QATAR | Page 2

INDEX
QATAR

2 9, 31, 32
10

REGION
ARAB WORLD

12, 13

INTERNATIONAL 14 27

29, 30

COMMENT
BUSINESS

1 8, 14 16

CLASSIFIED
SPORTS

9 14
1 12

SPORT | Page 1

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Oil prices yesterday plunged

nearly $3 a barrel yesterday, on
track for the biggest one-day slide
in over a year after the Wests
energy watchdog cut its estimates
for oil demand and US forecasts
projected another big bump in
shale production. Brent crude
for November fell $2.65 a barrel
to $86.24 after briefly dipping
below $86 a barrel, its lowest since
December 2010. The International
Energy Agency, which advises
industrialised countries on energy
policy, cut its estimates for global
oil demand growth by 250,000
barrels per day for this year and by
90,000 bpd for 2015.
Business Page 15

in

Praise for 2022

preparations

Oil hits $86 on

dim demand view

QATAR | Sport

BUSINESS | Energy

WEDNESDAY

Vol. XXXV No. 9511

October 15, 2014

Dhul-Hijja 21, 1435 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Europe may
act against
Israel over
settlements

In brief

Brazilian striker Diego Tardelli

believes critics will be in for a
surprise when they see Qatar
hosting the World Cup in 2022.
Tardelli, who fired two goals for
Brazil in their win over Argentina
last week, said Qatar was ready to
host the 2022 World Cup in summer
or winter. Qatar has organised
many major events and some key
football games over the years,
Tardelli was quoted as saying on
the Qatar Football Association
website. He said: I know what
I am saying as I have lived in
Qatar when I was playing for Al
Gharafa. Qatar has the ability to
organise major events. I know that
the leadership in Qatar is making
a major effort to develop the
infrastructure. Tardelli played for
Qatar Stars League side Al Gharafa
from 2012 to 2013 before returning
to the league in Brazil.

he R
is
bl TA 978
A 1
Q since

GULF TIMES

pu

Doha conference
discusses threats to
maritime security

Khalfan
scores
in Qatars win
over Ausies

A series of steps to expand

settlements by Israel in recent
weeks has angered the European
Union, the US and the UN, fuelling
calls for a response
HE the Minister of Environment Ahmed bin Amer al-Humaidi addressing the foundation-stone-laying ceremony.

Project to boost sh
production in Qatar
A

major scientic and development project intended to boost

sh production in Qatar and
conduct research on marine life to
create a suitable environment for investment in the sector was launched
yesterday.
The foundation stone of the Aquatic
and Fisheries Research Centre (AFRC)
was laid at Ras Matbakh in Al Khor
by HE the Minister of Environment
Ahmed Amer Mohamed al-Humaidi.
The project targets the establishment of farms of local sh like
Hamour, Sa and shrimps. The expected production capacity is around
8mn tonnes of sh annually and 6mn
tonnes of shrimps per season.
The project is expected to meet to
the increasing demand of sh in the
country without exhausting its natural resources.
AFRC is an important research and
development project for the sheries
sector in Qatar, HE al-Humaidi said.
It is being built at an estimate
cost of QR230mn on a space of
110,000sqm and expected to be completed by September 2015. It would be

An architects impression of the

Aquatic and Fisheries Research Centre.

The site of the project

also furnished with the most sophisticated equipment and technology in

the eld, he pointed out.
A number of ministers, senior officials and members of the Central Municipal Council attended the launch
ceremony.
The project will also help in fostering
and protecting endangered marine life
organisms such as turtles and boost biological diversity of the local marine life.
Currently, the project is in its second phase, which started in March, and
is concerned with construction and
equipment installation. This phase is

scheduled to last around 18 months. The

project will be utilised by the Environment Ministrys sheries department
(sh farming units) and Qatar University
(laboratories and research centres).
AFRC is made up of an administrative building of 28 offices, two meeting halls, a lecture and presentation
hall, and a library. It has a number of
specialised laboratories to study various aspects of the marine life.
In addition, there are various buildings and units for sh farming and
water supply, workers accommodations and storehouse.

Ministers and senior officials attending the ceremony.

Reuters
Jerusalem

uropean officials are looking at

new ways to press Israel to halt
its building of settlements on
land the Palestinians want for a state,
as frustration over the construction
programme reaches a new high, European diplomats say.
The discussions are at an early stage,
but officials say the European Union
may look at stopping Jewish settlers
convicted of crimes from visiting the
EU and could examine the ne print of
a free-trade agreement, although there
is no talk of sanctions.
A series of steps by Israel in recent
weeks, including the seizure of 1,000
acres of land near the Palestinian town
of Bethlehem and plans to build 2,600
settler homes near Jerusalem, has angered the European Union, the US and
the UN, fuelling calls for a response.
Israel has regularly claimed its settlements are legal and an Israeli government official told Reuters yesterday
Europe would be better off putting
pressure on the Palestinians to live up
to their obligations and recognise the
legitimacy of Israel.
The EU has already imposed restrictions on loans to Israeli scientic institutions that operate in the occupied
West Bank and is moving ahead with
plans to label products made in Jewish
settlements. But further steps are now
being considered.
No one is talking about imposing
trade sanctions on Israel, said one EU
countrys ambassador to Israel. But
there is a very high level of frustration
and there are many instruments at our
disposal to make that frustration clear.
Another senior diplomat described
Europes patience as wearing thin,
with political sentiment shifting.
That shift was partly reected in Swedens decision to recognise Palestine as
an independent state this month and a
non-binding vote in the British parliament on the same issue on Monday.
EU foreign ministers meet in Luxembourg on October 20, though it was
not yet clear whether Israel will be discussed.

While many of the EUs 28 member

states have profound concerns about
Israels settlement policies, the Jewish
state also has many staunch EU defenders. It is far from certain that there
would be unanimous support for action
against Israel.
An Israeli official said Europe was
misguided. By focusing only on one
issue and only on Israel, they are not
doing the Palestinians a favour and
they are denitely not playing as productive a role as they could do in peace
talks, he said.
Palestinians hope to make a future
state in Gaza, the West Bank and East
Jerusalem. They accuse Israel of building settlements to strengthen its claim
on territories occupied in the 1967
Middle East War.
European diplomats and other ofcials mentioned several areas where
the bloc could bring pressure to bear,
including by strictly applying regulations contained in the Association
Agreement signed between the EU and
Israel in 1995.
That agreement sets out a very specic framework for free trade in goods,
services and capital, presaging everything on respect for human rights and
democratic principles.
Article 83 of the agreement makes
clear that it only applies to the territory
of the state of Israel, which one official
said raised questions about how you
deal, for example, with Israeli banks
which operate on occupied land that
the EU does not consider to be part of
the state of Israel.
Im not saying we should stop dealing with Israeli banks, but its an issue
that has been raised and some would
say we need to look at it in more detail,
said the ambassador.
Another measure being considered
by the European Commission is to draw
up a list of Israeli settlers who have
been convicted of crimes and ban them
from entering the EU, one official said.
The paperwork has been done but it
is frozen for now, said the official. It
is basically a blacklist of violent settlers
who have been accused of or convicted
of crimes. It would prevent them from
travelling to Europe.
Such a step would probably only affect 100 to 200 people, and it might
prove complicated to impose since some
of those likely to be blacklisted also have
European passports, but it would send a
strong message that the EU means business, he said. Pages 12 and 28

Ex-colleague shoots dead American in Riyadh

AFP
Riyadh

former employee of a US defence contractor shot dead one

American colleague and wounded another in the Saudi capital yesterday, officials said, in a rare attack on
Westerners in the kingdom.
The alleged shooter, Abdulaziz Fahad
Abdulaziz Alrashid, 24, worked at the
same company as the victims, and was
recently dismissed from his job due to
drug related issues, Riyadhs embassy
in Washington said in a statement.
A US diplomat identied the gunman as a disgruntled former employee
of Vinnell Arabia.
The victims of yesterdays petrol station shooting in Riyadh also worked at
Vinnell Arabia, the diplomat said, rul-

ing out terrorism as a possible motive

for the attack.
Vinnell Arabia provides training for
the Saudi Arabian National Guard.
US State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki conrmed one American was
killed and a second was lightly injured.
Following the attack near King Fahd
football stadium, a shootout occurred
between the gunman and security forces, a police spokesman said in a statement carried by the official SPA news
agency.
A third American escaped unharmed,
police said, adding the assailant was
wounded and subsequently arrested.
They did not identify the suspect but
Riyadhs embassy in Washington said the
suspect, Alrashid, is a dual Saudi-American citizen born in Washington State.
Two small circles of blood stained

A child shows a shell casing at the scene of a shooting attack in Riyadh yesterday.

the ground at the petrol station near

the pumps, an AFP photographer said.
Children showed off a small-calibre
cartridge case which they said they
found in the same area.
Four police jeeps were stationed on
the multi-lane road outside the closed
petrol station, within sight of the football stadium.
Yesterdays shooting was the rst
deadly attack on Westerners in Saudi
Arabia since several were killed in a
wave of Al Qaeda violence between
2003 and 2006.
It comes as Saudi Arabia participates
in a US-led campaign of air strikes
against militants of the Islamic State
(IS) group in Syria.
Saudi pilots who participated in the
initial late-September strikes against
IS received online death threats.
Vinnell Arabias Facebook page says

the rm is dedicated to providing the

best in military training, logistics and
support to the Saudi National Guard,
using expertise from former US military and government personnel.
In January, a Saudi court sentenced
an Al Qaeda militant to death and jailed
10 others over a May 2004 attack that
killed six Westerners and a policeman.
The defendants, seven of them brothers, were convicted of aiding assailants who attacked a US company in the
northwestern port town of Yanbu, killing
two Americans, two Britons, an Australian and a Canadian, as well as a Saudi.
Saudi Arabias top cleric, Grand
Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh,
in August urged young Muslims not to
be inuenced by calls for jihad... on
perverted principles, and described
Al Qaeda and IS militants as enemy
number one of Islam.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR
Prime Minister receives senior US officials

HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani holding talks with Senator Timothy Kane, a member of US Senate from Virginia and a member of the Democratic Party, and Senator Angus King of Maine in
Doha yesterday. The meeting reviewed co-operation between the two countries, in addition to issues of mutual interest. Right: HE the Prime Minister with David Cohen, US Treasury Departments undersecretary for terrorism and financial
intelligence, in Doha yesterday. They reviewed bilateral relations between the US and Qatar and discussed issues of mutual concern.

Doha conference discusses

threats to maritime security
Q

atar Maritime Security Coastal and Border

Surveillance
Conference (Qmarsec) 2014, being held
under the patronage of HE the
Prime Minister and Minister of
Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin
Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani,
was opened yesterday in Doha.

The conference is
committed to a value
driven programme,
featuring senior and
key security officials
from around the world.
The Conference aims at
providing an integrated
platform for those
responsible for security
operations in the maritime
industry
HE Major General Hamad bin
Ali al-Attiyah, Minister of State
for Defence Affairs, Director
General of Public Security Major
General Saad bin Jassim al-Khulai, a large number of officials
from the Ministry of Interior and
delegates from around the world
were present on the occasion.
The two-day conference will
discuss a variety of topics concerning maritime security particularly the military, security
and academic aspects, together
with legal and environmental
aspect in the eld of maritime

security through a group of experts and in-service and retired

military experts and specialists.
Staff Brig. (Pilot) Mohamed A
al-Mannai, director of Qatar National Shield Project said: The
conference is committed to a
value driven programme, featuring senior and key security officials from around the world. The
Conference aims at providing an
integrated platform for those responsible for security operations
in the maritime industry.
The conference on maritime
security is one of the most important platforms for the exchange of
experiences and academic and
strategic experiences in maritime
security, protection of coasts and
maritime borders and combat of
international piracy.
On the rst day of the conference, the speakers and delegates
discussed various marine security issues that are relevant for
Qatar and the region.
The participants also discussed the most prominent
threats to maritime security,
the legal framework to confront
them and combating software
piracy and the role of information technology in supporting operations, trends and new
solutions in the eld of marine
insurance among other topics
relating to academic, environmental and legal aspects.

Michel Soula addressing the

conference yesterday.
ber-countries and address the
security challenges these countries face. The initiative also will
look into the specic security
needs of the countries involved.
Soula went on to explain that
sea-based transportation is still
predominant for various raw materials and commodities even in
an era of instant communication.
A major portion of the world
trade and military logistics still
passes though the seas. Therefore, security in seas is essential
for all the nations and has to be
handled with great importance.
According to the official, maritime security is facing a number
of threats from various corners.
Maritime security has been
marked with different threats
such as armed robbery, illegal
shing among others. However,
Nato has great experience and
expertise in handling maritime
security as it has been protecting
the interests of its members for
the over four decades, he added.

HE the Prime Minister and

Minister of Interior Sheikh
Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa
al-Thani met Reda Safar, Tunisias
Minister in charge of security,
yesterday in Doha.
They discussed bilateral relations
and means of enhancing them
in addition to issues of mutual
concern.

HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid

bin Mohamed al-Attiyah led
Qatars delegation participating
in the fourth GCC-UK Strategic
Dialogue meeting, held today in
Kuwait with participation of GCC
Foreign Ministers and UK Foreign
Secretary.
Talks during the meeting focused
on ways of strengthening and
developing the GCC countries
relations with UK in various fields
to serve the common interests of
the two sides.
Discussion also reviewed the
latest regional and international
developments.

Transport minister
leaves for Kuwait
HE Major General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, Director General of Public Security Major General Saad bin
Jassim al-Khulaifi and Staff Brig. (Pilot) Mohamed A al-Mannai, Director of Qatar National Shield Project at the conference yesterday.
PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil

By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter

he North Atlantic Treaty

Organisation (Nato) forces have been successful
in containing the pirates off the
Somalia coast very effectively
through systematic planning,
a Nato official told the Qatar
Maritime Security Coastal and
Border Surveillance Conference
2014, which opened in Doha
yesterday.
Michel Soula, head of operations, Nato, said there were very
concrete steps from Nato to
counter pirates and protect international humanitarian aid vessels
along the coast of the Somalia.
The success of Nato comes
from co-operation from various maritime organisations and
other bodies. With the synergies
from various units and membercountries, Nato has been successful in containing the piracy
activities on the Somalia coast.
There has not been any successful pirate attack on the Somalia
coast since May 2012.
Nato has been supporting
counter-piracy efforts since
2008 on the Horn of Africa, he
pointed out. Soula also referred
to Istanbul co-operation initiative in which Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE are members.
He said that the initiative is open
to all the countries in the region
and aims to counter terrorism
and proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction.
The initiative aims to enhance the security for the mem-

Premier holds
talks withTunisian
security minister

FM attends
GCC-UK meeting
in Kuwait

Nato successful in Expert calls for holistic approach

containing piracy to secure Qatars coastal areas
off Somali coast
M
T

By Joseph Varghese
Staff Reporter

Official

aritime security must

be a top priority for
Qatar, one of the most
wealthy and prosperous countries in the world and blessed
with rich natural resources, an
expert said yesterday.
Qatar has to be completely protected from any threat
coming from the sea, exhorted
Dr Ioannis Loukas, general director, Middle East and North
Africa, Business Strategies and
Politics, ThyssenKrupp Marine
Systems.
He was speaking to Gulf Times
on the sidelines of the Qatar
Maritime Security Coastal and
Border Surveillance Conference

Dr Ioannis Loukas addressing

the conference yesterday.
2014, which began yesterday.
What is needed is a complete

and holistic approach towards

the security of the country. The
resources of the country are
coming mainly from the sea and
if there are any threats to the resource platforms, the prosperity
of the country will be affected.
As long as these sources are secured, there are no problems for
the country. Therefore, there
should be a holistic vision towards the security of the country.
Loukas also pointed out that
he did not foresee any immediate
security threats to the country or
the region.
There may not be any immediate threats to the security of
the country but you never know
how fast things can change. Security threats can happen at any
time from anywhere according

to the changing scenario regionally or internationally and the

country has to be ready to face
any emerging situation.
The official noted that the
country needs different components to beef up its marine
security. A strong navy, strong
coastguard and strong national
security shield are the most important elements for national
security as they all compliment
one another.
He also stated that his organisation has submitted a proposal
for setting up a training facility
for naval officers in the country.
We have submitted a proposal
for naval training. They include
a college for naval officers and
a school for other officers. We
hope that the proposal gets materialised soon.

HE the Minister of Transport

Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti left
Doha yesterday for Kuwait to take
part in the 18th meeting of GCC
transport ministers committee,
due to be held today.
The meeting is set to discuss
issues related to land and
maritime transport, particularly
the GCC railway project,
infrastructure of roads and land
transport.

Qatar attends GCC

tourism meeting
Kuwait hosted the First
Constituent Meeting of the GCC
Tourism Ministers Committee
yesterday.
Qatars delegation to meeting
was chaired by HE the Chairman
of Qatar Tourism Authority
(QTA) Issa bin Mohammed alMohannadi.
The meeting focused on the
tourism between the GCC
countries and how to engage the
private sector in the development
of tourism industry.
The meeting marked the
beginning of common
GCC action on tourism and
strengthening co-operation
among the GCC states.
The Qatari tourism sector is
witnessing a quantum leap.

QF meet to focus on Qatars energy, water security challenges

atar Foundations Annual Research Conference

2014 (ARC14) will address Qatars Energy and Water
Security Grand Challenges, focusing on water desalination and
solar panel technologies.
The conference held under the
patronage of HH Sheikha Moza
bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation, will be held next
month. Hosted at Qatar National
Convention Centre, this years
conference follows on the success of ARC13, where many of
Qatars research grand challenges were unveiled.
The conference will bring together expertise from Qatar En-

ergy and Environment Research

Institute (QEERI) of Qatar Foundation Research and Development as well as international
subject matter experts, to address and discuss how to solve
two of Qatars biggest challenges.
Launched in 2011, QEERI plays
a pivotal role in co-ordinating
long-term and multidisciplinary
research to meet Qatars Water and Energy Security Grand
Challenges. With limited local
fresh water resources, there is a
critical need to provide sustainable, adequate quantities that
can be supplied to meet Qatars
population needs.

Similarly, energy usage per

capita in Qatar is the highest in
the world, creating a requirement for economical alternatives and renewable low carbon
energy technologies and stores.
The two-day conference on
November 18th and 19th will
also address critical issues such
as the countrys cyber security,
solar and renewable energy solutions, health management
systems, as well as the social
challenges and opportunities in
Qatar and across the region.
Dr Mohamed Khaleel, executive director of QEERI, said:
As we strive to move Qatar
from a carbon based economy,

it is critical we capitalise on
local resources through localbased research and strategic
partnerships, to create energy
and water technology solutions. Simultaneously, we aim
to move these solutions into
companies in order to yield
prots that will eventually provide the sustainability we need
here in Qatar.
Our goal is to make Qatar a
leading centre for water and energy technology research, whilst
at the same time pushing to generate a local industrial ecosystem that will benet the local
population and business communities. ARC offers us a unique

opportunity to present, assess

and analyse Qatars research priorities with experts from around
the world.
ARC14 will offer thoughtprovoking panel discussions,
technical presentations, and
high-powered debates where
leading experts will share constructive experiences and innovative approaches, Towards
World-Class Research and Innovation. Abstract submissions
will also be chosen on their merit
and presented by local and International scientists on how to
help address, lead and guide the
water security and energy security research agenda.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR
Attorney General meets Tunisia minister

HMC to host global conference

on water-pipe tobacco smoking
H

HE the Attorney General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri holding talks with Reda Safar, Tunisias Minister in
charge of security, in Doha yesterday. They exchanged views on issues of mutual concern,
particularly restoring Tunisias smuggled assets and ways of benefiting from the Doha-based Rule
of Law and Anti-corruption Centre as well as co-operation in the exchange of expertise and
training.

amad Medical Corporation (HMC) will host the

Second
International
Conference on Water-pipe Tobacco Smoking Research on October 26 and 27.
The conference is being organised by HMCs Smoking Cessation Clinic in collaboration
with Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, the American University in Beirut, and the New
York University.
The latest international studies and research ndings will
be discussed during the conference, and participants will
have the opportunity to engage
further in water-pipe tobacco
smoking research. Information
on how tobacco smoking affects
the smokers health will also be
presented.
HMCs Smoking Cessation

Dr Ahmed al-Mulla.
Clinic head Dr Ahmed al-Mulla said over 100 consultants
and specialists from Qatar and
abroad are expected to attend.
Lecturers at the conference
include Dr Hajar Ahmad Hajar
(Health Affairs Consultant to HH

Qataris most style-aware nationality

N

ew data released yesterday

by
London
Heathrow
Airports
Personal Shopping service has
revealed that Qataris are the
most style-aware nationality
in the region and more likely to
utilise the expertise of the airports professional stylists than
any other group in the Middle
East.
Over a third (39%) of those
from the region who use Heathrows Personal Shopping service are Qatari, compared to 25%
from the UAE, 13% from Saudi
Arabia, 10% from Bahrain and
1% from Kuwait, according to a
statement.
Some 32,000 Qataris used
the Heathrow Personal Shop-

ping service over the last year,

spending an average of QR7,134
(1,200) per visit.
Dana Jaber, a style expert for
Heathrows Personal Shopping
service, said: Our Qatari customers have discerning tastes
when it comes to fashion and
in our experience, they tend to
be among the earliest adopters
of the latest trends. Heathrow
offers some of the best British
brands available and they take
full advantage.
Many of our Qatari customers request regular e-mails
from our dedicated personal
shoppers to ensure that they
know in advance about the
newest items before they arrive
at Heathrow.

With a team of expertly trained

personal shoppers, all of whom
have undergone two years intensive training and speak over 38
languages between them, Heathrows style experts help more
than 55,600 customers each year,
the statement points out.

Our Qatari customers have

discerning tastes when it
comes to fashion and in
our experience, they tend
to be among the earliest
adopters of the latest trends.
Heathrow offers some of the
best British brands available
and they take full advantage
The Personal Shopping service offers both male and female

experts to ensure that customers can select the stylist they

feel most comfortable with.
Customers can pre-book an appointment with their preferred
stylist before they even arrive at
Heathrow by visiting www.heathrow.com/stylist
The team brings together a
curated selection of products
from over 400 outlets, offering
customers the opportunity to
browse recommended items in
the privacy of an exclusive consultation suite. As part of the
service, customers are given access to items that many luxury
stores keep hidden behind their
counters.
Our Qatari customers over
35% of whom are men are

often looking for the hidden

gems that arent readily available to the average shopper.
We give our personal shopping
customers unique access, in a
private facility, to merchandise
from brands like Oud Ispahan, Bvlgari and British classics, including Burberry and Jo
Malone.
Popular products among
Qataris include Bvlgari necklaces and rings, Prada shoes and
handbags, Dior bags and Smythson wallets.
Over 80% of personal shopping customers use the service to spend their value-added
tax refunds at Heathrows
400 outlets before they head
home.

the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani) and Dr Tawq bin
Ahmad Khowja, director-general of the Executive Board of the
GCC Health Ministers Council.
Other speakers include consultants from the World Health

Organisation (WHO) and the

US-based National Cancer Institute as well as researchers
from the US, UK, India, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, Iran,
Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Yemen,
Bahrain, and Morocco.
A specialised workshop, which
will review research methods in
the eld of smoking cessation,
particularly water-pipe shisha
smoking, will be held on October
25 to set the tone for the conference, said Dr al-Mulla.
He also mentioned HMCs
plans to take part in the Sixteenth International Conference for Smoking Cessation,
under the theme: Smoking or
Health?, to be held in Abu Dhabi
in March 2015. The three-yearly
conference, hosted by the WHO,
is the rst of its kind in the Arab
world.

Authorities urged to
address issue of
housing labourers

ome residents of Umm

Salal have urged the
competent authorities to
deal with the issue of houses
in residential neighbourhoods
being used as accommodation
for labourers by companies,
local Arabic daily Al Sharq has
reported.
Pointing out that hundreds
of such workers are living in
houses in the area, the residents say there is lack of monitoring and many residents are
keen to lease their old houses
to companies that pay high

rents, thereby aggravating the

problem, the report states.
Meanwhile, some residents
have referred to the use of houses
in the area as stores for food materials while others are turned
into workshops for repairing
cars and trucks. The houses also
contain large amounts of waste
at times, they allege.
Due to these issues, say the
residents, many families are
considering shifting from the
area despite having lived there
for years, according to the report.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR
Violations by commercial outlets
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce
issued 63 violation reports to various
commercial outlets in September.
The violations were detected during an
intensive campaign by the ministry to monitor
local markets and ensure compliance with
consumer protection laws and regulations.
Most of the violation reports pertained to
not posting price tags for items on display
and providing inaccurate information.
Unauthorised hike in prices and selling

expired products were some of the other

violations detected.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environments
agricultural quarantine section destroyed 13
cargoes of imported agricultural products,
weighing 43 tonnes, in September as they
were found to have been unfit.
Some 5,383 cargoes of imported agricultural
products weighing around 11,1010 tonnes were inspected and passed at the quarantine
section.

Doha Bank names third millionaire

in 2014 Al Dana savings campaign
D

oha Banks agship Al Dana

Savings programme has
named Liju Varghese as its
third winner of the year in the latest
Al Dana QR1mn prize.
The winners of the draw received
their prizes at a special ceremony
held recently at Doha Bank Tower.
During the awarding ceremony,
13 lucky winners were announced,
including Khalifa Sultan al-Kubaisi
from Qatar who won QR500,000
and Abdulmehssen Ibrahim al-Sultan receiving KD5,000 in a separate ceremony held by Doha Bank
in Kuwait. The draw also awarded
QR10,000 to 10 lucky winners and
ve iPads to Al Dana Young Savers.
During the ceremony, Doha Bank
Group CEO Dr R Seetharaman said:
The quarterly QR1mn prize is life
changing and I hope that all the
prizes are used wisely by our winners
and their families. Doha Bank is keen
to hear from Mr Varghese in a few
months to know more about how
this prize has inuenced his life and
how it has helped him plan for the
future. We have invited him to visit
us soon and share his story.
Meanwhile, Varghese said: This
prize is beyond all expectations and I
am both surprised and elated. It represents many years of saving if you
were to save this amount under any
normal circumstances. My family
has the opportunity to make sound
choices that will put this money to
good use and I look forward to sharing our plans with Doha Bank once
the reality of the prize really sinks in.
I also invite all people to invest in Al
Dana and wish them to be the future
winners in Al Dana savings scheme.
Doha Bank head of Retail Banking Suresh Bajpai added: Al Danas
prize structure ensures there is a
prize catering to every type of savings appetite. By the end of 2014,
one more millionaire will be added
to the Al Dana family, with plenty
of opportunities for past winners
to add to their tally in the monthly,
bi-monthly, and quarterly draws.
This includes all eligible customers

Winners of Doha Banks Al Dana raffle receive their prizes.

maintaining a minimum balance of
QR1,000 and special draws for those
maintaining higher balances.
Now in its 11th year, Al Dana is the
leading savings programme of its
kind in Qatar and with Doha Banks
growing international presence with
dedicated prizes rewarding customers in markets such as Kuwait.
In addition to automatically entering all the other draws based on
eligibility, Kuwait Doha Millionaire customers will be eligible for a
separate dedicated draw held every

month, rewarding customers with a

KD5,000 prize. All customers maintaining a minimum balance of KD
100 in their accounts will be eligible
for this draw.
Customers holding Al Dana savings balances of QR1,000 and
above are automatically entered
into monthly draws that will award
QR10,000 each to 10 lucky winners
each month. Quarterly draws will
give one additional lucky winner
QR1mn for maintaining an account
balance of just QR1,000 during the

months of the eligible quarter.

Al Dana customers maintaining
balances of at least QR50,000 will be
eligible for special additional draws
that will reward one lucky customer
each month with monthly prizes of
QR100,000.
Doha Bank is also rewarding ve
winners each month from its Al
Dana Young Savers programme.
Young Savers should maintain a balance of at least QR500 in their accounts during the eligibility period
for each monthly draw.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR
Customer service key factor
in car purchase: Hyundai

remium car customers in Qatar and the

Middle East look for
the best in customer service
while selecting a new vehicle, according to a statement issued by Hyundai.
Research conducted by
Hyundai around the Middle
East launch of its all-new
Genesis model this year, suggests that attractive design,
state-of-the-art technology
and high performance are
not the only factors that convince potential customers to
invest in a luxury car.
The results of a special
customer clinic showed
that consideration to purchase among those surveyed rose by over a third
(34%) when the Korean
brands Premium Assurance
Plus Programme (HPAP+)
and its benets were explained, and when compared to services offered
by rival manufacturers, the
statement points out.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Nasser
al-Thani, president director of National Car Company, the official distributor
of Hyundai in Qatar, said:

The 2015 Genesis

Customers in Qatar expect
the very best in customer
service, and rightly so. Since
we introduced the HPAP+
programme to the market
last year, sales of both Genesis and Centennial models have been boosted, and
the feedback we have had
from customers has been
extremely positive.
In such a competitive
segment, it is initiatives
such as HPAP+ that enable
us to stay ahead of the competition when it comes to
customer service, and this
has a hugely positive impact
on customer loyalty.
Luxury
car
buyers
across the Middle East
have enjoyed higher levels
of customer service from
the HPAP+ programme,
which was introduced to
the region last year. Avail-

able as standard to all buyers of new Hyundai Genesis and Centennial models,
the programme is designed
to give customers added
peace of mind, according
to the statement.
The all-new Genesis and
Centennial models come
with free maintenance for
ve years or 100,000km
and all models also come
with a ve-year/unlimited
kilometre manufacturerprovided warranty.
Under the terms of the
programme, the customer
receives ve years, 24/7
roadside assistance.
Tom Lee, head of Hyundai
Africa and Middle East regional, said: The all-new
Genesis and Centennial exemplify everything that is
good about Hyundais new
Modern Premium brand
direction, and have won
a number of top industry
awards in both the Middle
East and around the globe.
Hyundai premium models Genesis and Centennial - are on display at the
National Car Company
showroom in Aziziya.

Rent, value should

not be dictated by
land price: expert
By Peter Alagos
Business Reporter

ent and property

value will not be dictated by current land
price, although population
growth and strong economic performance drive real
estate demand, an industry
expert has said.
At a property forum held
in Doha yesterday, Johnny
Archer, DTZ associate director (consulting and
research), reported that
strong economic performance continues to drive demand for real estate across
all asset classes.
He added that further
growth in population has
increased demand for residential property with new
stock of villa accommodation struggling to keep pace
with increasing population
gures, resulting in upward
pressure on rents.
However, Archer said the
increase in land prices has
been based on speculation
that rents and end values
will increase signicantly.
Speaking to Gulf Times
on the sidelines of the

event, Archer said: Land

prices should reect rents
and end values being paid.
Rents and end values should
not be dictated by the price
being paid for land.
Recently, there have
been a lot of reports in
newspapers that because
land prices are going up it
automatically means the
(rent) prices go up. But
thats not really how the
property market should
function, Archer noted.
He added: If theres an
oversupply of apartments,
theres no justication for
rents to go up if people
arent renting. Landlords
are more likely lower their
rents to attract tenants.
That is how the market
works.
Archer also said rent
prices will be dictated
by supply and demand
with
consideration
to
affordability.
We are in a global market and Qatar is trying to
attract professional and
skilled workers from around
the world but there needs
to be a sustainable cost of
living, he said.
When asked if lands in

Johnny Archer: Rent prices will be dictated by supply and demand. PICTURE: Jayan Orma
Qatar are accurately valuated, Archer emphasised
that it is not a question
of whether properties are
being valued incorrectly.
The question that needs to
be asked is whether prices
currently being paid are
sustainable.
During the forum, it was
also pointed out that data
released by the government, while useful, do not
always provide stakeholders
and industry players with a

The first batch of EoPM course.

Tafawoqs rst batch

nishes course in
project management
T

he rst batch of professionals to enrol

in Tafawoqs recently accredited Essentials of Project Management
(EoPM) course has demonstrated their expertise
by successfully completing
the programme and earning the Association for
Project Management (APM)
certicate.
Four Qatari project management professionals from
Qatar Petroleum and Qatari Diar will be presented
with the International
Project Management Association (IPMA) Level D
certicate.
The accredited qualication is one of the worlds
most respected, enabling
candidates to effectively
advance their knowledge
within the eld of project
management before progressing to the second level
of certication.
This international recognition will support the
successful candidates as
they contribute to delivery
aspects of Qatars capital
spending plans.
APM is a member organisation of the International
Project Management Association in Switzerland and

is the largest independent

professional body of its kind
in Europe with 500 corporate and 18,500 individual
members.
Saad
al-Muhannadi,
chairman, the Tafawoq Joint
Steering Committee and
technical director at Qatar
Petroleum (QP), expressed
delight at the outstanding
results and explained that
it was a strong indicator of
the programmes rigorous
standards.
We are very proud of the
four candidates who sat (in)
the APM exam and commend them for their excellence and commitment to
the eld, he said.
Established in 2012 by
partners QP, Hamad bin
Khalifa University and Qatar
Shell, Tafawoq has more than
300 project professionals
in its alumni.
Its accreditation by APM
earlier this year also illustrates its valuable contribution to the regions sustainable growth and to Qatar
National Vision 2030.
Mohamed S al-Suwaidi,
senior project planning
engineer at QP, said: I
participated in the course
because it offered us a platform to examine all aspects

of project management,
and propose improvements
by comparing local practices with international
standards.
The Tafawoq method
of education is based on
Shell Project Academys
Pentagon Model, an internationally
recognised
programme, which ensures
that project professionals
receive executive education
and training opportunities. Tafawoqs participants
gain valuable experience
from accomplished project
management professionals using virtual learning, work-based activities
and face-to-face training,
in addition to coaching,
mentoring and networking.
Abdulla Ahmed, a senior project engineer in QPs
onshore engineering department, said: The course
with Tafawoq proved to be
exceptionally valuable.
To enable all project
management professionals
to excel and receive the accredited qualication, Tafawoq will also hold - during
November and December
- two IPMA-Level D preparation sessions for candidates who have previously
graduated the EoPM course.

complete picture of Qatars

real estate market.
Well, its not that the
information is incorrect
sometimes, the information could possibly be
misleading because it does
not give the full picture,
Archer noted.
He explained that details needed for comparison
purposes such as precise location, the propertys characteristics, and accessibility are not provided in the

data released to the market.

These factors can impact on
the price being paid.
Asked what advice DTZ
provides to stakeholders
and industry players in the
real estate market, Archer
said: If we feel that the
price being paid for land in a
certain area is too high and
that the price being paid
cant be justied based on
the development potential, we will advise them
accordingly.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR

QHIC-Vodafone partnership
to preserve national identity
A
number of noted speakers in
Qatar and abroad are expected
to discuss major topics pertaining to the signicance of conserving a
countrys national identity at the Qatars rst National Identity Seminar
on October 20-21.
The two-day event, sponsored by
Vodafone Qatar, aims to help preserve
and promote the Qatari identity mainly
its values and principles. It is organised by the Qatar Heritage and Identity
Center (QHIC) under the patronage of
HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin
Khalifa al-Thani, the Prime Minister
and Minister of Interior.
The seminar will tackle subjects
such as the Qatari identity as a priority within the Qatar National Vision
2030; family and identity; demographical effect on identity and the
role of population dynamics and the
medias take on identity. It will also
showcase successful case studies of the
preservation of national identity from
Japan and Oman.
QHIC has been founded under the
auspices of HH Sheikha Moza bint
Nasser to revive the Qatari identity
and preserve our national heritage and
traditions, reinforcing the qualities of
loyalty and patriotism, said Dr Khalid
Youssuf al-Mulla, general manager at
QHIC. This seminar is one of a host of
initiatives and events that will help us
achieve this vision.
HE Dr Saleh Mohamed Salem al-Nabit, Minister of Development Planning
and Statistics, will open the seminar
with a keynote speech on the national
identity in light of the Qatar National
Vision 2030.
The rst day will feature speeches
from Dr Maysara Taher, manager of Beit
Al Mashoora Psychological Consultancy,
on family and identity, and Dr Kaltham
al-Ghanem, manager of the Human and
Social Sciences Centre, in addition to a
showcase of successful preservation of
national identity from Japan and Oman.
Former Kuwaiti Minister of Information Dr Saad bin Tea will open the
second day with a speech on the effect
of traditional and modern media on
identity.
Dr Fatima al-Suweidy, deputy chief

Mohamed al-Yami, director of External Affairs at Vodafone Qatar (left); and Dr

Khalid Youssuf al-Mulla, general manager at QHIC, yesterday signed an exclusive
sponsorship for the seminar aimed at preserving the Qatari National Identity.
PICTURE: Thajudeen
of Arabic Language Department at Qatar University, will deliver a speech on
the Identity and the Arabic language
while Mohamed Ali Abdullah, expert
on cultural architecture, will discuss
Identity through architecture in Qatar
will follow.
In a press statement, Vodafone said
the Qatar National Vision 2030 aims to
build an advanced, knowledge-based
economy that is capable of sustaining
its own development, in addition to
providing a high standard of living for
Qatar residents.
The vision denes the long-term
outcomes for the country, and provides
a framework through which national
strategies and plans can be developed,
it added.
In a bid to support of this national

objective, Vodafone had organised last

year two Arabic literary competitions
titled With your pen, express your
love to Qatar.
These were intended to help preserve the Arabic language, encourage
creative writing, and more importantly,
celebrate the beauty of the written Arabic word, said Mohamed al-Yami, director of External Affairs at Vodafone
Qatar.
The initiative also demonstrates Vodafones commitment to the vision of
HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al-Thani, and HH Sheikha Moza bint
Nasser, who reinforced the importance
of reviving and preserving the Arabic
language.
The competitions saw more than 100
submissions in their rst year.

