to provide
health coverage for most
Americans earning up to 133
percent of the poverty rate
from January 1, 2014. The
cut-off equals about $24,000
for a family of three in 2012
dollars.
But the expansion has
encountered political resist-
ance, mainly from
Republicans. More than half
of state governors have yet to
support the expansion. Just
over a dozen have rejected
the plan as a costly and
unnecessary government
programme and more are
expected to decide whether
to back the expansion in
coming weeks, as they roll
out budget proposals for the
new year.
Even as state Medicaid
programmes fail to reach
large numbers of the coun-
trys poor, Kaiser reported
that nearly all states are
pressing forward with feder-
ally funded technological
improvements to streamline
their Medicaid enrollment
systems and provide online
access under the healthcare
law.
As of January 1, 37 states
had an online application for
Medicaid or the federal pro-
gramme for children, up four
from a year earlier. Twenty-
eight states now allow fami-
lies to renew their benets
online, an increase of eight
since the start of 2012.
On balance, states made
more positive improvements
than adverse changes (in
2012), often capitalising on
technology to gain adminis-
trative efciencies and
reduce paperwork, the
Kaiser survey said.
Voters favour
NJ Governor
Christie for
re-election
Loopholes abound in Medicaid
coverage in states, says Kaiser
22-year-old held over Texas college shootout
REUTERS
NEW YORK
THREE-QUARTERS of New
Jersey voters approve of
Governor Chris Christies job
performance and nearly
seven in 10 say he deserves to
be elected to a second term in
November, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll
released on Wednesday.
Christie, a Republican who
is often mentioned as a
potential presidential con-
tender in 2016, has seen his
popularity skyrocket since
superstorm Sandy ripped
through the state last fall.
The governors embrace of
President Barack Obama, a
Democrat, and his angry
rebuke of the Republican
majority in the US House of
Representatives for its initial
refusal to approve a storm aid
package, helped cement his
image as an independent-
minded executive capable of
rising above partisanship for
the good of his constituents.
Congress eventually ap-
proved a $30 million aid
package for New Jersey, New
York and Connecticut.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 11
UNITED STATES
Just over a dozen
have rejected the
plan as a costly
and unnecessary
government
programme and
more are expected
to decide whether
to back the
expansion in
coming weeks.
Medicaid
Resisted politically
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Senator Dianne
Feinstein (left) and Senator Richard Blumenthal, in
Washington, recently. (REUTERS)
AP
ALBUQUERQUE
THE New Mexico teen accused
of killing his parents and three
siblings is portrayed in charg-
ing documents as a boy haunt-
ed by homicidal and suicidal
thoughts that included fan-
tasies of killing his girlfriends
parents and gunning down
random people at a Wal-Mart.
Tohis family, he was a bright
and talented musician who
played guitar, drums and bass
with a church group. He also
was a champion wrestler who
dreamed of following his fami-
lys long tradition of military
service, and a boy who accom-
panied his pastor father on res-
cue missions to Mexico.
In a statement issued on
Tuesday night on behalf of
family, the boys uncle Eric
Griego described those traits,
and called on the media and
the public not to use 15-year-
old Nehemiah Griego as a
pawn for ratings or to score
political points.
He is a troubled young man
who made a terrible decision
that will haunt him and his
family forever, the statement
said.
It gave no clue as to what
might have prompted the
alleged assault by the teen, who
authorities say confessed to
shooting his mother and three
younger siblings in their beds
early on Saturday, then waiting
in a bathroom with a military-
style semi-automatic rie to
ambush his father upon his
return from an overnight shift
at a homeless shelter.
Our family is heartbroken
over this senseless tragedy, the
statement said. We have not
been able to comprehend what
led to this incredibly sad situa-
tion. However, we are deeply
concerned about the portrayal
in some media of Nehemiah as
some kind of a monster.
The family noted they had no
indication such a tragedy could
happen, but said its clear
something went terribly wrong.
Whether it was a mental
breakdown or some deeper
undiagnosed psychological
issue, we cant be sure yet, the
statement said. What we do
know is that none of us, even in
our wildest nightmare, could
have imagined that he could do
something like this.
After killing his parents,
younger brother and two sis-
ters at the familys home in a
rural area southwest of
Albuquerque, Griego planned
to randomly shoot people at a
Wal-Mart, Bernalillo County
Sheriff Dan Houston said on
Tuesday. The teen also con-
templated killing the parents of
his 12-year-old girlfriend,
Houston said.
Griego loaded guns and
ammunition into the familys
van, but it was unclear if he
ended up going to a Wal-Mart
or how seriously he contem-
plated continuing his rampage,
the sheriff said.
What authorities know,
Houston said, was that Griego
texted a picture of his dead
mother to his girlfriend, then
spent much of Saturday with
the girl and her family. That
evening, Griego went to the
church where his father once
worked, and he confessed later
that night to killing his parents
and three siblings, authorities
said.
We know Nehemiah had
been contemplating this for
some time, Houston said.
Griego apparently had told
others of his plans, but whom
and when were still under
investigation, the sheriff said.
The motive, Houston said,
was purely that he was frus-
trated with his mother.
He did not give any further
explanation, he said.
The teen waived his right to
arraignment in adult criminal
court on Tuesday on charges of
murder and child abuse result-
ing in death and was ordered
held without bond. He was
arrested Saturday at his fami-
lys home.
The sheriffs ofce identied
the dead as Greg Griego, 51, his
wife, Sarah Griego, 40, and
three of their children: a 9-
year-old boy, Zephania Griego,
and daughters Jael Griego, 5,
and Angelina Griego, 2.
The teen had no history of
mental illness or run-ins with
the law, and neither drugs nor
alcohol appeared to be a factor,
Houston said. The sheriff
noted the teen liked violent
video games such as Modern
Warfare and Grand Theft
Auto, but he didnt say
whether he believed the games
were a factor.
New Mexico teen planned family shootings
AP
PORTLAND
A TEETH-CHATTERING
cold wave with sub-zero tem-
peratures was expected to
keep its icy grip on much of
the eastern US into the week-
end before seasonable tem-
peratures bring relief.
A polar air mass thats been
blamed for multiple deaths in
the Midwest moved into the
Northeast on Wednesday,
prompting the National
Weather Service to issue wind
chill warnings across upstate
New York and northern New
England.
In northern Maine, the
temperature dipped to as low
as 36 below zero on
Wednesday morning. The
weather service was calling
for a wind chills as low as
minus-45.
Keith Pelletier, the owner of
Dollys Restaurant in
Frenchville, said his cus-
tomers were dressed in multi-
ple layers of clothing and
were keeping their cars run-
ning in the parking lot while
eating lunch. Its so cold that
even the snowmobilers are
staying home, he said.
You take the wind chill at
39 below and take a snowmo-
bile going 50 mph, and youre
about double that, he said.
Thats pretty cold.