10

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

REGION

Iran hopeful over

nuclear talks: FM
Reuters
Vienna

ran does not expect a

breakthrough in highlevel nuclear talks with
the United States and the
European Union this week
but hopes they will help
pave the way for a nal deal,
its foreign minister said yesterday.
Mohamed Javad Zarif was
quoted by Irans Fars news
agency after arriving in Vienna, where he was due to
meet European Union foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton. US Secretary of
State John Kerry will join
them today.
Zarifs cautious optimism
came a day after President
Hassan Rohani told Iranian
television that a nuclear

agreement was certain

and that only ne details
remained to be negotiated.
Talks between Iran and
six powers - the United
States, France, Germany,
China, Russia and Britain
- are due to conclude by a
self-imposed November 24
deadline with, diplomats
hope, a deal to end a standoff that has lasted more than
a decade.
In another sign of attempts to accelerate negotiations, Ashtons office said
she and Zarif would meet
with senior foreign ministry
officials known as political
directors of the six powers in
the Austrian capital tomorrow, a day after the meeting
between the top EU, US and
Iranian diplomats.
The main thing for us
now is that time is not be-

ing lost, Russian Deputy

Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying
by Tass news agency.
A Western diplomat
said the aim of tomorrows
meeting would be to take
stock of the status of the negotiations.
Ashton, who heads the
team negotiating with Iran,
will work as hard as she
can to try and get a good
agreement by the deadline,
her spokesman, Michael
Mann, said. That is extremely important in every
way.
With only six weeks to go,
Western officials say signicant differences remain,
especially over the future
scope of Irans uranium
enrichment
programme,
activity that can have both
civilian and military uses.
Houthi rebels patrol a street in Sanaa yesterday.

Key Yemeni port city

seized by Shia rebels
Houthi Shia rebels overrun
Hudeida, taking control of
Yemens second most important
seaport
AFP
Sanaa

emeni Shia rebels seized a

strategic port city yesterday
to widen their fast-expanding
zone of control, hours after a new
premier was named in a bid to defuse
the countrys political crisis.
And with the weakening of central authority, battered by the rebels
seizure of Sanaa last month, southern separatists were stepping up
their demands for independence.
The Houthi Shia rebels met little
resistance as they overran Hudeida,
taking control of Yemens second
most important seaport, a security
official said.
The operation came just hours after President Abd-Rabbu Mansour
Hadi named a new prime minister in
an effort to appease the rebels.
Houthi militants are deployed
across vital installations, including
the airport and the port in Hudeida,
the official said.
Military and rebel sources con-

rmed that Houthi militants were

seen deployed across main roads in
the city of more than 2mn residents.
Witnesses and local sources said
the militants had set up checkpoints
at the citys main entrances, with a
security guard reported killed when
the rebels seized a court building.
The takeover came just weeks after the Houthis, almost unopposed,
swept into the capital Sanaa, 225km
to the east.
The rebels, traditionally based
in the north, have been battling
troops and Sunni militants in recent
months as part of their bid to spread
their control across the country.
Houthi militiamen stormed into
Sanaa on September 21, seizing key
government installations, and they
now man checkpoints and run patrols across the capital in almost total absence of the security forces.
The impoverished and predominantly Sunni country has been wracked
by political turmoil and sporadic violence since an uprising toppled strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012.
Yemen is also facing security
threats from Al Qaeda in the Arabian
Peninsula (AQAP) and a southern
separatist movement.
Yesterday, suspected Al Qaeda
militants shot dead an army officer

in the southern province of Shabwa,

a military source said.
Rival militants appear to be exploiting a power vacuum in Yemen, which
is located next to Saudi Arabia and key
shipping routes in the Gulf of Aden.
Military sources had previously
warned that Shia rebels had their
sights set on Hudeida and on extending their presence to the narrow
Bab al-Mandab strait, which leads to
the Suez Canal.
And in the east of the country,
the Houthis are apparently eyeing
Yemens oil and gas reserves in Marib
province.
Hadi on Monday named Yemens
envoy to the UN, Khalid Bahah, as
the new premier, after the rebels rejected an earlier choice.
Bahahs nomination, which appeared to have the support of the
rebels, was expected to be a key step
in persuading them to withdraw
from Sanaa.
With the political crisis mounting
in Sanaa, tens of thousands of supporters of the separatist Southern
Movement gathered in Aden yesterday to press demands for the souths
independence.
The demonstration in the largest
city of the south, called by hardliners in the Southern Movement, came

on the 51st anniversary of the souths

revolt against British colonial rule.
The exiled president of the former
South Yemen, Ali Salem al-Baid,
who champions secession, urged
supporters to seize the opportunity
to demand independence.
All ongoing developments fall in
the interest of the southern peoples
justied call for freedom ... We must
swiftly benet from these changes,
he said in a statement.
Protesters pitched tents in central Adens Al Arood Square at the
launch of what they said would be an
indenite sit-in.
We swear by God: Sanaa will not
rule over us, chanted the protesters,
who raised ags of the former South
Yemen.
The south was independent between the end of British colonial rule
in 1967 and its union with the north
in 1990.
A secession attempt four years
later sparked a brief but bloody civil
war that ended with northern forces
occupying the region.
The separatists, as well as Houthi
Shias, rejected plans unveiled in
February for Yemen to become a sixregion federation, including two for
the south, as part of a post-Saleh
political transition.

Tehran rejects Saudi

comments over Syria
AFP
Tehran

ran hit back yesterday

at demands from Saudi
Arabia that Tehran withdraw its occupying forces
from Syria and insisted no
country was more committed to confronting militants
in the region.
The two regional powers
have been at odds over Syria
since unrest broke out in
2011, but the unusually highprole exchange threatens to
undermine a recent diplomatic push to patch up their
differences.
Responding to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud alFaisals comments that Iran
was part of the problem, not
the solution in Syria, Tehran
rejected the claim.
The Islamic Republic of
Iran is the most important
country in the region committed to the ght against
terrorism, Deputy Foreign
Minister Hossein AmirAbdollahian was quoted as
saying on the website of state
television.
Iran has helped the governments of Iraq and Syria
ght against terrorism within the framework of international law.
Iran supports Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad
with nancial and military
aid, while Saudi Arabia has

backed armed rebels trying

to overthrow him.
The threat to Iran and Saudi
from Islamic State (IS) militants prompted them to try to
improve relations this summer but the angry exchange of
the past 24 hours on Syria laid
bare their differences.
We recommend that
Saudi Arabia pay attention
to the plots of the enemies of
the region... and play a positive role, Amir-Abdollahian
said, without elaborating.
Iran denies having ghters on the ground in Syria.
Assad, however, is backed
by ghters from Lebanons
pro-Iranian Shia movement
Hezbollah.
Saudi and four other Arab
nations are now taking part
in or giving support to air
strikes by the US-led coalition against IS militants in
Syria.
The Iranian and Saudi foreign ministers met in New
York before the UN General Assembly last month to
agree on what was billed as
a new page in relations between the two countries.
The encounter was the
rst between the top diplomats since Iranian President
Hassan Rohani came to power in August 2013.
However, Prince Saud
on Monday hit out at Tehran, saying that in many
conicts, Iran is part of the
problem, not the solution.

12

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

ARAB WORLD
Mosque
torched in
West Bank

UN chief calls
for probe into
shelling of
Gaza school
Ban Ki-moon says the
devastation in Gaza is far
worse than that caused in the
previous conflict of winter
2008-2009
Agencies
Gaza City

N chief Ban Ki-moon

demanded an independent probe into the deadly
shelling of a school during the
Gaza conict and expressed
shock at the extent of devastation during a visit yesterday to
the Palestinian enclave.
Two days after donor states
pledged $5.4bn to rebuild the
Gaza Strip, Ban toured some of
the areas worst hit during the
July-August conict between
Israel and the territorys Hamas
rulers.
No amount of (UN) Security Council sessions, reports or
briengs could have prepared me
for what I witnessed today, he
said after being driven through
the ruins of Gaza Citys Shejaiya
district and the nearby Jabaliya
refugee camp.
The secretary general was
speaking at a UN school in Jabaliya, where on July 30 tank shells

slammed into two classrooms,

killing at least 14 people sheltering there.
The shelling of the United
Nations school is absolutely unacceptable. These actions must
be fully and independently investigated, he said.
Relatives of the dead held up
posters showing their loved ones
and disabled casualties waited to
see Ban.
The UN chief also called on
Palestinian militant groups to
cease ring rockets at Israel from
the territory.
I repeat here in Gaza the
rockets red by Hamas and other
military groups, must end. They
have brought nothing but suffering, he said.
One classroom, now repaired,
had the words every human being has the right to life written
on its walls.
After meeting in Gaza City
with members of a new Palestinian consensus government,
Ban told reporters the devastation he had seen was far worse
than that caused in the previous
Israel-Gaza conict of winter
2008-2009.
This is a much more serious
destruction than what I saw in
2009, he said.

Ban, who last visited the territory in 2012, said at a donor

conference in Egypt on Sunday
his trip to the Palestinian enclave was to listen directly to
the people of Gaza.
He said the international
pledges of $5.4bn in reconstruction aid were quite encouraging.
Donations include $1bn from
Qatar, $212mn from the US and
450mn euros from the EU.
The provision of aid will be
overseen jointly by the UN and
the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, amid concerns
that unchecked imports could
fall into the hands of militants,
including those of Hamas.
Hamas and its rival Fatah,
which dominates the PA, signed
a unity deal in April under which
the consensus government was
sworn in.
Ban yesterday welcomed the
rapprochement.
This is a great opportunity
to unite the West Bank and Gaza
under one Palestinian leadership, he said.
Ban said the aid funds would
go towards the urgently needed building of infrastructure
and homes in Gaza, where nearly
2,200 Palestinians, mostly ci-

Reuters
Aqraba, West Bank

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hugs wheelchair-bound Palestinian Mohamed Abed al-Dayem at a UNrun school in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday. Medics said al-Dayem lost both of his legs when Israeli
shelling hit the school.
vilians, were killed and tens of
thousands displaced in the 50day war.
On the Israeli side, 73 people
were killed, mainly soldiers.
At the Cairo conference, Ban
said the root causes of the recent hostilities were a restrictive occupation that has
lasted almost half a century, the
continued denial of Palestinian
rights and the lack of tangible
progress in peace negotiations.
Yesterday, he urged Israeli and
Palestinian leaders to revive collapsed peace talks without delay.
Im asking the leaders of both
parties... to resume their talks,

he said. Otherwise its a matter of time that the violence will

continue.
Israel opened the border to the
rst truckloads of building materials for post-war reconstruction in Gaza yesterday.
Under UN and Palestinian Authority monitoring, Israel said it was allowing in 600
tonnes of cement, 50 truckloads
of gravel and 10 truckloads of
steel for rebuilding homes and
public buildings.
Palestinians said at least 200
tonnes of cement had reached
Gaza through the Kerem Shalom
crossing with Israel yesterday.

On a visit on Monday to the

West Bank city of Ramallah, Ban
criticised continued Israeli settlement expansion.
I once again strongly condemn the continued settlement
activity by Israel, he said, echoing international condemnation
of plans for new settler homes on
occupied Palestinian territory.
The White House and EU
have slammed Israels approval
in September of 2,600 new settlement units in Israeli-annexed
Arab East Jerusalem.
The issue has caused the
breakdown of numerous rounds
of peace talks.

mosque was set alight in a

suspected arson attack in
the occupied West Bank
yesterday and the name of an Israeli
vigilante group called price tag
was found scribbled on an outside
wall, Palestinian officials and witnesses said.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
condemned the incident in Aqraba,
a village east of Nablus, and urged
Israels police chief to head an investigation adding that the case
should be treated as terrorism.
The price tag group has carried out scores of attacks on Palestinian, Israeli Arab, and church
property in the West Bank and inside Israel since 2008. The group
says it aims to exact a price for any
opposition to settlement building.
Residents said they noticed
smoke coming from the building
before dawn and rushed to douse
the ames, which damaged a carpet and blackened one of the walls.
If we hadnt rushed to put out
the re the entire building could
have gone up in ames, said Maher
Fares, a villager.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian
official from the Nablus area, said
he suspected Jewish settlers in the
area had carried out the attack. The
settlement of Itamar is about 4km
north of Aqraba.
They broke a window and
threw a rebomb into the mosque
which burned the carpet, Daghlas
said.
Hebrew script reading price
tag had been scrawled on the outside of the mosque, a Reuters cameraman said.
Rivlin demanded a wider crackdown against the vandals.
We cannot continue to regard
incidents like these as marginal.
Rather, we must uproot them, a
statement from his office said.

Israel says UK Palestine

vote hits peace prospects
AFP
Jerusalem

srael warned yesterday that a vote by

the British parliament in favour of
recognising a Palestinian state risked
undermining the prospects for peace.
Premature international recognition sends a troubling message to the
Palestinian leadership that they can
evade the tough choices that both sides
have to make, and actually undermines
the chances to reach a real peace, said a
statement from the Israeli foreign ministry.
Late Monday British MPs voted 274 to
12 for a non-binding motion to recognise the state of Palestine alongside the
state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution.
The resolution was welcomed by the
Palestinians.
It will enhance the European voices
calling for the recognition of the State of
Palestine and will create the right environment for the international community to grant the Palestinian people legal
parity and rights, senior PLO official
Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad
al-Malki urged London to immediately
recognise the state of Palestine, while
Hamas said the parliamentary motion
was symbolic only.
This symbolic vote is an important

sign that the international community

is changing its attitude in regard to the
occupations crimes, but it is still a symbolic move, Hamas spokesman Sami
Abu Zuhri said.
Britains ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, said although the vote was
not binding on the British government it
was signicant.
I think that this vote is a sign of
shifting public opinion in the UK and
indeed beyond, he said in an interview
with Israeli public radio.
The debate in the House of Commons
came after the Swedish government said
it would recognise a Palestinian stateit
would be the rst EU member in Western Europe to do sodrawing anger
from Israel.
It follows the collapse of peace talks
between Israel and Palestine, and this
years conict in Gaza in which more
than 2,000 Palestinians and dozens of
Israelis were killed.
The conict in the summer over
Gaza had a big impact on British public
opinion and has affected Israels standing, Gould said.
Announcements on settlements
since the summer have also had an impact and so although this vote wont affect government policy I think it is right
to be concerned about what it signies
in terms of the direction of public opinion.
The Palestinian Authority estimates

134 countries have recognised Palestine

as a state, although the number is disputed and several recognitions by what
are now European Union member states
date from the Soviet era.
Britain abstained in 2012 from a vote
in the United Nations on giving the
Palestinians the rank of observer state,
which was granted over the objections
of the United States and Israel.
Frances foreign minister said yesterday that Paris should recognise a Palestinian state only if doing so would help
achieve peace, not as a symbolic gesture.
However, if negotiations between the
Palestinians and Israel fail, Paris would
not shirk its responsibilities but would
recognise the Palestinian state, Laurent
Fabius said in answer to a question in
parliament.
From the moment when we say that
there are two states, there will be recognition of a Palestinian state. That goes
without saying, its logical, Fabius said.
The only question are the modalities and how to do it in the most efficient
way. What we want is not something
symbolic, but something that is useful
for peace.
Until now the prevailing idea was
that recognition should be linked to the
negotiations, Fabius said. But if negotiations were to prove impossible or
have no conclusion, then France will
naturally have to assume its responsibilities.

Experts say EU unlikely to push further towards recognition

Issued in Public Interest by

Despite a highly-symbolic British

vote to recognise Palestine as a state,
the road to official recognition is still
fraught with obstacles, experts say, with
the hoped-for two-state solution a long
way off.
Diplomats and analysts see Mondays
overwhelming British vote to recognise
Palestine as a state, following Swedens
decision to do so, as a small shift, but
warn against reading too much into it.
Its moving a little bit. Certain
European countries are trying to make
themselves heard and push things
forward, said Agnes Levallois, an
expert on the Arab world, adding that
the push for Middle East peace must
now come from Europe after the failure
of US-led efforts.
According to an AFP count, at least
112 countries around the world have
recognised a Palestinian state. A
Palestinian count puts the number at
134.
EU member countries that have
recognised a Palestinian state include

Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic,

Hungary, Malta, Poland and Romania.
But experts say the EU is unlikely to
push further towards recognition,
particularly given the sensitivity of
Germanys relations with Israel due to
Berlins Nazi past.
France has said it will recognise
Palestine when the time is right but
diplomats say Paris will not act outside
the European framework.
The Palestinian ambassador in Paris,
Hael al-Fahoum, said: I hope that
France, which is normally a driving
force on this topic, will soon make a
very important gesture.
But diplomats in Paris say that France
is not yet ready to follow Sweden and
take the plunge. You can only play
the card of recognition once, which
is why it is important to choose ones
moment, said one diplomat, who
requested anonymity.
Theres no other answer to the
conflict than the two-state solution, said
another source.

But frustration is growing within the

international community in the face of
a seemingly intractable conflict, with
the Europeans increasingly vocal about
the cost of rebuilding after military
flare-ups.
French President Francois Hollande
said in August that the EU should
not be seen as a cash point for
reconstruction and EU foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton said it must
be the last time the international
community has to pay to rebuild Gaza,
after a global pledge made on Sunday
of $5.4bn.
Pessimists say that a political solution
seems light years away, pointing to out
of control Israeli settlement building,
weak and divided Palestinians and
difficulty restoring trust after this years
Gaza conflict.
The emergence of the Islamic State
and the crisis in Syria and Iraq threaten
to take the international communitys
eye off the ball in the Middle East peace
process as well, analysts warn.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

13

ARAB WORLD

Security chiefs red after Assad loyalists protest

Reuters
Beirut

wo high-ranking Syrian security officials have

been red in what residents and a rights group say is a
response to protests by government loyalists angered by the
death of 41 children in a bombing
in Homs city.
Official concessions to popular demands are rare in Syria. But

many loyalists are starting to feel

abandoned by the government
for whom they have sacriced
much to defend since President
Bashar al-Assads crackdown on
peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011 led to an armed uprising and civil war.
In the days after a double suicide bombing on October 1 at
a school in the heavily guarded loyalist neighbourhood of
Akramah, residents demanded
the resignation of top security

officials and criticised state-run

media for not acknowledging the
high number of dead and missing among loyalists in other recent attacks.
Head of Security Committee
Major General Ahmad Jamil and
head of Military Intelligence Abdulkarim Saloum were removed
from their posts this week without official explanation.
Their departure may mark
the start of several personnel
changes, suggested Rami Abdel

Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a

Britain-based organisation that
tracks events in Syria.
They were red in response to
pressure from the loyalist community, who have been accusing
the government of reckless disregard for their lives, he said.
The authorities are further
considering the removal of the
governor of Homs and (the high
prole) head of media, Luna alShibl.

Though rare for them to voice

public anger, loyalists have done
so increasingly since August,
when the government lost the
Tabqa air base to Islamic State
militants in Raqqa province.
Soldiers families said more than
a hundred of their kin were left
to die without attempts to save
or resupply them.
A video posted by Islamic
State showed the bodies of dozens of men, presumed to have
been captured Syrian soldiers,

lying face down wearing nothing

but their underwear.
Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of
the video, but the Observatory
conrmed the death of at least
120. Many loyalists also identied their loved ones among the
footage of the men, as they were
being marched by militants to
their death. State run television
ignored the video and denied
there were any deaths.
The school bombing in

Akramah this month - which

was not claimed - forced people
to speak up, said one resident.
People cannot tolerate such
behaviour at all anymore because now were talking about
spilling the blood of children,
said a local from Homs who belongs to the minority Shia sect.
Speaking by Internet on condition of anonymity, he said his
distant relative, a nine-yearold boy, was killed in the school
blast.

Wrenching
separation
for family as
battle rages
AFP
Suruc, Turkey

ust 5km separates Dursun

Nahsen from her son Resad.
But this short distance is the
difference between her refuge in
the relative peace of Turkey and
the deadly battle for the town of
Kobane.
And it is this wrenching
separation, which begins at the
barbed wire of the Turkish-Syrian border, that Dursun Nahsen
is nding increasingly hard to
bear.
The mainly Kurdish Syrian
town of Kobane, where Resad
is ghting alongside Peoples
Protection Units (YPG) ghters
against Islamic State militants,
is so close to the Turkish border that the ghting is clearly
visible and audible on the other
side.
But with Resad engaged in the
deadly ghting against militants
who have already seized swathes
of Iraq and Syria, Kobane might
as well be light years away for his
mother.
I have had no more news
from him since we were forced to
ee to Turkey, Dursun Nahsen,
60, says with a pained smile.
Its now 20 days.
Clearly, I am now very worried for him. He is everything for
me. He is my heart, my pearl,
she added.
I have four children. One already died in a car accident. I
want him to come back to me.
She is one of an estimated
200,000 people, mainly Kurds,
who fled to Turkey to escape
the advance of the militants.
But like her, many left behind
loved ones to fight the extremists.
The YPG fighters have over
the last few days managed
to hold up the IS advance on
Kobane with the help of air
strikes carried out by a USled coalition. The strikes are
greeted with cheers by the
Kurds on the Turkish side of
the border.
Although precise casualty de-

tails are not available, the ghting for Kobane has been relentless and bloody.
Every day, refugees on the
Turkish side of the border bid a
nal farewell to loved ones killed
in the ghting and whose corpses are brought over the border
for burial.
Like his wife, Resads father
Muslim Osman lives in hope of
hearing a sign of life from his
son.
I do not fear for him because
it is God the merciful who decides everything. Of course I am
worried though. But what am I
supposed to do?
Like most of the other Syrian
refugees, the 70-year-old grocer
spends most of his time waitingfor news of Kobane, and of
his son.
Of course I am proud of
him. But that hardly will mean
much, if like others, he dies, he
said.
Many of the Kurdish refugees
who ed the IS onslaught on
Kobane have found refuge at the
homes of relatives on the Turkish side of the border.
But Muslim Osman has been
helped by the hospitality of the
authorities of the border town
of Suruc and like several others
is living in the storage section in
the basement of a building.
The families exist in precarious circumstances, often without water or proper sanitary facilities.
Resads father has problems
imagining how there can be any
kind of future for the family.
The IS militants have now
entered the centre of the city.
There is street ghting. If
Kobane falls, it will be a disaster
for all of us.
In the refugee camps, accounts of the beheadings and
torture carried out by the militants are discussed at length.
Even if the militants are
eventually repelled, the horrors of the IS advance will mark
Kobane forever, said Muslim
Osman.
Going back to how it was is
impossible.

Smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobane after an air strike by the US-led coalition, as seen from the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern village of Mursitpinar yesterday.

US says air war against

IS militants succeeding
Central Command, which
oversees US forces in the
Middle East, says there are
indications air raids have
slowed ISIL (IS) advances
AFP
Mursitpinar, Turkey

he White House said yesterday a multinational air

war against Islamic State
militants in Iraq and Syria is succeeding, as top brass from 22
countries met to discuss a strategy for combating them.
That optimism was underscored by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said
US-led air strikes had stopped
in its tracks ISs bid to seize
Kobane, a strategic Syrian town
on the border with Turkey.
Speaking as President Barack
Obama prepared to meet with
the generals of the US-led coalition, White House spokesman
Josh Earnest said were in the
early days of the execution of
that strategy, but certainly the
early evidence indicates that this
strategy is succeeding.
That meeting, at an air force
base outside Washington, came
as American-led warplanes ham-

mered IS militants with 21 raids

near Kobane on Monday and yesterday, the US military said.
IS militants recently captured
nearly half of Kobane, but Observatory director Rami Abdel
Rahman said the latest strikes
had succeeded in saving it from
falling entirely into the jihadists
hands.
Central Command, which
oversees US forces in the Middle
East, said there were indications
air raids had slowed ISIL (IS)
advances, but that the situation
remained uid.
Earnest called this a continuation of our broader strategy,
not a change in it, when asked
if the stepped-up strikes represented a shift.
The ght would not be quick
or easy, he acknowledged, adding that weve been pretty candid about the fact that this is a
longer-term proposition.
The White House spokesman
also insisted US ground troops
would not be involved in the battle.
That battle was to dominate
the talks at Andrews Air Force
base among the military chiefs,
including from all ve of the
Arab states taking part in the air
campaign in Syria.

Obama predicts
long campaign
US President Barack Obama
told defence chiefs from some
20 countries yesterday that
he is deeply concerned about
the Islamic State assault on the
Syrian town of Kobane and that
the United States would keep
launching air strikes in the area.
He predicted a long-term
campaign against the militant
group and declared the US and
allied goal is to destroy Islamic
State so it no longer represents
a threat in the region or to the
world. He said the campaign will
include progress and setbacks.

The meeting provides an opportunity to take stock of coalition progress to date and continue to align and fully integrate the
unique capabilities of coalition
partners, said Alistair Baskey,
spokesman for the US National
Security Council.
Obama was also due to meet
the commanders and looked forward to discussing additional
measures that the coalition can
take to degrade and ultimately
destroy IS, Baskey said.
It was the rst time such high-

Algerian police in
rare protest march
Reuters
Algiers

bout 300 Algerian police

officers marched through
Algiers yesterday in a rare
public protest by security forces
to show solidarity with a police
demonstration over working
conditions and riots in a southern city.
Protests by public service employees are common in Algeria
but security forces rarely take to
the streets.
The officers, from a riot unit,
marched in their blue uniforms
toward the downtown area of the
capital.
Police officers had already taken to the streets in the southern
Algerian desert town of Ghardaia
on Monday to demonstrate after
clashes in the region between
Arabs and Berbers.

Riots broke out between the

two communities near Ghardaia,
with two people killed and businesses torched, the official APS
news agency and local media reported.
Youths from the two communities threw stones and petrol bombs and also set re to
several businesses, according
to APS and Algerian media reports. Several policemen were
also injured.
The area had been tense since
police arrested a group of young
men last week for suspected involvement in previous clashes.
Ghadaia, around 600km from
Algiers, is home to both Arabs
and the Mozabite Berber community, which speaks its own
language and follows its own
school of Islam. The area has often been the scene of clashes as
Arabs and Mozabites compete
over jobs, houses and land.

Similar violence took place

in the area last year, resulting
in the deaths of at least five
people.
National police chief Abdelghani Hamel visited the
province on Monday in a bid
to restore calm after hundreds
of policemen staged a march
in Ghardaia to protest against
attacks on them by gangs of
youths.
Algerias
security
forces
fought a war with Islamist
militants in the 1990s in which
200,000 people were killed and
the protests are unlikely to cause
any security fallout for the Opec
country.
But since the 2011 revolts in
neighbouring Tunisia, Libya
and Egypt, they have been under
pressure to contain any social
unrest in Algeria, even though
many people are wary of turmoil
after the earlier conict.

ranking officials from so many

nations have come together
since the coalition was formed
in September and which now, on
paper, includes about 60 countries.
Turkeys call for the establishment of a protective buffer
zone along its border with Syria,
where the militants have pushed
into the heart of predominantly
Kurdish Kobane, was also expected to be on the agenda.
Ankara, which has faced a
three-decade Kurdish insurgency, has tightened security of
its porous Syrian border after the
ghting in Kobane sparked the
exodus of 200,000 refugees.
French President Francois
Hollande urged Turkey to open
its frontier with Syria to help
Kobanes defenders, warning the
town could fall to IS at any moment.
I think about what is happening today in Kobane, a martyred town, a symbolic town. If
we have to intervene, as we decided for France in Iraq, we also
have to give the moderate Syrian
opposition... all the support, all
the help necessary, he said.
Fighting is reported to have
spread to less than a kilometre
from the barbed wire fence of

the Turkish border, the Observatory said.

Kurdish ghters were trying to
push into the eastern sector, under IS control, said the Observatory, which has a wide network
of sources inside Syria.
On Monday, Kurdish militia
captured the strategic hilltop of
Tel Shair west of Kobane, according to the Observatory,
which said the site had changed
hands several times.
The black IS ag could no longer be seen ying on the hill from
across the border. Concern has
also been growing over Iraq, where
IS ghters have been threatening
to seize more territory.
Iraqi forces are reported to be
under intensifying pressure in
Anbar province, a vast region
stretching from near Baghdad to
the Syrian border.
In Baghdad, an Iraqi MP and
prominent militia leader, Ahmed
al-Khafaji, was one of at least
21 people killed by a suicide car
bomb in the Shia neighbourhood
of Kadhimiyah.
The third bombing in Kadhimiyah in four days, it was
immediately claimed by IS in
a statement posted online that
also said Khafaji was the intended target.

Egypt court signals

death penalty for 7
Reuters
Cairo

Policemen march during the protest in Algiers yesterday.

n Egyptian court has recommended death sentences for seven men,

including a prominent Islamist
militant, charged with killing 25
policemen last year in an attack
near the border with Israel, a judicial source said yesterday.
He said the court had referred
the case to the Grand Mufti,
Egypts highest Muslim authority, whose opinion is typically
sought on capital punishment
but whose decision can be disregarded.
The court decided by consensus to send the case to the
Grand Mufti, he said.
The high-prole militant,
Adel Habara, was in custody, he
said, but he could not immediately say where the others were.
The nal ruling is due on December 6, after the Mufti offers
his opinion. It can be appealed.

The attack took place in August 2013 following the governments violent clearing of two
protest camps in Cairo, where
supporters of deposed Islamist
president Mohamed Mursi had
gathered to demand his reinstatement.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as army chief engineered
Mursis overthrow following
mass protests against his rule
and then launched a crackdown
on his Muslim Brotherhood supporters, now faces a growing Islamist insurgency in the lawless
Sinai Peninsula adjoining Israel
and the Gaza Strip.
Thousands of Brotherhood
supporters have been rounded up in Sisis crackdown and
hundreds have since been sentenced to death. Liberal activists have also been suppressed
by Sisi, with many of the leading lights of the 2011 popular
uprising also facing trial for
breaking a law that seeks to
curb protests.

14

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

AFRICA
GORY FIND

CHILD SOLDIERS

IN THE DOCK

ABDUCTED

SAFETY CONCERNS

Burundi says 40 corpses in

lake were Rwandans

UN slams Central African

militias over kids in clashes

Ivory Coasts former first

lady to face trial October 22

Polish missionary taken in

Central African Republic

Location of Madagascar
ex-president unknown

The general prosecutor of Burundi said

yesterday that an investigation into 40 bodies
found in a lake on the border with Rwanda
has concluded that the dead were Rwandans,
even though Rwanda has previously denied
this. The bodies, some wrapped in plastic, were
discovered on the Burundian side of Lake Rweru
in August. Burundis general prosecutor, Valentin
Bagorikunda, said yesterday that officials had
examined the site where the bodies were found
and interviewed those present when they
washed up on shore. In conclusion, following all
the evidence we have, it appears that the bodies
came from Rwanda, he told a news conference.

Armed groups recruited and deployed children

in clashes in Central African Republics capital
last week and at least three were killed,
including two they had accused of spying, the
top UN humanitarian official in the country
said. I confirm the brutal killings of at least
three children, including two boys who had
been accused of spying and an eight-year-old
shot by a stray bullet, Claire Bourgeois said
in a statement yesterday. The three days of
clashes - mostly militias, known as anti-balaka,
against armed Muslims - left at least 10 people
dead and forced up to 6,500 to flee their
homes, according to the UN.

Ivory Coasts former first lady Simone Gbagbo, who

has been accused of genocide for her role in deadly
post-election violence, will go on trial on October
22. Some 90 others close to ex-president Laurent
Gbago will also go before a court in Abidjan for
their role in five months of post-election violence
that left some 3,000 people dead. The defendants,
including former prime minister Gilbert Ake NGbo,
are charged with genocide, threats to state security,
rebellion and disturbing public order during the
bloody standoff that followed a 2010 presidential
poll. The defendants will be summoned before the
criminal court on October 22, Simone Gbagbos
lawer, Herve Gouamene, told AFP.

A Polish Catholic missionary has been kidnapped

by eight armed men in Central African Republic
who are demanding the release of their leader
in return for the priests freedom, Polish officials
said yesterday. The head of the organisation that
runs Polands overseas Catholic missions said the
men, belonging to a rebel group known as the
Democratic Front of the Central African People,
abducted Mateusz Dziedzic on the night of
October 12 in the town of Baboua. They said they
wanted to exchange the kidnapped missionary
for their leader, who is currently imprisoned
in Cameroon, Tomasz Atlas, head of Polands
Pontifical Mission Societies, told Reuters.

The whereabouts of former Madagascar

president Marc Ravalomanana are unknown after
he was seized by police shortly after his surprise
return from exile, his family said yesterday. We
are desperately worried about his safety, his son
Tojo said in a statement, adding that the family
had been denied access to give him medication
and clothing. Ravalomanana, ousted in a 2009
coup, was picked up at his home in Antananarivo
after his return from South Africa on Monday.
The family have accused the authorities of
kidnapping him and are appealing to the
Southern African Development Community or
the South African ambassador to intervene.

Nigeria blocks
campaigners
protesting girls
abduction
AFP
Abuja

A man hangs a banner about measures to avoid the Ebola virus with an image of Ivory Coasts Health Minister Raymonde Goudou Coffie in Abidjan.

Striking Ebola medics

face sack in Liberia
AFP
Monrovia

he Liberian government yesterday threatened to re doctors and nurses who are on

strike demanding danger money to
care for Ebola patients in the country worst hit by the epidemic.
Those who stay home in respect
of the order given by the health
workers union will be replaced
and will never come back to work,
Health Minister Walter Gwenigale
said on state radio.
The labour action began last week
with a go-slow at Monrovias Island
Clinic, whose Ebola treatment unit
(ETU) has been overwhelmed since
it opened on September 21 with
support from the UN World Health
Organization (WHO).
The strike then expanded to other ETUs on Monday and again yes-

UN nuclear watchdog to help in West Africas Ebola fight

The UN atomic agency plans to help
West African countries fight the
Ebola epidemic with nuclear-related
technology that can quickly diagnose
a disease which has killed more than
4,400 people.
Specialised equipment is expected
to be delivered in coming weeks to
Sierra Leone and then to Liberia and
Guinea, the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement yesterday.
IAEA Director General Yukiya
Amano said it was a small but

terday, though reliable gures on

the stayaway rate were unavailable.
The local office of the WHO said
one-third of Island Clinic staff were
not at work.
WHO is very concerned for the
safety and well-being of the Eb-

effective contribution to efforts to

combat the outbreak.
The IAEA said a nuclear-derived
diagnostic technology known as
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase
Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) allows the
Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to be
detected within a few hours. Other
methods, it said, require growing on
a cell culture for several days before
a diagnosis is determined.
Early diagnosis of EVD, if combined with appropriate medical care,
increases the victims chance of sur-

vival and helps curtail the spread of

the disease by making it possible to
isolate and treat the patients earlier,
the IAEA said.
While health authorities in Sierra
Leone and other affected countries
are already using the technology,
their diagnostic capability is limited,
the Vienna-based agency said.
The IAEA said it will provide Sierra
Leone with an RT-PCR machine and
other equipment, and that similar
support will eventually also be
transferred to Liberia and Guinea.

ola patients, and urges the health

workers to continue with their
work, the office said in an e-mail.
One of the possible consequences
of the strike is that there can be less
health workers working at the ETUs.
This means that there is more pres-

sure on the ones that are working

to take care of the Ebola patients.
Therefore, risks for making mistakes
are higher, which is a concern to us.
A health worker in the central
city of Gbarnga told AFP all his colleagues were on strike.