The Canadian air mass that
brought arctic air is being
blamed for several deaths
across the Midwest. It also
forced schools to close,
caused delays of commuter
trains and subways, and kept
plumbers busy with frozen
pipes.
In New York City, food ven-
dor Bashir Babury contended
with bone-numbing cold
when he set up his cart selling
coffee, bagels and pastries at
3 am on Wednesday. On the
coldest of days, he wears lay-
ers of clothing and cranks up
a small propane heater inside
his cart.
I put on two, three socks, I
have good boots and two,
three jackets, he said. A hat,
gloves, but when Im working
I cant wear gloves.
In Pottsville, Pennsylvania,
letter carrier Cheryl
Vandermeer was stoic as she
walked her route on
Wednesday with tempera-
tures in the teens and wind
chill in the single digits. She
was thankful she had a job
that kept her moving, even if
it was outside.
Im not just standing
around, she said. So for
me its cold, but its not
intolerable.
Sub-zero temperature likely to continue in eastern US
AP
WASHINGTON
THE House overwhelmingly
passed a bill on Wednesday to
permit the government to bor-
row enough money to avoid a
rst-time default for at least
four months, defusing a loom-
ing crisis setting up a spring-
time debate over taxes, spend-
ing and the decit.
The House passed the meas-
ure on a bipartisan 285-144
vote as majority Republicans
back away from their previous
demand that any increase in
the governments borrowing
cap be paired with an equiva-
lent level of spending cuts.
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid said the chamber
would immediately move to
advance the legislation to the
White House, which has an-
nounced Obama would sign it.
The measure would suspend
the $16.4 trillion cap on federal
borrowing and reset it on May
19 to reect the additional bor-
rowing required between the
date the bill becomes law and
then. The amount of borrow-
ing required depends on the
tax receipts received during l-
ing season, but over a compa-
rable period last year the gov-
ernment ran decits in the
range of $150 billion.
The measure also contains a
provision that slaps at the
Senate, which hasnt debated
a budget since 2009, by with-
holding the pay for either
House or Senate members if
the chamber in which they
serve fails to pass a budget
plan. Senator Patty Murray
announced on Wednesday
that the chamber would
indeed debate a budget this
year but maintained the
GOPs no budget, no pay
move had nothing to do with
the decision.
President Barack Obama
vows not to negotiate over the
debt ceiling as he did in the
summer of 2011, though he
promises further action on the
budget. Wednesdays develop-
ments mark a shift of the budg-
et debate away from failed
head-to-head talks between
Obama and Boehner
The idea driving the move by
GOP leaders like Speaker John
Boehner is to re-sequence a
series of upcoming budget bat-
tles, taking the threat of a
potentially devastating govern-
ment default off the table and
instead setting up a clash in
March over automatic across-
the-board spending cuts set to
strike the Pentagon and many
domestic programmes. Those
cuts - postponed by the recent
scal cliff deal - are the pun-
ishment for the failure of a 2011
congressional decit-reduction
supercommittee to reach an
agreement.
This no budget, no pay
idea had previously been
regarded by many as a gim-
mick but has been given new
life by Boehner as a reform to
pair with an increase in the so-
called debt limit. Boehner pre-
viously had insisted that any
increase in borrowing authori-
ty to avoid lapses in payments
to contractors, unemployment
benets or Social Security
checks and possibly even
interest payments on US
Treasury obligations be
matched dollar for dollar with
spending cuts. Many Repub-
lican speakers preferred to
focus on the pay provision.
This is not a gimmick, said
Representative Michael Fitz-
patrick. For the past almost
going on now four years, our
colleagues in the Senate have
failed in their most basic
responsibility of governance,
which is to pass a budget.
All were saying is
`Congress follow the law. Do
your work. Budget, said
House Budget Committee
Chairman Paul Ryan. And the
reason for this (debt) extension
is so that we can have the
(budget) debate we need to
have.
Boehner promises that the
GOP blueprint will project a
balanced budget at the end of a
10-year window.
House votes to defuse
debt limit crisis
Speaker of the House John Boehner (centre) during a news conference after a meeting at the Capitol, in Washington, on Tuesday. (AFP)
People walk along 7th Avenue at Times Square, in New York, on
Wednesday. (REUTERS)
AP & AFP
WASHINGTON
THE White House said on
Wednesday it will go ahead
with General John Allens
nomination to become com-
mander of NATO forces in
Europe, following his exon-
eration in a Pentagon inves-
tigation of questionable
email exchanges with a
Florida woman linked to
the sex scandal that led
David Petraeus to resign as
CIA director.
If confirmed by the
Senate, Allen would suc-
ceed Navy Admiral James
Stavridis in the NATO post.
Allen is due to leave his
position as commander of
US and coalition forces in
Afghanistan on February 10.
Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta had put Allens
nomination on hold last
November when he directed
the Pentagons inspector
general to determine
whether Allens email
exchanges with Jill Kelley
amounted to wrongdoing.
The emails have not been
made public but were said
to include flirtatious
exchanges that could be
judged to be inappropriate
and possibly violated rules
applying to military offi-
cers.
Initially, ofcials had said
there were 25,000 to
30,000 pages of correspon-
dence between Allen and
Kelley, raising questions
that his emails could reect
a distracted commander.
But ofcials later said the
inquiry was only focused on
a few hundred messages.
Allen, in a brief statement
through his spokesman,
said he was pleased to have
been cleared.
Allen said he was glad the
Pentagon investigation con-
cluded that the allegations
against him were unsub-
stantiated and that he did
not violate the requirement
of exemplary conduct or the
prohibition against conduct
unbecoming an ofcer and
a gentleman.
The FBI had referred the
emails to the Pentagon in
the course of its investiga-
tion of the Petraeus matter,
which included email
exchanges between Kelley
and Paula Broadwell, who
was Petraeus biographer
and later his lover. Allen
had maintained from the
start of the investigation
that he was innocent of any
misconduct.
On Tuesday the Pentagon
announced that the inspec-
tor general had exonerated
Allen, currently the top gen-
eral in Afghanistan.
White House press secre-
tary Jay Carney told
reporters on Wednesday
that he hopes the Senate
will consider Allens nomi-
nation in a timely man-
ner.
Asked about the Pentagon
investigation, Carney said,
That matter is now com-
plete and we welcome its
nding.
Allens NATO
nomination gets
White House nod
US charges
E European
cyber gang
AFP
NEW YORK
US LAW enforcement on
Wednesday announced
charges against three alleged
East European cyber thiefs
accused of stealing banking
information from computers
across Europe and the United
States, including at the space
agency NASA.
The alleged international
cyber criminals (were) respon-
sible for creating and distribut-
ing a computer virus that
infected over one million com-
puters at least 40,000 of
which were in the US and
caused millions in losses by,
among other things, stealing
online banking credentials,
the federal prosecutors ofce
in Manhattan said.
The defendants allegedly
used a malicious computer
code or malware dubbed the
Gozi Virus to hack into bank
accounts and steal millions of
dollars, stated the indictment
against one of the defendants,
Deniss Calovskis, who is also
known as Miami.
Prosecutors say the scam
unfolded between 2005 and
March 2012 and that the virus
was virtually undetectable in
the computers it infected.
First, it was implanted in com-
puters across Europe on a vast
scale, then around 2010 it
spread to the United States, the
Calovskis indictment said.
In the United States, more
than 160 were computers
belonging to the National
Aeronautics and Space Admin-
istration (NASA) were infect-
ed, the indictment said.
Financial losses caused by
the Gozi Virus hit at a mini-
mum, millions of dollars, the
indictment said.
Calovskis, a computer pro-
gramming expert, has been
arrested in his home country of
Latvia, the Manhattan federal
prosecutors ofce said.
The virus alleged designer
and chief architect, Nikita
Kuzmin, from Russia, was in
US custody, while the third
man, Mihai Ionut Paunescu
from Romania, was in Roma-
nian custody, prosecutors said.
In northern Maine,
the temperature
dipped to as low
as 36 below zero
on Wednesday
morning. The
weather service
was calling for a
wind chills as
low as minus-45.
US / AMERICAS
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 12
The motive,
Houston said,
was purely that
he (Nehemiah) was
frustrated with
his mother.
The measure would
suspend the $16.4
trillion cap on
federal borrowing
and reset it on May
19 to reflect the
additional
borrowing required
between the date
the bill becomes
law and then.
Marine General John Allen
White House press
secretary Jay
Carney told
reporters on
Wednesday that
he hopes the
Senate will
consider Allens
nomination in a
timely manner.
Japan to shut Mali embassy
as security fears rise
AFP
MOSCOW
DOZENS of Russians eeing
the violence in Syria returned
to Moscow on Wednesday, in
the rst operation organised
by the Russian authorities to
help its nationals escape the
bloodshed.
Two planes owned by the
emergencies ministry carry-
ing 77 people eeing Syria
touched down at Moscows
Domodedovo airport on a
ight from the Lebanese cap-
ital Beirut early in the morn-
ing, the ministry said.
Russia has however vehe-
mently denied that the assis-
tance is the start of a mass
evacuation of the thousands
of Russian citizens still
believed to be living in con-
ict-torn Syria.
Its very dangerous there.
Rockets. Planes. Tanks, one
returning man named as
Albert Omar, wrapped up in
an emergencies ministry coat
to cope with the severe tem-
perature change, told state
television.
It had become impossible
to live there. There is no
money. No work. We have
lost everything, said another
Russian woman who was not
named.
The Russian citizens
arrived in Moscow from
Beirut on board two planes
a Yak-42 and an Il-76. They
had earlier travelled to Beirut
from Syria by road.
Most of those brought
back are Russian women who
married Syrians and
Palestinians as well as their
children, the emergencies
ministry said in a statement.
These are people from dif-
ferent regions of Syria who
were left homeless and with-
out means to live as a result of
the conict, said the min-
istry, saying that they had all
approached the Russian con-
sulate in Damascus for help.
Observers are watching for
any hints of Russia planning a
full-scale evacuation of its cit-
izens which would be seen as
tacit admission from Moscow
that the regime of President
Bashar al-Assad is doomed in
its ght against rebels.
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov Wednesday
denied however that Russia
was planning a full-scale
evacuation of its citizens.
We have not started an
evacuation so it would be
hard to have a more widescale
one, Lavrov told reporters,
denying that the help given to
Russians to ee by plane
could be termed an evacua-
tion.
He said the emergencies
ministry planes that ew to
Beirut had been carrying
humanitarian aid for Syria
and had simply offered the
option of taking any
Russians back if they so
desired.
He said that Russias
embassy in Damascus was
working normally, even
though contingency plans
were in place as with any
country in the region.
We are not talking about
activating these (plans), he
said.
According to the RIA
Novosti news agency, 8,000
Russians are registered with
the consulate in Syria but
there could be as many as
25,000 Russian women who
have married Syrians living
in the country.
Any evacuation of such a
large number of nationals
would likely require large
naval vessels rather than
planes. Russia could employ
its Soviet-era naval base in
the Syrian port of Tartus
which it still maintains.
Russian diplomats have
said that Moscow could send
more planes to Beirut to pick
up Russian citizens eeing
the Syria violence if required.
First batch of Russians reach
Moscow after fleeing Syria
Russian-Syrian families arrive, in Moscow Domodedovo airport, on Wednesday. (AP)
AFP
JOHANNESBURG
SOUTH African police have
conducted overnight raids in
a township near the industri-
al hub of Sasolburg, following
a day of deadly protests and
looting, a police spokesman
said on Wednesday.
We conducted door-to-
door searches and recovered
some of the looted property,
said police spokesman Sam
Makhele. Building material
was recovered from a number
of houses in the area and
those found in possession of
looted goods have been
arrested, he said.
Residents of Zamdela,
some 80 kilometres (50
miles) south of
Johannesburg, had looted
shops and burnt property
ostensibly to protest a deci-
sion to incorporate their town
into a neighbouring munici-
pality. The violence resulted
in the death of at least two
people. One person was killed
Tuesday when residents
besieged a local police station.
AFP
BAMAKO
JAPAN said on Wednesday it
would close its Malian
embassy over growing securi-
ty fears amid a French-led
assault against Islamists
which has raised concerns of
a backlash against ethnic
Arabs and Tuaregs.
French and Malian troops
were due to sweep the out-
skirts of towns recently
recaptured from the Al
Qaeda-linked rebels for land-
mines they suspect the
extremists left as they ed an
air and ground assault by the
armies.
Nearly two weeks after the
UN-backed offensive was
launched in Mali to dislodge
the Islamists, the deteriorat-
ing situation prompted
Japan to shut its embassy
and evacuate key staff.
After the French military
advance the already unstable
situation in Mali worsened
further, foreign ministry
spokesman Yutaka Yokoi told
reporters in Tokyo.
The decision came a day
after Japan announced that
at least seven of its citizens
were killed in a hostage siege
in Algeria, which neighbours
Mali, after an attack by
Islamists which they said was
retaliation for the French
offensive.
France swept to the aid of
the ill-equipped Malian army
on January 11, as the extrem-
ists which seized the vast
north in April 2012 made a
push south towards the capi-
tal Bamako.
The former colonial power
has said it could deploy
upwards of 2,500 troops
which would eventually hand
over control to a West
African force of over 4,000
troops which will be boosted
by 2,000 men pledged by
Chad.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon
hailed Frances courageous
intervention but expressed
fears over the safety of
humanitarian workers and
UN employees on the
ground.
He added the proposed
African force in Mali needed
critical logistical support to
help it take over from French
forces.
The fallout from the war,
which experts have warned
could be drawn out and com-
plex, is causing concerns.