The head of the health workers

union, Joseph Tamba, meanwhile
said he and the unions secretary
general George Williams were in
hiding from the authorities.
Tamba said the strike was aimed
at obtaining permanent contracts
for some 6,000 employees and
charged that the government had
reneged on money promised at the
start of the crisis.
Ninety-ve Liberian health workers have died so far in the epidemic,
and their surviving colleagues want
pay commensurate with the acute
risk of dealing with Ebola, which
spreads through contact with bodily
uids and for which there is no vaccine or widely available treatment.
The epidemic - which the WHO
has called the most severe acute
public health emergency in modern
times - has killed more than 4,000
people this year, mostly in Guinea,
Sierra Leone and Liberia.

igerian police yesterday blocked supporters

of 219 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram
militants from marching on the presidents
official residence on the six-month anniversary of the
abduction. A wall of female officers in full riot gear
formed the rst line of a barricade in front of less than
100 members of the Bring Back Our Girls campaign,
preventing them from setting out.
An AFP reporter at the scene estimated that the security forces outnumbered the protesters by 10 to one,
as they chanted: Bring back our girls now and alive!
Elsewhere in the capital, about 300 youth members
of Goodluck Jonathans ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) took over a park where the demonstrators
normally meet.
It was not immediately clear why the march was
blocked and several government ministers came out to
address the noisy crowd, who are seeking to keep the
girls disappearance in the global spotlight.
Meanwhile, the US reaffirmed its commitment to
helping Nigeria nd the group while Britains former
prime minister Gordon Brown said the world should
not forget the girls struggle.
Hadiza Bala Usman, who helps to co-ordinate the
protests in Nigeria, said they have struggled to keep
the issue in the public eye, with no news about the
girls and often open hostility. Its just about being
here everyday... even if its just for an hour, she said.
The activists, born out of a viral social media campaign backed by US First Lady Michelle Obama and
celebrities, were forced to move from the park where
they held a candlelit vigil on Monday evening.
Self-styled PDP partisans hung around at the
venue yesterday. Asked where the protesters were, one
of them, who gave his name as Sunday Markus, said
only: They have left this place.
Campaign spokesman Olatunji Olanrewaju called
the youths a rented crowd and added: We have
been assaulted by such people in the past and we had
to relocate.
Some 276 girls were seized from their dormitories at
the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote
town of Chibok in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria,
on the night of April 14.
Fifty-seven escaped and Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau later vowed to sell the rest as slave
brides and said they would not be freed until militant
prisoners were released from jail.
Families affected by the attack have run the gamut
of emotions over the last six months, with talks at a
standstill and despite the military claiming that they
knew where the girls were held.
Usman said at that at the height of the frenzy, activists believed that a resolution was imminent and
that Nigeria would be forced to make a deal with the
Islamists.
Many in Chibok have already lost hope, said Mutah Nkeki, an Abuja resident from Chibok, whose two
nieces aged 17 and 19 were among the hostages.
But Enoch Mark, an elder in Chibok whose daughter
and nieces are being held, said the recent escape of a
woman kidnapped by Boko Haram nine months ago in
a separate attack had given fresh hope.
If this girl could regain freedom after nine months
in captivity all hope is not lost... We are ready to wait
six years on hoping to have our daughters back with
us, he said.
Brown also said the womans release - and that of 27
hostages freed in Cameroon last weekend - was a ray
of hope for the girls eventual freedom.
But both Mark and another Chibok elder, Pogo Bitrus, dismissed reports that four of the missing girls
had escaped to Cameroon.

Defence claims Pistorius would be vulnerable in prison

AFP
Pretoria

ouble amputee Oscar Pistorius would be vulnerable to gang-rape if sent to

one of South Africas brutal prisons, a defence witness claimed
yesterday during a day of heated
courtroom argument.
With sentencing days away,
the state and defence traded angry barbs over the Paralympian
star athletes disability, charity
work and blood money apparently paid to Reeva Steenkamps
family since her death.
Pistorius has been found guilty
of unlawfully killing the 29-yearold model but acquitted of the
more serious charge of murder.
A state source told AFP that
Judge Thokozile Masipa could

rule on his punishment on Friday,

with her options ranging from a
ne to 15 years in prison.
Defence witness Annette Vergeer warned a jail stretch would
break Pistorius and claimed it
was not in the interest of justice.
Without legs he will be vulnerable and a lot more vulnerable
than the normal man, said Vergeer, a parole office who was paid
for her work for the defence.
Ive recently done a case
for rape within the prison,
gang-rape. How can we say that
he wont be exposed to that?
she said, adding that washing his
stumps may also be a problem.
South Africas department of
correctional services has said
that Pistorius could be entitled to separate accommodation
depending on the vulnerability
caused by the disability.

There is little doubt that the

prison system in South Africa
is in a bad state, with violence,
overcrowding and criminal behaviour all endemic.
Since the hearing began on
Monday the tone in court has become increasing terse.
The defence on Monday suggested Pistorius clean a museum
for 16 hours a week as punishment
for killing Steenkamp, drawing a
furious reaction from the state.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel described the suggestion as
shockingly inappropriate.
Lawyers yesterday traded accusations and counter-accusations about money changing
hands between Pistorius and
Steenkamps parents after Reevas death.
A lawyer for the Steenkamps
revealed they had received $540

a month from Pistorius, but now

wanted to pay it back.
Prosecutor Nel claimed that
the Olympian also offered the
dead models family a one off
blood money payment of
nearly $35,000, which the family
rejected.
Did the legal team of the accused tell you that the deceased
family rejected the offer of
375,000 (rand)? Nel asked state
witness Vergeer.
The deceaseds mother went
so far to say that she rejects that
and that she doesnt want blood
money, he added. Claims about
Pistorius vulnerability and remorse could be central in deciding what punishment he faces.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors poured scorn the defences
portrayal of Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius as a caring and

charitable athlete. Nel told the

sentencing hearing that Pistoriuss charity work was nothing
unusual for a superstar athlete,
arguing he was primarily motivated by personal fame and
fullling his contractual duties
with major sponsors, including
Oakley and Nike.
It is merely an advancement of your career to become
involved, Nel said in a scathing
cross-examination of Pistoriuss
longtime manager, Peet van Zyl.
I think a lot of sportsman
want to make a difference and
contribute, replied Van Zyl.
The state has indicated it will
call at least two witnesses, whose
testimony is expected to wrap up
today or tomorrow.
Both the state and defence
have 14 days to appeal Masipas
decision.

Reeva Steenkamps father Barry Steenkamp (left) leaves the High

Court in Pretoria.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

15

AMERICAS

Internet caretaker ICANN to escape US control

AFP
Washington

he head of the private

agency entrusted with
running the Internet said
on Monday that the group is on
course to break free of US oversight late next year.
Internet Corp for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN)
chief Fadi Chehade expressed his
condence in the move during
a press brieng at the opening
of the nonprot organisations
meeting this week in Los Angeles.
ICANN is in a very solid, con-

dent place today, Chehade said

of its readiness for a post USgovernment role in charge of the
Internet addressing system.
The timeline for the shift is
months rather than years, according to Chehade.
While cautioning that there
was no strict deadline, he said
that substantial progress has
been made toward ICANN being
answerable to a diverse, global
group of stakeholders and not
the just the US government, as
has long been the case.
The US government in March
of this year announced that it
is open to not renewing a contract with ICANN that expires

in about 11 months, provided a

new oversight system is in place
that represents the spectrum of
interests and can be counted on
to keep the Internet addressing
structure reliable.
ICANN plans to hand a proposal tting the bill to the US
Department of Commerce next
year.
If the US government is satised, they would not renew the
contract, Chehade said.
There are many people in the
community who would like to see
we not renew the contract past
2015.
If US officials are unhappy with
the proposal, the contract could

Dallas Ebola
nurse doing
well after
transfusion
Reuters
Dallas

he nurse who contracted

Ebola while caring for a
dying Liberian in a Dallas hospital said yesterday she is
doing well, while US officials redouble efforts to stop the deadly
virus spreading.
Nina Pham, a 26-year-old
Vietnamese-American, became
the rst person infected by Ebola
in the US while caring for the Liberian for much of his 11 days in
Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. He died last Wednesday.
Pham received a transfusion
on Monday containing antibodies to ght the virus, according to
a Catholic priest in Phams congregation. Her patient, Thomas
Eric Duncan, did not receive one
because he did not match the donors blood type.
Christian relief group Samaritans Purse has said that Kent
Brantly, a doctor who survived an
Ebola infection, donated plasma
to Pham.
Im doing well and want to
thank everyone for their kind
wishes and prayers, Pham said
in a statement released by the
hospital. I am blessed by the
support of family and friends.
The hospital has been criticised for not admitting Duncan
the rst time he went there days
after arriving in the country from
Liberia, one of the worst-hit
places along with Sierra Leone
and Guinea.
In an effort to contain the
spread of an outbreak beyond
West Africa, where at least 4,400
people have died, officials say
they are monitoring about 50
healthcare workers who cared
for Duncan, doubling down on
safety protocols and asking for

more public funding to ght the

disease.
Ebola, which can cause fever,
vomiting and diarrhoea, spreads
through contact with bodily uids such as blood or saliva. The
World Health Organisation has
called the outbreak the worst on
record. Yesterday, WHO said the
actual mortality rate is about
70% across the three worst-hit
countries.
One person known to have
had close contact with the Dallas nurse Pham has been put under observation in the hospital in
case he develops signs of Ebola,
CBS Dallas reported yesterday.
The man, who has not been
identied, is an employee of
global eye care company Alcon,
a unit of the drug company Novartis. The company was not immediately available to comment.
In Washington, White House
Budget Director Shaun Donovan
pressed US lawmakers to speed
up funds to ght Ebola, including the remaining $250mn in
requested Defence Department
money under review.
In a letter to leaders of the
House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, Donovan said a quick US response was
essential to containing the crisis
in West Africa.
The rapid spread of the Ebola
virus in West Africa shows that
time is of the essence. Given the
nature of this crisis, every minute
counts, Donovan wrote in the
Oct. 10 letter to Appropriations
Chairman Harold Rogers and
ranking Democrat Nita Lowey.
Meanwhile, the family who
shared an apartment with Duncan after he arrived in Texas is
showing no signs of illness, Dallass mayor said.
Duncans
girlfriend,
her
13-year-old son and two nephews

in their 20s had been living with

Duncan before he was admitted to
a Dallas hospital on Sept 28.
So far no signs of the virus
in any of them, Dallas Mayor
Mike Rawlings said on CNN. We
check them twice a day, and everybodys healthy.
Rawlings said none of the other people being monitored after
contact with Duncan have gotten
sick. There is a 21-day incubation
period for the virus.
The US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)
said on Monday that medical experts need to rethink how highly
infectious diseases are handled
in the US as public fears grow of
the virus spreading within the
country.
The CDC is working to determine how Pham was infected
while caring for Duncan. Nurses
groups have demanded better
training and guidance on how
to use equipment that already
includes face shields, masks,
gowns and gloves.
In Kansas City, Kansas, a patient being evaluated for Ebola
was feeling slightly better yesterday as doctors awaited test results, said Jill Chadwick, spokeswoman for the University of
Kansas Hospital.
The patient, a man in his 40s
who had worked on a medical
boat off the coast of West Africa,
was admitted to the hospital on
Monday morning with a high fever and other serious symptoms,
Chadwick said. Test results were
expected by late yesterday afternoon, and the patient remained
isolated, she said.
A patient in Portland, Maine,
was being monitored for Ebola
symptoms at Maine Medical
Center at the CDCs request,
health officials said. No details on
the patient were provided.

Panetta discusses his new book

be renewed for a short period to

allow time for it to be revised.
As the US steps back from
overseeing ICANN, states and
Corps are grabbing for the reins.
ICANN has gone from being
behind the scenes tending to the
task of managing website addresses to being centre stage in
a play for power on the Internet.
Governments want to exert
control over the sweeping transnational power of the Internet
that is effecting their policies,
politics, social fabric and/or their
economic conditions, Chehade
told AFP just days before the
group gathered in Los Angeles to
tackle an array of hot issues.

The other groups are large

corporations concerned about
security issues, he continued
while discussing forces striving
for inuence over the organisation.
Therefore, they are stepping
in with force to gure out how
to reduce potential harm to customers and to their businesses.
Governance of the Internet
will be a high-prole topic at the
ICANN 51 meeting that will continue through October 16 in Los
Angeles.
US Commerce Secretary Penny
Pritzker addressed the gathering
on Monday, affirming support for
ICANN being accountable to the

toric roll-out of a vast array of

new domain names that has seen
controversy over website address
endings such as .wine or .gay.
There is quite a bit of thematic focus on the top-level domain
space, Chehade said, referring
to online neighbourhoods making debuts.
ICANN is not in the content policing business; this is
not what we do, he added when
asked about potential for some
domain operators to allow inappropriate material.
We just want to make sure the
company that gets the domain
can deliver on what they say and
do it with reliability.

Running shoe for a front-runner

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton holds up a running shoe she received as a gift from CEO, Publisher and Editor of the
Las Vegas Sun Brian Greenspun as he moderates at a fundraising dinner for the UNLV Foundation at the Bellagio on Monday in
Las Vegas, Nevada. Greenspun was making light of an incident in April 2014, when a shoe was thrown at Clinton during another
appearance in Las Vegas. Clinton, who won Nevadas Democratic caucus during her 2008 presidential bid, is considered a
front-runner should she run for her partys nomination in 2016.

Obama girls, Malala make

Times inuential teens list
Reuters
Los Angeles

he daughters of US President Barack Obama, entertainers, a Nobel laureate and a girl baseball player all
made Times annual list of most
inuential teenagers, the magazine said on Monday.
First daughters Malia, 16, and
Sasha, 13; Grammy-winning
New Zealand singer Lorde, 17;
and Nobel Prize Winner Malala
Yousafzai, 17, the Pakistani education activist winner, were all
on the unranked list dominated
by 20 females.
Time said it compiled its list
of 25 teens - 29, counting accolades shared by siblings and
partners - by analysing their

social media following, business successes and cultural importance.

The youngest were Sasha
Obama and fellow 13-year-old
Mone Davis, a pitching sensation who led her Philadelphia
boys baseball team to the Little
League World Series and landed
a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Tavi Gevinson, the 18-yearold fashion writer and founder
of popular online magazine
Rookie, was noted as emblematic of the contemporary teen
in the Internet age, while transgender activist Jazz Jennings,
14, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, 18,
also made the list.
The dominant categories were
athletes, actors and singers.

Actors taking centre stage

were Kiernan Shipka, 14, of
Mad Men, Rico Rodriguez, 16, of
Modern Family and The Equalizers Chloe Grace Moretz, 17.
Pop singers Becky G, 17, and
Austin Mahone, 18, earned
plaudits as did New Zealand pro
golfer Lydia Ko, 17, and Afghan
National Cycling Team member
Salma Kakar, 17.
Teens noted for business success include 15-year-old Erik
Finman, founder of the online
tutoring site Botangle.com;
YouTube fashion star Bethany
Mota, 18, and actress-turnedstock picker Rachel Fox, 18.
Irish trio Ciara Judge, 16,
Emer Hickey, 17, and Sophie
Healy-Thow, 17, were noted
for their discovery of bacteria
that deposits nitrogen from

the atmosphere into soil.

Los Angeles teen chef Flynn
McGarry, 15, joined stars of
Twitters Vine short-form
video service, Nash Grier, and
singer Shawn Mendes, both 16.
Jaden Smith, 16, son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett
Smith, was recognised for acting and his Twitter following,
while reality TV stars the Jenner
sisters Kendall, 18, and Kylie, 17,
were noted for their burgeoning
Hollywood and merchandising
careers.
Also
in
the
spotlight
were
19-year-olds
Megan
Grassell,founded of the Yellowberry clothing company that
makes bras for teens, and South
African-Australian
YouTube
star and actor-musician Troye
Sivan.

Skip waiting in long food lines with new apps

Reuters
New York

Former Secretary of Defence and director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta discuss
his new book, Worthy Fights, during an event in the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington
University yesterday. In the book, Panetta writes about his differences with President Barack Obama
over military policies in Syria, Iraq and other conflicts.

global multistakeholder community and not to any single

organisation.
Let me be clear about this,
Pritzker said.
The US will not allow the
global Internet to be co-opted
by any person, entity or nation
seeking to substitute their parochial world view for the collective
wisdom of this community.
The ICANN 51 agenda includes
tackling whether identities of
those running websites should be
public or whether privacy should
be safeguarded and operators
true names revealed only with
proper court orders.
Another hot topic is the his-

ired of waiting in line for

a cup of coffee? In a rush
to grab lunch? New apps
are helping consumers skip the
lines by pre-ordering coffee,
drinks and meals.
Restaurant chains, start-up
companies and payment rms
are hoping the apps help them
capture a bigger portion of the
US restaurant industry.
Retailers are working on
making the equivalent of a fast
lane on a highway for transactions, said Nick Holland, of
Javelin Strategy and Research
in California, which focuses on
nancial services and payment
industries.
The pre-ordering apps have
been compared to Uber, the
fast-growing rides-on-demand
service that is changing the taxi
industry.
Preo, for iPhone and Android,

works with some bars in New

York City to allow customers to
pre-order and pay for drinks on
their smartphones.
Were taking the clunky
point-of-sale systems and
revamping them so that customers have a simple way of
ordering for themselves, said
Richard Liang, the CEO of New

York City-based Preo.

Customers place their orders
and when the drink is ready, the
app sends a notication and the
customers credit card, which
is stored in the app, is then
charged.
Another app called Square Order, also available for iPhone and
Android, allows people in New

Microsofts Skype launches video messaging app

Microsoft-owned Skype
yesterday unveiled a new
app enabling users to send
short video messages to stay
connected between calls.
The smartphone app called
Skype Qik allows users to
create and send videos up to
42 seconds long.
The new service seeks to help
Microsoft catch up to rivals
in the fast-growing mobile
messaging space.
It takes some features from
Twitters Vine - which allows

six-second videos - and the

ephemeral messaging service
Snapchat. With Qik, the
messages disappear in two
weeks, while Snapchats are
gone after being viewed.
Skype Qik makes video
conversations more
spontaneous and fun so you
dont have to wait until your
next call to connect with
your favorite people, said
a blog post from Microsofts
Dan Chastney and Piero
Sierra.

York and San Francisco to preorder restaurant meals for pickup. It predicts when the customer will pick up the meal based on
their location so it is ready and
warm when they get there.
Hangry, an app for customers in Toronto, works in a similar
way, as does Bar Pass, which allows users in London to pre-order drinks and food at local cafes,
pubs and arenas. Both are available for iPhone and Android.
Some large restaurant and
food chains have released their
own apps, but these are only
available in certain regions.
Unlike Uber, Liang said expanding food and drink preordering apps nationally is more
difficult, which is why many of
these apps only work in large
cities.
In order to onboard a driver,
you basically just have to get
them to download an app. But for
us to onboard a venue, you need
to train the whole staff on how to
use the system, he explained.

16

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

ASEAN

Thai PM declines UK aid

offer in murder inquiry
AFP
Bangkok

hailands junta leader said

yesterday that the case
against a pair of Myanmar
suspects in the murder of two
British tourists was reliable
and an internal issue for the
kingdom in an apparent rebuke
of a British offer to help.
The comments by the toughtalking former army chief, Prayuth Chan-O-Cha, who is also
prime minister, come after Britain offered to help with the police investigation, amid deepen-

David Miller

ing concerns over the handling

of the probe.
Thai police have charged two
migrant workers from Myanmar
with the murder of David Miller,
24, and the rape and murder of
Hannah Witheridge, 23, after
the tourists battered bodies
were found on the southern island of Koh Tao on September 15.
But unease over the case has
deepened because of reports
that the suspects were tortured
into confessing an allegation
Thailand has strongly denied.
I consider Koh Tao case to be
reliable, Prayuth told reporters,
adding there were several pieces

Hannah Witheridge

of evidence to charge the migrant workers.

Anyone can come to Thailand, but dont forget that what
is our issue, is our issue, he
said of British offer of help.
We managed to arrest suspects
swiftly even though it seemed
impossible at the beginning.
The arrests followed intense
scrutiny of Thai authorities,
which had been accused in
criticism led by the British media of bungling the investigation in the days after the crime.
Yesterday Britains envoy in
Thailand met Thai and Myanmar officials in Bangkok to discuss the investigation.
Britains Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent said he had met
Thai police, Myanmars envoy to
Thailand and Thai foreign ministry officials to discuss the case.
He gave no details.
A day earlier, Thailands top
diplomat in London was summoned to hear the UK stress its
real concern about the handling of the case, which has further dented Thailands already
battered reputation as a tourist
paradise.
Prayuth also denied that the
Thai charge daffaires in London,
Nadhavathna Krishnamra, had
been summoned over concern

about how Thai authorities have

handled the case.
They did not summon us. We
went to provide clarication to
them, Prayuth told reporters.
We went to show them how we
work. They might be surprised
at how quickly we work but we
explained the steps we have in
place.
The British government said
on Monday that it had summoned Thailands top diplomatic representative in London
to call for the investigation to be
conducted in a fair and transparent way.
In a statement junior foreign
minister Hugo Swire reiterated
that the UK police stood ready to
assist with the investigation and
subsequent legal process.
Thai police have said that the
two Myanmar suspects confessed to the crime and their
DNA matched samples taken
from Witheridges body.
Police said the two workers
from Myanmar, Zaw Lin and
Win Zaw Htun, both 21, have
been charged with murder, rape
and robbery.
A pre-trial witness hearing
began yesterday and the two
suspects were in court but did
not give testimony.
Their lawyers called for the

hai authorities have arrested two men charged

with human trafficking, the police said yesterday,
following the discovery of 134
suspected victims in southern
Thailand at a time when the
military government is under
international pressure to tackle
the crime.
The two Thais were charged
in relation to a group of 53 men
found on Saturday at a rubber
plantation 38 from Bangladesh and 15 Rohingya, a mostly

stateless Muslim minority from

western Myanmar.
The two men have been
charged with trafficking and
bringing foreign labour into the
country illegally, a senior police
official, who declined to be identied, told Reuters.
He said police were still looking for the gang leaders.
If found guilty, the men face
up to 10 years jail.
Thailand was downgraded in
June to the lowest Tier 3 category in the US State Departments 2014 Trafficking in Persons Report for not complying
with the minimum standards for
eliminating trafficking.

Log traders charged

over journalist death
AFP
Phnom Penh

hree suspected illegal timber traders were

charged yesterday over
the murder of a Cambodian
journalist investigating illegal
logging, a prosecutor said.
Taing Try, 48, was shot dead
early on Sunday, according
to police in the northeastern
province of Kratie.
He is the second journalist
probing Cambodias lucrative
trade in illegal timber to be
killed in two years.
A former soldier, a police ofcer and a military police ofcer all suspected log traders
were arrested several hours
later.
The 32-year-old ex-soldier
was charged with murder,
Thuch Panchak Santepheap,
deputy prosecutor at Kratie
provincial court, told AFP.
He said that the military police officer was charged as an
accomplice because his gun
was used to kill the journalist, while the third man was
charged for not ling a murder
complaint.
Taing Try was killed while
he and several other reporters
were investigating illegal logging which is widespread in

the impoverished nation.

The Khmer Journalists for
Democracy Association said
that he had been repeatedly accused of extorting money from
timber traders in the past although there was no evidence
to back up the allegations.
Environmental
activists
regularly face threats in Cambodia, where land grabbing
has become a major source of
tension and illegal logging is
rampant.
Unchecked illegal logging
contributed to a sharp drop in
Cambodias forest cover from
73% in 1990 to 57% in 2010,
according to the United Nations.
In April 2012 prominent environmentalist Chhut Vuthy
was shot dead in a remote forest by a military police officer
after he refused to hand over
pictures showing logging in
the southwestern province of
Koh Kong.
Less than six months later,
Hang Serei Oudom a reporter
at local-language Vorakchun
Khmer Daily who also exposed illegal logging was found
dead in the boot of his car in
the province of Ratanakiri.
A Cambodian court acquitted a military police officer in
2013 over Oudoms brutal killing.

Myanmar wont close labour camps

The Myanmar government has rejected a parliamentary request to
close the countrys labour camps, media reports said yesterday.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Brigadier-General Kyaw Kyaw Tun
told parliament on Monday that there was no plan to close the
prison camps as there was nothing inhumane about the treatment
of inmates serving hard labour sentences, the reports said.
According to government figures there are more than 10,000
inmates serving in the 46 centres, where convicted criminals serve
the hard labour part of their sentences.

Prime
Minister
Prayuth
Chan-ocha, the army chief who
seized power in a May coup, has
vowed to prevent and suppress
human trafficking.
A human rights group said
that the latest discovery showed
little progress had been made.
Although the arrest of alleged traffickers can be viewed
as a positive step, the discovery
of these groups shows that trafcking routes in Thailand are
still very active, Sunai Phasuk,
Thailand senior researcher at
Human Rights Watch (HRW),
told Reuters. Regardless of the
promises of the junta, nothing
seems to have been done in con-

crete terms to stop trafficking

gangs.
The discovery is in keeping
with what a leading advocacy
group says is an alarming rise in
forced departures from Bangladesh.
The 134 people have been
found since Saturday in Phang
Nga, southern Thailand, said
Churin Kwanthong, head of the
Phang Nga office of the ministry
od social development and human security.
The province is popular with
tourists.
The 53-strong group was
found at a rubber plantation in
the province.

Regional aviation hub Singapore

will step up Ebola virus screening
for passengers arriving at Changi
Airport, the health ministry said
yesterday.
From today travellers arriving
from countries with reported
Ebola virus activity will be
directed to a screening station,
where they will be screened for
temperature and exposure to
Ebola through a questionnaire,
the ministry said in a statement.
They will be asked to fill up a
health declaration card that will
include their contact details while
in the city-state.
Those found to have a fever
will be taken by ambulance to
hospital for further assessment.
Travellers who are well but who
are identified as having possible
exposure to Ebola virus infection
will be quarantined or put under
surveillance depending on the
risk assessment, it added.

Pizza Hut sorry

over fat insult
Prayuth: Anyone can come to Thailand, but dont forget that what is
our issue, is our issue.
trial to be postponed to allow
more time to prepare a defence
but the plea was rejected.
The lawyer just had contact
with the suspects yesterday.
They need time to talk and understand each other before the
trial, said Andy Hall, a British
rights activist and researcher
based in Thailand who is monitoring the case. Both the British
and the Myanmar governments
have asked for a fair trial and a
fair trial takes time.
We hope Thai authorities

will act with balance and accuracy to prosecute the offenders

according to the law and not take
action wrongly against those
who didnt commit the crime,
an official from the Myanmar
presidents office in Naypyidaw
told AFP.
The grisly murders on the
normally tranquil Thai island
delivered a fresh blow to the
kingdoms image as a tourist
haven after months of political protests that ended in Mays
army coup.

Two arrested for trafficking of Bangladeshis, Rohingya

Reuters
Bangkok

Singapore boosts
Ebola screening

He said authorities were interviewing the remaining 81,

who were discovered on a remote island on Monday.
We have to wait for further
information on this group to see
if they were tricked in to coming
or whether they came of their
own volition, said Churin. If
they were tricked then we would
also consider them victims of
human trafficking.
Reuters reported last year how
thousands of Rohingya were
held and sometimes tortured
by traffickers at jungle camps in
southern Thailand.
Tens of thousands of Rohingya have ed Myanmar since

2012, when violent clashes

with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists
killed hundreds and made about
140,000 homeless.
Sunai at Human Rights Watch
said Thailands efforts to combat trafficking amounted to little
more than lip service.
Government
spokesman
Yongyuth Mayalarp defended its
record.
We are talking about cooperation on how to combat
human trafficking all the time,
including during Prayuths visit
last week to Myanmar, Yongyuth said. Prayuth has asked all
agencies to pay particular attention to this issue.

Starts with one, merrier with four

Pizza Hut Singapore has launched

an investigation and apologised
to a customer described as a
Pink Fat Lady in a handwritten
note on her receipt after she
ordered pizza for take away.
Aili Si on Sunday posted on Pizza
Hut Singapores Facebook page
a photo of the receipt, saying
that she felt insulted at the
description.
I dont think it is nice for your
staff to describe me as such
on my receipt, she wrote in a
comment accompanying the
photo which showed the receipt
for her take out order.
The receipt had a handwritten
note at the bottom that read
Pink Fat Lady, apparently to
identify her as she waited for her
order.
Pizza Hut later issued a statement
apologising unreservedly and
confirmed it had launched an
investigation into the matter.

French journalists
to face trial
Two French journalists arrested in
Indonesias restive easternmost
region of Papua will face trial for
an immigration offence early next
week, a lawyer said yesterday.
Thomas Dandois and Valentine
Bourrat were arrested in early
August for reporting on the
separatist movement in Papua
for Franco-German television
channel Arte.
They will be charged with
misusing visa permit in a trial
which will start on October 20,
their lawyer Aristo Pangaribuan
told AFP, adding that the trial will
take place at Jayapura district
court in Papua.
Under Indonesian immigration
law such an offence is punishable
by up to five years in jail.
Dandois was detained at a hotel
in the city of Wamena with
members of separatist group the
Free Papua Movement (OPM),
and Bourrat was detained shortly
afterwards. They had tourist and
not journalist visas.

Three drown in
boat capsize

People pose for a photograph during a Kindness Ambush campaign organised by the Singapore Kindness movement, in Singapore
over the weekend. The campaign encourages Singaporeans to perform daily simple acts of kindness.

Three people drowned yesterday

when a boat carrying suspected
undocumented Indonesian
migrants capsized in a river
in southern Malaysia, a police
official said.
The accident occurred before
dawn near Kota Tinggi town in
the state of Johor, about 345km
south of Kuala Lumpur, local
deputy police chief Low Hang
Seng said.
A Malaysia Maritime Enforcement
Agency officer said 26 more
people had been rescued from
the accident.
Indonesians comprise more
than half of the estimated 1.5mn
undocumented workers in
Malaysia.

Indonesian dies ghting with Islamic State: SITE

AFP
Jakarta

n Indonesian suicide
bomber has died ghting
with the Islamic State (IS)
organisation in Iraq, a monitoring group said yesterday, sparking fresh concern from Jakarta
authorities who fear the group
is spawning a new generation of
radicals.
The bomber is believed to
have died in a weekend attack in

Iraq, and police suspect a total of

ve Indonesians have now been
killed while ghting with jihadist groups this year in the Middle
East.
Reports of foreigners heading
to ght with IS, which controls
vast swathes of territory in Iraq
and Syria, have raised fears they
could return home and launch
attacks.
Authorities in Indonesia,
which has the worlds biggest
Muslim population, estimate
that around 60 Indonesians have

headed to the Middle East to ght

with IS but analysts think the real
gure may be as high as 200.
Indonesia launched a successful crackdown on militants more
than a decade ago after a series
of deadly attacks, but fears are
growing that militants returning
from ghting with IS could revive
sophisticated networks.
In the latest suspected death,
monitoring group SITE and a jihadist website in Indonesia said
an Indonesian drove an explosives-packed van into a mili-

tary base outside Tikrit north of

Baghdad on Saturday.
The website identied him as
Hanzhalah al-Indunisi, although
analysts said this was not his real
name.
Photos sent out by SITE, which
were published on an IS-linked
website, showed the alleged attacker reading the Quran and a
plume of smoke after the van was
driven into the base.
It is the second suspected case
of an Indonesian becoming a suicide bomber while ghting with

IS militants in Iraq this year.

Local media reported the rst
case in February.
National police spokesman
Boy Rai Amar said officials were
trying to conrm details of the
incident and verify an Indonesian
was involved. But if conrmed,
he said it would be serious.
We have banned people from
going there to ght, but they insist on going, he said, referring
to an official ban on support for
IS jihadists introduced a few
months ago.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

17

AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA
INTO THE WILD!

People take pictures as giant panda Xue Xue is

released into the Liziping national nature reserve
in Yaan, southwest Chinas Sichuan province,
after two years of training since its birth in 2012.

DEFAMATION CASE

NEW PLAN

BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT

South Korea extends travel

ban on Japanese scribe

Taiwan to send N-waste

abroad for processing

Walking stick props Kim as

he guides North Koreans

South Korea yesterday urged Tokyo to remain

cool-headed over a Japanese journalist charged
with defamation for a story about President Park
Geun-Hye as prosecutors extended a travel ban
on him. Tatsuya Kato was indicted last week on
suspicion of criminally libelling Park, a charge
that could see him jailed for up to seven years.
He was also banned from leaving South Korea.
The prosecutors office said it had decided to
extend the travel ban for three months. Kato
has been under investigation over an August
3 column about rumours concerning Parks
whereabouts on the day a South Korean
passenger ferry sank with the loss of 300 lives.

Taiwan yesterday unveiled plans to process

nuclear waste abroad for the first time as its
power plants reach capacity - but environment
groups slammed the proposal as too risky.
The new proposals announced by a special
government task force pave the way for used
nuclear fuel rods stored at two plants to be
shipped abroad to be processed. A reduced
amount of nuclear material would then be sent
back to Taiwan and re-stored at the sites. The
government and Taipower say the processing
plan could significantly reduce the amount of
used nuclear fuel and that only a few countries
have the technology to carry it out.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, shown using

a cane for support, re-appeared in state media
yesterday after a lengthy public absence that
had fuelled speculation over his health and
grip on power in the secretive, nuclear-capable
country. Several pictures on the front page of
the Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim
smiling and gesturing on a visit to a housing
development, although there was no indication
which day the event took place. The KCNA report
said he gave field guidance to the new Wisong
Scientists Residential District and visited the
newly built Natural Energy Institute of the State
Academy of Sciences.

Beijing wont cede to

Hong Kong protests
Army to be used only as last
resort; Beijing lays emphasis on
economy rather than universal
suffrage
Reuters
Beijing

hinas ruling Communist

Party believes it has offered
enough concessions to Hong
Kong in the past, and will give no
ground to pro-democracy protests
because it wants to avoid setting a
precedent for reform on the mainland, sources told Reuters.
The position, arrived at during a
meeting of the new National Security Commission chaired by President
Xi Jinping in the rst week of October, appears to give Hong Kongs
leader little room for manoeuvre as
he seeks to end the crisis.
It also sends a blunt and uncompromising message to Hong Kongs
pro-democracy camp.
Thousands of protesters have
taken to the streets of the Chinesecontrolled city in recent weeks,
demanding that Beijing stand by a
promise to introduce universal suffrage at elections for its leader in
2017 and that Leung Chun-ying step
down.
The protests, which China says

Pro-democracy protesters build a barricade near the government headquarters in Hong Kong.
are illegal, have presented leaders
with one of their toughest political
challenges since the army violently
suppressed student-led demonstrations for democracy centred on Beijings Tiananmen Square on June 4,
1989.
Central parts of Hong Kong have
been brought to a standstill by protests now into their third week, although police have stepped back
since using tear gas and pepper spray
early on and numbers have dwindled
to hundreds from thousands.
Three sources with ties to the

Chinese leadership said that Beijing

believed it had already been tolerant
enough of the protests in the former
British colony.
Asked if the central government will make minor concessions,
a source with leadership ties said:
Dialogue (with protest leaders) is
already a concession.
Leungs government agreed to
meet student protest leaders to discuss the crisis, but talks were called
off when it became apparent the two
sides were still far apart.
A second source added: The cen-

tral governments bottom line will

not change, referring to the vetting
of candidates for chief executive.
Beijing ruled on August 31 that it
would screen candidates who want to
run for chief executive in 2017, which
activists said rendered the universal
suffrage concept meaningless.
Chinas Communist Party leaders rule Hong Kong through a one
country, two systems formula
which allows wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on
the mainland and species universal
suffrage as an eventual goal.
Hong Kong is not high on the
list of the central governments priorities, the second source said, requesting anonymity. The economy
is the top priority.
China has already given in twice to
demands from Hong Kong, the sources said. In 2003, about 500,000 people took to the streets of the city, stunning the central government which
yielded and shelved passage of the
contentious Article 23, or sedition bill.
A rally of 120,000 protesters in
2012 forced the central government
to back down and defer plans to roll
out a pro-China national education
scheme in the citys schools.
Universal suffrage is a sovereign
issue. The central government will
not give in a third time, said another
source. If the protests continue,

it would be Hong Kongs loss, not

the mainlands. Hong Kong people
would suffer.
At the National Security Commission meeting called earlier this
month to discuss the protests, leaders decided the central government
would rmly not give in to the
protesters, the source said.
China would also resolutely support the Hong Kong governments
management of affairs in accordance
with the law and resolutely back
police in enforcing the law.
With separatist headaches in
Tibet and Xinjiang, China is concerned that calls for democracy
might spread on the mainland and
is unlikely to give an inch of ground
after the worst unrest in the former
British colony since it returned to
China in 1997.
However, China has decided there
will not be a bloody crackdown in
Hong Kong, and sending in the Peoples Liberation Army would only
happen if there were widespread
chaos, the second source said.
There wont be bloodshed like
June 4, the source said, referring to
the 1989 crackdown.
The Peoples Liberation Army
will be dispatched only as a last resort if there is widespread chaos
- killing, arson and looting, the
source added.

A photo printed yesterday by North Korean

paper Rodong Sinmun of Kim Jong-Un during an
inspection tour of a newly-built housing complex
in Pyongyang.

Vongfong spins
off into Pacic
Reuters
Tokyo

powerful storm that battered Japan with

high winds and torrential rain, and killed
two people, headed off out over the Pacic
yesterday and was downgraded to a tropical depression.
Typhoon Vongfong, at one point the strongest
storm to hit Japan this year, was yesterday afternoon off the coast of the Tohoku region devastated by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the Japan
Meteorological Agency said.
After the storm passed through western Japan,
a 90-year-old man in was found dead in a eld irrigation ditch, while a 72-year-old man drowned.
Another person was missing and nearly 100 people were injured.
Vongfong brought heavy rain to Tokyo through
the night and snarled traffic across much of the
country on the last day of a three-day holiday
weekend. More than 600 ights were cancelled
nationwide on Monday and more than 60 cancellations were expected, the NHK broadcaster said.
The sun returned to Tokyo yesterday morning
and commuter train services were getting back to
normal but heavy rain pounded northern Japan.
High tides ooded coastal areas in Kesennuma
city, where land along the water sank because of
the 2011 earthquake.
More than 800,000 people nationwide had
been urged to leave their homes, while more than
150,000 homes lost power, NHK said.
Tokyo Electric Power Co, the operator of the
crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, said on
Monday it had increased water transfer and storage capacity to prevent an overow of radioactive
water being stored at the plant.
A Monday baseball playoff game in Osaka for
Japans Pacic League, between the Orix Buffaloes and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters,
was postponed. It was the rst time a Nippon
Professional Baseball playoff game was cancelled
because of a typhoon.

Two asylum
Rare beaked whale washes up in Australia
cases challenged
in Canberra court
A
AFP
Sydney

AFP
Canberra

ustralia yesterday faced

two court challenges to
its controversial asylumseeker policies, with both seen as
test cases.
The High Court in Canberra
began hearing a case on the validity of a law used to detain 157
Sri Lankan Tamil asylum-seekers for weeks on the high seas in
June, after they sailed from India.
In Brisbane, the Federal Court
began considering a case that
lawyers believe could set a precedent for asylum-seeker babies
born in Australia.
Lawyers for the 157 Tamils,
who are now held in a detention
camp on the Pacic island of
Nauru, claim their clients were
falsely imprisoned on the ship.
Their case centres around
whether Canberra has the power
to remove asylum-seekers from
its contiguous zone, just outside
territorial waters, and send them
to other countries.
The Human Rights Law Centre
said the outcome could have implications for government policy.
The case will consider whether
the detention was lawful and the
extent of the Australian governments powers to intercept and
detain at sea, said the centres executive director Hugh de Kretser.
This case concerns fundamental issues of liberty, safety
and due process. The group, including 50 children, left the Indian port of Pondicherry in June
- but their boat was intercepted
by Australian authorities.
Canberra wanted to send them
back to India and they were held
in limbo on a customs ship while
their case was debated.
They were eventually brought to
Australia for a brief period so Indian consular officials could assess

them. But all refused to cooperate

and were transferred to Nauru.
The government insists their
detention at sea was legal and
that the plan to send them to
India did not breach Australias
non-refoulement
obligations
under international law.
In the other case, a court is
considering the fate of a baby
born in Australia to asylumseeker parents to determine
whether, in the eyes of the law,
he arrived in the country by boat.
The baby was born prematurely in the eastern city of Brisbane last year after his mother,
from the persecuted Rohingya
minority, was transferred from
a detention centre on Nauru due
to concerns about her pregnancy.
She initially arrived in Australia from Myanmar by sea.
The government rejected the
babys refugee application on the
grounds he was an unauthorised
maritime arrival. Lawyers are
challenging how someone born
in an Australian hospital could
have arrived by sea.
This is a ludicrous decision
given he was born here in Brisbanes Mater Hospital and he
even has a Queensland (state)
birth certicate, lawyer Murray
Watt said.
Lawyers said the fate of about
100 babies born on Australian
soil to asylum-seeker parents
who arrived via boat rested on
the decision. Under Canberras
hardline immigration policy,
asylum-seekers who arrive on
boats are now denied resettlement in Australia and sent to Papua New Guinea or Nauru, even
if they are genuine refugees.
Only one boatload of asylumseekers has reached the Australian mainland since December,
compared to almost daily arrivals
previously under the Labor administration, with hundreds of
people also dying en route.

An ORRCA handout photo of the rare beaked whale that was found washed up dead at Redhead Beach.

rare beaked whale washed up in

Australia yesterday, exciting researchers who know little about
an animal that spends much of its time
diving at depth far from shore.
The 3m to 4m long whale was found
dead at Redhead Beach, some 150km
north of Sydney, with experts examining it and taking specimens before
sending its head to the Australian Museum in Sydney.
It is sad but also exciting as we can
learn so much more about the animal,
Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA) president Ronny Ling told AFP.
We dont know much about them,
we rarely get to see them. We have taken samples and measurements and will
remove the head and send it to the Australian Museum.
The jaws will be X-rayed and together with DNA it should conrm the
species of beaked whale.
According to the whaleresearch.
org website, the study and knowledge
of the beaked whale family, one of the
deepest diving of all cetaceans, is limited because they favour such deepwater habitats.
What little we know of beaked
whales has largely come from stranded
animals, it said. Sightings of these
elusive creatures at sea are extremely
rare due to their long dive times and
unobtrusive surfacing behaviour.
A study published this year in the
journal PLOS ONE showed one tagged
Cuviers beaked whale dived to 2,992m,
while another stayed underwater for
137.5 minutes. These were both new
mammalian dive records.
Ling said that in 25 years he had
come across few beaked whales. Some
of these species are only known from a
handful of strandings, he said.
Marine biologist Elise Bailey told
ABC radio she had never seen a beaked
whale in her 20 years of study until now.
You dont normally see a beaked
whale come into these waters; its an
oceanic animal and its usually going
to be way out in very deep offshore waters, she said, adding that it was too
early to say why the whale died. It
could be sick, it could be old, it could
have had some trauma, she said.

18

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BRITAIN/IRELAND
Police arrest six
in Syria-linked
investigation
AFP
London

ritish police yesterday

said they had arrested
six people on terrorism
charges in an investigation
linked to the conict in Syria,
where hundreds of British jihadists are ghting.
The three men and three
women were detained in Farnborough and Portsmouth in
Hampshire, southern England, and in Greenwich in
southeast London.
Officers would like to reassure residents that the police
activity today is in relation
to conicts overseas and is
not linked to any immediate
threat to local communities, a
spokesman for Thames Valley
police said.
He explained the reference
was to the Syrian conflict.
Two of the men, aged 23
and 26, and two of the women, aged 23 and 29, were arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and
instigation of acts of terror-

Autumn foliage

ism, police said. A 57-yearold man and a 48-year-old

woman from the city of Portsmouth were also detained
on suspicion of failing to
disclose information about
acts of terrorism.
Britains Press Association reported that the house
in Portsmouth had already
been raided by the police in
April and is believed to be the
family home of Ifthekar Jaman, a British Muslim killed
fighting government troops
in Syria in 2013.
Jaman was known for providing online advice and encouragement to British nationals wanting to travel to
Syria to fight.
Interior minister Theresa
May said last month that police had arrested 103 people
so far this year over terrorism in Syria, adding that 24
of them had been charged
and five convicted.
The government estimates
there are around 500 British
jihadists fighting in Iraq and
Syria as part of the Islamic
State group.
Visitors view the autumn foliage of acer trees in the Old Arboretum at Westonbirt in southwest England yesterday The Japanese maples are some of the first species to turn
red and orange at this famous tree collection, originally planted out in the nineteenth century Victorian heyday of plant hunting.

Police Officers stand outside a house in Portsmouth, southern

England yesterday.

An ill wind hands heroin

dealer lengthy jail term
AFP
London

British man has been

jailed for eight years
and six months after
police caught him trying to
dispose of a heroin stash during a high-speed chase, only
for it to blow back into his face.
Tabraiz Hussain, 34, was
driving a car through Middlesbrough, northeast England,
carrying around one kilo of
heroin in a McDonalds paper
bag when police began to follow him, the Daily Telegraph
reported yesterday.
After giving chase, police -

nally caught up with Hussain,

who was covered in the drug
after he tried unsuccessfully to
throw the heroin out of the car
window.
Officers used a vacuum
cleaner to retrieve the drug,
with a street value of around
97,000 ($154,000, 122,000
euros), which had also been
partly scattered over the road.
Hussain admitted possession of a class A drug with intent to supply and dangerous
driving.
Judge
Simon
BourneArton, sitting at Teesside
Crown Court, sentenced him
to eight years and six months
in prison.

Ex-PM Blair may have

been terrorism target
Suspect denies preparing for
acts of terrorism; Prosecutor
says possible suspect
planned Mumbai-style attack
Reuters
London

man charged in Britain

with terrorism offences
at a trial so sensitive that
prosecutors sought to have it
heard entirely in secret might
have been planning an attack on
ex-prime minister Tony Blair, a
court heard yesterday.
Erol Incedal, 26, was arrested
in October last year with another
man, Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadja, who last week admitted
possessing a bomb-making document on a memory card, prosecutor Richard Whittam said.
Incedal, who lives in London
and is a British citizen, denies
charges of preparing for acts of
terrorism with unnamed others

abroad and possessing information useful to terrorism.

The acts of terrorism that
they were preparing for were
either against a limited number
of individuals, an individual of
signicance or a more wideranging and indiscriminate attack such as the one in Mumbai
(India) in 2008, Whittam told
the jury at the Old Bailey court.
While Whittam said there was
no settled plan nor any specic
target, he said a piece of paper
with the address of a property
owned by Blair was found in Incedals black Mercedes when it
was stopped for a traffic offence
in September 2013.
In the context of this case as a
whole you may think it has some
signicance, Whittam said.
Blair, 61, who has a house in
central London, was prime minister from 1997 to 2007, during
which Britain joined the US-led
invasions of Afghanistan and
Iraq. He is now a peace envoy of

the Quartet on the Middle East,

which comprises the US, UN,
Russia and European Union.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had originally asked for
Incedals trial to be held entirely
in secret on national security
grounds a request unprecedented in recent British legal
history but the application
was rejected in June by the Court
of Appeal. The jury was told the
case would be heard in three parts,
some open to public and press,
some only to 10 journalists who
will not be able to report the proceedings and must hand over their
notes, and the rest in secret.
This is an exceptional case,
Whittam told the jury, who were
told by the judge there would be
serious consequences if they
disclosed any of the secret material outside court.
Whittam told the court that
after Incedals arrest for the trafc offence police had found a
notebook in the car with a note

saying: Fight those of the indel who are near to you.

Security officials had placed
a listening device in the vehicle
and Incedal was heard saying he
hated white people, listening to
jihadi music with references
to slaughter, expressing concern
about the police search of his car,
and talking about a Plan B, the
court heard.
About two weeks later, he was
arrested in dramatic fashion by
armed police who stopped his
car in east London, shooting
special rounds to disable the vehicle.
A memory card was found
with documents including instructions on how to make explosives, the court was told.
Incedals phone, Whittam
said, had been used for Internet searches for Islamic State
of Iraq the ultra-radical insurgents currently sweeping
through Syria and Iraq and
also had a picture of a syna-

gogue. At the home he shared

with his wife, police found
documents with references to
setting up a shop but also notes
with references to a Plan A,
one month surveillance and
rent flat nearby, Whittam
said.
At another property he rented, detectives found a laptop
where Incedal had exchanged
coded messages on e-mail and
Skype about straps slang
for firearms, Whittam said.
One k 1122aaa shhh etc
might refer to a Kalashnikov assault rie while another - mo**
55bayy style could be a reference to a Mumbai-style attack,
the prosecutor said.
British security services have
long warned of the dangers of a
repeat of the Mumbai attacks in
which just 10 Pakistanis killed
166 people in one of the worlds
biggest cities, laying siege to
landmarks like the Taj Mahal
hotel for three days.

Ireland closes tax loophole as post-austerity budget unveiled

AFP
Dublin

reland pledged yesterday to

close a corporate tax loophole that has brought it under the international spotlight as
it unveiled a budget that ends a
cycle of austerity cuts.
Finance Minister Michael
Noonan told parliament that the
Double Irish system, which
allows multinationals to transfer prots to tax havens, would
be abolished next year for new
companies, and by 2020 for existing users of the scheme.
I am abolishing the ability
of companies to use the Double
Irish by changing our residency
rules. All companies in Ireland
must be also tax resident in Ireland.
The move comes after the
European Commission opened
an investigation on Irelands
tax deal with US tech giant Apple although the arrangement in
question there is not the Double Irish.
Europes Commissioner for
Taxation Algirdas Semeta welcomed the change, which still
has to be approved by parliament.
The European Commission
has to look at the detail and how
it will work in practice but the
intention is very good, he said.

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan poses for pictures with the 2015
budget outside the government buildings in Dublin.
It also explains how its important to push the agenda
to ght against tax fraud and
avoidance as high as possible.
Ireland has successfully attracted many multinationals
thanks to its low 12.5% corporate tax rate, but has come under
scrutiny for arrangements that
in companies in effect pay much
less.
As he announced the corporate tax reform, Noonan said
Dublin would work to enhance

Irelands attractiveness to multinationals, who employ over

160,000 people in over 1,000
companies.
The announcement on the tax
loophole came as the government unveiled its rst post-austerity budget since the country
nearly went bust four years ago.
Ireland entered a massive European Union and International
Monetary Fund rescue programme in 2010 after expensive
bank bailouts, a property mar-

ket collapse and ravaged tax incomes.

Since 2008, Ireland has taken
30bn euros ($38bn) in spending
cuts and tax hikes, an adjustment worth roughly a fth of
gross domestic product (GDP).
But the coalition government
said yesterday the 2015 spending
plan marks the end of budgetary austerity.
The 2015 budget is about
securing the recovery, building
for the future and broadening it
to families across the country,
Noonan told lawmakers.
Noonan said the department
of nance was economic growth
this year of 4.7%, 3.9% in 2015
and 3.4% in 2016-2018.
He also said the budget measures would reduce the decit
next year to 2.7% of GDP next
year, well within the EUs 3.0%
target.
Despite that decit, Noonan
announced cuts to income tax
rates and thresholds.
The top rate of tax will be
cut from 41% to 40% while the
point at which taxpayers enter
that rate rose by 1,000 euros to
33,800 euros.
There are also changes to the
Universal Social Charge (USC),
a tax introduced in 2011 that
has proven very unpopular, reducing the rate for some lower
earners.
These changes enhance the

Protesters stand outside the government buildings as Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan announces
the 2015 Irish budget in Dublin yesterday.
progressivity of our income tax
system with the top 1.0% of income earners now paying 21%
of all income tax and USC collected.
In contrast, the bottom 76%
of income earners will pay 20%
of the total, he added.
The price of 20 cigarettes will
increase by 40 euro cents at
midnight to over 10 euros a pack.
But
opposition
nance
spokesperson from the Fianna
Fail party, Michael McGrath,

said Noonan had made a mess

of it. This budget is all about
using borrowed money to buy
votes, he told parliament.
Among the budget increases,
Minister for spending, Brendan
Howlin, announced additional
funding for new teachers, police
and the arts and said that a public sector hiring freeze would be
removed starting next year.
He also unveiled an increase
in child benets of 5 euros per
month and a partial return of

the welfare Christmas bonus,

the rst social welfare increases
since 2009.
Howlin also said 2.2bn euros in
funding would be made available
to tackle Irelands social housing
waiting lists over the next three
years. But the ministers warned
that the recovery was not certain
and urged caution.
We have travelled the long
road and are now at a very
important crossroads, said
Noonan.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

19

BRITAIN

Crime agency
chief apologises
over paedophile
teacher case
National Crime Agency took
more than a year to alert
forces about Essex deputy
headmaster Martin Goldberg
By Robert Booth
Guardian News & Media

Passengers walk at the Heathrow Airport in London yesterday.

Government begins Ebola

screening at Heathrow airport
Reuters
London

ritain began screening

passengers arriving at
Londons busiest airport
from West Africa for signs of
the deadly Ebola virus yesterday.
Health Minister Jeremy Hunt
said on Monday Britain could
expect to see a handful of
Ebola cases over the next three
months, partly due to its status
as a popular travel destination.
The Ebola outbreak, the
worst on record, has killed more
than 4,000 people, mostly in

Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

The screening process at
London Heathrow will involve
passengers who have travelled
to the affected area lling out
questionnaires to discover any
possible exposure to the virus
and undertaking temperature
checks if necessary.
While there are no direct
ights into Britain from the region, many passengers travel to
London using indirect ights
via other transport hubs.
Hunt said the screening was
expected to reach 89% of those
arriving from the affected areas.
By the end of next week the

programme will be extended to

Londons Gatwick airport and
the Eurostar rail link to Europe.
Anyone found to have recent exposure to the virus, or
who displays symptoms, will
undergo a clinical assessment
and be transferred to hospital
if necessary, the government
said. Some public health officials have raised doubts about
the effectiveness of border
screening given that the virus,
which causes fever and bleeding, may not display symptoms during an incubation period that can last up to 21 days.
Last week the chairman of
Public Health England, the

government body that deals

with protection against infectious diseases, warned screening could create a false sense
of security.
A Spanish nurse last week
became the first person outside Africa known to have
caught Ebola. On Sunday, a US
health worker was confirmed
as having caught the virus
from a Liberian man being
treated in Texas.
The US has begun a similar screening process at New
Yorks JFK airport and four
other major US airports will
begin screening later this
week.

he head of the National

Crime Agency has apologised for exposing children to harm from a paedophile
teacher after senior officers
failed to pass on a tipoff about
him for more than a year.
In July 2012, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection
centre (Ceop), which is now part
of the NCA, received a warning
about Martin Goldberg, deputy headmaster at Thorpe Hall
school in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, from a Canadian police investigation into images of child
abuse.
However, it only contacted
Essex police in November 2013
to issue a warning that Goldberg had bought videos from
a Canadian seller of images of
naked boys. When he was nally confronted by Essex police
last month, following another
10-month delay caused by further failings by the local force,
more than 1,000 illegal images of
boys taken using a secret camera
were found in his possession.
Of those images, 75 had been
taken in the school changing
room and 465 were taken at the
local swimming pool changing
room. Goldberg killed himself
the day after police confronted
him. Keith Bristow, the direc-

Martin Goldberg, who killed

himself the day after police
confronted him.
tor general of the NCA, told the
Commons home affairs select
committee: Im sorry if thats
led to harm to children or exposing them to risk because thats
not what we stand for.
Sitting on data for the period of time between July 2012
and November 2013, that could
have led to children being protected or safeguarded, seems to
me whether its systemic or its
down to individuals and there
are certainly some systemic
issues that we need to work
through thats not in the spirit
of what we stand for.
Essex police have already
apologised for their own delay.
The force said that when an assessment was made of the Canadian evidence against Goldberg
in January 2014, it was decided
this was a lower risk investigation and other cases with evi-

dence of more serious offending... should take priority.

It was not until last month
that Goldbergs profession was
checked. When he was found to
be a senior teacher, he was immediately confronted.
Essex police admitted that
Goldberg took some of the images after detectives had been
handed the le from the national
agency.
Asked about the low-risk
assessment, Bristow told the
MPs: We are sat on a daily
basis on top of significant risk
because of the sheer volume of
images and the different methods of offending by people who
have a sexual interest in children.
And we have a problem
not just NCA, not just law
enforcement, not just government we as a society have a
problem with the number of
people in the UK who access
these horrible images or paying for children to be abused
online. So in relative terms, its
still horrible that children are
posing in an erotic manner, but
when seen against some of the
other images that our officers
have to assess it is relatively
lower risk.
Parents at the 10,000-ayear school have said they feel
betrayed and disgusted by
Goldberg, but they have also
voiced anger at the police.
They should have done
something, said one mother.
The case is being reviewed by
the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

POLICY

Plan to allow
over-55s greater
access to savings
Britons coming up to retirement
will find it easier to spend their
pension savings early, according
to government plans announced
yesterday that extend a big overhaul of pensions set out earlier
this year. Finance minister George
Osborne said in March that
Britons with private pension savings would no longer be required
to convert them on retirement
into an annuity that provides a
fixed income for life. Yesterdays
changes will allow Britons aged
over 55 to take money as often
as they like from their pensions,
although they must pay income
tax on three quarters of the sum
they withdraw. Previous rules
allowed over-55s to withdraw a
quarter of their money tax free in
a one-off transaction, with restrictions on how the remainder of
their money was then invested.
People who have worked hard
and saved all their lives should be
free to choose what they do with
their money, and that freedom is
central to our long term economic
plan, Osborne said in a statement.

Art expo

Mother dies after being hit by van as

she shielded daughter on crossing
By Ben Morgan
London Evening Standard

A man looks at an artwork by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson entitled Schools of

Movement Sphere displayed at the Frieze Art Fair in London yesterday.

mother who was mown down on a pedestrian crossing as she walked with her young
daughter has died.
Flora Kharwa, 40, suffered serious injuries as
she shielded the seven-year-old from a silver Nissan van as she crossed the busy road in Hounslow a
week ago. The pair were taken to hospital and the
girl was released after being treated for minor injuries. But Kharwa, who worked as a nanny and is
originally from the Philippines, lost her ght for life
in intensive care on Friday.
Her husband Jitu yesterday left a photograph of
the much-loved mother at the scene of the crash.
Her daughter drew a colourful poster with the
words We love mum! and decorated it with a
ower sticker.
Police yesterday issued a fresh appeal for witnesses to the crash on the zebra crossing at Hampton Road West, Feltham, near the junction with
Apex Corner at 7.15pm on October 3.
Childminder Patty Rose, 48, said she would meet
Kharwa every day for playdates with the children
they were looking after in Earls Court and Ken-

sington. She told the Standard: She was very hard

working and was a nice lady. Every afternoon we
would go to the park with the children and if it was
raining, we would go to the library. She was a lovely
woman and we would always have a good chat and
a laugh.
A family friend described Kharwa as always being smartly dressed and happy.
The man, who did not want to give his name,
said: We are all very sad at whats happened.
She was crossing the road when two cars were
coming. One car stopped at the crossing and the
van didnt. It hit her. There are CCTV cameras
all over this area and its a very busy road. Its very
dangerous.
Detective Constable Amanda Hawke said: I
would ask anyone who may have been in the area
and witnessed this collision to contact police to get
in touch.
Your information could be vital in helping us
understand how this tragic incident happened.
Police have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by careless driving. He has
been bailed until November.
In a separate appeal officers issued a plea for information after a man in his eighties was killed by a
car in Dulwich Road, Lambeth, on Sunday.

After Scottish vote, separatists say Britain reneging on pledges

Reuters
London

ess than a month after

Scots spurned independence, separatists said
yesterday that British Prime
Minister David Cameron was
betraying Scotland by reneging
on pledges to grant more spending powers to the Scottish parliament.
In a last-ditch attempt to
shore up support for the union
days before the Sept 18 referendum that threatened to break
apart the United Kingdom, Britains three main political parties
promised to give more powers to
Scotland.
Since then, Britains Londonbased politicians have bickered
over what amounts to a full-scale
overhaul of the way the United

Kingdom is ruled, though party

leaders insist they will grant the
promised powers to Scots.
People have no condence in
Tory guarantees and they are absolutely zzing about what looks
like a preparation for a betrayal
of solemn commitment made,
Scottish nationalist leader Alex
Salmond said, referring to Camerons Conservative party.
Salmond, who is due to step
down as nationalist leader next
month, said Scots angered at
what he termed an attempt to
trick them would exact revenge
on the main parties in the 2015
parliamentary election.
After the 55-45% vote for
staying in the union, Cameron
said the issue of Scottish independence had been settled for a
generation and promised more
powers for Scotland as part of a
rebalancing of powers across the

rest of the United Kingdom.

Nationalists say they feel the
question is far from settled, especially if they fail to get the
autonomy Scotland has been
promised or if British voters
choose to leave the European
Union in a 2017 referendum on
membership that Cameron has
said he will call if re-elected in
2015.
During the campaign, Cameron, Labour party leader Ed
Miliband and Liberal Democrat
party leader Nick Clegg promised to guarantee Scotland high
levels of state funding and grant
Scots greater control over health
care spending.
It is an unconditional vow,
William Hague, a former Conservative leader, told parliament
during a debate on devolution
following the referendum.
So I think the Scottish na-

tionalists should stop trying to

pretend that people are reneging
when they are not.

People have no confidence

in Tory guarantees
and they are absolutely
fizzing about what looks
like a preparation for
a betrayal of solemn
commitment made
The British government insists that the process to pass
power to Scots is running ahead
of schedule.
A 46-page government analysis of party pledges relating to
devolution has been published
and legislation is due to be drafted by the time Scots celebrate
the birthday of their most revered poet, Robert Burns, on Jan
25.
The legislation would only

be passed after the 2015 election. If Scots had voted to break

away, a declaration of independence would have taken place on
March 24, 2016. Former Labour
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a
Scot who is credited with saving
the union by imploring voters
to stay in the United Kingdom,
has proposed giving the Scottish
parliament powers to raise 54%
of its own revenue, rising to 18bn
pounds ($28.67bn) in 2016 from
4bn pounds today.
The Conservative party proposes to devolve setting income
tax rates and bands to the Scottish parliament. Scotland will
be given the power to issue its
own bonds from April 2015, according to plans announced in
February. Behind the minutiae
of the debate on autonomy, Britains leaders are grappling with
the task of recasting the United

Kingdom of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland, a sovereign
state fashioned over centuries by
warriors, kings and traders.
Though the Scottish vote preserved the United Kingdom, the
last-minute pledges to Scots
angered some English lawmakers who say England, Wales and
Northern Ireland need a fair settlement too.
Those lawmakers say it is unfair for Scottish lawmakers in the
national parliament in London
to have a say over decisions that
affect voters in England while
members of parliament, including Scottish ones, have no say over
certain decisions made by the increasingly powerful Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
Opponents said Camerons
pledge to forge a constitutional
settlement for Scotland in tandem
with one for the other parts of the

United Kingdom was an attempt

to counter growing support for
the anti-EU UK Independence
Party (UKIP).
Labours shadow Lord Chancellor said Camerons pledge was
a short-term partisan x that
had more to do with ghting the
United Kingdom Independence
Party than what was in the best
interests of the United Kingdom.
The opposition Labour party
has signalled it will not take part
in cross-party talks on the English
votes for English laws question,
a step that could complicate the
process of granting further powers
to Scotland. At a debate on devolution, Scottish nationalists questioned why Cameron had not led
such an important debate about
the future of the country. Where
is the prime minister? Scottish
National Party lawmaker Angus
Robertson asked.

20

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

EUROPE
Yes in anti-immigration vote would damage EU ties: Swiss
Reuters
Zurich

witzerlands
government
said yesterday that a result
in favour of severely limiting immigration in a November
30 referendum would imperil
negotiations with the EU after a
similar anti-immigration vote in
February damaged ties.

Free movement of people is one

of the fundamental policies of the
EU, and Switzerland, while not
a member of the 28-nation bloc,
has to uphold that principle in
order to benet from favourable
trade conditions.
Switzerland will vote in November on the Ecopop initiative,
Stop overpopulation safeguard
our natural resources, which proposes capping the number of im-

migrants at 0.2% of the resident

population 16,000 per year.
Ecopop will be the second antiimmigration referendum in Switzerland in just nine months, on
the heels of a right-wing initiative
to introduce quotas on EU citizens
that was narrowly backed by voters in February.
The Swiss government is working out how to implement the February vote while still safeguard-

ing its accords with the EU. Draft

legislation in June to reintroduce
quotas on EU citizens from 2017
was dismissed by the bloc.
A yes to the Ecopop initiative
would greatly impede ongoing
implementation work and a solution with the EU, the government
said in a statement.
The initiative, which garnered
the 100,000 signatures required
to force a national vote in Swit-

zerland, would reduce annual net

immigration by more than 75% if
accepted, the government said.
The Ecopop campaign says that
a lack of living space exerts too
much pressure on the land and
natural resources in landlocked
Switzerland, tapping into a growing concern about overcrowding
among its residents, who are frustrated by rising rents and crowded
public transport.

Suspected radical manages to leave

Germany despite electronic tag
A suspected radical Islamist managed to leave Germany despite
an electronic tag attached to his ankle to inform authorities
about his location, officials in the western state of Hesse said
yesterday.
Justice and security officials failed to notice the absence of the
24-year-old man, who according to German media reports left
for Syria in May.
He had most likely joined the Islamic State militant group, ARD
television said.
The man was an active Islamist in Germany, who frequently
appeared at public events organised by Salafists to distribute
copies of the Quran.
The man was ordered to wear the electronic tag after a robbery.

No vote, but Catalonia

will hold consultation
Reuters/AFP/DPA
Madrid

atalonia has dropped

plans to hold a referendum on independence
from Spain next month but will
instead hold a consultation of
citizens, the regions head said
yesterday.
The Spanish government last
month asked the constitutional
court to declare the referendum
planned for November 9 illegal
on the grounds that it breached
the constitution.
The court suspended the vote
until it ruled on the case, which
could take years.
Catalan regional president
Artur Mas said the referendum
would not now go ahead but a
consultation of citizens will
take place on that day.
The new vote would be within
the law, he said, without offering
further details. The results will
be known on November 10.
The government of Catalonia maintains the objective of
organising the 9-N referendum;
there will be polling stations,
ballot boxes and ballots, Mas
said during a speech, using the
common shorthand for the secessionist movement.

But the vote, he added, would

not be denitive.
We cant apply the decree
(to hold a referendum) but it will
be possible to vote, Mas told a
news conference in Barcelona.
In September Mas signed a
decree to allow the region with
more than 7.5mn inhabitants to
vote in a non-binding referendum.
Catalonia is a wealthy region
in Spains northeast with its
own language and culture. Its
long-standing
independence
movement has grown over the
last decade, fuelled by Spains
economic crisis and a refusal
by Madrid to meet regional demands for more autonomy, especially on taxes.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
welcomed the announcement
and called for dialogue with
Catalan authorities.
The fact that the referendum
is not taking place is excellent
news, he said at an event in Madrid. We need to go over certain
things, we need to dialogue, we
need to talk. A lot of us want to
live together because weve done
many things together.
Catalan leaders agreed on
Monday that the non-binding
vote they had called in the wake
of Scotlands independence ref-

Rajoy: We need to go over

certain things, we need to
dialogue, we need to talk.
erendum could not go ahead in
its current form.
Mas said the symbolic vote
could be one step towards an
early regional election which
could serve as a plebiscite on
sovereignty, with pro-independence parties standing in a
joint list.
Since the consensus is now
broken ... that is the denitive
means to hold a consultation
vote, Mas said. Although the
consensus has cracked, I know
full well that the real adversary is
the Spanish state, which is doing
everything possible to prevent
the Catalan people from taking

part in this consultation.

He said the revised vote format would be open to Catalans
aged over 16 but organised by
volunteers and with no formal
electoral roll.
Catalan political analyst Josep
Ramoneda called Mass plan a
bit pathetic and a result of worrying amateurism and warned
it would not draw a big enough
turnout to be credible.
The Catalan sovereignty drive
has created a tense stand-off between Catalonia and Madrid.
Rajoy has ercely opposed all
moves towards a referendum on
independence, vowing to defend
the unity of Spain as it recovers
from several years of economic
crisis.
Catalans have been red up
by last months independence
referendum in Scotland, even
though voters there rejected a
separation from Britain.
Proud of their distinct language and culture, and accounting for nearly a fth of Spains
output, Catalonias inhabitants
have increasingly been demanding greater autonomy.
Catalonia formally adopted
the status of a nation in a
2006 charter that increased
its autonomy, but the Constitutional Court overruled that

Mas: We cant apply the decree (to hold a referendum) but it will be
possible to vote.
nationhood claim, fuelling proindependence feeling.
Spains recent economic crisis has increased unemployment
and hardship in the region and
swelled its debts, but in 2012
Rajoy rejected Mass request for
greater powers for Catalonia to
tax and spend.
Mas is now in a tight spot hav-

ing staked his leadership on the

referendum plan.
The left-wing ERC party led
by Oriol Junqueras, which props
up Mass CiU group in the regional parliament, declined to
back his watered-down vote
plan, calling instead in a Twitter
message for a declaration of independence.

AFP
Berlin

An ambulance enters the St Georg Clinic in Leipzig, eastern Germany, where a Sudanese doctor, a UN
employee infected with Ebola, arrived for treatment six days before. The man died during the night,
the hospital said yesterday in a brief statement.
Left: A nurse blows a toy horn yesterday as she gathers with others to support comrade Teresa
Romero, the Spanish nurse who contracted Ebola, outside Madrids Carlos III Hospital.

at Heathrow Airport, the rst of

a number of London airports and
Eurostar rail hubs where travellers from the worst-hit countries
of west Africa will be questioned
and have their temperature tested.
Health workers in Liberia
meanwhile pressed on with a
strike demanding danger money
to treat Ebola patients.
Obama and Ban called yesterday for more robust commitments and rapid delivery of
assistance by the international
community, the White House
said in a statement.
Obama and French President
Francois Hollande also issued a
joint call for stepped-up global
efforts to combat the disease.
In the face of panic that was
spreading faster than the virus,
the WHO issued a stark warning
over the crisis.
I have never seen a health
event threaten the very survival

of societies and governments in

already very poor countries, said
WHO chief Margaret Chan in a
statement delivered on her behalf
at a conference in Manila.
Ninety-ve Liberian health
workers have died so far in the
epidemic, and their surviving
colleagues want pay commensurate to the acute risk of dealing with Ebola, which spreads
through contact with bodily
uids and for which there is no
vaccine or widely available treatment.
In the Liberian capital Monrovia, a hospital patient quoted
on local radio described scenes
of desolation, with the sick deserted by striking staffers.
Both cases of contamination
reported so far outside Africa
in Spain last week and now in
the United States have involved
health workers who fell ill despite
stringent safety protocols surrounding Ebola.