The UN refugee agency
estimates up to a million peo-
ple could have ed their
homes in coming months,
and rights bodies have
warned of the dire situation
faced by those escaping ght-
ing. There are also increasing
reports of attacks on light-
skinned Tuareg or Arabs
from Malian security forces.
Here if you wear a turban,
have a beard and wear a
Tuareg robe, you are threat-
ened, said a shopowner in
Segou, a town some 270 kilo-
metres northeast of Bamako.
It has become very dan-
gerous for us since this war
started.
Afraid of being targeted,
his son has shaved his beard
and stopped wearing his tur-
ban, traditionally sported by
Tuaregs and Arabs who make
up the bulk of the armed
rebel groups.
Malian army chief General
Ibrahima Dahirou Dembele
promised that any soldier
involved in abuses would be
brought to book.
CHINA
PREPARES
FOR THE
YEAR OF
THE SNAKE
People buy plush toys
representing snakes, in
Shanghai, on Wednesday.
The Lunar New Year, or the
Spring Festival, begins on
February 10 this year and
marks the start of the Year of
the Snake. (REUTERS)
S Africa
police raid
riot-hit
shantytown
S Korean activists to
put up statues of
comfort woman in Asia
SEOUL South Korean
activists unveiled plans
on Wednesday to put up
statues commemorat-
ing women forced into
wartime sexual slavery
by Japan in a number
of Asian countries, start-
ing with Singapore.
Singapore would be
the rst Asian country
other than South Korea
to have such a memorial,
said the Korean Council
for the Women Drafted
for Military Sexual
Slavery.
The group was behind
the bronze statue of a
young girl with a butter-
y settled on her shoul-
der that was put up in
2011 opposite the
Japanese embassy in
Seoul. The gure repre-
sents the so-called com-
fort women forced to
service Japanese troops
in brothels before and
during World War II.
A second girl statue
will be erected in
Singapore, probably in
March, after consulta-
tions with authorities
there, activist Doseul
Jeong said. (AFP)
Gillard pushes aboriginal for Senate, irks party
SYDNEY Moves to ensure the election of the rst
Aboriginal woman to Australias parliament met with a
backlash on Wednesday, with one politician saying
Olympian Nova Peris would be a maid for the govern-
ment.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has endorsed the gold
medallist as her preferred Labour Party candidate for the
federal Senate in the Northern Territory in national elec-
tions due this year. If pre-selected, Peris is almost certain
to be elected. Gillards decision has rufed feathers within
the Labour Party, which in 2010 was riven by bitter
inghting when Gillard deposed then-prime minister Kevin
Rudd in a sudden coup. (AFP)
Japan probe nds
787 battery not
overcharged
TOKYO A lithium ion bat-
tery on a Boeing 787 that
overheated during an All
Nippon Airways ight ear-
lier this month experi-
enced a sudden drop in
voltage and was not over-
charged as previously
thought possible, Japans
transport safety agency
said on Wednesday.
Japan Transport Safety
Board chairman Norihiro
Goto told reporters the
jets data recorder showed
the main battery, used to
power many electrical sys-
tems on the jet, did not
exceed its maximum volt-
age.
That contradicts an earli-
er assertion by the agency
as it investigates with the
US Federal Aviation
Administration. (AP)
World Brief
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 13
WORLD
The decision came
a day after Japan
announced that at
least seven of its
citizens were killed
in a hostage siege
in Algeria, which
neighbours Mali.
Two planes owned
by the emergen-
cies ministry carry-
ing 77 people flee-
ing Syria touched
down at Moscows
Domodedovo
airport on a flight
from the Lebanese
capital Beirut.
PTI
BANGALORE
THE ruling Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) in Karnataka was
on Wednesday thrown into
fresh quagmire as two minis-
ters resigned and 11 more
MLAs loyal to former chief
minister B S Yeddyurappa
announced their decision to
quit the assembly member-
ship, raising questions about
its governments stability.
Jolting the six-month-old
Jagadish Shettar ministry,
Public Works Minister C M
Udasi and Energy Minister
Shobha Karandlaje quit fol-
lowed by high drama at
Speaker K G Bopiahs ofce
where they and 11 other
Members of Legislative
Assembly (MLAs) tried to
submit their resignation let-
ters but in vain.
Bopaiah was not in ofce
when the MLAs trooped in as
hewas reportedly out of station
while the Assembly Legislature
Secretary Omprakash was also
not present, prompting an
enraged Yeddyurappa to rush
there,insisting that the govern-
ment had been reduced to a
minority.
The agitated MLAs insisted
that their resignation letters
be accepted by an ofcial or
an acknowledgement given
that they are not empowered
to receive them but Assembly
Joint Secretary Jayatheertha
P Galagali (RPT) Galagali
told them to submit resigna-
tions when Speaker comes
to ofce.
During the one-hour drama,
a livid Yeddyurappa, who
recently oated the Karnataka
Janata Party, said, Shettar
government has been reduced
to a minority. He has no moral
right to continue in ofce. He
should call off his tour, return
to the city and resign.
Yeddyurappa said Bopaiah
had been alerted on Tuesday
about the resignation of MLAs,
but he has left on a tour. It is a
shameless government. Shettar
should meet the Governor and
tender resignation, he said.
Shortly thereafter, the 13
MLAs drove to Raj Bhavan
and asked Governor H R
Bhardwaj to take suitable
steps for acceptance of their
resignations by Bopaiah.
The governor assured us to
take suitable action as per con-
stitutional provisions, Udasi
told reporters here, adding,
the MLAs submitted copies of
their resignation letters to him
after brieng about the non-
availability of the Speaker in
spite of being told in advance
about their meeting him.
Karandlaje requested the
governor to investigate the
matter of a cabinet minister
whisking away the Speaker
to the Airport to help him y
out of the city when he was
informed on Tuesday about
the MLAs visiting his ofce.
Shettar, on north Karnataka
tour, said he would decide on
the ministers resignations
after consulting BJP central
leadership. He said the gov-
ernment faced no problems
and enjoyed majority. We
will face the session (budget
session is slated to begin from
February four).
Bhardwaj earlier said, If
there is a constitutional crisis
in the state, I am ready to act.
He, however, said he would
not like to disturb the
Jagadish Shettar government.
He said he had spoken to
Shettar on Tuesday and the
chief minister said there was
nothing wrong with his govern-
ment. Earlier, Karandlaje and
Udasi handed over their resig-
nation letters to Shettar.
The rst-ever BJP govern-
ment in the south India has
lurched from crisis to crisis
seeing the exit of
Yeddyurappa as chief minister
over corruption charges and
Sadananda Gowda following
pressure from the former BJP
strongman to remove him.
Though handpicked by him,
Yeddyurappa has also been
targeting Shettar.
PTI
NEW DELHI
RAHUL Gandhi on Wednesday
formally took over as vice presi-
dent of the Congress, the ruling
party of India, pitching for posi-
tive politics and promising to
make the party an instrument
of change and more accessible
to both the youth and the expe-
rienced.