Reuters
Paris

UN health worker dies of Ebola in Germany

UN health worker has
died of Ebola in Germany
as the international community prepared to hold talks on
the crisis yesterday.
The death of the 56-year-old
Sudanese man, who arrived in
Germany from Liberia last week
for treatment, highlighted the
global struggle against what ofcials have termed the worst
health crisis of modern times.
The United Nations was due
to hold talks on the spread of the
haemorrhagic virus, a day after
US President Barack Obama and
UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon called for the international
anti-Ebola drive to be stepped
up.
The Ebola epidemic has killed
more than 4,000 people this
year, mostly in Guinea, Sierra
Leone and Liberia, prompting
the World Health Organisation
(WHO) to brand it the most
severe acute public health emergency in modern times.
At least two cases of contamination have been reported beyond west Africa, in the US and
Europe.
The German clinic in the eastern city of Leipzig, one of three in
the country to have treated Ebola
patients, said the man had died
during the night despite intensive medical care and the best efforts by medical staff .
A WHO spokesman in Geneva
said he was a UN volunteer.
German health officials said
last Thursday he was Sudanese.
The UN announced the following day that it had quarantined 41 personnel from its Liberia mission.
Germany has also treated two
other Ebola patients infected in
Sierra Leone a Senegalese expert who was treated in Hamburg
and released on October 4, and a
Ugandan doctor now being treated in Frankfurt.
After measures were introduced in the US and Canada,
Britain began screening for Ebola

Valls bids
to defuse
road tolls
dispute
rances prime minister
sought to defuse a row over
road tolls and keep billions
of euros of motorway renovation
work on track yesterday, meeting worried concession bosses
after one of his team threatened
to slap a new tax on them.
Government criticism of excessive tariffs and the prots
of toll road operators privatised
under the previous administration comes as the highly unpopular ruling Socialists try to shake
off accusations from the left
that their efforts to be business
friendly are hurting household
spending power.
Shares in concession operators dropped sharply last week
when Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron voiced concerns
about the high toll road tariffs
they charged.
Prime Minister Manuel Valls
described his meeting with the
concession rms as fruitful
although he declined to give any
details.
He said he believed their issues could be resolved in the
coming weeks, adding: I think
we can move quickly provided
we work for the common good.
Environment Minister Segolene Royal has raised the prospect of an additional levy on the
companies, which include Vinci,
Eiffage and SANEF, a unit of
Spains Abertis.
The ministers aim was to
make up for an ecotax on heavy
trucks, which was scrapped last
week following opposition from
truckers even as the government
hunts for additional revenues to
reduce its ballooning decit.
Finance Minister Michel Sapin initially cast doubt on Royals
tax idea, saying that such a move
might allow the companies concerned to claim compensation
from the government under the
terms of their concession contracts.
But in an interview with Les
Echos newspaper yesterday he
said a tax was a good idea, adding that the rms had been privatised under conditions that
were too favourable to them.
Valls conrmed the European
Commission had given the green
light to a multi-billion dollar
package of work the companies
have committed to carry out to
upgrade Frances motorways.
The plan was signed in September 2013 for a total 3.6bn
($4.6bn) worth of work in exchange for extensions of the
companies concession periods.
A report in Le Figaro newspaper said the rms were threatening to ditch the upgrade plan if a
tax was imposed on them.

Romania president says PM was a spy

Reuters
Bucharest

omanias outgoing President Traian Basescu has

accused his bitter rival
and likely successor, Prime
Minister Victor Ponta, of serving as an undercover intelligence officer between 1997 and
2001.
Ponta dismissed the charge as
all lies.
The latest row between the
two leaders has ared in the
midst of a presidential election
campaign, which Ponta is expected to win.
Basescu, who has served two
consecutive terms, cannot run
again and has thrown his weight

behind a right-wing ally.

Victor Ponta must admit
that he was an undercover ofcer of SIE (Romanias Foreign
Intelligence Service), between
1997 and 2001, Basescu told
private television channel Realitatea late on Monday. This isnt
a bomb, it is ... a reality which I
am ready to prove.
Espionage was already a talking point during the campaign
for the November 2-16 vote.
Teodor Melescanu, who ran
the Foreign Intelligence Service, resigned in September and
joined the presidential race as
an independent candidate one
day later.
Around the same time, Robert
Turcescu, a popular television
anchor, confessed live on air

that he had been an undercover

lieutenant-colonel for a spy
service and resigned his post.
Under Romanian law, outing oneself as a spy is illegal,
but prosecutors did not press
charges.
From 1995 when I graduated
from law school and until today
there are 20 years during which
I have respected this countrys
laws, Ponta told reporters while
attending a religious ceremony
in the eastern Romanian city of
Iasi.
The justice minister in Pontas government said Basescus
statement appeared to be a
campaign ploy.
A former prosecutor and amateur rally driver, Ponta has been
prime minister since 2012 and

his leftist alliance commands a

large majority in parliament.
The office of president is
largely ceremonial but would
give Ponta considerable power
at key moments, including appointing a new prime minister.
When he rst came to power,
Ponta drew a severe rebuke from
the European Union over his
efforts to impeach Basescu in
a national referendum, raising
concerns over rule of law.
Romania has a record of colourful revelations during election campaigns.
In 2009, media outlets hostile to Basescu leaked footage of
what they said was him punching a child.
Basescu denied the allegation.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

21

EUROPE

Turkey bombs PKK targets

AFP
Ankara

urkish jets have bombed

Kurdish rebel targets in the
southeast of the country in
the rst such strikes against the
separatists since an increasingly
fragile 2013 ceasere, officials
said yesterday.
Air force jets struck positions
of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) late on Monday
in the village of Daglica, located
near the border with Iraq, a secu-

rity source told AFP on condition

of anonymity.
In a separate incident also on
Monday, Turkish attack helicopters struck suspected PKK targets
around the village of Geyiksuyu
in eastern Turkey following raids
by the rebels.
The PKK conrmed the attacks
yesterday, saying that they were
in breach of a ceasere which has
been in place since March 2013.
The occupying Turkish army
carried out air strikes against our
forces for the rst time yesterday
(Monday) in almost two years,

the armed wing of the PKK said

on its website.
It said its ghters had not suffered any casualties during the
air bombardment, which targeted two PKK bases.
The strikes took place amid
heightened tensions between
Turkey and the PKK over Ankaras refusal to allow Turkish
Kurds from leaving the country
to ght against Islamic State (IS)
militants besieging the key Syrian border town of Kobane.
Some 30 people were killed and
360 wounded earlier this month

when Kurds took to the streets

in several cities across Turkey to
vent their anger at the governments lack of military support
for Kurds defending Kobane.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the unrest on the
dark forces seeking to sabotage the delicate peace process
with the PKK to end 30 years of
violence that has claimed at least
40,000 lives.
The air strikes came a day
before the October 15 deadline
given by the PKKs overall leader
Abdullah Ocalan, who is serv-

ing a life sentence in an island

prison on the sea of Marmara, for
a roadmap to salvage the agging
peace process.
But Nihat Ali Ozcan, security
analyst at Ankara-based TEPAV
think tank, said that he doubted
the latest incidents would put an
end to the peace process.
Turkey, a Nato member, has
tightened security on its volatile
border after the escalating ghting in Kobane sparked the exodus
of 200,000 refugees.
Kurds say they do not want
Turkish troops in Kobane but

want Turkey to allow its territory

to be used for passing weapons
to Kurdish ghters defending the
Syrian town, an idea Ankara has
so far rejected.
One of the PKK chiefs said on
Saturday that all ghters had
been called back to Turkey and
warned that the peace process
was in danger of collapse.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a news conference in Ankara, made no mention
of the air strikes but said that
the armed forces have taken
necessary measures after PKK

Austria
seeking
taker for
Hitler
house

Ukraine acts against graft as

protests mar election run-up
Left: Poroshenko
speaking with
Poltorak during
yesterdays session
of parliament in Kiev.
Poroshenko
nominated and
Parliament accepted
General-Colonel
Poltorak as the new
defence minister.

Reuters
Kiev

kraine approved sweeping laws yesterday to

stamp out corruption
and curb Soviet-era state surveillance of political life ahead of
a parliamentary election its proWestern leaders hope will push
the country towards the European mainstream.
But violent clashes between
police and protesters in the rst
real anti-government demonstration in Kiev since the Euromaidan upheaval last winter
highlighted the potential for
disorder in the run-up to the
election on October 26.
President Petro Poroshenko,
elected in May after his predecessor, the Moscow-backed
Viktor Yanukovych, was ousted,
wants a calm run-up to a poll he
hopes will endorse his efforts to
end a separatist conict in the
east and build closer economic
and political ties with the European Union.
The demonstrators, many of
them masked, threw smokebombs and used air guns to
shoot out windows of the parliament building, forcing an early
end to the session, which also
voted in a new defence minister.
Their motives and party afliations were not clear, though
they appeared to be fringe nationalists.
However, members of two
nationalist parties who were
nearby denied any links to the
violence.
The laws backed by parliament are aimed at cleaning up
Ukraines prole and heading
off suspicions among critics,
including in the EU, that Kiev is
dragging its feet on reforms.
The new legislation, which
tackles high-level graft and reforms the prosecutor generals
office, has been sought by the
EU, which has signed an association agreement on closer trade
and political ties with the former
Soviet republic.
The offshore era has ended,
Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said, referring to laws under which government, judiciary
and law enforcement officials
will have to declare their own
and their families assets and nancial transactions.
The declared income of civil servants will be measured
against lifestyle and property
holdings. Officials bank accounts will be open to monitoring by a state committee.
Reform of the prosecutors ofce will curb the functions of a
Soviet-era institution that has

AFP
Vienna

Right: A pro-Russian
separatist militant
aims with his machine
gun at the border post
of Uspenka on the
Russo-Ukrainian
border, some 120km
east of Donetsk,
yesterday. Poltorak
has vowed to build
an army capable of
withstanding Russia.
long been used by authorities
in Ukraine as a tool to harass the
political opposition.
Bribery has been widespread
at virtually all levels of Ukrainian government and public life
since independence from the
Soviet Union in 1991.
International watchdogs say it
worsened in the past four years
under the ousted Yanukovych.
Now every civil servant will
be under the microscope. Those
who illegally hold something
will be brought to justice, Yatseniuk said.
Echoing those comments,
Poroshenko said after the vote:
We have taken a decisive step
in the struggle with corruption,
a cancerous tumour which eats
away at our society.
The reform of the prosecutors
office relieved it of rights given
to it by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, he said.
In other legislation rushed
through during the last session
of the current parliament, National Guard chief Stepan Poltorak became new defence minister.
He replaces Valery Geteley,
who has faced criticism over the
rout of Ukrainian forces in the
east.
The battleeld losses at Ilovaysk, east of the rebel-controlled eastern city of Donetsk
at the end of August, inicted
by what Kiev said was a direct
intervention of Russian troops,
forced Poroshenko to abandon
attempts to crush the separatists
and he agreed to a ceasere from
September 5.
The ceasere forms the core
of his peace plan that would also
grant provisional self-rule to the
separatists.
But it is increasingly under

Ukrainian supporters and activists of far-right parties and nationalist movements clash yesterday with riot police outside the Ukrainian
parliament in Kiev.
pressure. A military spokesman
said yesterday that seven more
Ukrainian servicemen had been
killed in the past 24 hours six
of them in two landmine explosions bringing to about 50 the
number of Ukrainian military
personnel killed since the ceasere came into force.

In the southeast, authorities

in the coastal town of Mariupol
said seven people had been killed
and at least 15 others injured
yesterday when shells struck a
group of people gathered for a
funeral in the nearby village of
Sartan.
Opinion polls suggest Poro-

shenkos political bloc will perform well in this months election, bringing him the coalition
of parliamentary support he is
hoping for.
But he faces internal opposition from parties who fear he
may make too many concessions
to the separatists in the heavily

industrialised, mainly Russianspeaking east, who are pressing

for unity with Russia.
The United Nations says more
than 3,600 people Ukrainian troops, separatists and civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine since the ghting
erupted there in April.

10 years on, European court studies bloody Beslan siege

AFP
Strasbourg

decade on, survivors and

families of victims of
the Beslan school siege
have asked European justice ofcials to examine the extent of
Moscows responsibility in the
bloody outcome.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) heard accusations from more than 400
Russians seeking clarications
about the drama in which proChechen militants stormed a
school in North Ossetia on September 1, 2004.
The ordeal left more than 330

dead, including 186 children,

and some 750 injured.
The court is treating all the
petitions made between 2007
and 2011 as a single case.
Twenty of the claimants,
mainly women, made the journey to Strasbourg to attend the
hearing before seven judges.
Aneta Gadiyeva, 51, visibly
moved, showed a photo of the
daughter she lost in the tragedy.
She would be almost 20 today, she told AFP during a break
in the hearing yesterday.
Gadiyeva was among the hostages but was released with her
other daughter, who was just
one at the time.
I think the government

wanted to kill the terrorists

above everything. They didnt
think of our children, she said.
She hoped the court will
bring us the truth.
On September 3, 2004, Russian security forces entered
the building after several explosions, putting an end to the
hostage-taking after three days
of fruitless negotiations.
The hostage-takers had demanded a withdrawal of Russian
troops from the war-torn North
Caucasus republic of Chechnya
in order to free more than 1,100
hostages, including around 800
children, from a gymnasium
stuffed with explosives.
The authorities said they had

A representative of victims of the terrorist attack on a school in

Beslan, North Ossetia (Russia), in September 2004, holds a picture
of her slain daughter as she attends an audience at the European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) yesterday in Strasbourg.
been faced with a group of armed
mercenaries and that their main
concern was to save the lives of
the hostages.
But the defendants lawyers
said the authorities were prima-

attacks at military posts in the

Daglica region.
We cannot tolerate or make
concessions in the face of attacks by the militant group, Davutoglu said.
But in an earlier speech to his
ruling party lawmakers yesterday, he said the government was
still committed to making peace
with the Kurds.
The peace process is not
linked to Kobane. Its not linked
to any development that takes
place outside our borders, Davutoglu said.

rily seeking to eliminate the attackers.

Both tanks and amethrowers were used while hostages were in the building, said
British lawyer Jessica Gavron.

The government has provided

no adequate explanation as to
the need of these indiscriminate
combat weapons.
Russian authorities have
maintained that the rst explosions were provoked by the hostage takers.
Their lawyer, Gorgy Matyushkin, also said that the rapid
cleansing of the site after the operation had no consequences
on the investigations.
The claimants lawyers have
particularly criticised the absence of in-depth autopsies on
the bodies of 116 victims found
burned in the gymnasium.
The court has not given a date
for its decision.

ustrias interior ministry

is appealing to other government departments to
take over the house where Adolf
Hitler was born in Braunau, amid
a long-running debate over what
should become of the building.
The interior ministry has
rented the large pale yellow
house where the future Nazi
leader was born since 1972 and
variously sublet it to a technical
institute and an aid organisation.
But it has stood empty since
2011 and the 4,600 ($5,820)
monthly rent has become a drain
on the ministrys nances.
The ministry is now contacting other Austrian ministries
to see if they can use the 800sq
mspace and is hoping for a reply
by the end of the year, an official said yesterday.
The fate of the house has been
a matter of debate for years because of fears it could be used as
a meeting point for Hitler sympathisers or fascist and neo-Nazi
groups.
To prevent this, the rental
contract stipulates that it must
be used for a social or educational purpose and not as a museum.
The owner continues to have a
say in who occupies the building
and recently quashed a proposal
to install an adult learning centre or another aid organisation
on the premises, for reasons unknown.
Adolf Hitler was born at the
address, Vorstadt 15 in Braunau
am Inn, near the German border,
on April 20, 1889 but only lived
there for a few years before he
and his family moved away.
In recent years, local authorities and historians have
discussed whether to turn the
building into a house of commemoration and reconciliation.
But nearly 70 years after Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker in the dying days of
World War II, only a stone memorial in front of the building
reminds passers-by of its historical signicance.
The memorial was carved out
of rock from Mauthausen, the
Austrian concentration camp
where some 90,000 people
were killed between 1938 and
1945, many of them from backbreaking labour in the infamous
quarry.
An inscription reads: For
Freedom and Democracy. Millions of dead remind us Never
again fascism.

Picture taken in 2012 shows the

house where Hitler was born in
Braunau, Austria.

22

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

INDIA
SCAM

INCENTIVE

PEP TALK

EDUCATION

INVESTIGATION

After ED, CBI grills

painter Bhattacharya

Kerala to reward districts

for revenue collections

Canadian minister
visits Delhi school

Bihar madrassa bans

admission to girls

Two held for murder

of Delhi policeman

A day after being grilled by the Enforcement

Directorate, painter Shuvaprasanna
Bhattacharya was yesterday questioned by the
Central Bureau of Investigation in connection
with the Saradha scam. Perceived to be close to
the states ruling Trinamool Congress leadership,
Bhattacharya said he came to submit documents
about Devkripa Vyapar Pvt Ltd, the holding
company of Akhon Samay, a news channel that
he sold to Saradha chief Sudipta Sen. The painter
denied selling the channel that never went on
air at an inflated price. I have nothing to hide. I
have been asked to submit papers about the deal
which was done legally, said Bhattacharya.

The top three Kerala districts that bring in more

revenues will be rewarded with better office
infrastructure, a meeting chaired by Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy decided yesterday.
State Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash said the
decision was made at a high-level meeting of all
department heads and 14 district collectors. He
said the first three districts will get Rs1mn which
will be used to improve the office infrastructure.
We have not fixed any targets but the district
collectors have been asked to increase revenue
collections by collecting all outstandings, said
Prakash. This drive comes at a time when the
state coffers are short of funds.

Citing achievements of tennis star Sania Mirza

and champion boxer Mary Kom, Canadian Foreign
Minister John Baird yesterday spoke to students
of a school in New Delhi on the importance of the
rights of girl child and combating early forced
marriages. It is extremely unfortunate that in
many places in the world girls are married before
they turn 18. There are 700mn girls alive today
who are married before that age, because of
which they have to give up their potential. In India,
we have two strong role models like Sania Mirza
and Mary Kom who have excelled in their sport,
Baird said while speaking to the students of Delhi
Public School.

A government-affiliated madrassa in Bihar has

banned admission for girls as there is no separate
sitting arrangement for them and co-education is
against the Islamic tenets, officials said yesterday.
Madrassa Azizia in Bihar Sharief, the district
headquarters of Nalanda, about 100km from Patna,
has issued a diktat that girls will not be enrolled
and those already enrolled will not be allowed
into the premises. A decision has been taken as
co-education is against the religion. Boys and girls
cannot study together and male teachers should
not lecture the girl students in our madrassa, S
M Ashraf, secretary of the school said. We will
appoint women teachers for girl students, he said.

Two people were arrested for shooting a Delhi

police constable dead, police said yesterday.
Earlier, police had said that four people,
including two juveniles, were apprehended.
Police said the two accused - Santosh alias
Lucky, 23, and Ved Rampal, 32 - were arrested
from the Shahbad Dairy area, early yesterday.
Two weapons used in the crime and the stolen
service revolver of the slain constable were
recovered from them. Joint Commissioner
of Police R S Krishnia said five people were
involved in the murder. They were going to
commit a crime in an auto-rickshaw, which was
also recovered. The other three are on the run.

Haryana to
see multiple
candidates
in most seats

Sena vows
to expose
BJPs fraud

IANS
Chandigarh

aryana will witness multi-cornered contests in

most constituencies as
the state goes to polls today.
Over 16.3mn voters are eligible
to exercise their franchise to elect
90 assembly members from the
1,351 candidates.
A total of 16,305,217 voters
will cast their vote to decide the
fate of 1,351 candidates. These
voters include 8,737,116 males,
7,479,439 females, 88,662 service voters and 12 NRIs. Out of
the total candidates, 116 are females, states chief electoral ofcer Shrikant Walgad said yesterday.
Out of 90 assembly constituencies, 73 are general and 17 reserved seats. Over 2,700 polling
booths have been declared sensitive.
There will be about 70,000
polling officials and over 50,000
security personnel, including 80
companies of the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF), stationed
across Haryana, Walgad said.
He urged voters to exercise
their franchise without fear or
greed.
The main contest is between
the ruling Congress, the main
opposition Indian National Lok
Dal (INLD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP is going
alone for the rst time in the state
in this election.
Others in the fray include the
Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC),
the newly-oated Haryana Jan
Chetna Party (HJCP), the Haryana Lokhit Party (HLP) and the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
In 30 assembly seats, there
are more than 15 contestants.
Two electronic voting machines
(EVMs) each will be installed in
these constituencies. The remaining 60 constituencies will
have one EVM each.
Bhiwani will have the maximum number of candidates at
31.

IANS
Mumbai

he Shiv Sena yesterday

threatened to expose the
fraud committed by its
one-time ally Bharatiya Janata
Party.
They (BJP) want to know who
our real enemy is? The Congress
and the Nationalist Congress
Party are like dead snakes and
pose no threat to us, the party
said in a scathing article in the
party mouthpiece Saamana a day
ahead of assembly elections in
Maharashtra.
It is our one-time friends
fraud we shall expose before the
people of Maharashtra. It is our
duty, the article said, referring
to the BJP.
In a clear reference to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
other BJP leaders, the Sena said
the Gujaratis of Gujarat descended on the state and tried to mislead the Gujarati population in
Maharashtra.
However, the loyalty of Gujaratis of Maharashtra was with
the ideals of the partys late patriarch Bal Thackeray and they
would not desert the Shiv Sena,
it said.
The BJP made it a mission to
defeat the Shiv Sena. The countrys prime minister, his cabinet
ministers, MPs and others descended with their army here.
We installed them at the Centre
to defeat Pakistan, but now they
are bent on uprooting the party
(Sena) which adopted a strong
stand against (Pakistan), the ar-

Polling officials finalise preparations for elections in Mumbai yesterday.

ticle said, calling the BJPs action

regretful.
Saamna blasted Goa Chief
Minister Manohar Parikkar for
giving homilies on Marathi pride.
What about his pre-election
promise of making Marathi a
state language of Goa? After the
elections, he threw (the promise)
into the dustbin.
The paper pointed out how
former Karnataka chief minister
B S Yeddyurappa, the man who
committed atrocities on Marathis and insulted the sacrices
of 105 martyrs killed in January 1960 during the Samyukta
Maharashtra Movement in that
state, was also roped in for the
campaign. Everybody in the BJP
is playing their own vote bank
politics.
Attacking Vinod Tawde, leader
of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council and
among the BJP chief minister
hopefuls, the Sena accused him
of coveting power for which he
discarded the 25-year-old alliance between them.
It objected to Tawdes statement that regional parties stoked
ames of self-respect as a result of which development suffered.
Does it mean that all the BJPs
celebrations of its alliances with
various regional parties in the recent past were a fraud and a false
display of love (for smaller regional parties)? the Sena asked.
This was a clear indication that
all these years, the BJP was using
and looting regional parties for
its own vested interests, the article said.

On one hand he (Tawde)

speaks of constructing a magnicent memorial for Bal Thackeray and on the other they (BJP)
want to reduce the importance of
Mumbai and want to create Vidarbha out of Maharashtra.
The real memorial and tribute to Bal Thackeray would have
been to continue the BJP-Sena
alliance and preserve the unity of
Maharashtra, the paper said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has identied over 9,900
or nearly 10% of the 91,376 polling stations in Maharashtra as
hyper-sensitive.
Police and paramilitary forces
will be deployed in the vicinity of
these polling stations to prevent
violence, officials said.
The security will include over
35,000 state police personnel, 12
companies of State Reserve Police Force, 17 companies of Central Industrial Security Force,
11,500 Home Guards, Quick Response Teams, Flying Squads and
others at the polling stations.
The Election Commission, in
its standard directives, has also
banned the use of mobile phones
within 100m from the polling stations. Political parties can set up
their tables outside 200m with
two chairs to help the voters.
Even the media will be kept out
of polling stations and any surveys or exit polls will be allowed
to be released only after the polling hours end.
Around 80.35mn voters are eligible to exercise their franchise
from 7am to 6pm today to elect
288 representatives from among
4,119 candidates in the state.

Do our leaders have an authoritarian streak?

The state? I am the State,

Louis XIV was supposed
to have told his parliament
when he encountered objections
to the way he ruled France. That
was more than three centuries
ago. France, or all of Europe for
that matter, has moved on. You
may think North Korea of today
is perhaps the closest to what
France was in the late 17th and
early 18th centuries. Surprisingly
India, or at least parts of it, is not
far behind.
Yes, this is the worlds largest
democracy for sure and there indeed is democracy, warts and all,
in India as far as elections go. But
then somewhere after those elections the modern-day Louis XIVs
and Kim Jong-uns take over and
the electorate is left waiting for
the next ve years to try and elect
someone else who might turn out
to be only a replica of the one that
was replaced. Arvind Kejriwal was
at pains to drive home this point,
but he didnt have a clue what to
do after that.
Giving the benet of the doubt
to Sonia Gandhi, she may have
genuinely wanted to help the poor
but the way she went about it was
absurdly unworkable. I dont
know where the money will come
from, but I want it done, is what
she reportedly told her nance
minister when he wondered
about the nancial implications
of the food security bill that the
Congress-led government passed
in August 2013. Of course this is
not to even remotely suggest that

Gandhi was anything like the

two respectively from France and
North Korea. But when a leader
of Gandhis stature gives room for
such hearsay, there can be genuine
doubts as to where the country is
headed.
The Congress party was in the
forefront of caricaturing Narendra Modi as a dictator. Many others in the opposition - Bihars
Nitish Kumar for one - joined in
to warn Indians that Modis rule
in Gujarat was nothing short of
dictatorship and moving from
Gandhinagar to New Delhi would
not bring about any perceptible
change in his method. Already
there has been criticism about
how Modi is bypassing his ministers on crucial decisions and how
he is dictating his way through
the administration.
But what is happening at the
federal level is only a pale shadow of what is going on at various
state capitals. Take Chennai, for
instance, where till the other day
- or perhaps even today! - Jayalalithaas every wish was a command not just to her fawning acolytes but to each and every officer
in the administration.
So when Jayalalithaa wondered
where she would sit while meeting Prime Minister Modi when
she came to Delhi last June, her
special chair, which apparently
had a higher perch than anything
Modis PMO could rustle up, was
promptly own to the national
capital. (This is the same chair
that her successor to chief min-

Delhi Diary
By A K B Krishnan
istership Panneerselvam reverentially refuses to sit on, adding
a totally different connotation
to the expression keeping the
chair warm). And on September
27 when she went to Bangalore to
hear Judge DCunha sentence her
to imprisonment, her high-end
Japanese four-wheel drive was
already there to receive her as she
landed in her plane. Naturally,
she wont feel safe in any other
vehicle. The boss of everything
she surveyed in AIADMK territory apparently thought it was an
open-and-shut case and she
would be back home for dinner. So
she kept her plane waiting on the
Bangalore airport tarmac.
Her 10,000 saris and 750 pairs
of expensive footwear, not to
mention all that glittering stuff
that was indeed gold, would only
add to her mystique. But such inscrutability was once upon a time
taken for granted in the case of
kings and potentates of Europe
and even perhaps some of the
maharajas of India of an earlier
era, of course not forgetting one
Filipino First Lady of more recent
vintage. Now there are people in
Tamil Nadu who look at Amma,

Jayalalithaas one of many aliases, as higher than any royalty.

There are those who consume
poison and die for her and there
are others who eat the dust from
under her feet. (One report said as
many as 154 people have given up
their lives since she has been sent
to jail two weeks ago, but since
the source was an AIADMK apparatchik it has to be taken with
more than the proverbial pinch of
salt).
So when Panneerselvam and his
parliamentary colleague Thambidurai went to meet their Amma
in the Bangalore jail, she promptly
refused to see them. The reason:
they had not done enough to get
her out of jail. Now, how does one
get somebody out of jail just like
that? Jayalalithaa is not exactly
bothered about such niceties,
much like Sonia Gandhi was about
nding the money to nance her
pet project. Panneerselvam had
taken oath as chief minister and
he wanted to seek guidance from
his mentor par excellence on how
best to rule the state in her absence. But instead the message
he got was: The state? I am the
state!

Tharoor will always

be a favourite
with the media
That the Congress party is in a
shambles is perhaps stating the
obvious. The sad part is nobody
within the party seems to realise
this and even if some did, they
tend to bury their collective heads
in the sand hoping that the situation will go away. What is worse,
some of those who could genuinely take the party forward are
getting trapped in quagmires of
their own making.
Take, for instance, V M Sudheeran of Kerala. For long known
to be a rebel - some even go to
the extent of describing him as a
Leftist- Sudheeran was always
kept at arms length by the party
establishment. But because the
party in the state has more factions than the number of English
alphabets, Sudheeran came to be
anointed as president of Kerala
Pradesh Congress Committee.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy
and others like him must have
hoped that with the elevation to
a senior post Sudheeran would at
last behave. But no chance.
That Kerala has a drinking
problem is well known. Though
a small state it ranks at the top in
terms of per capita consumption
of alcohol, and therefore, the attendant dangers of alcohol abuse.
But the way Sudheeran is leading
the ght against alcoholism could

turn out to be a cure more dangerous than the disease.

On October 2 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced
his drive to deliver India from the
clutches of garbage and lth, he
said he had chosen nine popular
personalities to help him in his
effort. One of them happened to
be Congressman Shashi Tharoor
who represents Thiruvanathapuram in the lower house of parliament. Now Modis selection
criterion was based solely on one
simple fact: how many fan followers these people have either on the
new age social media or on lm
and television channels so that
what they propound will make an
impact of the masses. So he chose
Sachin Tendulkar and Salman
Khan. And he also chose Shashi
Tharoor. With more than 2mn
fans Tharoor is next only to Prime
Minister Modi on the Twitter
counter among politicians. He is
way above the rest of the political
eld which forms the opposition.
Tharoor, therefore, was a
natural choice for Modi. But the
Congress, or more precisely Sudheeran and state Home Minister
Ramesh Chennithala, will have
not none of it. For these worthies
there is a single point agenda:
anything that Modi does or says
must be opposed. Party mouthpiece Veekshanam obliquely referred to Tharoor as a foreign
specialist as he was visiting the
US when Modi was there recently
and was continuously giving his
views on various Indian television

channels, most of them laudatory,

on the prime ministers visit.
Sudheeran called a meeting of
his party and deliberated at length
what action could be taken to teach
Tharoor a lesson. But long given to
the high command culture, the
state unit is incapable of taking
any decision and, therefore, left it
to the central leadership. We hope
the high command will take appropriate action against Tharoor,
Sudheeran told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
Senior party leader Digvijaya
Singh has said Tharoor has done
nothing wrong in accepting Modis invitation to join the Clean
India effort as the idea itself was
originally mooted by the Congress
party. But then again, Singh himself has been seen as something of
a puzzle because many a time his
off-the-cuff remarks have landed
both him and the party in tight
situations.
Another party veteran Anand
Sharma simply said: What Tharoor said (while accepting Modis
invitation) is his personal opinion
and what Digvijaya Singh said is
his personal opinion. That may
be so, but the Congress has gone
ahead and removed Tharoor from
the post of party spokesman to
mollify Sudheeran and company.
But will this move help keep Tharoor off the limelight? A prolic
writer and an equally eloquent
commentator, Tharoor will always be a favourite with the media. You cant keep a good man
down for long, can you?

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

23

INDIA

Qaeda, SIMI
join hands to
plan attacks:
top officials
IANS
New Delhi

l Qaeda, responsible for

the September 11, 2001
attack on New Yorks
World Trade Center, and which
had no reported presence in India until now, has apparently
joined hands with Indian terror
groups like the Students Islamic
Movement of India (SIMI) to
plan a series of bombings in the
country during the festival season, top officials with access to
intelligence inputs have warned.
The two groups - one a global
militant organisation founded by
Osama bin Laden and the other a
home grown outt - were found
to have joined forces when investigators discovered their roles
in the recent bombings in Burdwan, West Bengal, and Bijnor in
Uttar Pradesh.
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri announced on September
4 the forming of its groups wing
in India, and to spread Islamic
rule and raise the ag of jihad
across the Indian subcontinent.
With the erstwhile Indian
Mujahideen now having no presence in India, Al Qaeda looked
for a new partner and found it in
the shape of SIMI, which has a
pan-India network.
The role of Al Qaeda and SIMI
came to light during the Burdwan and Bijnor bomb blasts in
the last one month, a top official of a special cell, which deals
with all terror-related activities
in the national capital and keeps
a watch on terrorists outts, said.
Another official, on condition
of anonymity, said: To impart a
big blow in India, Al Qaeda and
SIMI had chosen the month of
October and their motive was to
conduct a series of bombings on
Dussehra and Eid al-Adha.
However, the accidental blast in
Burdwan put paid to the terrorists

bombings plan and they could not

carry out any attacks on these occasions, the official said.
But Diwali might be on their
radar and any Indian city could
be targeted by these outts on
this festival, the official said.
The festival of lights will be
celebrated across the country
on October 23. Suspected militants Shakil Ahmed and Sovan
Mandal were killed and another
person Hasan Saheb was injured
in the October 2 explosion in a
house in Khagragarh in Burdwan
town. Four people, including two
women, have been arrested.
The investigative agencies
are already on high alert and are
not going to take any chances by
leaving any loopholes on Diwali,
another source said.
The official said the Burdwan
blast has conrmed Al Qaedas
role and its motive, while the
September 12 Bijnor blast has
also affirmed SIMIs role.
The recovery of two cartons
full of bundles containing 20
match boxes each, a small liquid
petroleum gas (LPG) cylinder
tted with wires, two electronic
chips and a metal pipe recovered
from a house in Bijnor, where the
blast took place, is indicative of
the possibility that sleeper cells
of the banned SIMI are on revival
path, said the official.
SIMI has a modus operandi
in which the use of matchstick
sulphur is their signature in terror attacks. In at least a dozen
incidents of terror attacks in
southern states, the SIMI signature helped investigators zero in
on the accused, the official said.
The suspects now on the run
from Bijnor include Ejazuddin,
Mohamed Aslam, Zakir Hussain,
Mehboob alias Guddu and Amjad, all of whom escaped from the
Madhya Pradesh jail a year ago.
Their sixth aide is suspected to be
Saliq alias Salim, a SIMI operative
from Khandwa, he added.

No IS presence in Kashmir: CM
Jammu and Kashmir Chief
Minister Omar Abdullah
yesterday downplayed the
appearance of Islamic State
flags during street protests
in the valley, and denied the
terror groups presence in the
state. No groups of the ISIS
are present (in Jammu and
Kashmir). Some foolish youths

Court convicts
ve men for
gang-rape

used the flags but that was it,

Abdullah said. Unfortunately
some (TV) channels
have played up this issue
unnecessarily but we have
already taken action against the
guilty, he added. He said the
tailor who made the flag has
also been identified and action
is being taken against him.

Vehicles move through a flooded road next to trees fallen over railway tracks in Visakhapatnam yesterday. INSET: Prime Minister Narendra takes an aerial survey of the
cyclone-hit areas.

PM visits cyclone-hit
areas, toll rises to 31
PM announces Rs10bn to
Andhra Pradesh for aid and
reconstruction
Agencies
Visakhapatnam

he death toll from Cyclone Hudhud in India

rose to at least 31 yesterday as Prime Minister Narendra
Modi visited the battered region
and announced relief assistance
of Rs10bn ($164mn).
The cyclone packing winds of
around 195kmph hit land on the
southeastern coast on Sunday,
near the city of Vishakapatnam
in Andhra Pradesh.
The storm had weakened
into a tropical depression after
travelling inland and was being
tracked near the borders of the
northern state of Uttar Pradesh,
Indias Meteorological Department said.
Collapsing houses and trees
across Andhra Pradesh killed 25,
disaster management officials
said, with most of the victims
being from Vishakapatnam, one

Borewell death

of the largest cities in the region

and home to a major naval base.
Three deaths were conrmed
in the neighbouring state of
Odisha and another three people died in Madhya Pradesh, according to NDTV network.
The Indian navy, which has
its eastern headquarters in
Vishakapatnam, suffered damage worth Rs20bn in the storm,
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister
N Chandrababu Naidu said.
The cyclone ripped apart
tens of thousands of mud-andthatch homes, attened rice,
banana and sugarcane plantations and snapped electricity
lines.
In Visakhapatnam, home to
2mn people, residents formed
long queues outside the few
ATMs, petrol stations and stores
which had reopened, despite a
third day without electricity.
The high demand for items
such as milk and drinking water, prompted some traders to
hike up prices, sparking fears
of shortages and some looting
among cyclone survivors.
Television images showed

mobs climbing into a government relief truck lled with

food and water packets, scrambling to offload the heavy sacks,
as policemen beat them with
batons.
We paid Rs50 ($0.87) for a
half litre milk packet yesterday.
Its actual price is only Rs20,
said 55-year-old labourer, V
Amarnath, carrying groceries
bought at a roadside shop.
Modi, who took an aerial survey over the area, announced
Rs10bn to Andhra Pradesh for
aid and reconstruction.
It was the last harvest for
the farmers, so there are a lot
of losses for them. Well do a
proper survey of agricultural
losses and on property damages, Modi told reporters.
I have full faith that we
will overcome the devastation
caused by the storm and very
soon things will go back to normal and we will take care of all
those who have suffered losses.
The full scale of the damage
caused by Sundays cyclone is
still not known, officials said.
Hundreds of uprooted trees

Pranab seeks
Norwegian
investment

IANS
New Delhi
IANS
Oslo

Delhi court yesterday

convicted ve men for the
abduction and gang-rape
of a call centre executive in the
national capital in 2010.
Additional Sessions Judge
Virender Bhat convicted Shamshad alias Khutkan, Usman
alias Kale, Shahid alias Chhota
Billi, Iqbal alias Bada Billi and
Kamruddin under charges of
abduction and gang-rape of
the 30-year-old woman in the
Dhaula Kuan area of south Delhi.
The court will hear arguments
for sentencing on October 17.
On November 24, 2010, the
ve men abducted the woman,
who hailed from the northeast.
She was walking home with a
friend after her shift had ended,
according to the police.
The abductors took her to Mangolpuri, gang-raped her, and left
her on an isolated road there.
The men were later arrested
from Mewat in Haryana. They
have claimed innocence, saying they were falsely implicated
in the case. They were tried on
charges of abduction, criminal
intimidation and gang-rape.
After the incident, Delhi police ordered all call centres in
Delhi and the National Capital
Region to drop women employees at their homes after their
shift ends.

National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF) personnel search

for the body of a four-year-old girl who fell into a borewell
in the Manchal village of Ranga Reddy district some 50km
from Hyderabad yesterday. Girija fell into the open borewell
while playing in a cotton field on October 12 and is thought
to have fallen some 45ft.

resident Pranab Mukherjee has invited Norwegian businessmen to

invest in India and to participate in
Indias growth story.
In a speech at a banquet on Monday
night in his honour by King Harald V
and Queen Sonja, Mukherjee said business sentiments in India were positive
and strong and the new government was
taking a number of measures to encourage investments, revive the manufacturing sector in India, promote skills development, develop smart cities and engage
closely with all interested partners and
investors in India and abroad to make
this happen.
He said the government invited investors and entrepreneurs from Norway, an
oil and gas-rich nation with one of the
worlds highest per capita incomes, to explore possibilities of investment in Indias
infrastructure sector.
We welcome foreign direct investments
in our railways, roads and ports, power and
communications sectors; we invite Norwegian companies to join Indian counterparts in the Make in India initiative of
the new government and we are presently
simplifying the procedures to facilitate
their participation in Indias growth story,
the president who is making the rst state
visit from India to Norway, said.
He said India welcomed the India Strategy launched in 2009 by Norway and
looked forward to new partnerships and
collaborations in areas of common interest.

have blocked roads and phone

lines are down, making it hard
to determine how many people
have been affected.
The Odisha government said
preliminary surveys showed
about 80,000 mud-and-thatch
homes have been damaged, and
infrastructure such as roads,
culverts and bridges need repair.
Authorities in Andhra Pradesh
said agricultural losses were high
as winds and rains had lashed
crops. Hundreds of livestock
have been killed and scores of
shing boats damaged.
In Tamminaidupeta, a village
in Srikakulam district, Seepana
Srinivasarao said his three-acre
rice plantation had ooded after
the cyclones heavy rains caused
a river to overow.
I lost all my crops. Only
government compensation will
bring some relief for me, said
Srinivasarao.
Visakhapatnams airport remained closed to commercial
ights, after the roof of its main
building was blown off.
Authorities say restoring

power and telecommunications, and getting relief to affected communities was a priority.
Along the coast, government workers continued to
clear roads of scores of uprooted trees, mangled electricity poles and sign boards torn
from buildings by storm, while
helicopters dropped food and
water packets to villages further
inland.
In rural areas, inhabitants
cleared up thatch and mud debris strewn around their damaged homes and waited for help.
In Chelekapalam village in
Srikakulam district, food stall
owners P Ramanna and his
wife P Mangavani stood behind
a table on the roadside, trying
to prepare a curry in a pan on a
stove.
Our stall was blown away.
We found this table today lying
a few metres away and opened
our shop, but we are unable to
prepare idli as there is no rice
powder, said Ramanna, referring to a traditional type of rice
cake.

24

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

LATIN AMERICA
STANDOFF

IMPUNITY

CUT SHORT

MANDATE

ALL CLEAR

Talks on to free hostages

after Brazil prison riot

Journalist petitions UN to
probe Mexico abuses

Brazil breaks up network

of illegal abortion clinics

UN extends Haiti mission

but cuts troop numbers

Second test confirms

Guinean free of Ebola

Negotiations resumed yesterday at a Brazilian

prison where rioting inmates took 12 guards
and several fellow prisoners hostage, the
latest in a series of uprisings. There is no
one demand that has been communicated, a
spokeswoman for the state justice department
said, adding that we know some inmates are
seeking transfers. Talks began at 8am (1100
GMT) after failing to resolve the standoff
Monday evening, and all 12 guards remain
hostages at the facility in southern Parana
state, the spokeswoman said. Press reports on
Monday said the inmates at the Guarapuava
prison want better living conditions.

High-level corruption has created an atmosphere

of impunity in Mexico, an investigative journalist
lamented yesterday, urging the UN to probe
abuses against her and other reporters in the
country. Impunity rules in Mexico, said Lydia
Cacho, a high-profile Mexican journalist who has
worked to highlight violence against women
and children, pointing to statistics showing
94% of all criminal cases go unpunished in the
country. Cacho was in Geneva to petition the UN
Human Rights Committee to look into her own
case, stretching from an arbitrary arrest in 2005
through 20 hours of torture, numerous death
threats and a lack of due process.

Police announced yesterday they had broken

up the largest network of illegal abortion clinics
in Rio de Janeiro and its suburbs, operated
by doctors, police and lawyers. Abortion is
against the law in Brazil, except in cases of rape
or when the mothers life is in danger or if the
foetus is missing part or all of its brain. Police
said, for a price tag of up to 7,500 reais ($3,100),
the organization would perform an abortion
up through the fifth month of pregnancy. The
procedures were being done in unsanitary
places and without any hygienic conditions,
putting the physical integrity and health of the
patients at risk, police said.

The UN Security Council yesterday extended the

mandate of its mission in Haiti for a year, but cut
the size of the peacekeeping force maintaining
order in half. In a resolution, the council said the UN
Stabilization Mission in Haiti would continue until at
least October 15, 2015, when its mandate will again
come up for renewal. The overall security situation
remained relatively stable, the resolution said,
allowing the 5,000-strong UN force to be reduced
to 2,370 without undermining the security
and stability of Haiti. The UN police contingent
will remain unchanged at 2,601. Diplomats said
Argentina and Chile, which provide troops for the
force, expressed reservations over the cuts.

A Guinean man quarantined in Brazil on

suspicion of being infected with Ebola does not
have the disease, health officials confirmed on
Monday, citing the results of a second test. The
result has just come in it is not Ebola, said
Health Minister Arthur Chioro. He added that
the man need no longer be kept in isolation, and
that close monitoring of some 60 people who
came in contact with him in Brazil can end. A first
test administered to the 47-year-old produced a
negative result Saturday, and that was confirmed
by the second test on Monday. Ebola has killed
over 4,000 people to date, mainly in Guinea,
Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Mexico gang leader in case

of missing students dies
AFP
Mexico City

leader of a gang involved in the

disappearance of 43 students
died yesterday during a police
operation in central Mexico, a security
spokesman told AFP.
The National Security Commission spokesman said Guerreros Unidos
honcho Benjamin Mondragon apparently killed himself rather than surrender in the state of Morelos.
But Mexican media said he was killed
by the federal police during a clash in
the city of Jiutepec, 100km south of
Mexico City.
The information I have ... is that he
preferred to commit suicide rather than
give himself up, said the spokesman,
who declined to give his name.
The spokesman did not know if
Mondragon, known as El Benjamon,
was involved in the case of the missing
students in the southern state of Guerrero, where his gang is based.
Last week, National Security Commissioner Monte Alejandro Rubido
said the Guerreros Unidos no longer
have a clear leadership since the capture in May of its boss, Mario El Sapo
Guapo Casarrubias.
Authorities say Mondragons gang
worked hand-in-hand with corrupt
municipal officers in a night of violence
in the city of Iguala on September 26
that left six people dead and the 43 aspiring teachers missing.
Witnesses saw several students being taken away in patrol cars.
Nine clandestine graves with at least
28 bodies have been found on the outskirts of Iguala since then, raising fears

Firefighters try to extinguish the fire at the Government Palace in the city of Chilpancingo, Mexico, after a group of students
from the Escuela Normal de Ayotzinapa school set the building on fire.
that the students were executed.
The case has drawn international
condemnation and sparked national
protests last week.
The gang leaders death came a day
after students from the missing groups
teacher training college torched part of
the Guerrero state government building amid angry protests demanding the

resignation of Governor Angel Aguirre.

Protesters vowed to radicalize
their movement if officials fail to provide information about the missing
students whereabouts soon. Ramos
Reyes, head of the radical CETEG
teachers union, said the demonstrators
plan to seize city halls around Guerrero.
State authorities are deploying more

riot police to counter the protests.

Dozens of state police reclaimed
security while reghters battled the
blaze. A small truck was also set on re
near the complex. No injuries were reported in the res.
The students later broke into
Chilpancingos city hall and shattered
windows.

The attack on Aguirres offices came

after clashes between riot police and
protesters armed with rocks and sticks
at the gates of the state congress.
Some 150 police used shields to keep
about 500 protesters away from the
state legislature. Five teachers and two
officers were injured, an AFP correspondent said.
Protesters had already set fired
to the local parliaments library in a
protest days after the students disappeared.
Students from a teacher training college outside Chilpancingo have been
fuming over the fate of 43 comrades
who vanished after their buses were
shot at by municipal police in the city
of Iguala on September 26.
The citys mayor, his wife and the
police chief are wanted for questioning
but have gone into hiding.
The students are known for their
radical protests, but they insist they
went to Iguala to raise funds, though
authorities say they also seized buses
to return home, a common practice
among them.
As the authorities wrestle with the
mass disappearance, Guerrero police
were caught in another controversial
shooting late Sunday, when a state
anti-kidnap unit red at a van carrying
two German students, wounding one of
them.
Prosecutors say the van ignored a
checkpoint the officers had set up in
Chilpancingo and that the officers shot
at its tires to stop it after hearing a gunlike noise.
The student was in stable condition
at a Mexico City hospital, according to
his school in Mexico, the Monterrey Institute of Technology.

Powerful
earthquake
rattles
El Salvador
AFP
San Salvador

powerful
7.3-magnitude
earthquake off the coast of
Central America killed one
person and caused walls to crack
and tumble in El Salvador, officials
said yesterday.
But there were no reports of major damage the morning after the
quake rumbled through the region
late Monday.
The damage is still being assessed, said Jorge Melendez, El Salvadors civil protection chief.
Electricity was cut off in parts
of El Salvador and beyond. Walls
crumbled, cracks appeared in some
houses and a hospital suffered minor damage, Melendez said.
In San Miguel, 135km east of San
Salvador, a man was killed when
an electrical pylon fell on him, the
citys mayor Wilfredo Salgado told
YSKL radio.
The quake hit in the Pacic Ocean,
170km southeast of the capital San
Salvador, at a depth of 70km, the US
Geological Survey said. The earthquakes magnitude was initially given as 7.4 but then lowered to 7.3
The rumbling of the earth was
felt all along the Central American
coast, from Guatemala in the north
to Nicaragua and Costa Rica in the
south and inland to Honduras.
It was strong when it started to
rumble, and it would not stop. My
family just prayed and asked God
for it to stop, Maria Etelvina Deras, who lives in Usulutan, 110km
southeast of the capital, told the radio station.

US should offer cash to curb Central America migration

By Dave Graham and
Sofia Menchu, Reuters
Guatemala City

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff waves during a campaign rally

in Brasilia.

Brazil poll contenders

run neck-and-neck
Reuters
Brasilia

razil President Dilma

Rousseff and pro-business
challenger Aecio Neves are
running neck-and-neck ahead of
a runoff election on October 26, a
poll showed on Monday.
The survey by research rm
Vox Populi found 45% of voters
favouring Rousseff and 44% for
Neves, within the margin of error
of 2.2 percentage points. Excluding undecided voters and spoiled
or blank survey responses, Rousseff had 51% of valid votes against
49% for Neves.
Vox Populi is one of Brazils
smaller pollsters, but its survey
backed up the ndings of larger
polling rms Datafolha and Ibope,
which also found the race too close
to call in their polls last week.

Neves has gained ground since

his surprise performance in the
rst-round vote on October 5,
when he bested environmentalist Marina Silva to place second
behind Rousseff.
On Sunday, Neves secured Silvas endorsement, increasing the
odds of winning a crucial majority of her 22mn votes to unseat
Rousseff and end 12 years of rule
by her Workers Party.
Local pollsters have faced
greater scrutiny after failing to
predict the extent of Silvas decline in popularity and the surge
by Neves in the rst round of
voting.
Vox Populi polled 2,000 voters over the weekend. The survey was commissioned by TV
Record, Brazils second-largest
television network, and broadcast on its evening news program.

he US should provide billions of

dollars to help Central American
nations curb the ow of illegal migrants, Guatemalan President Otto Perez
said, and his government warns the problem will get worse if Washington fails to
help.
Fleeing violence, trying to reach relatives already in the US or seeking jobs,
record numbers of child migrants from
Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador
have been stopped at the southern US
border this year, causing widespread
alarm.
Last month, the three countries
pitched Washington an ambitious development plan to confront the issue. They
want to pump about $10bn into the region
to create jobs and lift living standards,
with the bulk of funding coming from the
US, Perez told Reuters.
He hopes the plan could come up with
about $2bn a year from 2015 to 2019, a
sum he equated to roughly 10% of annual
US spending on border security and immigration enforcement.
Now we understand its not simply a
question of the US saying: Right, heres
$2bn a year for ve years for example the governments of the three countries
have to play their part too, the conservative Perez, who took power in early 2012,
said in an interview.
The package would boost infrastructure and provide more jobs in all three
countries, especially in areas that send
large numbers of migrants to the US, he
added.
The three Central American governments are urging the US to shoulder the
lions share of the costs, arguing that US
demand for illegal narcotics has fuelled
violence among drug gangs across much
of the impoverished region.
The US has to support this, it has no
other option, Guatemalas foreign minister, Carlos Morales, told Reuters. If
they dont support it, the crisis will kick
off again, you can count on it.
Perez said he hoped the US would put
up about 60% of funding. But well have

Perez ... promoting a partnership

to discuss it calmly and see what each individual country can do, and what can be
achieved by common consent.
During meetings in New York in September, US Secretary of State John Kerry

told Central American officials he hoped

Congress could approve about $300mn
in funding, Morales said, noting the sum
was nothing given the scale of the
problem.

Central American leaders are due to

meet Vice President Joe Biden on November 12 in Washington to sound out US
support for their plan, Morales added.
The initiative contains proposals to
overhaul energy supply, roads, airports,
and other key infrastructure in the region, alongside various other measures.
Known as the Plan of the Alliance for
Prosperity in the Northern Triangle, it is
being seen by some as a more limited version of Plan Colombia, under which the
US government sent billions of dollars in
aid to help Colombia ght drug traffickers
and left-wing guerrillas.
Multilateral loans and private sector
funds are among the options being considered, and Perez said Guatemala has
held talks with the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank on possible funding proposals, including loans.
The ood of children heading to the US
from Central America this year stretched
US border facilities to their limits and
images of youngsters packed into holding
centres near the border caused a political
storm.
A concerted drive to dissuade them
nally reduced the ow, but by the end
of September, US officials had stopped
67,339 unaccompanied minors from
Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and
Mexico on the southwest border over the
previous year.
Since 2009, the number of children
arriving from Guatemala, Honduras and
El Salvador has risen nearly 16-fold, and
the three nations had the most caught in
2014. Five years ago, Mexico accounted
for more than 80% of the combined total.
There are far fewer migrants from other
Central American countries like Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Alongside nancial backing for the development plan, Guatemala is pushing
Washington to grant more concessions
to migrants in return for its own efforts to
reduce the exodus.
These include more visas for temporary workers and urging US President
Barack Obama to use his executive powers to improve rights of certain illegal
immigrants with good records in the US such as those with US-born children - if
Congress fails to pass a stalled immigration reform.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

25

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
Islamabad briefs
P5 members

Pakistani, Indian military

hold talks amid tensions
Pakistans army has voiced
concern at continued firing
by Indian troops across the
disputed border in Kashmir
AFP
Islamabad

enior Pakistani and Indian

military officials spoke
yesterday by hotline after days of intense cross-border
ring in the disputed region of
Kashmir heightened tensions.
At least 20 civilians have been
killed and thousands of people on both sides of the de facto
border in Kashmir have ed their
homes in what residents have
described as some of the worst
shelling in years.
The surge in violence between
the nuclear-armed neighbours,
who have fought two wars over
the Himalayan territory, has coincided with the joint award of
the Nobel Peace Prize to a Pakistani and an Indian.
Pakistans military said yesterday it had voiced concern at
continued Indian ring across
the disputed frontier in Kashmir
and in Punjab province.
A routine weekly hotline
contact was established today
between directors of military
operations of Pakistan and Indian armies, a senior military official said in Islamabad on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan armys director of
military operations conveyed
concern to Indian counterpart

A handout picture released by the Pakistani military shows members of UN Military Observers Group (UNMOG) in India and Pakistan, meeting
victims of alleged Indian artillery firing at the de-facto border in Pakistani administered Kashmir, at a hospital in Sialkot yesterday.
and pointed towards Indias
consistent unprovoked ring on
civil population living along the
Line of Control and the working
boundary.

Clashes occur regularly along

the disputed border in Kashmir,
known as the Line of Control, as
well as along the frontier dividing Indian Kashmir from Paki-

Tribute to Malala

stans Punjab province.

The latest shelling began
over a week ago, and while its
intensity has lessened since
Friday Pakistani officials say

ring has continued.

Islamabad said on Friday that
both countries shared a duty
to defuse the situation, while
Indias foreign ministry main-

tained
that
de-escalation
is now entirely in Pakistans
hands.
Kashmir has been a festering
sore in India-Pakistan relations
ever since independence from
Britain in 1947, with each country controlling part of the scenic
mountain territory but claiming
all of it.
Fighting between Indian forces and rebels seeking independence or a merger of the territory
with Pakistan has killed tens of
thousands mostly civilians
since 1989.
There had been hopes of an
early resumption in peace talks
between the two countries,
when Indias new Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif to attend his swearing-in
in June.
But India called off talks last
month after Pakistan consulted
with Indian Kashmiri separatists, in a move some saw as a
sign of a tougher stance under
Indias new right-wing government.
Pakistans Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai last week
invited the Indian and Pakistani
leaders to accompany her and
fellow winner Kailash Satyarthi,
an Indian child rights activist, to
the award ceremony.
But just hours later there was
a fresh exchange of re in Kashmir, and the offices of the two
leaders both declined this week
to say whether they would accept Malalas overture.

Pakistan has briefed envoys of

the five permanent members of
the UN Security Council on the
matter.
Two days after sending off a
letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on the issue,
Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the prime
minister on national security
and foreign affairs on Monday
briefed the P-5 envoys on the
situation on the Line of Control
and the Working Boundary, said
a Foreign Office statement.
Aziz expressed concern that
the ceasefire violations by India
and the provocative statements
by the Indian leadership were
not only a setback to peace efforts but also a distraction from
Pakistans counter-terrorism
commitments in the ongoing
Operation Zarb-e-Azb against
militants in the tribal areas.
He called upon the P-5 countries
to urge India to respect the
ceasefire agreement and engage
in a meaningful and serious
dialogue, the statement said.
Aziz outlined Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharifs vision of a
peaceful South Asian region
and his positive overtures to
the Indian government since
coming to power in May 2013,
including reaching out to Prime
Minister (Narendra) Modi.
He expressed his disappointment at the fact that first the
foreign secretary-level talks,
scheduled for Aug 25 were cancelled, and later, India resorted
to unprovoked firing and shelling on the LoC and the Working
Boundary resulting in many
civilian casualties, injuries, and
extensive damage to property,
the statement said.
Aziz also informed the envoys
about the letter to Ban in which
he had called upon the UN to
play its due role towards defusing the prevailing situation,
and monitoring of the ceasefire
violations by the United Nations
Military Observer Group in India
and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).

Taliban kill six more Afghan policemen

Reuters
Kabul

Pakistanis cut a celebratory cake as they congratulate Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize
winner, in Islamabad, yesterday. Teen education advocate Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and
childrens rights activist Kailash Satyarthi of India shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for combating
child oppression and the right to education.

aliban
ghters
overwhelmed an Afghan police checkpoint in a key
province bordering the capital,
killing six policemen yesterday
as insurgents launch erce attacks ahead of the withdrawal of
foreign combat forces, an official
said.
The bloody ghting season is
testing the newly trained Afghan
security forces ability to battle
the insurgency, which is determined to re-establish its strict
Islamist state that was toppled 13
years ago in the US-led military
intervention.
The Taliban attacked the police post in Logar province early
yesterday morning and the Afghan government forces were
unable to repel them, according
to a local official. Six policemen
died in the battle .

Afghan security officials inspect the site of a bomb blast in Kabul yesterday.

WFP cuts food rations for 1mn Afghans over funding

Reuters
Kabul

unding shortfalls have

forced the World Food
Programme to cut rations
for up to 1mn people in Afghanistan, a WFP official said, an early
sign that aid money may dwindle
as the international combat mission winds down.
The UN food assistance agency, which runs on donations
from member countries, faces
a gap of about $30 million for
its programme in Afghanistan,
country director Claude Jibidar
said in an interview.
We have had to cut down the
rations of the people we are assisting, just so that we can buy
some time, so we dont stop altogether, Jibidar said.
He said the cuts, to 1,500 calories a day from 2,100, would
affect up to 1mn people, many
of whom have had to ee their
homes because of the escalating
war between the Taliban insurgency and the Western-backed
Afghan government.
For those displaced by the war,
the prospect that food aid could
stop is grim.
If the food rations get
stopped, we will die of hunger, said Bibi Fatima, an eld-

erly woman who lives with eight

family members in a mud hut on
Kabuls eastern outskirts.
The family was forced to ee
their home in Helmand, a southern province where ghting has
been erce, and they have no
income except what Fatimas
grandchildren bring in from
begging on the streets.
She said she had received food
from a UN agency in past winters, and was counting on help
this coming season.
We dont have rewood and
food to eat. If our children get
sick, we have no money to treat
them.
With Afghanistans harsh
winter looming, Jibidar said the
WFP has only about six weeks
left in which to deposit advance
stores of food meant to supply
mountainous areas of Afghanistan that usually get cut off for
months at a time.
Afghanistan has been the
recipient of tens of billions of
dollars in aid since 2001, when
the Talibans harsh government
based on a strict interpretation
of Islam was toppled by a US-led
invasion.
The country remains in great
need. The WFP helps feed a total
of 3.7mn Afghans, or about 10%
of the population.
With most foreign combat

troops due to withdraw at the

end of this year, many humanitarian groups fear aid ows will
dry up as donors focus on other
crises, including combating the
Ebola virus and helping refugees from the wars in Syria and
Iraq.
Already there are signs of Afghanistan fatigue among donors.
This years UN humanitarian appeal for the country - $400mn
- is so far $158mn short, even
though the UN lowered its appeal by 14% this year.
Danielle Moylan, advocacy
manager for the Norwegian
Refugee Council, said that while
international donors have been
generous to Afghanistan over the
years, the countrys needs are
likely to only increase.
We certainly hope that it
doesnt mean that donors are
turning their backs on Afghanistan, Moylan said. If you are
withdrawing militarily, you
must increase humanitarian assistance because the needs are
increasing.
Most international troops will
leave Afghanistan at the end of
this year, winding up the combat
phase of the mission that began
with ousting the Taliban over the
shelter they gave the Al Qaeda
planners of the Sept. 11 attacks
in the United States.

An internally displaced Afghan family is seen inside their shelter at a refugee camp yesterday.

26

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

PHILIPPINES
Filipinos to be
repatriated from
Ebola-hit nations
By Joel M Sy Egco
Manila Times

alacanang
yesterday said the government is preparing for
the repatriation of overseas
Filipino workers (OFW) from
countries that are affected by
the deadly Ebola virus.
The government is undertaking all necessary measures to protect the health and
well-being of our nationals or
citizens in keeping with the
established protocols on managing the Ebola virus disease.
This (move) includes preparations for raising to level 3 the
crisis alert level for the Ebolaaffected countries in West Africa effective mid-November
2014, Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio
Coloma Jr said at a news briefing.
The Department of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) plans to raise
alert level 3, or voluntary repatriation, in Ebola-hit West
African countries by mid-November.
The three countries are
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Charles Jose, Foreign Affairs
spokesman, said the department needs about a month to
prepare for requests of Filipinos there to be repatriated.
Coloma said the DFA and
Labour department are closely
monitoring the situation in
West Africa where there are
1,755 Filipinos.
Our government is fully
committed and rmly determined to prevent the onset or
spread of the Ebola virus dis-

ease, and is undertaking all

the necessary precautions and
preventive measures that will
protect our citizens from this
disease, he added.
The disease was reported to
be the worst in Liberia where
2,316 had already died out of
4,024 conrmed cases.
Coloma said Filipinos who
will be brought home will be
screened to ensure that the
deadly virus does not spread
here.
It is important to undertake quarantine procedures to
ensure the screening of Filipinos who are to be repatriated.
They must be free from the
symptoms of Ebola such as u,
cough and colds, weakening
and others, he added.
The DFA, meanwhile, said
the government will have to
prepare for land arrangements,
transfers and ight schedules
for Filipinos who will be sent
home.
We are giving ourselves a
month to make sure all mechanisms are in place for agencies here. Theyll be ready to
receive our nationals. Also for
the DFA, keep in mind that we
dont have an embassy in these
(Ebola-hit) countries so to be
able to operationalise these
plans, we should have people
there on the ground, Jose said.
He added that most of the
Filipinos in those three countries have signied their intention to stay there.
But the situation is not
getting any better so, if there
are Filipinos who think their
situation is not that safe and
they would like to come back,
then we should be able to help
them, Jose said.

Students burn a mock US flag during a protest rally against the killing of a 26-year-old Filipino transgender Jeffrey Laude, outside the US embassy in Manila yesterday.

Govt to seek custody of

Marine linked to murder
AFP
Olongapo City

Troops shoot dead

two rebels in clashes
By Al Jacinto
Manila Times

overnment
troops
killed two rebels in a
number of clashes in
Maguindanao province in the
restive Muslim autonomous
region in southern Philippines.
Officials said the ghtings
broke out after members of the
Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Fighters (BIFF) simultaneously attacked the headquarters of the second Mechanized
Infantry Battalion and several
detachments in Salbu village
in the town of Datu Saudi Ampatuan.

Capt. Rolando Ocharan,

spokesman for the military
said a
seven-year-old unidentied child was also wounded
during the reght.
Ocharan identied the two
slain rebels as Muslemen
Abdul and Tong Adzal. He
said several rebels were also
wounded, but managed to escape.
He said the ghting lasted
almost 30 minutes and that no
soldiers were killed or wounded in the clash.
The BIFF, which recently
pledged allegiance to the jihadist group Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria, is ghting for
independence in Mindanao.

he Philippines said yesterday it would seek custody of a US Marine currently detained on a war ship
under suspicion of the murder
of a local transgender person as
police readied murder charges
against him.
The body of Jeffrey Laude, also
known as Jennifer, was found by
hotel staff in the northern port
city of Olongapo on Sunday,
less than an hour after the victim checked into a room with an
unidentied blonde male.
The suspect was part of the
3,500-member US contingent in
the Philippines to conduct joint
military exercises, which ended
last week.
A police statement issued yesterday said the US serviceman
had been identied by a witness
and that a murder charge was
being prepared against him.
Earlier the American embassy
had conrmed: A US Marine
has been identied as a possible

A student cries as she speaks during a protest rally against the killing of
a transgender, outside the US embassy.
suspect in the ongoing investigation. The suspected Marine
is assigned to the 2nd Battalion,
9th Marines, out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
It added that the soldier was
being held onboard USS Peleliu
while a joint Naval Criminal Investigative Service and Philippine
National Police investigation is
conducted. Eduardo Oban, executive director of a commission
overseeing the Visiting Forces
Agreement (VFA) between the two
countries, said the USS Peleliu

would remain in the country while

the investigation is going on.
He said charges against the
American would be led very
soon, but would not give details.
Asked if the Philippines would
seek custody of the suspect, Oban
said: The Philippine government
should exert that position: that we
would like to take custody of the
US serviceman.
The US could turn down this
request but Oban stressed: Its
an extraordinary case, yes. Thats
why we are asserting Philippine

jurisdiction over this case.

The city of Olongapo, which
had once teemed with US servicemen fresh from the recent exercises, was now silent and gloomy,
much to the disappointment of
local businesses. The Americans
disappeared from red light district
on Sunday, hours after the killing,
said Elvira Medrano, an attendant
in a pay parking area.
Laude, who arrived at the hotel
dressed as a woman and checked
in with a foreign man, was found
lifeless on the bathroom oor
with marks on the neck police said
Monday, adding that initial investigations suggested the victim had
been strangled.
Leftist and nationalist groups
have seized the issue and condemned the countrys alliance
with the US. About 60 protesters
staged a rally at the US embassy
yesterday, burning a makeshift US
ag as they condemned the murder and the presence of American
troops.
At Laudes wake in an Olongapo
funeral home, a photograph of the
victim, dressed as a woman with
make-up, long hair and tank-top

lay upon the white coffin.

A wreath from local feminist
group, Kaisa Ka also lay upon the
coffin, saying: Transgenders are
people. Justice for Jeffrey.
US Pacic Command chief Admiral Samuel Locklear expressed
his regrets over the incident,
Armed Forces of the Philippines
Chief of Staff General Gregorio
Catapang told reporters.
The case is a fresh test for the
VFA, an accord signed by the two
allies in 1998 covering legal liability of US forces in the Philippines.
The VFA gives the Philippines
jurisdiction over US troops who
commit crimes not linked to their
official duties but it also says custody of these Americans will remain with the US government.
The agreement does state that
in extraordinary cases, the Philippines can ask for custody.
In 2006, a Philippine court sentenced US Marine Lance Corporal
Daniel Smith to 40 years in jail for
raping a Filipina a year earlier.
Smith walked free in 2009 after
his accuser recanted her statement, prompting the court to
acquit him.

GRAFT

Binay not immune

from probe
Justice Secretary De Lima has
maintained that Vice President
Jejomar Binays immunity from suit
does not prevent their office from
launching an investigation on allegations of corruption against him,
Manila Times reported.
De Lima was reacting to criticisms
that she was quick on investigating
Binay while deliberately refusing
to probe known administration
allies such as Philippine National
Police chief Alan Purisima, Budget
Secretary Florencio Butch Abad
and other officials, who were also
accused of being involved in various anomalies. In an interview, De
Lima said while Binay is the second
highest official of the land, the justice department cannot just close
its eyes for possible corruption
charges. There is no such thing as
immunity from investigation; there
is an immunity from suit, such as
impeachable officials like him, but
it doesnt mean that they could
not be investigated anymore, she
explained.If our investigation turns
out to be positive then it will fall under
the grounds of impeachable offences
under the grounds set forth by the
Constitution, then the impeachment
process will come into play, the
Justice chief said.She also denied that
she is biased against Binay, noting
that investigations have already been
conducted against Purisima. She
added that the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) is now
conducting its own investigation,
along with the Office of the Ombudsman, thus the DOJ no longer has to
meddle into the issue.