Regretting that the current
environment in politics was
extremely acrimonious, the
42-year-old leader asserted
that negative politics is not
going to take this country for-
ward. Dressed in jeans and a
white kurta, Rahul, who
arrived amid tight security,
sought to be informal with
party workers and press pho-
tographers seeking their views
on the recently- concluded
chintan shivir (brainstorming
session) of the party.
We are always ghting with
each other. Often I feel that we
are ghting with each other for
small reasons. Basically all of us
feel the same thing and I think
what would like to do is try and
reduce that thing slightly.
I dont want to get into neg-
ative politics. I dont want to be
critical of everybody. I want to
get into positive politics.
Because positive politics is what
is going to take this country for-
ward. Negative politics is not
going to take this country for-
ward, Gandhi said from the
AICC podium. When a reporter
sought to know does it mean he
does not like debates on TV, he
shot back saying, I like all sorts
of debates.
In interaction with senior
party leaders, he sought to
raise their comfort level saying
there were some leaders like
Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora,
Mohsina Kidwai and others,
whose experience in politics is
more than his age and he is
looking forward to draw from
their experience.
Congress party is best instru-
ment to change things. It is the
best instrument to bring young-
sters into politics. I think it is the
most powerful instrument.
What I want to do is to take
the Congress family, make it
accessible to as many young-
sters and experienced people
as possible and try and use
this instrument to change this
country, Gandhi later told the
media.
This was Rahuls rst visit to
the party headquarters after he
was anointed as its vice presi-
dent on January 19 during the
two-day chintan shivir in
North Indian state of Jaipur.
He held an informal chat
with 60-odd ofce bearers
including Congress Working
Committee (CWC) members,
party general secretaries, All
India Congress Committee
(AICC) secretaries and in
charges of various states and
frontal wings telling them such
meetings both collectively and
individually will now happen
more often.
Noting that India is a
dynamic country and this
country can do wonders, Rahul
said that there is a lot positive
things about this country that
also needs to be focused.
Lately I feel... that a lot of
discussions are negative ...
Many many positive things
that are happening everyday.
Many many youngsters are
transforming things and I
think that also needs to be
focused. That is what I am
interested into, he said.
PTI
NEW DELHI
PITCHFORKED by circum-
stances, senior Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leader
Rajnath Singh was on
Wednesday unanimously
elected party president but he
faces the immediate challenge
of tackling internal feuds and
repairing the damage caused
by allegations of nancial
impropriety by his predeces-
sor Nitin Gadkari.
The election of the 61-year-
old former Chief Minister of
North Indian state Uttar
Pradesh, who comes back to the
post which he had to quit in the
wake of 2009 electoral debacle,
took a little over an hour.
But the entire process had
the underpinnings of the
controversy that surrounded
Gadkari over his alleged
involvement in an irrigation
scam in Maharashtra and the
dubious funding of his Purti
Group.
The situation in which
Singhs choice came about was
underscored by senior leader L
K Advani who said the new
presidents biggest responsi-
bility would be to ensure that
there is no compromise with
any immoral behaviour.
Advani, whose opposition to
Gadkari nally saw him out of
the presidents post despite
Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) backing, also
said, We should prove that
this is a party with a difference
and not a party of differences
as our opponents say.
Gadkari, who opted out of the
presidential race on Tuesday
in a dramatic turn of events
because of the allegations
against him, had succeeded
Singh in 2009 after the Lok
Sabha election debacle.
After the top leadership
deciding on Singh last night,
the BJP Parliamentary Board
met this morning in what was
essentially a formality to
approve Singhs candidature
for the top party post.
Singh led his nomination
and was the only candidate in
the fray. He was promptly
declared elected without any
contest. Had Gadkari contest-
ed there was a possibility of
an election.
After taking over, Singh
said, I accept this not as a
post, but as a responsibility.
The new party chief exuded
condence of steering the
party to victory in the forth-
coming assembly elections in
various states later this year
and expressed the hope to see
formation of an National
Democratic Alliance (NDA)
regime led by BJP in the next
general elections.
I rmly believe that NDA
will form the government in
2014, said Singh, adding that
only BJP can tackle the coun-
trys problems and people
expected it to rid the country
of its troubles.
In his address, Advani said
Singh has the capability to
bring people together and
hoped the party will resolve to
win lost ground in North
Indian state Uttar Pradesh,
from where he hails.
He said Singh has focussed
on agricultural issues and
farmers and was of the view
that he will take the party for-
ward.
Advani also said that BJP
was considered an urban
party, but the results have
proved otherwise. For years
we have never got success in
urban areas as we have won in
rural areas, he said, citing the
example of Central Indian
state Madhya Pradesh which
has seen the highest growth in
agriculture sector.
Rajnath Singh earlier con-
demned Home Minister
Sushilkumar Shindes
Hindu terror remarks,
which he termed as irre-
sponsible and said it indi-
cated the party in power was
not serious about its ght
against terrorism.
Uddhav Thackeray elected Shiv Sena president
PTI
MUMBAI
SHIV Sena executive presi-
dent Uddhav Thackeray was
on Wednesday formally elect-
ed as the president of the
party during a national execu-
tive meeting held in Western
coastal Indian city Mumbai.
Uddhav Thackeray 52, was
unanimously elected the
president of the party.
Henceforth, all policy deci-
sions of the party will be
taken by him. He has been
authorised to appoint a per-
son in the party, senior party
leader Subhash Desai told
reporters at Shiv Sena
Bhawan, the partys head-
quarters at Dadar in central
Mumbai.
Desai said election ofcer
Balakrishna Joshi completed
all the electoral processes to
elect Uddhav as the party
president. From now on,
there will be no post of Shiv
Sena pramukh, which was
held by late party supremo
Bal Thackeray for over four
decades, he said.
Even the executive presi-
dents post will not be there in
Shiv Sena, Desai added.
In his address, Uddhavji
urged party leaders to focus
on 2014 state Assembly elec-
tions so as to win more seats
to dethrone the Congress-
Nationalist Congress
Pa r t y ( Co ng r e s s - NCP)
alliance, Desai said.
A vacuum has denitely
being created due to the
demise of Bal Thackeray.
However, we all have pledged
that we will strengthen the
organisation to ll the void,
he added. However, despite a
huge demand to give a party
post to Uddhavs son and
Yuva Sena chief Aditya
Thackeray, no particular post
was given to him and he was
retained as the youth wing
president. During a meeting
held earlier, Uddhav and all
senior Sena leaders paid
homage to Bal Thackeray,
who passed away on
November 17 last year. Later,
addressing the party leaders,
Uddhav said Shiv Sena will
unitedly face challenges con-
fronting the state.