Hygiene awareness drive

Trillanes owns eight vehicles

which are undeclared
By Fernan Marasigan
& Jefferson Antiporda
Manila Times

Filipino students practice proper hand washing on the eve of the seventh Global Handwashing Day in
Manila yesterday. As the world observes the seventh Global Handwashing Day today, Unicef said the
battle against Ebola further underscores the act of handwashing in disease prevention.

enator Antonio Trillanes,

one of the detractors of
Vice President Binay,
owns eight luxury vehicles that
were not included in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and
Net Worth (SALN) when he
was a Navy lieutenant second
grade, lawyer JV Bautista, interim secretary general of the
United Nationalist Alliance
(UNA), said yesterday.
According to Bautista, Trillanes is yet to give a satisfactory explanation on how he
managed to acquire those vehicles 11 years after the issue was
rst raised during the Feliciano
Commission that conducted an
inquiry into the botched Oakwood mutiny of which he was
a leader.
Senator Trillanes styles
himself as a moral crusader, but
all these years he has evaded the
issue of how he was able to afford eight luxury vehicles with
his salary in the military and
why he did not declare them in
his SALN. This is a clear violation of the law, Bautista said.
It is hard to pretend to be

clean. He says a lot of things

against Vice President Jejomar
Binay, it turns out that he has
broken the law and is hiding a
big secret, he added.
The UNA official said a junior officer with a rank similar
to Trillanes at the time had
a monthly salary of around
P22,000. But documents from
the Land Transportation Office
(LTO) presented during the Feliciano Commission hearings in
2003 showed that Trillanes was
the registered owner of a Nissan Terrano, Mitsubishi Pajero,
ve Mitsubishi Delica vans and
a motorcycle.
How can he afford those
luxury vehicles with his pay as
a junior officer? It seems Trillanes has a thing for luxury vehicles, aside from his affection
for luxury hotels, which he is
fond of taking over, Bautista
said.
If he says that his crusade
is against corruption, then he
should start with himself, being the owner of eight expensive vehicles, he added.
Bautista last week challenged
Trillanes to undergo a lifestyle
check in the spirit of transparency and public interest.
Just because you are part of
the blue ribbon sub-committee

investigating the Makati City

Hall Building 2 does not make
you a credible or honourable
person, or reading Biblical passages make you any holier than
anyone, he said.
But Trillanes denied the allegations, saying the UNA is only
trying to revive an old issue.
He said it was the Criminal
Investigation and Detection
Group (CIDG) that led the
case against him but was later
dismissed by the Office of the
Ombudsman.
The senator admitted owning a second-hand Nissan Terrano model 1996. He, however,
said the Pajero with license
plate RIZ 222 is owned by Darlito Roca.I have never ever
owned a Kawasaki motorbike.
In fact, I have never driven
and I do not know how to ride
a motorbike, not even once in
my life. My licence restriction
can prove this fact, Trillanes
added.
He said the ve Delica vans
are owned by his mother, who
bought the vehicles through
a loan in October 2000. The
senator added that his mother
planned to start a van rental
service but she disposed of
some of the cars because they
were too costly to maintain.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

27

SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Retailers nd safety issues

in Bangladesh factories
AFP
Dhaka

uropean retailers said

yesterday they had found
thousands of safety problems while inspecting Bangladesh garment factories in a
drive to prevent a repeat of last
years Rana Plaza disaster that
claimed more than 1,100 lives.
The Bangladesh Accord on
Fire and Building Safety, an
umbrella group of nearly 200
European brands such as H&M
and Carrefour, said inspectors discovered 80,000 safety
hazards in the 1,106 factories
investigated this year.
Weve found safety hazards
in all factories ... from minor
to signicant, said Brad Loewen, the Accords chief safety
inspector.
Retailers last year bought
$24.5bn worth of clothing from

the impoverished South Asian nation, much of it from plants where

safety was a major problem.
Another retail group, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker
Safety representing mainly US
brands such as Walmart and
Gap, completed inspections of
587 factories in July.
Western retailers launched
the unprecedented inspections
following the 2013 collapse
of the nine-storey Rana Plaza
factory complex that killed
1,138 people and injured more
than 2,000.
The disaster highlighted
often highly lax safety standards in Bangladeshs more than
4,500 garment factories.
Bangladeshs success in sewing clothes at low price has
made it the worlds secondlargest garment exporter after
China.
Loewen said inspectors found
safety problems ranging from

3 missing
after Nepal
avalanche
DPA/IANS
Kathmandu

hree yak herders went

missing in an avalanche
in Nepals mountainous
region yesterday, local media
reported.
Three local residents of
Naar village in Manang district
went missing after they were
buried under snow, Kantipur
Television reported.
Police said they were searching for the men who had
gone missing at an altitude of
4,000m but that hopes of nding them alive were dwindling.
Nepal has been facing bad
weather for last two days, as
an impact of Cyclone Hudhud
in India.
Heavy rainfall has been
reported across Nepal since
Sunday and the meteorological department said this will
continue till Friday.
Though the western part of
Nepal has particularly come
under the inuence of cyclone
Hudhud, the remaining part of
the Himalayan nation has also
been affected.
The country remained
cloudy throughout Monday
and yesterday and this is ex-

pected today too with many

places seeing a sudden change
in weather, affecting lives and
farming.
An alert for heavy rains has
been sounded in some parts
of the western and central
regions for two days starting
Tuesday due to the impact of
the cyclonic movement along
the Indian states bordering Nepal in Uttarakhand for
Tuesday, said Subash Rimal, a
meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division.
Media reported that some
parts of hilly and mountainous regions have experienced
heavy
snowfall
affecting
farming, mainly paddy.
Rainfall measuring 100mm
or above has been recorded in
some parts of western, central
and far western regions of the
country.
Regular air services have
been cancelled due to poor
visibility in the wake of thick
clouds and heavy rainfall.
The cyclone, which developed over the Bay of Bengal
and made landfall at Visakhapatnam in Indias Andhra
Pradesh state on Sunday afternoon, killed at least 22
people and left thousands
displaced in India.

heavy machinery overloading

oors to shoddy electrical wiring
and lack of proper re exits.
More than 100 factories
had to reduce their (machinery)
load, he said.
Many factories must now undertake expensive repairs to
their plants, he added, estimating
the cost could hit over $1bn.
A lot of work needs to be
done to bring them up to safety
standards, he said.
Manufacturers have sought
low-interest loans from retailers
to upgrade safety and a privatesector arm of the World Bank
has also indicated willingness
to extend cheap loans.
Bangladesh garment manufacturers said they were happy
at the reviews results after
earlier voicing alarm that the
inspections might hurt trade.
Were very satised, Shahidullah Azim, vice-president
of the Bangladesh Garment

Manufacturers and Exporters

Association, said.
After Rana Plaza, a lot of
people painted a doomsday scenario, saying most plants would
be closed if inspections were
conducted, he said.
But the inspections by the
two retailers groups led to
closure of only 20 factories
less than one percent of total
factories, he said.
Azim said the inspections
have started bearing fruit since
many brands which shunned
Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza
collapse have returned.
Theres been a retail order
boom, he said.
Year-on-year growth in
Bangladesh garment shipments
hit a ve-year-low of under
1% in the rst quarter of the
nancial year starting in July.
But Azim said new orders
would boost export growth as
the year progressed.

he European Commission proposed a ban on

imports of sh from Sri
Lanka for not tackling illegal
shing properly and lifted a ban
on sh imports from Belize following the reform of its vessel
inspection practices.
The Commission yesterday
also lifted warnings on Fiji,
Panama, Togo and Vanuatu,
saying they had implemented
concrete measures to combat
illegal shing.
The four countries thus
avoided being placed on the
red list of nations that are
not allowed to sell sh to the
28-nation European Union, the
worlds biggest sh importer.
Our policy of resolute cooperation is yielding results,

EU Maritime Affairs Commissioner Maria Damanaki said in

a statement.
Five countries receive today
our appreciation for getting serious on illegal shing. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same
for Sri Lanka.
Since 2010 the Commission has taken action against
countries that do not follow
international standards to
prevent over-shing, such as
policing their waters for unlicensed shing vessels and
imposing sanctions to ensure
adherence to rules against
illegal shing.
Damanaki said Sri Lanka did
not even have proper legislation
in place to prevent and ght illegal shing, which led the EC
to put forward the import ban.
The proposal from the Commission, the EUs executive, to
ban sh imports from Sri Lanka

In this photograph taken on April 29, 2013, cranes operated by

Bangladeshi Army personnel standing at the scene following the
April 24 collapse of the nine-storey Rana Plaza building in Savar on
the outskirts of Dhaka.

will be discussed by EU member states before the end of the

year and if agreed will take effect from mid-January 2015.
The states will also have to
sign off on the lifting of the
ban on Belize and of the warnings on Fiji, Panama, Togo and
Vanuatu.
EU shing vessels will not be
able to operate in Sri Lankas
coastal waters if the import ban
takes effect in 2015.
Sri Lanka is one of the biggest exporters to the European
Union of high value shery
products such as swordsh
and tuna. EU imports in 2013
amounted to 7,400 tonnes of
sh worth 74mn euros ($94mn),
according to the Commission.
The three months before
the import ban comes into effect will also allow Sri Lanka
to address the EUs concerns
by, for example, implement-

ing international maritime

law obligations and putting in
place an efficient vessel monitoring system and a sanction
scheme for high seas eets, the
Commission said.
The bloc has banned sh
imports from Cambodia and
Guinea over illegal shing
since March, and it delivered a
formal warning to the Philippines and Papua New Guinea in
June. A review of these countries progress in tackling illegal
shing is expected in January
next year.
Campaign groups such as the
Environmental Justice Foundation, Oceana, the Pew Charitable Trusts and WWF welcomed
the Commissions announcement for continuing the ght
against illegal shing.
Fish caught illegally are
worth up to 10bn euros a year,
according to the Commission.

epals major parties

have agreed to elect
a new president and
vice-president soon after the
promulgation of the new constitution, party leaders said
yetserday.
A meeting of political dialogue and consensus committee (PDCC), a
committee responsible for
thrashing out the contentious issues of the new constitution, decided to elect a
president and vice-president once the new constitution was promulgated,
Xinhua reported.
The parties would abide
by this agreement under the
transitional provision of the
new constitution.
PDCC chairman Baburam
Bhattarai told reporters that it
was a major achievement and
it would contribute to speed

up the constitution drafting

process.
The president and vicepresident were to be replaced
after the new elections were
held under the new provisions
of the new constitution.
Ruling parties Nepali Congress (NC) and Communist
Party of Nepal-Unied Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) were
engaged in the disputed issue
of the time to elect the new
president under the new constitution. Parties made such
a provision with the view
that it would take considerable time to hold elections
after promulgation of the
constitution.
The NC was of the view that
incumbent head of the state
should remain in office till the
new elections. The parties,
however, are yet to agree on
the form of government.
The parties have set January 22 as the deadline to
nish drafting the new
constitution.

Security measures were

heightened yesterday at
Bangladeshs Chittagong court
after it received a threat of a
suicide bomb attack.
Abdur Rashid, general secretary
of the Chittagong Bar Association,
said the associations executive
committee member Manas
Kumar Das received a phone call
threatening to blow up the court,
bdnews24.com reported.
The man, who was speaking, said
that a suicide squad will attack
the court today, Rashid said.
After the threat, security was
immediately heightened at the
court premises.
Chittagong police have said that
apart from tightening security, an
additional six platoons of police
have been deployed in the court
area.
Searches are being conducted at
the court premises and in nearby
areas, a police official said.
The phone from which the call
was made has been switched off
since the threat call was received,
the official added.

Software
that reads
emotions
via typing
style
IANS
Dhaka

Protest against Nepals Gadhimai festival

Leaders agree to elect

new president after
charter promulgation
IANS
Kathmandu

A Dhaka court yesterday

sentenced an operative of
the banned outfit Jamaat-ulMujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to
10 years rigorous imprisonment
over a case of serial bomb blasts.
Special Tribunal-10 judge Masud
Parvez, passed the verdict in
presence of the convict Rezaul
Karim Reza in the case of exploding
bombs in front of Hotel Sheraton in
the capital on 17 August 2005.
The court also fined Reza 5,000
taka, in default, to suffer three
more months in jail.
It acquitted three other accused
- Enayet Ullah, Tarek Iqbal and
Abdullah-Al Fattah - as charges
brought against them were not
proved.
Law enforcers arrested Reza and
three others on August 20, 2005,
three days after the blast.
A time bomb was exploded
in front of Hotel Sheraton on
August 17, 2005, as part of the
serial blasts in 63 districts of the
country except Munshiganj.

Tight security at
court after threat

Lanka faces EU import ban

over illegal shing concerns
Reuters
Brussels

JMB man jailed for

bomb blast in 2005

Activists of Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO) and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
holding placards during a protest outside Nepals embassy in New Delhi yesterday. Activists protested against Nepals Gadhimai
festival, which occurs every five years and involves the ritual sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of animals.

an our typing style reveal

our emotions? If we believe researchers in Dhaka, a new computer programme
can recognise peoples emotions
based on how they type.
An emotionally intelligent online system can change teaching
style or the contents of its lectures to better adapt to a particular students emotional state, a
team of researchers noted.
A computer interface that
is intelligent enough to interact with humans can detect
user emotions and change its
behaviour accordingly, wrote
researchers from the Islamic
University of Technology in
Bangladesh in the study.
During the study, researchers
asked people to type a block of
sample text.
They then analysed the keystrokes and characteristics to
see if they could identify any of
seven different emotional states
- joy, fear, anger, sadness, disgust, shame and guilt.
The emotions that the programme recognised with the
greatest degree of accuracy were
joy (87%) and anger (81%).
The emotion-detecting system could be used in applications
like online teaching.
The paper appeared in the
journal Behavior & Information
Technology.

Drop sedition charges against activist, says rights group

he Nepal authorities should

immediately withdraw sedition charges and unconditionally release rights campaigner
Chandra Kant Raut, Human Rights
Watch said in New York yesterday.
Raut was arrested for his

expression of peaceful political

opinions, the US-based rights body
said.
Nepal should amend its practices
to comply with international and
domestic standards to protect
freedom of expression, it said.
Raut was arrested on September

14 for allegedly advocating that the

southern plains of Nepal, known
as the Terai, be allowed to secede
from the rest of the country as part
of a long-standing debate on state
restructuring.
On October 8, he was charged
with sedition, presumably under

the Crime against State and

Punishment Act 1989 which
forbids any attempts to cause
any disorder with an intention to
jeopardise sovereignty, integrity or
national unity of Nepal.
The crime carries a penalty of life
imprisonment.

Police also said that Raut had

written articles and books
advocating secession by Madhesis,
the Terai community.
There is no evidence that Raut
advocated the use of violence, or
that his actions led to violence,
Human Rights Watch said.

28

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

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

P.O.Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
editor@gulf-times.com
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GULF TIMES
Qatar cements Gaza
rebuilding support
with $1bn pledge
Qatar has once again delivered on its time-tested
commitment to the people of Gaza by pledging $1bn
toward the reconstruction of the war-torn strip. At
the Cairo aid conference on Sunday, Kuwait, the UAE
and Turkey promised $200mn each toward total of
$5.4bn, more than the $4bn Palestinians had asked for.
Saudi Arabia pledged $500mn about a month ago. US
Secretary of State John Kerry announced an additional
$212mn in American aid to Palestinians in the strip.
Delegates from some 50 nations and 20 regional and
international organisations at the conference lauded
the pledge by Qatar. HE the Foreign Minister Dr Khalid
bin Mohamed al-Attiyah denounced the international
silence on Gazas destruction. While the Palestinian
people need nancial support, they need more political
support from the international community, he said.
Israel was quite evidently looking to bring Gazas
economy to its knees with a covert design to destroy
the strips rudimentary infrastructure during the latest
conict. Relief agency Oxfam describes the destruction
of infrastructure in Gaza as the worst in nearly 20 years.
The cost of rebuilding after 50 days of massive Israeli
shelling and aerial bombardment is expected to total as
high as $10bn, according to UN officials.
An estimated 540,000 people, more than quarter of
Gazas 1.8mn population have been displaced. More
than 18,000 homes and
vital infrastructure have
been destroyed, while
the power plant and a
water treatment centre
were bombed in the
conict.
The war, the longest
fought between Israel
and Hamas, has left
2,139 Palestinians dead;
most of them civilians, including 490 children.
The lopsided nature of the conict is quite
conspicuous by any measure. The conict has claimed
64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians. While scores
of Israeli towns, cities and farms were hit by some
4,000 mortars and rockets red from Gaza, Israels
Tax Authority estimates that rebuilding the damaged
infrastructure will cost just around $11mn. Israels
$290bn economy is able to withstand the fallout of the
war in the short and long terms, according to economic
experts.
Qatar has always been a major contributor to
the reconstruction of Gaza. Qatar last year started
executing what it promised with construction projects
in Gaza at a cost of more than $400mn. Kerry then
welcomed the move and urged other Arab countries to
follow Qatars lead.
Despite Qatars generous aid to support the
Palestinian cause, it still remains to be seen how
much of the latest $5.4bn aid pledge will translate into
actual money to reach Palestinian hands. In 2009,
only a fraction of the nearly $5bn aid promised at an
international conference actually reached Gaza.
Kerry called on Sunday for a renewed commitment
to achieving peace in the region, but did not offer any
specics on how to restart the stalled negotiations.
If a clear message, however, emerged from the Cairo
meeting, its this: there is no military solution to the
decades-old conict and the prolonged crisis is not in
anyones interest.
Qatar rmly believes collective action holds the key
to lasting solutions for the crises not just in Palestine,
but in Iraq, Syria and the entire region. And the country
is not just talking, but doing all it can, to bring about
peace and justice across the region.

China needs to rebalance its

economy to maintain growth
Though China enjoys more
room for manoeuvre than
other countries facing credit
booms, the risks remain
serious
By Adair Turner
New York

hinas slowdown is the

biggest short-term threat
to global growth. Industrial
value added fell in August,
credit growth has slowed dramatically,
and housing prices are falling, with
sales down 20% year on year. Given
stagnation in the eurozone and Japans
uncertain prospects, a Chinese hard
landing would be a big hit to global
demand.
Much attention is focused on likely
GDP growth this year relative to the
governments 7.5% target. But the
bigger issue is whether China can
rebalance its economy over the next
two to three years without suffering
a nancial crisis and/or a dramatic
economic slowdown. Some factors
specic to China make this outcome
more likely, but success is by no means
certain.
Faced with the 2008 nancial crisis,
China unleashed a credit boom to
maintain output and employment
growth. Credit soared from 150% of
GDP in 2008 to 250% by mid-2014.
Multiple forms of shadow bank credit
supplemented rapid growth in bank
loans.
The strategy worked, and China
continued to create 12-13mn new
urban jobs per year. But with
investment rising from 40% to 47%
of GDP, growth became dangerously
unbalanced and heavily dependent on
infrastructure construction and realestate development. Narrowly dened,
these activities account for 12% of
Chinese value added. In fact, recent

research shows that 33% of Chinas

economic activity relies on the realestate sectors continued health.
China is now struggling with a
dilemma common to all advanced
credit booms. The longer the boom
runs, the greater the danger of wasted
investment, huge bad debts and a
major nancial crisis. But simply
constraining new credit supply and
allowing bad loans to default can itself
provoke crisis and recession.
This year has been one of seesawing policy responses. The
discipline of default has been much
discussed, but never quite applied.
Despite a signicant slowdown, the
Peoples Bank of China has resisted
across-the-board cuts in interest rates
or reserve requirements.

This year has been

one of see-sawing
policy responses for
China
But, in the second quarter of the
year, Premier Li Keqiang reiterated the
7.5% growth target, which was then
underpinned by several targeted
stimulus measures mainly new
lending focused on railways, smaller
banks, agriculture, and small
businesses. Constraints on the
property market, such as limiting
multiple purchases or highly leveraged
investments, have been tightened and
then relaxed.
At least for now, the arguments
for constraint and market discipline
appear to have won the debate.
That may partly reflect a subtle
shift in emphasis about the most
crucial objective. Recent speeches
by both Li and policy experts have
downplayed the importance of a
specific growth target, focusing
instead on job creation and low
unemployment.

Fortunately, demographic changes

are about to make it easier to rebalance
the economy and boost employment
enough to avoid social tension. The
Chinese working-age population is
now slowly shrinking.
More dramatically, the number of
15-30-year-olds will fall 25% from
2015 to 2025. The rural workforce
is still above 300mn, implying
that large numbers could still
migrate to urban areas. But as the
rural workforce ages, the pace of
migration will slow.
As a result, Chinas labour market
will tighten more rapidly than many
expect. Rising real wages will support
the shift to a more consumptiondriven economy, and declining worries
about unemployment will reduce
reliance on credit-fueled construction
to soak up labor supply.
But the huge debts created by
the credit boom remain a major
problem. No other economy has ever
experienced such a boom and avoided
a nancial crisis or major growth
setback. Optimists often stress two
ways in which China is different.
First, many debts involve different
arms of the Chinese state owed, say,
by state-owned enterprises (SOEs)
and local governments to state-owned
banks.
Second, Chinas central government
has low debt only 22% of GDP at
the end of 2013 and thus signicant
scal repower. With the nancial
sector facing a large volume of nonperforming loans, the government
could repeat what it did in the late
1990s, absorbing bad debt and
recapitalising banks, rather than
allowing defaults and bank failures to
shock the economy into recession.
But, though China enjoys more
room for manoeuvre than other
countries facing similar credit booms,
the risks remain serious. The bad-loan
problem may be most severe among
SOEs, but slightly more than half of
new business loans since 2010 have

been to the private sector, which plays

a major role in the troubled property
market.
And when property booms
head south, efforts by companies
and households to deleverage can
undermine growth even if banks are
not allowed to fail. A balance-sheet
recession does not require a nancial
crisis.
The more China achieves its stated
objective of a decisive role for
the market, the less the China is
different argument applies. Interestrate liberalisation would increase
borrowing costs for many overindebted borrowers. A no-bailout rule
for shadow banking entities would
produce losses that hit condence.
The more the capital account
is opened, the more Chinas huge
debts will be held by banks and other
institutional investors around the
world.
In an economy with inherited
debts equal to 250% of GDP, simply
tightening credit supply and imposing
market discipline could be a recipe
for disaster. Instead, China should
use direct scal stimulus to offset the
deationary effect of declining credit
growth and deleveraging.
And it should clean up its banks
balance sheets through debt
write-downs and recapitalisation
before undertaking full nancial
liberalisation.
China undoubtedly needs to
rebalance its economy and introduce
more market discipline in its
nancial system. Demography will
give a helping hand with the former
challenge. But without careful policy
design and sequencing, there could
be major setbacks along the way. Project Syndicate
zAdair Turner, former chairman of the
United Kingdoms Financial Services
Authority, is a member of the UKs
Financial Policy Committee and the
House of Lords.

Qatar has always

been a major
contributor
to the
reconstruction
of Gaza

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Customers looking at cars at an Audi dealership in Shanghai. China is now struggling with a dilemma common to all advanced credit booms. The longer the boom
runs, the greater the danger of wasted investment, huge bad debts and a major financial crisis. But simply constraining new credit supply and allowing bad loans to
default can itself provoke crisis and recession.

Modiano win highlights Frances staying power

Le Monde
Paris

ith all due respect to the

Cassandras of national
decline and lovers of
French bashing - the
cherished pastime of denigrating all
things French at every turn - Patrick
Modianos Nobel Prize for literature
win is excellent news.
Lovers of French literature will be
the rst to rejoice, but the prize is also
proof that the torch of la littrature
franaise continues to burn outside
France. Foreign Minister Laurent
Fabius wasnt wrong when he said
with regard to the prize that its
inuence is inseparable from that of
French literature.
The prize comes just six years
after the Nobel Prize for Literature
was awarded to another great French
writer, J M G Le Clzio. Modiano is
thus the 15th Frenchman to receive the
prestigious prize - which means that
France is the world champion in the
category even after Jean-Paul Sartres
Nobel refusal 50 years ago ushered in a

Modiano: the 15th Frenchman to

receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
long punishment period that didnt
end until 1985 with Claude Simon.
France may not have oil elds, but it
has Nobels.
So the Swedish academys decision
is a bit like a thumbing of the nose at
the apostles of dclinisme.
Despite recurring announcements
of the decline - indeed imminent

death - of French culture and

particularly its literature, the prize is a
feather in the French cap and a tribute
to Frances capacity to maintain its
rank among nations.
Deploring the fact that American
writer Philip Roth once again
came away prize-less this year,
columnist Emma Brockes opined
in The Guardian: There are lots of
theories about Nobel bias, few of
them involving the possibility that
writers from non-English-speaking
countries, many of whom readers in
the West have neither read nor heard
of, might actually be quite good. In
other words, who ever heard of Patrick
Modiano?
If youre looking at Patrick
Modianos Wikipedia page, raise your
hand, one Newsweek editor quipped
on Twitter.
Its true that Modiano is not well
known in the United States, where
only three of his novels have been
published to date by a small university
publisher. According to The New York
Times, the English translation of his
novel Rue des Boutiques Obscures
that won the Prix Goncourt in 1978

(published as Missing Person, 1980),

sold fewer than 2,500 copies.
But the Nobel Prize for Literature
should change that. Other translations
are due out in the coming weeks, and
reprints have been ordered.
Dervila Cooke of Dublin City
University, author of a book about
Modiano, says that a common
description of his work is of its
petite musique - its haunting little
music.
Still, Modianos work has been
widely translated in Spanish, German
and - of course - Swedish.
More generally, acquisitions of
French books continue to increase
in a certain number of countries,
with Indian, Chinese and Brazilian
publishers particularly interested
in French literature. More and more
publishers in New Delhi and Mumbai
are buying the rights to all the editions
in English of a book or even an
authors complete works.
The world changes, and poles
of inuence evolve. And it seems
that French literature is far from
having exhausted all its charms.Worldcrunch/Le Monde

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

29

COMMENT

Something is broken in the US job market

Technology is the enabler
of this shift, not the cause
By Robert Kuttner
Reuters

hat will it really take to

give America a raise?
A lot of wellcredentialled policy
experts have been writing nonsense
about why Americans cant be paid
more.
One bogus story is that
young people and working
moms(whatever happened to
working dads?) love the new
flexible economy of TaskRabbits working odd jobs. Or
theyre Uber drivers or Starbucks
clerks, marking time until their
economic adulthood begins.
Some of these people imagine
themselves to be high-tech
entrepreneurs-in-waiting. Recent
college grads who hope that they
are just one killer-app away from
financial success are the welleducated equivalent of inner-city
kids hoping for a tryout in the
National Basketball Association. For
every one who makes it, there are
hundreds who dont.
I have a British friend with a son in
his 30s. The lad is having a hard time
gaining economic traction. When I
saw my friend recently, I inquired:
Hows William doing?
Hes doing great, said my friend.
Hes a barrister.
Really? I replied, surprised and
impressed.
Well, my friend smiled, I
think its actually pronounced,
barista.
A second mistaken explanation
blames education and technology.
For decades, as works pay and
career horizons deteriorated, many
economists have argued that in

Comcast (Comcast the largest

cable company and home Internet
service provider in the United
States) cable guys are on salary,
others are freelancers.
Employers get away with this job
debasement because they can, when
they can.
The labour regulations that protect
workers from these abuses are not well
enforced. Most were designed for an
era when payroll employment was the
norm.
Two other factors are at work.
The weakening of unions means that
workers have less power to bargain for
regularised work.
The years of high unemployment
rates, both officially measured and
disguised, also gives management
more power to impose its new
model.
If we had full employment in the
US, a lot of workers would not have
to settle for these new debased
jobs.
Reversing these trends will take
efforts across many fronts- higherminimum- wage legislation, better
enforcement of labour laws on the
books, a revision of the denition
of who is an employer, so that
McDonalds doesnt hide behind its
franchisees and Wal-Mart cant claim
that its warehouse workers really work
for a temp agency.
Above all, it will depend on having
full employment and a restoration of
the right to unionise.
That policy package is a heavy
lift. Its far easier to call for more
education. But education, while
desirable for all people as citizens,
wont x whats broken in the job
market.
It will just get us better-qualied
baristas.
Will that be for here or to go?

order to earn more, Americans

need better education.
Technology enters into it because
machines are increasingly replacing
human workers. People who want
reliable jobs, the argument goes, need
advanced skills.
This sounds plausible - until you
drill down into the details.
For starters, the wage premium
commanded by college-educated
workers over high-school graduates
has been narrowing for more than a
decade.
In fact, income inequality has been
increasing among college graduates.
A great many of those polite baristas
have college degrees. As for barristers
- lawyers in American-English theres a glut.
So thats really at work here?
The reality that many expert
commentators dont acknowledge is
a huge and intensifying power shift.
Technology is the enabler of this shift,
not the cause.
Jobs that used to be structured
as regular payroll positions are
being redefined as temp work,
contract work and other forms of
contingent employment that allows
management to pay lower wages and
no benefits.
According to David Weil, author of
the denitive new book on the subject,
The Fissured Workforce, about one job
in three is now contingent. And the
shift is accelerating.
Contrary to what you may hear,
this is not all about technology
requiring flexibility. Some hotel
workers are paid as salaried
employees, while others are parttimers and temps.
Some warehouse workers
have regular salaries from their
actual employers; others work
for intermediary temp agencies.
UPS drivers are classified as
salaried employees, while
FedEx drivers are categorised as
independent contractors. Some

zRobert Kuttners new book is Debtors

Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus
Possibility.

Weather report

Letters

Three-day forecast

Unparalleled
services
Dear Sir,
The farewell letter Thank you
all for guidance, support by Dr
Malini Chandrasekharan (Gulf Times,
October 13) touched my heart.
Dr Malini has rendered unparalleled
services to a vast section of patients
hailing from various countries, in
general, and Indian expatriates, in
particular. She has participated in
various free medical camps organised
for the labour. She has been totally
dedicated to her noble profession.
I have been working in the HR sector
for more than a decade and have had
the occasion to observe her kindness
and dedication with her patients
several times.
I am proud to say that my own
daughter has imbibed her spirit of
dedication and service to community

and is presently undergoing her

medical course in India in a reputable
college. I am sure there are several
others for whom Dr Malini has been
a great source of inspiration and
motivation.
Her immense contribution to the
expatriate society in Qatar will be
remembered for a long time. We wish
her a peaceful and healthy life back
home.
V Kalyanaraman
(e-mail address supplied)

Uniform
decision

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Dear Sir,
The Supreme Education Council
(SEC), it is understood, has banned
all private schools and kindergartens
from getting involved in the sale and
distribution of school uniforms.

Schools have also been instructed to

choose uniforms having colours that
are easily available in the market. They
should not prescribe complicated
shades or special material for
uniforms, forcing parents to buy them

from exclusive dealers.

As parents, we appreciate the SEC
announcement.
An Ideal Indian School parent
(Name and e-mail address supplied)

Around the region

Abu Dhabi
Baghdad

Dubai

Live issues

Kuwait City

Manama
Muscat

Riyadh

The value of Random decisions

By Oliver Burkeman
London

o matter how much time

you spend reading the recent crop of books on How
To Decide or How To Think
Clearly, youre unlikely to encounter
glowing references to a decisionmaking system formerly used by the
Azande of central Africa.
Faced with a dilemma, tribespeople
would force poison down the neck
of a chicken while asking questions
of the poison oracle; the chicken
answered by surviving (yes) or
expiring (no). Clearly, this was cruel
to chickens. That aside, was it such a
terrible way to choose among options?
The anthropologist EE EvansPritchard, who lived with the Azande
in the 1920s, didnt think so. I always
kept a supply of poison (and) we regulated our affairs in accordance with the
oracles decisions, he wrote, adding
drily: I found this as satisfactory a
way of running my home and affairs as
any other I know of.
You could dismiss that as a joke.
After all, chicken-poisoning is plainly
superstition, delivering random
results. But what if random results are
sometimes exactly what you need?
The other day, US neuroscientists
published details of experiments on
rats, showing that in certain unpredictable situations, they stop trying to
make decisions based on past experi-

ence. Instead, a circuit in their brains

switches to random mode.
The researchers hunch is that this
serves a purpose: past experience is
usually helpful, but when uncertainty
levels are high, it can mislead, so randomness is in the rats best interests.
When were faced with the unfamiliar, experience can mislead humans,

too, partly because we lter it through

various irrational biases.
According to those books on thinking clearly, we should strive to overcome these biases, thus making more
rational calculations. But theres another way to bypass our biased brains:
copy the rats, and choose randomly.
In certain walks of life, the useful-

ness of randomness is old news: the

stock market, say, is so unpredictable
that, to quote the economist Burton Malkiel, a blindfolded monkey
throwing darts at a newspapers
nancial pages could select a portfolio
that would do as well as one carefully
selected by experts. (This has been
tried, with simulated monkeys, and
they beat the market.)
But, generally, as Michael Schulson
put it recently in an Aeon magazine
essay, We take it for granted that the
best decisions stem from empirical
analysis and informed choice. Yet
consider, he suggests, the ancient
Greek tradition of lling some government positions by lottery. Randomness disinfects a process that might be
dirtied by corruption.
Randomness can be similarly useful
in everyday life. For tiny choices, its
a time-saver: pick randomly from a
menu, and you can get back to chatting with friends.
For bigger ones, its an acknowledgment of how little one can ever know
about the complex implications of a
decision.
Lets be realistic: for the biggest
decisions, such as whom to marry,
trusting to randomness feels absurd.
But if you can up the randomness
quotient for marginally less weighty
choices, especially when uncertainty
prevails, you may nd it pays off.
Though kindly refrain from poisoning
any chickens.- Guardian News and
Media

Tehran

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30

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

COMMENT

Sleepy Syrian
town centre of
war against
IS militants
AFP
Beirut

ew people had ever heard of

Kobane before recent weeks,
but the once-sleepy Syrian
border town has become a
crucial symbolic battleground in the
ght against Islamic State militants.
Desperate to preserve their hopes of
autonomy in the face of the militants
expanding caliphate, Kobanes
rag-tag Kurdish defenders have been
ghting for nearly a month to save the
town.
The battle has riveted global media
attention, partly because cameras
across the border in Turkey can
capture rare images of IS in action and
the aftermath of air strikes by the USled anti-militant coalition.
US officials have downplayed
Kobanes importance despite
the attention, insisting the most
important threat from IS is elsewhere
in Syria and Iraq.
But its fall, experts say, would
have far-reaching consequences,
rst for the Kurds and not least by
handing the publicity-savvy militants
an important victory in the face of
coalition air power.
If the coalition, even with its
superior technology, is unable to nish
IS off it is because, according to them,
it is Gods will, said Syria specialist
Fabrice Balanche.
The Kobane region is at the centre
of three predominantly Kurdish
enclaves in northern Syria, with Afrin
to the west and Jazira in the northeast
with its main cities of Qamishli and
Hasakeh.
Kobane itself had a pre-war
population of about 45,000 and was
an Ottoman-era stop on the railway
linking Turkey with Iraq.
Its name, pronounced Kobaneh,
is believed to be a corruption of
company, a nod to the railway rm
that built the line.
Syrias about 3mn Kurds - some
15% of its population - declared an
autonomous region in areas under
their control since the uprising against
President Bashar al-Assad erupted in
2011.
Kobane stands at its centre and its
loss would split the Kurdish region in
two.
The Kurds in Syria have always
lived concentrated in these three
enclaves along the Turkish border, and
to have one of them virtually wiped
out is of course incredibly symbolic
and threatening to them, said Aron
Lund, the editor of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peaces
Syria in Crisis website.
They know that if Kobane falls, it
wont end there, he said.
Seizing Kobane would give IS a
base from which to move farther into

Kurdish-controlled land, experts said,

as it seeks to extend its territory in
Syria and Iraq.
Afrin will be the next target. Then
they (the Kurds) will be conned to
Hasakeh, where they also risk being
attacked, Balanche said.
For the main Kurdish militia group,
the Peoples Protection Units or YPG,
defeat in Kobane is simply not an
option, Lund said.
The YPG... is also under pressure
to show that it is not giving up on
Syrian Kurds, it is prepared to ght
hard to protect them, to the last man
and woman, he said.
That is the basis for their
legitimacy in Kurdish eyes and theyre
not going to back away from this.
For the jihadists, who already
control around one third of Syrias
northern border with Turkey,
capturing Kobane would cement their
hold over a sweep of territory.
But it is a defeat of the Kurds that IS
most craves, experts said.
It would be a victory over the
Kurds, who have always beaten them
in previous ghting in Syria, said Cyril
Roussel, an Amman-based researcher
with the IFPO Middle East institute.
Already, militant sympathisers
on Twitter are replacing the towns
Arabic name - Ain al-Arab or Spring
of the Arabs - with the name Ain
al-Islam.
The Kurds are fellow Sunnis to IS
but the militants despise their secular
outlook.
Their main political organisation,
the Kurdish Democratic Union Party
(PYD), is Socialist and accords an
important role to women, including
in its armed wing, with a female
commander among those leading the
Kobane battle.
Since seizing control of their
territory the Kurds have established
local governing committees, starting
to build a functioning democracy in a
country ruled autocratically for nearly
50 years.
This is diametrically opposed to
the IS vision of imposing an extremist
interpretation of Islam and trying to
revive a centuries-old system of rule
by a caliph.
Some analysts say others in the
region, in particular Turkey, would be
happy to see the Kurdish project for
autonomy in Syria fail.
Turkey has long battled its own
Kurdish populations self-rule
aspirations, with some 40,000 people
killed in the conict there since 1984.
Syrian Kurds have accused Ankara
of turning a blind eye to Kobanes fate
and even of letting militants cross its
border to ght in Syria.
The fall of Kobane plays into the
hands of the jihadists, but it looks very
much like an attempt to wipe out the
Kurdish project with the complicity of
Ankara, Roussel said.

Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik finishes a sculpture bearing portraits of Nobel Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi (left) of India and Pakistans Malala Yousafzai
at Puri beach, some 65km from Bhubaneswar in the Indian state of Odisha. According to analysts the most the Nobel committee could hope to achieve was to boost
morale among those campaigning for peace.

Nobel unlikely to boost

India-Pakistan peace
The peace prize sharing will
be able to make much of a
difference, except creating
some atmospherics among
the media and the civil
society, say analysts
AFP
New Delhi

ew Nobel peace laureate

Malala Yousafzai wasted
little time living up to the
accolade last week, inviting
the leaders of traditional foes India
and Pakistan to accompany her and
fellow winner Kailash Satyarthi, an
Indian child rights activist, to the
award ceremony.
But, just hours later, a fresh
exchange of re between troops in
the Himalayan region of Kashmir
provided a stark reminder that the
prospect of lasting peace remains as
distant as ever.
The offices of Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif both
declined this week to say whether they
would accept Malalas overture.
It is a diplomatic hot potato, given

the fractious relationship between the

nuclear-armed neighbours, who have
fought three wars since 1947.
Senior Pakistani analyst Hasan
Askari said the joint Nobel
award was a clear signal that the
international community wanted
to see India and Pakistan working
together more to promote peace in
the region, but that outside pressure
would only go so far.
The issue of improvement of
relations between the two countries
is a political issue and in the past
sometimes the two countries
have listened to the international
community and sometimes ignored
it, he said.
It really depends if the political
leadership wants peace or conict at
this stage.
New Prime Minister Modi invited
his Pakistani counterpart to his
inauguration ceremony in May, a move
widely hailed as an olive branch to
Indias traditional enemy.
But as he hit the campaign trail
for state elections last week, the
nationalist leader was in a bellicose
mood.
The enemy has realised that times
have changed and their old habits will
not be tolerated, said Modi, referring
to Pakistan, in a speech delivered a

day before the Nobel committees

announcement.
He said Indian troops would
continue to speak with their nger on
the trigger, after some of the deadliest
cross-border ring along their frontier
in a decade, in which at least 20
civilians were killed.
For those living near the border, the
Nobel Prize provided little comfort.
We are happy that a Pakistani got
this peace award, but I dont think it
will help in reducing tension, said
Sardar Mohamed Javed, whose family
was affected by the Indian shelling
across the border.
There was also little appetite for
a Nobel-inspired rapprochement
among the Indian public, judging by
the reaction on social media to the
committees announcement, which
highlighted the importance of an
Indian and a Pakistani joining in a
common struggle.
Why does everything have
an India-Pak or Hindu-Muslim
paradigm? tweeted Indian journalist
Devirupa Mitra.
Akhilesh Mishra, a supporter of
the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,
said it was patronising to India and
Pakistan.
K G Suresh, a senior fellow at the
Vivekananda International Foundation

think-tank in New Delhi, said the

most the Nobel committee could hope
to achieve was to boost morale among
those campaigning for peace.
The Nobel Peace Prize sharing is
not going to help India and Pakistan
move on from their recent border
tensions, he said.
It is because the mutual
acrimony and suspicion is so deeprooted that a Nobel Peace Prize
sharing wont be able to make much
of a difference, except creating some
atmospherics among the media and
the civil society.
Fighting between Indian forces and
rebels in Kashmir has killed tens of
thousands -mostly civilians - since
1989.
India called off peace talks last
month after Pakistan consulted with
Kashmiri separatists, in a move some
saw as a sign of a tougher stance under
the new rightwing government in New
Delhi.
The Nobel Prize is not going to
solve the long-standing inter-state
dispute between India and Pakistan,
said Sreeram Chaulia, professor at the
Jindal School of International Affairs
in New Delhi.
It is a structural problem and cant
be solved through symbolism, said
Chaulia.