Uddhavji assured party
leaders that no Member Of
Parliament (MP) or Member
Of Legislative Assembly
(MLA) will defect from the
party, Sena MP Sanjay Raut
said, adding that he also said
that he will take Sena one step
ahead than his father.
Rahul pitches for positive politics
Karnataka BJP
govt in dock as
two ministers
resign
Rajnath becomes BJP chief
Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray (right) with women mem-
bers of the party, in Mumbai, on Wednesday. (PTI)
Newly appointed BJP President Rajnath Singh (centre) with supporters and workers at the party headquarters, in New Delhi, on Wednesday. (EPA)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 14
The 13 MLAs drove
to Raj Bhavan and
asked Governor H
R Bhardwaj to take
suitable steps for
acceptance of
their resignations
by Bopaiah.
INDIA
Karnataka Ministers Shobha Karandlaje and CM Udasi, loyal to the
B S Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka Janata Party, in Bangalore, on
Wednesday. (PTI)
IANS
NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD
GOING back on its word to
announce a solution to the
Telangana problem by January
28, the Congress party on
Wednesday said one month
does not mean 30 days.
Dashing hopes of Telangana
leaders, including those from
its own ranks who were
expecting a decision to carve
out a Telangana state, the rul-
ing party said a decision on the
vexatious issue was not likely
to be made by January 28.
I dont think we should see
it in a tight compartment.
One month does not mean
one month or 30 days.
Tomorrow sometimes does
not mean tomorrow morn-
ing, Congress general secre-
tary Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
One week does not mean
seven days. Sometime it can
be two weeks. This is a very
important issue which we
have to solve. We have been
trying hard to resolve it as
early as possible, said Azad,
who is in charge of party
affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
Azads statement came
after he and Union Home
Minister Sushilkumar
Shinde, Minister of Overseas
Indian Affairs Vaylar Ravi
and Lok Sabha member
Ahmed Patel met Congress
president Sonia Gandhi.
Azad claried that after the
December 28 all-party meet-
ing on Telangana, Shinde had
only stated that the govern-
ment would try to nd a solu-
tion in a month.
Congress
backtracks on
Telangana
deadline
REUTERS
NEW DELHI
INDIA needs to implement
existing laws, not introduce
tougher punishment such as
the death penalty, to prevent
rape, a government panel set
up to review legislation said
on Wednesday, following a
brutal gang rape that shook
the nation.
Panel head, justice J.S.
Verma, rejected outright the
idea of the death penalty for
rape cases, a demand from
some protesters and politi-
cians in the days after the 23-
year-old physiotherapy stu-
dent was attacked on a mov-
ing bus.
There was an overwhelm-
ing opinion against the death
penalty, even womens
groups opposed this, Verma
told a news conference. This
recommendation was in line
with the opinions of rights
organisations concerned
harsh new laws would not
solve the rising number of
reported sexual assault cases
in India.
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh asked Verma to look at
possible amendments of
criminal law in response to
public anger after the rape
and subsequent death of the
student, who was assaulted
with metal bars and dumped
bleeding on a highway.
In that case, because the
woman died of her injuries,
the ve accused have been
charged with murder and face
the death penalty if found
guilty. The victim died of
massive organ damage in a
Singapore hospital two weeks
after the attack.
Hearings in the case against
the accused begin in a fast
track sessions court on
Thursday. The court must
decide which of the prosecu-
tions charges it will hear
before a trial formally begins.
Separately, the Supreme
Court is hearing a petition to
move the case out of Delhi,
after one of the accused said
strong public opinion in the
city would prejudice the case.
Verma said he was shocked
to hear top government of-
cials congratulate the Delhi
police chiefs handling of the
case, when, he said, police
negligence was to blame for a
climate of insecurity in New
Delhi, known as Indias rape
capital.
Practically every serious
breach of the rule of law can
be traced to the failure of per-
formance by the persons
responsible for its implemen-
tation, the recommendations
submitted to the government
by Verma on Wednesday stat-
ed.
The report said the failure
of public functionaries
responsible for trafc regula-
tion and law and order
enabled the Delhi gang rape,
and said the case had
revealed ofcials low and
skewed priority of dealing
with complaints of sexual
assault.
He also rejected lowering
the age juveniles can be tried
as adults, a demand from
some politicians and protest-
ers. A sixth accused in the
case has told police he is
under 18, meaning he would
face a maximum three year
sentence if found guilty.
The panel did recommend
other milder forms of sexual
harassment be more strictly
legislated against and pun-
ished.
Sexual assault degenerates
to its gravest form of rape
beginning with uncontrolled
sexual harassment in milder
forms, which remain uncon-
trolled. It has, therefore to be
curbed at the initial stage.
Justice JS Verma (right) with Justice Leela Seth during a press conference after submitting the committees report to the government, in
New Delhi, on Wednesday. (PTI)
No unnecessary payment
made to MPs, court told
IANS
NEW DELHI
THE Rajya Sabha secretariat on
Wednesday informed the Delhi
High Court that it takes due
precautions and measures
while reimbursing the expenses
of MPs, so that no unnecessary
payment is made to them.
Filing an afdavit before
the division bench of Chief
Justice D. Murugesan and
Justice V.K. Jain, the Rajya
sabha Secretariat said: There
are checks and balances in the
payments made to MPs. All
precautions and measures are
taken so that no unnecessary
payment is made.
The reply of the secretariat
came in response to a petition
seeking direction that MPs
should not be given travel
expense reimbursement more
than the actual amount spent.
The court earlier issued
notice to the central govern-
ment asking it to explain
why extra allowances are
allowed to MPs.
The court sought response
from the central government,
the Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha secretariats and the
law and justice ministry.
The petition had also
sought directions for audit of
travel and dearness
allowances (TA/DA) of the
MPs by the Comptroller and
Auditor General (CAG).
With regard to the prayer
for audit of TA/DA claims of all
members of the Rajya Sabha, it
is submitted that the Rajya
Sabha Secretariat has a sepa-
rate audit section where all the
bills are audited before making
payment, said the afdavit.
The afdavit added: The
Concurrent Audit Party (CAP)
of the Director-General of
Audit and Central Revenue
(DGACR) does the continuous
audit of the payments made by
the Rajya Sabha Secretariat,
including the TA/DA claims of
members of Rajya Sabha.
Verma panel rejects death
penalty in rape cases
PTI
NEW DELHI
PASSENGERS who book air
tickets through agents will
not have to fork out extra
money with the Indian
Supreme Court on
Wednesday restraining air-
lines from levying transaction
fee in any form on them.
The transaction fee shall
not be collected from any pas-
senger in any form or under
any other name, a bench of
justices D K Jain and Madan
B Lokur said.
The apex court also direct-
ed the Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) to
examine the tariff structure of
the airlines in view of their
wide range of base prices for
air tickets.
There are several bands
for xing the base price which
in certain cases range from Rs
1120 to Rs 36000...We are of
prima facie view that regard-
ing wide range of basic fair, it
would be necessary for the
DGCA to examine the tariff
structure of the airlines, the
bench said.
The bench rapped the
DGCA for not enforcing its
own direction dated
December 17 last when it had
restrained the airlines from
charging transaction fee from
passengers. We regret to
note that despite provision is
there not to charge transac-
tion fee, the DGCA failed to
enforce its own direction, the
bench said, adding It needs
our immediate intervention
for non-compliance of direc-
tion issued by the DGCA. The
airlines cannot charge trans-
action fee from customers.
We are of the view that cir-
cular of DGCA dates
December 17, 2012 is still in
vogue and transaction fee
cannot be charged by the air-
lines, the bench said.
Transaction fee was intro-
duced by the airlines after
they adopted a zero commis-
sion policy for their agents.
Under transaction fee, agents
charge customers any
amount of their choice and
there is no uniformity in it.
Senior advocate U U Lalit,
appearing for Federation of
Indian Airlines (FIA), urged
the apex court not to pass any
order as it would challenge
the DGCA circular before an
appropriate authority.
No transaction fee should be
levied on air passengers: SC
Reforms set to
help economy
gather pace
REUTERS
BANGALORE
INDIAS economy will pick
up steam this year after its
worst performance in a
decade as a slew of reforms
take hold and the central
bank eases policy to spur
growth, a Reuters poll found.
But the poll also showed
ination will remain persist-
ently high, preventing the
Reserve Bank of India from
cutting rates too aggressively,
and that economic growth
will not soon return to levels
as strong as just few years
ago.
The poll of 28 economists,
taken in the past week,
showed Indias gross domes-
tic product will grow 6.4 per-
cent in the year to March
2014 after likely expanding at
a decade-low of 5.5 percent in
the current scal year.
That is down from the
median consensus of 6.6 per-
cent for 2013/14 and 5.7 per-
cent for 2012/13 in a poll in
October, marking the sev-
enth straight set of down-
grades in Reuters polls for
Asias third-largest economy.
Correspondingly, analysts
are not exactly brimming
with optimism. We expect a
shallow growth recovery,
said Sonal Varma, economist
at Nomura in a note to
clients.
Wilting demand for Indian
goods and services from
abroad has been a major con-
tributor to the slowdown as
many developed economies
are either in a recession or
close to one.
But one source of good
news has been a recent shift
in government policy. The
government announced
reforms late last year which
opened up the supermarket
and aviation sectors to over-
seas investors, a move many
businesses had been clam-
ouring for, and says more
policy moves are in the
pipeline.
A lot of economic reforms
are being undertaken. The
Ministry of Finance has
moved very decisively on cer-
tain issues. They are small
steps but at least it shows the
commitment, said Vishnu
Varathan, economist at
Mizuho Corporate Bank.
Even though the proposals
met some stiff political and
public opposition, the
Congress Party-led coalition
was able to get a vote of con-
dence in parliament and
implement the reforms.
Still, some analysts worry
the government may lose its
appetite for more politically
difcult measures ahead of
elections in 2014.
After the RBI refused to
lower interest rates, leaving
the onus on the government
to pull the economy out of the
slump, the focus this year will
return to the central banks
role.
Wary of stubbornly high
ination, the RBI has kept
the repo rate on hold since
cutting it by 50 basis points
in April, in contrast to other
big emerging market central
banks in China, Brazil and
South Korea that have eased
policy more aggressively.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 15
The court sought
response from the
central govern-
ment, the Lok
Sabha and Rajya
Sabha secretariats
and the law and
justice ministry.
INDIA
There was an
overwhelming
opinion against
the death penalty,
even womens
groups opposed
this.
REUTERS
MOSCOW
RUSSIA said on Wednesday
the rebels ghting French and
African troops in Mali are the
same ghters the West armed
in the revolt that ousted
Moamer Qadha in Libya.
An Islamist alliance of Al
Qaedas North African wing
AQIM and home-grown
Malian groups captured
northern Mali last year, armed
with weapons seized from
Libya after the fall of Qadha.
Russia backed a UN
Security Council resolution
authorising military interven-
tion in Mali but is still bris-
tling that its abstention from
a UN vote over Libya in 2011
allowed NATO air strikes to
help the rebels trying to top-
ple the veteran leader.
Russian ofcials accused the
United States and its allies of
overstepping their mandate.
Those whom the French
and Africans are ghting now
in Mali are the same people
who overthrew the Qadha
regime, those that our
Western partners armed so
that they would overthrow
the Qadha regime, Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov told a
news conference.
The aim of the foreign
intervention is to prevent
northern Mali from becoming
a launchpad for international
attacks by Al Qaeda and its
allies. Fears of this increased
sharply after a hostage-taking
raid by Islamist militants last
week on a gas plant in Algeria.
Terrorist acts have become
almost daily in the region,
arms are spreading in uncon-
trollably, inltration by mili-
tants is taking place, includ-
ing in the Sahara-Sahel area,
Lavrov said.
The situation in Mali feels
the consequence of events in
Libya. The seizure of hostages
in Algeria was a wake-up call.
Lavrov denied reports that
Russia had offered help in
transporting French troops to
Mali where an African troop
deployment and a US military
airlift has swelled internation-
al support for French opera-
tions against Islamist rebels.
Russia, the worlds second-
largest arms exporter, has
pointed to the example of
Libya to reject Western accu-
sations it is shielding the
authorities in Syria where
rebels are trying to oust
President Bashar al Assad.
Russia has vetoed three UN
Security Council resolutions
aimed pressuring Assad to
end the bloodshed, which
began with a crackdown on
street protests but later esca-
lated into civil war.
REUTERS
DUBAI
FOR the Iranian government,
the Bushehr nuclear power
plant is proof to a world wor-
ried about Tehrans inten-
tions that its atomic pro-
gramme is aimed only at
securing a modern, clean
energy source for its people.
But for villagers living next
to the facility, as well as Arab
capitals nearby, the plant
poses a potential danger that
is less geopolitical and more
immediate: the risk of con-
tamination.
We are extremely worried
about our health and the
health of our families, resi-
dents of the coastal villages of
Heleylah and Bandargah
wrote in a statement pub-
lished on a blog in 2010.
According to international
standards, the distance
between a nuclear power
plant and the nearest resi-
dence must be at least one
kilometre... but the distance
between the village of
Heleylah and this power plant
is just six metres!
Thousands of people live in
the two villages 18 km (11
miles) south of the Gulf city of
Bushehr, many of them mak-
ing their living as service
workers at the plant.
Residents living near Irans
nuclear-related sites told
Reuters in interviews by
phone and over the Internet
that the government sties
debate on the pros and cons
of the programme and where
its sites should be located,
and has not addressed their
questions about what would
happen in an emergency.
Irans Arab neighbours are
also nervous. Kuwait, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq
and the United Arab Emirates
all occupy coastline across
from Bushehr, and the plant is
closer to ve Arab Gulf capitals
than it is to Tehran.
Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah
al Ahmed al Sabah said at a
December meeting of the Gulf
Cooperation Council that
Iran should cooperate with
the International Atomic
Energy Agency to ensure the
safety of the regions states
and its people from any effect
of radioactivity.
Iran has repeatedly main-
tained there are no grounds for
concern, a position backed up
by Russian state nuclear corpo-
ration Rosatom, whose sub-
sidiary Atomstroyexport built
the plant and plans its formal
handover to Iran this year.
But a few recent incidents,
as well as a lack of trans-
parency, continue to worry
both neighbours and experts
in global nuclear safety, par-
ticularly after the disaster at
the Fukushima power plant
inJapan, which was caused by
an earthquake and tsunami.
Like Japan, Iran is on an
earthquake fault line,
although the risk of a tsunami
in the Gulf is seen as slim.
It is difcult to have con-
dence that Bushehr will meet
the very high safety standards
that should apply to every
nuclear power plant in the
world in the post-Fukushima
era, Edwin Lyman, of the
Union of Concerned Scientists,
said in an e-mail to Reuters.
main trunk sewer and over
70 km of lateral interceptor
sewers.
Huge pipes with 3,000 mm
to 4,500 mm diameters will be
passed at an average depth of
43 meters in main tunnels. The
project will be implemented in
ve different phases.
IDRIS Programme Manager
Terry L Krause said, The rst
tender will be awarded in the
rst quarter of 2014.
The industry brieng pro-
vided local and international
infrastructure contractors and
consultancies an overview of
Ashghals corporate strategy
and vision.
The session was attended by
over 300 delegates from differ-
ent establishments and it cov-
ered such topics as how IDRIS
ts into their strategy, how to
do business with Ashghal and
programme specic informa-
tion such as proposed works,
timeline, and key implementa-
tion considerations, such as
how to participate in the forth-
coming tendering process.
Ashghal unveils QR10bn strategy
Iran N-power plant stokes
worries closer home, too
Mali rebels fighting French
with western arms: Russia
FIRE AND ICE
A reman walks around an ice-covered warehouse that caught re on Tuesday, in Chicago, on Wednesday. An Arctic blast con-
tinues in the US Midwest and Northeast and has claimed three lives. (REUTERS)
Thursday, January 24, 2013
www.qatar-tribune.com 16
THE LAST WORD
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Iranian workers in front of the nuclear power plant, in Bushehr,
south of Tehran, recently. (REUTERS)
A French armoured vehicle on a road next to the central market, in Diabaly, on Wednesday. (REUTERS)
Boashash explained.
The way our approach dif-
fers from classical techniques
is that we are going to use
these two variables concur-
rently. This is major because,
in the past, either time-delin-
eated or frequency informa-
tion was used, but not the two
combined. It would be like
trying to represent a person
by just looking at the height
while the persons weight and
other factors are ignored.
Rather than isolating fre-
quency from time, Dr
Boashash and the team use an
integrated approach to signal
analysis that allows them to
extract more information on
the movement of an unborn
child - a key indicator of its
health. The team has devel-
oped a sensor system that,
when placed on the mothers
stomach, detects signals from
movements inside the womb.
The nature of these signals
can be determined to detect
any abnormalities in foetal
development. In order to
ensure that the mothers
movement is not mistaken for
that of the foetus, a separate
sensor is positioned on her
back and those signals are
read separately.
Mothers can feel about a
third of the movements made
by the unborn baby and can
often detect a change in the
movement patterns, Dr
Boashash said. However,
because this varies from baby
to baby, and woman to
woman, some changes in
movement patterns may go
undetected. Sadly, some babies
die in the womb following a
period of time of decreased
movements. Essentially, the
aim of this project is to infer,
from recordings of the foetal
movements, what the health of
the foetus is and try to make a
decision before it is too late.
Dr Boashash explained that
the technology allows for con-
tinuous monitoring of the foe-
tus so that any unusual signal
patterns will be instantly sent
to the physician. This would
eliminate the need for fre-
quent visits to the doctor.
The team is also working on
newborn monitor systems
that work on the same prem-
ise, whereby signals from an
infants brainwaves are trans-
ferred into sensors placed in a
hat worn just after birth.
It has electrodes that
measure the electrical activity
at the scalp, and the electrical
activity on the scalp is directly
related to the activity of the
neurons inside the brain, Dr
Boashash explained.
This technology again relies
on a more sophisticated
approach to the reading of
signals, measuring their fre-
quency and peaks, as well as
the order of these peaks over
time. As a result, a doctor may
now be able to recognise that
a baby is going through a
seizure by examining the
results provided by process-
ing the signals in this way.
We have shown that when
a newborn has a seizure, there
is a particular pattern when
you look at frequency and
peaks together, he said. You
will not see that there is a
problem without that pattern.
The research is especially
important in Qatar, where the
privacy afforded by such tech-
nologies would encourage
more families to use them.
Women here could benet
from the technology because
they are less likely to want to
go and show their tummy to a
doctor, he said.
Dr Boashash and his team
have published their ndings
widely and are currently try-
ing the monitoring systems in
Australia with the intention of
testing them in the near
future in Qatar.
Research to
improve
foetal health
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
different forms of bully-
ing. Insults and verbal
abuse accounted for
18.4 percent of bullying
cases among males and
22.2 percent among
females.
Contempt and disre-
gard accounted for 24
percent bullying cases
among females and 13
percent among males.
Intimidation and
ridicule are more prac-
ticed by females (19.9
percent) than males (15.6
percent). However,
males tend to embarrass
their colleagues more
(10.5 percent) than
females (7.6 percent).
Overall (males and
females taken together)
the proportion of bullies
stood at 19.5 percent and
of their victims 18.6 per-
cent. Students who had
neither been bullies nor
their victims comprised
just 25.9 percent of the
students surveyed.
The study highlights
the spread of the bullying
phenomenon amongst
students regardless their
gender, nationality, age,
grade, and school per-
formance. Moreover,
half of the victims hide
their sufferings on
account of bullying in
school because they feel
ashamed to reveal it.
Getting back to the stu-
dents assault on the
teacher Dr Batool
Khalifa, professor of
mental health in Qatar
University, said that the
teacher must receive
proper treatment to over-
come humiliation while
the student should be
treated to wean him away
from such behaviour.
Steps
to curb
bullying in
schools
renewed
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Like Japan, Iran is
on an earthquake
fault line, although
the risk of a tsuna-
mi in the Gulf is
seen as slim.
The industry brief-
ing provided local
and international
infrastructure con-
tractors and consul-
tancies an overview
of Ashghals corpo-
rate strategy and
vision.
Those whom the
French and Africans
are fighting now in
Mali are the same
people who over-
threw the Qadhafi
regime, those that
our Western part-
ners armed so that
they would over-
throw the Qadhafi
regime.
SERGEI LAVROV