Yemen on the brink as rebels oust the old guard

By Peter Salisbury and
William Maclean/
Reuters

he Houthi rebels who

stunned the Arab world
with the sudden seizure of
Yemens capital will have to
strive to cement their power in the
face of well-armed rivals, a test of
strength that could tip the unstable
country deeper into turmoil.
A suicide bombing last Thursday
that killed 47 in Sanaa is an example
of the indiscriminate tactics Yemenis
fear some armed groups are prepared
to employ to check the ascent of the
Shia movement that swept into the
city on September 21.
The attack was claimed by Al Qaeda
in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),
apparently furious at the ability of
Houthi ghters to take over Yemens
fragile state and dictate terms to its
embattled President Abd-Rabbu
Mansour Hadi.
The mood in Sanaa is apprehensive.
This is just the beginning, said
Mohamed Saleh, a taxi-driver who
ferried passengers away from the
scene of the blast.
It is a war now between Al Qaeda
and the Houthis and those who will be
hurt the most are ordinary people.
His prediction chimes with those of
analysts who worry that the bombing
- one of more than 10 attacks across
the country since the Houthi takeover
that has killed as many as 100 - is
energising AQAPs anti-government

campaign in Yemen, which in turn

is taking on increasingly sectarian
overtones.
The situation is extremely
dangerous, said a Yemeni official who
declined to be identied due to the
sensitivity of the matter. We dont
want a civil war, but all the indications
are pointing to this.
It is not only Al Qaeda that is upset
by one of the most unusual changes
of power in the Middle East since the
Arab Spring of 2011.
The Houthis rise has scrambled
the prospects of a range of political
forces, including an old guard of tribal,
religious and military powerbrokers,
as well as southern secessionists who
seek to break away from the northern
region of the country.
The Houthis sidelining of
President Hadis weak and fractured
administration capped a spectacular
rise to national importance for a once
obscure group from Yemens remote
northern highlands.
All are struggling to make sense of
the ascent of a group that is an ally of
Iran, foe of Saudi Arabia and selfproclaimed champion of Zaydi Shias
who make up about a fth of Yemenis.
Perhaps most startling of all, say
diplomats, is the likelihood that the
takeover was made possible by an
alliance between the Houthis and Ali
Abdullah Saleh, a former president
who was once their sworn enemy.
If that is true, it is richly ironic: The
movement sees itself as resurrecting
Yemens Arab Spring-inspired 2011
uprising against what protesters saw

as the autocracy and corruption of

Salehs 33-year rule.
In a move that lowered tensions
a little, Hadi on Monday named the
countrys UN envoy, Khaled Bahah, as
prime minister, part of an agreement
that stipulates the return of state
authority and withdrawal of Houthi
ghters from Sanaa.
But the nomination also underscores
Houthi inuence: Bahahs name had
been among three proposed by the
Houthis after the movement publicly
and brusquely dismissed Hadis
appointment of Ahmed Awad bin
Mubarak as prime minister last week.
Will the Houthis now call on their
ghters to leave the streets? Yemenis
ask. The presence of the ghters,
residents say, has led many Yemenis to
leave the city. This has hurt business
and deepened a sense of uncertainty.
I want people to leave their guns at
home, but now there are thousands of
them (guns) around, said Mohamed
Ali, a 20-year-old street trader selling
bottles of perfume from a plastic bag,
referring to Houthi ghters.
How the Houthis took a city of 2mn
with relatively little bloodshed, and
what they will do now with their new
found clout, are questions closely
debated in Sanaa.
The answers to both questions,
say diplomats, lie in a mix of populist
ideology, good organisation and power
politics.
The Houthis see themselves as
sweeping away a clique of tribal,
religious and military powerbrokers
they say buried the 2011 uprising

under layers of compromise, sleaze

and subservience to foreign powers.
The Houthis emerged in the north
in the 1990s demanding an end to the
marginalisation of Zaydi Shias and
fought a brief border war with Saudi
Arabia from 2009-10.
Some Yemenis suspect the Houthis
dream of reviving the Zaydi Imamate,
the 1,000-year-long rule of Yemen
in which power was handed down
through Shia leaders. The imamate
ended in a 1962 military coup.
The Houthis are seen as apostates
by the hardliners of Al Qaeda. Saudi
Arabia designates them as terrorists.
But their anti-establishment
message plays well among Sanaas
large Zaydi Shias population, which
gives the group a natural support base
in the city. Other communities are
drawn to their populist economics:
The group is a stout defender of state
subsidies for fuel, for example.
Ideology is only part of the story.
Analysts say two relationships lie
behind the Houthis rise to power:
A tactical alliance with veteran
strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who
stepped down as president in 2012,
and a more strategic tie-up with Iran.
Saudi Arabia fears that the Houthis
seek to replicate the strategy of
Hezbollah in Lebanon, using popular
support among Shias combined
with a muscular military presence to
dominate politics and project Iranian
might.
Hadi has accused Iran of interfering
in Yemeni affairs by backing
unidentied armed groups.

Iran denies meddling in Yemeni

politics. But an Iranian official told
Reuters his country had always
backed Houthis.
The Houthis acknowledge they have
friendly ties with Iran and share its
anti-Western ideology, but deny they
get military training or weapons from
the Islamic Republic.
The Yemeni official said that as
Houthi forces advanced on Sanaa in
the days leading up to the takeover,
the Yemeni government asked Iran via
Omani mediators to use its inuence
with the Houthis to persuade them to
not to invade the city.
The answer, the official said, was
not helpful. The Iranian response
sounded quite like the Houthi
response, he said.
Ibrahim Sharqieh, an expert on
Yemen at the Brookings Doha Centre,
told Reuters the Houthis sought to
emulate Hezbollah. They want to
decide who rules Yemen, but they
dont want to rule themselves, he
said.
But the relationship that enabled
Houthis to enter Sanaa was a tacit
alliance with former president Saleh,
who still wields inuence in the army.
Some diplomats say he used that clout
to get pro-Saleh army units to stand aside
and let the Houthis take over.
Salehs motives for the tie-up,
diplomats speculate, originate
in Yemeni political rivalries: The
takeover was a defeat for Ali Mohsen, a
politically powerful army general who
split violently with Saleh in 2011, and
whose forces made a failed attempt

to stop the Houthis taking Sanaa in

September.
What changed is their forging of an
alliance with Saleh. They both wanted
to take revenge against Ali Mohsen. Ali
Mohsen was the common enemy, said
Sharqieh.
Many so-called Peoples
Committees, bodies formed by the
Houthis to oversee the operations of
the government, appear to be made up
of Saleh loyalists rather than Houthi
supporters.
At a Peoples Committee checkpoint
bedecked with a Houthi banner in
Sanaas Bier Abu Shamla district, a
stronghold of Saleh support, Ali Lutf
al-Haiwara said he joined the Peoples
Committees on September 21, as the
Houthis entered the capital.
Saleh, he said, was the best
president ever, and he supported
Salehs political party, the General
Peoples Congress, and the Houthis
because they have the same aims.
For his part, Saleh denies
collaborating with the Houthis. The
Houthis themselves have not addressed
the issue directly, but say they have no
problem with the former president.
How long the marriage of
convenience lasts is a matter of
speculation in Sanaa.
Has Saleh, a canny political
manipulator, met his match?
The Houthis are the only powerful
group in the country, said the Yemeni
official. They have a vision. They
are well disciplined, they are well
organised. All the other groups ... are
in disarray.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

31

QATAR

QRC supplying
medicines to
Gaza hospitals
T

he Qatar Red Crescent

(QRC) office in Gaza has
continued
supporting
the local health sector following the Israeli aggression, urgently supplying the Ministry
of Health hospitals with medicines and medical consumables, with a donation from Al
Asmakh Charity Foundation
in Qatar.
Costing nearly QR500,000,
the medical supplies included
material for cardiovascular
surgeries and 14 categories of
medicines of up to 600 packages, which it was hoped would
help treat hundreds of Gaza
cardiovascular patients.
Dr Akram Nassar, head of the
QRC office in Gaza, appreciated
the initiative by Al Asmakh
Charity, which paid the whole
value of the project to QRC.
He stressed that the new
health project would provide
large quantities of medical
consumables necessary for
cardiovascular surgeries and
catheterisation at Gaza hospitals, which suffer severe shortages in this respect, causing the
Ministry of Health to send the
patients for treatment abroad.
One of QRCs top priorities is to help the Palestinian
Ministry of Health and medical
workers in Gaza to compensate
for the serious gaps in medicines and medical requirements at hospitals, he added.

Medical supplies for the Ministry of Health.

This project is part of QRCs
efforts to help the people affected by the recent attacks on
Gaza. The latest of these efforts
was sending a mission of three
senior surgeons to perform advanced surgical operations at
some Gaza hospitals over two
weeks, as well as to assess the
conditions of local hospitals
and recommend future QRC
projects to improve public
healthcare services there.
Meanwhile, under a project
of rehabilitating and upgrading

sewerage pumps and generators

in Gaza, the QRC office procured a new batch of equipment
and spare parts for warehouses
of the Coastal Municipalities
Water Utility in Gaza, including car air lters, oils, clothes
and shoes for workers of sewage
stations.
The cost of these supplies
was $33,000, out of the projects
$1.40mn overall budget, which
was entirely funded by the Programme of the Gulf Co-operation Council for the Recon-

struction of Gaza, supervised by

Islamic Development Bank.
Despite the blockade, as a
member of the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement that enjoys legal protection and access to
disaster-afflicted and isolated
regions, QRC implemented numerous sheltering, healthcare,
education, water and sanitation and infrastructure programmes in Gaza at a total cost
of QR58,918,792 in 2013-2014
alone.

HGH director to
represent GCC on
organ society board
D

r Yousuf al-Maslamani,
medical director of Hamad General Hospital
(HGH) and director of Qatar
Centre for Organ Transplantation has been elected as the ofcial representative for the Gulf
Co-operation Council (GCC)
countries on the executive board
of the Middle East Society for
Organ Transplantation (Mesot)
for 2014-2018.
This appointment was conrmed during the recent 14th
Mesot Congress meeting in
Istanbul.
Dr al-Maslamani was also
awarded by Mesot for his exemplary leadership in developing
Qatars internationally recognised model for organ donation
and transplantation.
Qatar is one of the few countries in the world that offers an
equitable organ transplantation
service on the basis of a single
unied national waiting list. The
humane and unbiased nature
of our service is something we
pride ourselves on and we strive
to offer every one of our patients
the best care possible, he said.
I am honoured to have been
elected by an eminent group
of experts in the eld of organ
transplantation to represent not
only Qatar but also other GCC
countries on Mesots executive
board for the next four years. We
have come a long way in developing this sector but, as is the
case all over the world, there is
still much more work to be done
and I am delighted to be entrusted with this important task, Dr
al-Maslamani added.
At the Mesot Congress, the
HMC delegation presented
four scientic lectures on different
subjects
including

Dr al-Maslamani addressing the Mesot Congress.

Doha model for organ donation, kidney transplantation
and liver transplantation. The
team also chaired two scientic sessions on liver and kidney
transplantation.
HMC also won a silver medal
in table tennis at this years Mesot games. Saad al-Ghanem, a
donor, was the winner. He was
accompanied by two other donors and recipients at the games.
Dr Riadh Fadhil, director of
HMCs Qatar Organ Donation
Centre Hiba, explained that
the theme of the 2014 Mesot
Congress was organ donation
and ethical conduct and this
underlines HMCs strategic approach towards organ donation
and transplantation and is the
guiding principle of our Doha
Donation Accord.
He added that the Doha model
has succeeded in changing the
attitude of the public towards
organ donation and increased
the number of organ donors
which has thereby helped many
patients receive urgently needed
organ transplantations.
The Doha Donation Accord,
which was established in 2010, is

Mesot games table tennis silver

medal winner and organ donor
Saad al-Ghanem.
the result of close collaboration
between the Supreme Council
of Health, HMC and the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian
Group. The framework of the
accord is based on Qatari laws
and regulations and the guiding
principles of the Declaration of
Istanbul on Organ Trafficking
and Transplant Tourism.

32

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

QATAR

More than 300 teams

registered for National
Robot Olympiad
This years competition, to
be held on October 24 and 25,
officially launched in Doha

T
Korean ambassador Chung Keejong with Indonesian envoy Deddy Saiful Hadi and members of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday. PICTURE: Joey Aguilar

Indonesian delegation
highlights investment,
trade opportunities
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter

here are a lot of potential investment and trade

opportunities in various
parts of Indonesia for Qatarbased businessmen, Rudi Radjab, president-director of the
Kamar Dagang dan Industri
(Kadin) Indonesia (Chamber
of Commerce and Industry),
has stressed.
Radjab, who headed an Indonesian delegation that visited
Doha yesterday, was speaking
at the One on One Business
Meeting and Discussion held
at the Indonesian ambassadors
residence in West Bay. It was attended by Qatari, Japanese and
South Korean businessmen.
South Korean ambassador
Chung Keejong, business representatives and embassy officials
also attended the meeting.
We may produce more

cooking oil, rubber, palm oil,

paper and many things that may
be needed not only for Qatar
but also for other Middle East
countries, said Radjab.
He was looking at the possibility of attracting more businessmen in Qatar to visit and
invest in his country, which has
250mn people.
The delegation head said Indonesia needs to import more
energy, especially from Qatar,
a top producer of LNG. He was
also amazed with the fast development in the country, especially in the infrastructure sector.
Ten years ago, I was here, I
didnt see high-rise buildings
that you have now, he added.
We need to learn from Qatar,
like how to build infrastructure in Indonesia as quickly as
in Qatar.
Indonesian
ambassador
Deddy Saiful Hadi expressed
optimism that more high-level
business meetings between Qa-

tar and Indonesia would take

place after their president assumes office on October 20.
Hadi had been urging Indonesian businessmen to visit Qatar since he arrived in Doha in a
bid to strengthen bilateral and
trade relations.
Among those who joined
Radjab were leaders of various
Indonesian companies and government officials.
The delegation, which was on
a business tour, arrived in Doha
from Tehran, Iran. The group was
scheduled to y to back to Jakarta
after yesterdays meeting.
Members of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry also made a short
presentation about the chamber before having a one-onone session with businessmen
based in Qatar.
Part of the meeting is brainstorming sessions, how to do
business in Qatar. I hope this will
not be the last, stressed Hadi.

he 2014 Qatar National

Robot Olympiad is promising to be the largest yet
with over 300 teams registered
from elementary, middle and
senior schools in Qatar across
seven categories.
This years competition was
officially launched in Doha yesterday by a host of dignitaries
from the Supreme Education
Council (SEC), College of the
North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q),
Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Maersk Oil Qatar.
The National Robot Olympiad,
to be held on October 24 and 25
at the Ladies Sports Hall in Aspire Zone, is the culmination of
the year-long Go Robot schools
programme that seeks to boost
interest in science, technology,
engineering and mathematics
(Stem) subjects, and ultimately
increase the number of students
who choose science tracks at
school or technical and engineering degrees at university.
Dr Ken MacLeod, president
of CNA-Q, said 2014 has been a
record year for the school robotics programme, Go Robot, with
more teachers trained in robotics
and more robotics kit and games
tables donated to schools than
ever before, thanks to sponsorship from Maersk Oil Qatar.
The National Robot Olympiad, with a record number of
participants and a new category
in Gen II Football, will cap off a
momentous year, he said.
The National Robot Olympiad
will see students from elementary,
middle and senior schools competing across seven elds in three
categories - Open, Regular and, for
the rst time, Gen II Football.
Sheikh Jassim al-Thani, head
of Qatarisation at Maersk Oil
Qatar, expressed delight at sponsoring the Qatar National Robot

A group of participating students demonstrate their robots yesterday as officials from QP, CNA-Q and
Maersk Oil Qatar look on. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam
Olympiad, part of the Go Robot
programme, for a third consecutive year.

With around 875 students

registered from over 200
schools for the National
Robot Olympiad, on top
of the 4,000 students who
have been reached in 2014
by the broader Go Robot
scheme, there is no doubt
this is a quality programme
Since rst producing oil
in Qatar 20 years ago with our
partners Qatar Petroleum, we
have been committed to building skills and leadership capacity
in the country. Maersk Oil Qatar
supports programmes that make
a meaningful difference to the
country. With around 875 students registered from over 200
schools for the National Robot
Olympiad, on top of the 4,000
students who have been reached
in 2014 by the broader Go Robot
scheme, there is no doubt this is
a quality programme.
Ahmad Ali al-Emadi, a student

from Hayat Universal Bilingual

School, said the Qatar National
Robot Olympiad has given him
the opportunity to use his skills
outside the classroom for the
rst time.
Taleb Jassim al-Marri, also a
student at Hayat Universal Bilingual School, explained that
working on the project has shown
him how science, mathematics
and engineering can be used in
the real world of work, and also
how valuable it is to learn these
subjects at school.
Each team of two or three students competing at the National
Robot Olympiad will be expected to build and programme
Lego Mindstorm robots under
strict time limits and without
the assistance of their coaches,
most of whom are teachers. The
competition will test students
problem-solving, engineering
and programming skills as well as
teamwork and initiative.
Fawziya al-Khater, director
of the Education Institute, SEC,
pointed out that robotics is included in some academic cur-

ricula for specic school grades.

Abdulrahman Abdulla alObaidly, manager for Public Relations and Communications at
QP, said: QPs strong support
to educational programmes like
the Qatar National Robot Olympiad is a major component
of our corporate social responsibility initiatives, and it clearly
reflects our firm commitment
in helping achieve the objectives of the Human Development Pillar of Qatar National
Vision 2030.
Dr Theodore Chiasson, organiser of the National Robot
OIympiad and dean of Information Technology at CNA-Q,
said: Each year, the Qatar National Robot Olympiad gets bigger and better and 2014 will be
no different, with more students
and more categories than ever
before. This is all thanks to the
endorsement from the Supreme
Education Council, support
from Qatar Petroleum and continued sponsorship from Qatars
largest offshore oil producer,
Maersk Oil Qatar.

24 students make it
to Deans Honours
List at WCMC-Q
T

Hublot CEO Jean-Claude Biver flanked by area sales manager Marco Tedeschi, Ahmed Almajed, Jamil Almajed and Nasr Almajed of
Almajed Group. PICTURE: Jayaram

Hublot is a highly popular

brand among Qatar citizens
By Joey Aguilar
Staff Reporter

ublot, luxury watch

brand and official
timekeeper of the FIFA
World Cup, is highly popular among many citizens in
Qatar, CEO Jean Claude Biver
has said.
In Qatar, we sell more to the
local people. In Dubai, we sell
more to Russians, Chinese and
other visitors, Biver told Gulf
Times at the Almajed Jewellery
office during his recent visit
to Doha.
Hublot
produces
about
36,000 watches every year and
distributes to nearly 80 countries. The watchmaker estimates

that about 700-800 pieces are

being brought to Qatar.
Biver describes the Qatari
market as more focused, sophisticated and typical but
very interesting. Smaller than
Dubai and Saudi Arabia, he
finds the country quite sophisticated, knowing that the
potential customers are not
tourists.
You get the feeling of the local taste, he said, comparing
Qatar to other GCC countries.
If you sell watches in Dubai,
it is difficult to determine who
your customers really are because 22% are sold to Chinese,
38% to Russians, 12% to Germans, and so you have a basket
of travel retail.
Some of the challenges in

producing such timepieces include the design, according to

Biver. It should bring happiness, success, emotion and
dreams to them (customers).
What makes Hublot exceptional and unique, Biver points
out, is that the company does
not do any research since it has a
niche product and market.
He said they know their customers very well: follow their
lifestyle, desires and the sports
they like a reason why it entered the world of football.
We are trying to follow the
taste of our customer but to anticipate the trend is not easy because
our customer is a very special man
or woman, he added. When
we entered football in 2006,
everybody said you are crazy, rich

people dont look at football.

Biver believes that watchmaking, like art, is eternal
which is an important aspect of
making a luxury watch.
If your watch is eternal, it
means it is very close to art and
that makes it very special, he
said. What will not die is art
and we try to produce watches
that will never die, that you can
always repair.
To give joy, he stressed, is
another important thing besides this eternity. If you wear
a watch and it gives you joy, and
the design is pleasing to your
eyes, you feel good.
The CEO also pointed out
that Hublot will be the official
timekeeper of the FIFA World
Cup 2022 in Qatar.

he academic achievements
of 24 students from Weill
Cornell Medical College
in Qatar (WCMC-Q) were recognised with their induction onto
the Deans Honours List at a ceremony held at Hamad Bin Khalifa
Universitys Student Centre.
Students who posted a GPA of
3.75 or higher in the Spring 2014
term made it to the honours list.
Dr Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCMC-Q, presented the awards
and congratulated the students
on their impressive academic
achievements, encouraging them
to continue to strive for excellence.
I am delighted to applaud
the exceptional performance of
these students as they are rec-

ognised for this signicant academic honour. Inauguration onto

the Deans Honours List reects
the high calibre of WCMC-Qs
student body and it has become a tradition that is rmly
entrenched in the college, Dr
Sheikh said.
Two Deans Honours Lists are
published in each academic year
to record the achievements of
students in the fall and spring semesters, an initiative that began
with the fall 2011 semester.
The audience was also addressed by alumnus Dr Nigel
Pereira, of WCMC-Qs Class of
2010, who is undertaking fellowship training in reproductive
endocrinology and infertility at

The students with the WCMC-Q dean and other officials.

the world-renowned Ronald O

Perelman and Claudia Cohen
Centre for Reproductive Medicine at WCMC in New York.
The students inducted to the
Deans Honors List for the spring
2014 semester are Youmna Abdelghany, Hawra al- Lawati,
Nora al-Fakhri, Fatima al-Maadid, Said Alnajjar, Imen Becetti,
Tina Bharani, Farah Bshesh,
Nada Darwish, Syeda Razia
Haider, Irfan Helmy, Merna Hussien, Mu Ji Hwang, Sahar Abida
Mahadik, Safa Mahgoub, Faryal
Malick, Suresh Menik Arachchige, Adham Musthak, Basem
Oraby, Yahya Othman, George
Sadek, Tarek Taha, Noor Tari
and Nahel Tunio.

QSE UP | Page 4

TAMING PRICES | Page 6

Gulf bourses
fall on global
market gloom

India wholesale
inflation slows
to five-year low

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Dhul-Hijja 21, 1435 AH

INVESTMENT UNIVERSE: Page 16

GULF TIMES

QSE is expected to
see more liquidity
providers to better
price discovery

BUSINESS

Qatargas in successful PMP start-up

Q

atargas has announced successful start-up of its Plateau Maintenance Project, which ensures
the top LNG producer, maintains its
Qatargas 1 production capacity at 10mn
tonnes per year for many years to come.
The project involved drilling and recompleting offshore wells, adding new
onshore facilities for sulphur handling
and modifying existing LNG production
trains 1, 2 and 3.
Qatargas 1 shareholders are Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil, Total, Mitsui and
Marubeni.
Qatargas CEO Khalid bin Khalifa alThani said; This is indeed a signicant
achievement for Qatargas. We want to
ensure Qatargas 1 can produce 10 tonnes
per year until the end of the concession
in 2021 and well beyond. The Plateau
Maintenance Project will help deliver
that capability and enable Qatargas to
continue to supply LNG safely and reliably to its customers. The project is yet
another important milestone in Qatargas journey towards its Vision 2015,
namely to be the Worlds premier LNG
company.
I would also like to congratulate the

project team and the contractors on

the safe and successful start-up of the
project and thank all those involved for
their hard work and commitment over
the years, Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani
said.
Qatargas chief operating officer (engineering and ventures) Khalid bin Abdulla
al-Thani said, The highest priorities on
this project were the safety of our workforce and ensuring no impacts to existing Qatargas assets or production. We
added signicant new onshore facilities
to accommodate the increased volumes
of feed gas and Hydrogen Sulde (H2S)
from new wells.
The additional quantities of H2S will
be treated in the new onshore sulphur
plant built as part of the project. The
new sulphur plant is capable of treating over 1bn cubic feet per day (BCFD)
of offshore feed gas. Numerous new and
upgraded compression and utility units
were also added.
The onshore project had a major
browneld component, meaning virtually all of the work scope was conducted within existing operating facilities
and equipment. The work required tre-

mendous communication and alignment

between several departments across Qatargas.
Qatargas PMP project manager James
Ierubino said, The project team, along
with our contractors, have worked over
42mn man-hours in a very difficult operating plant work environment, achieving world-class safety performance, including an exceptional Total Recordable
Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.23 for every
200,000 hours worked (which equals
one medical treatment or lost time injury occurring for every 1.25mn hours
worked).
More importantly, the project was
shining example of Qatargas incident
and injury free culture, particularly our
application of the STOP safety observation programme, where a peak workforce
of 6500 completed over 665,000 observation cards which helped identify and
mitigate safety risks.
The Technip-Chiyoda joint venture
was the engineering procurement and
construction (EPC) contractor for the
onshore work.
Their major subcontractors included
Kettaneh, Sepam, Descon and CCC.

The Qatargas facility at Ras Laffan. The PMP start-up ensures the top LNG producer maintains its Qatargas 1 production
capacity at 10mn tonnes per year for many years to come.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
Global majors to attend
ITU conference in Doha
As Qatar prepares to host the 2014
ITU Telecom World Conference
with Ooredoos support, the
organisers have confirmed the
participation of some of the
worlds largest technology and
telecommunications companies.
Held for the first time in Doha, the
event will provide an important
update on new developments in
communication technology, and
explore how these are transforming
human lives, with a focus on areas
that are being deployed in Qatar
and the wider region.
In particular, new innovations in
so-called Smart Technology,
including Smart City, Smart
Building and Smart Stadium
Technology will be on display for
the first time.
Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Intel, ZTE,
Nokia, Huawei Technologies, and
Ericsson are among the leading
companies that have confirmed
their participation at the December
7-10 event.
The smart city technology will use
the latest innovations to make
peoples lives easier, greener and
more sustainable. A number of
new developments will use smart
technology to manage traffic
flow, power access, and security
from central operation centres,
providing greater efficiency and
effectiveness.
Ooredoo Qatar CEO Sheikh
Saud bin Nasser al-Thani said,
At Ooredoo, we are working
with some of the worlds leading
companies to develop bespoke
solutions for Qatars key strategic
projects. This involves cuttingedge contributions by companies
like Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Intel,
ZTE, Nokia Huawei Technologies,
and Ericsson supported by
the industry insight and local
knowledge of Ooredoo.
ITU Telecom World will offer a
major display of this collaborative
approach and will provide an
insight into the next generation
of technology that will help build
Qatars smart buildings, smart
stadia and smart offices of the
future, he added.

GCC chemicals industry

employ 148,900 people
T

Sheikh Saud: Insight into next

generation of technology.
Ooredoo is set to host an
Imaginarium at the heart of the
event, which promises to be a
unique experience for visitors and
delegates. The imaginarium will
enable visitors to experience newwave technologies and see how
they will change life in Qatar for the
better.
ITU Telecom World is the
leading platform for the global
ICT community to debate the
future of the sector, network at
the highest level and showcase
products, solutions and investment
opportunities on the event
showfloor. It draws a unique mix
of public and private sectors
representing both emerging and
developed markets from around
the world.
The previous edition of the
conference took place in Bangkok,
Thailand last year and witnessed
the confluence of over 6,000
participants from 153 countries.
Qatar was selected as the host
country for the ITU Telecom World
2014 following a competitive
selection process among several
bidding ITU member states, with
ictQATAR asking Ooredoo to
organise the event on behalf of the
nation.

he petrochemical and
chemical industry in the
GCC region employed
148,900 people in 2013, Gulf
Petrochemicals and Chemicals
Association (GPCA) data show.
Direct employment, along
with that employed by supporting industries, led to the creation of an additional 446,700
jobs, bringing the total number
of jobs that rely on the downstream hydrocarbon industry in
the Arabian Gulf to 595,600 in
2013.
Strengthened by a rapidly expanding petrochemical sector
and multi-billion dollar investments, Saudi Arabias petrochemical industry employed directly 83,700 people, accounting
for over half of the Gulfs petrochemical industrys workforce.
The UAE is the regions second
largest market in terms of people,
employing for 38,100 professionals, just over 25% of the regions chemical employees.
Employment statistics in the
region show that for the GCC
(Gulf Co-operation Council)
petrochemical industry, the
multiplier effect is around 1:3, as
every 10 jobs directly created by
the sector leads to an additional
30 indirect employment opportunities in the chemicals supply
chain.
In 2013, the development of
petrochemicals created a ripple
effect that was responsible for
more than half a million jobs in
the GCC, resulting in the manufacture of over $102bn worth of
products, said Dr Abdulwahab
al-Sadoun, Secretary General,
GPCA.
Petrochemicals are evolving
into an industry that touches
nearly every sector of the GCC

economy, from supply chain,

equipment manufacturing, construction and agriculture to retail and trade.
The GCCs petrochemical
industrys capacity has grown
consistently at 9.5% year- onyear since 2008 and currently
produces 140.5mn tonnes of
products. Similarly, employment in the sector has risen
cumulatively by 12.2% in the
same period. Petrochemicals are
now the regions second largest
manufacturing sector in terms
of contribution to GDP and the
largest manufacturing employer,
after metals, minerals and the
food industry.
Furthermore, GCC nationals
make up 56% of the industrys
workforce. Bahrain accounts for
the highest number of nationals working in the industry, with
83% of the chemical workforce
being Bahraini nationals, followed by Saudi Arabia with a
63% share.
Over the last few years, the
Gulfs petrochemical industry
has developed a solid base of
skilled human capital, which is
a crucial component in ensuring the long term development
of the industry. While the sector is taking solid steps towards
economic and environmental
sustainability, these strides
would have little effect if it were
not for human resources. After
all, skilled talent is crucial for
the industrys growth and global competitiveness, al-Sadoun
added. The people aspect of
sustainability will be a key focus during the upcoming GPCA
Sustainability Conference.
Now in its second edition, the
annual event will be held from
October 21 to 23 in Dubai.

Masraf Al Rayan unit

IBB appoints new CCO
I

slamic Bank of Britain (IBB) has

announced the appointment of
Keith Leach as the companys
new chief commercial officer (CCO).
Leachs remit is to grow IBBs corporate and real estate business, focusing on higher value transactions.
His appointment follows the banks
acquisition by Masraf Al Rayan earlier in the year. A 100mn capital
investment from IBBs new parent
company will support its expansion
plans.
Leach said, I am joining IBB at
a very exciting time. The bank is
strongly-committed to developing
its product range, particularly real
estate and corporate nance in order
to achieve its ambitious growth targets.
IBB CEO Sultan Choudhury said,
Keith brings a wealth of corporate
and commercial nance experience
to IBB. This is necessary in order for
the bank to achieve the strong balance sheet growth it is aiming for.
With a focus on high-quality assets,
Keiths appointment provides IBB
with the ability to tender for higher
value transactions, particularly in the
London real estate sector.
Appointed to the position from his

With more than 50,000 customers and the largest range of

Shariah-compliant retail financial product in the UK, the bank is
considered the pioneer of British Islamic finance
role at the Arab Banking Corp (ABC),
Leach has more than 30 years of
banking experience with Lloyds, Ahli
United, and ABC, 20 years of which
has been spent in the UK Islamic nance industry.
Leach has been instrumental in the
development of a number of Shariah-compliant retail nancial products, including the rst home nance
product launched in 1997.
Formed in 2004, IBB is celebrating

Saudi banks $6bn IPO ignites controversy

Plans by Saudi Arabias biggest bank for a $6bn initial
public offer of shares, the largest-ever equity sale in the
Arab world, have run into religious controversy with
some clerics suggesting it violates Islamic principles.
Securities analysts said the controversy was unlikely
to sway enough investors to derail the IPO of stateowned National Commercial Bank, which is due to start
next week.
The conflict between religion and the economy in the
kingdom has been negative for a long time, but this
will not stop ordinary citizens from participating in the
IPO, said Mazen al-Sudairi, head of research at al Istithmar Capital in Riyadh. It contributes 16% of lending
activity in the country and it has 435bn riyals ($116bn)
of assets and 345bn riyals of deposits...Bank depositors
alone could be enough to cover the IPO several times.
Nevertheless, the controversy underlines how economic decision-making in the kingdom can be complicated, which is due to open its $550bn stock market to
direct foreign investment early next year.
Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, a member of the Council of
Senior Scholars, Saudi Arabias highest religious body,
told state-owned television this week that subscribing
to the IPO was not permissible.
In response to a viewers question about the share
offer, al-Mutlaq said the bank had too many dealings
forbidden by Islamic principles on its balance sheet.
Some other clerics have reached similar conclusions.

its 10th anniversary this year. With

more than 50,000 customers and the
largest range of Shariah-compliant
retail nancial product in the UK,
the bank is considered the pioneer of
British Islamic nance.
With strong support from its new
parent company, Masraf Al Rayan,
IBB is building upon its excellent
foundations and broadening its offering with a view to achieving profitability in the near future.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
NBO Q3 profit rises, beats forecasts

Qatalum showcases
environment, tech
feats in Dusseldorf
Q

atalum has participated in

Aluminium 2014 at the
10th World Trade Fair and
Conference in Dusseldorf, highlighting its environmental initiatives and technological and efciency innovations to attendees
from the industry.
Aluminium 2014 allowed Qatalum and other leading international aluminium producers and
converters to meet with suppliers
of technologies and equipment for
production, further processing and
nishing.
With the support of the German
Confederation of the Aluminium
Industry (GDA) and the European
Aluminium Association (EAA), the
trade fair showcased the industrys
full performance spectrum every
two years. More than 950 exhibitors
were expected to have attended this
years fair.
For Qatalum, contact with a variety of industry experts and stakeholders is crucial to retaining its
place at the cutting edge of industry innovation.
With a rst phase production
capacity of 585,000 tonnes per annum of primary aluminium, and
now in excess of 600,000 tonnes
annually, Qatalum is providing
signicant support for GCC aluminium production an increasing
percentage of which feeds the automotive sectors increasing demand
for the strong, lightweight and durable metal, something reected in
the focus of this years conference.
Automotive engineering and
construction are among the chief

Qatalum delegates during Aluminium 2014 held in Dusseldorf, Germany. The event allowed Qatalum and other
leading international aluminium producers and converters to meet with suppliers of technologies and equipment
for production, further processing and finishing.
growth and innovation drivers of
the aluminium industry. Aluminium 2014 dedicated two special
areas to the latest developments
in segments entitled Automotive
Innovations and Building Innovations both of which are supported by Qatalum products.
Recognition for the quality of
Qatalums product in the automotive sector is already international.
In 2013, Qatalum received ISO/
TS 16949:2009 certication for
the automotive industry - a global
standard that denes the quality management system requirements for the design and development, production and installation

and service of automotive-related

products. It is applicable to those
sites of the organisation where customer-specied parts, whether for
production or service, are manufactured.
Qatalum communications manager Ibrahim Fakhri said, This
biennial event is the single biggest
opportunity for us to meet with all
other parts of the aluminium global
supply chain, to promote our innovations in quality and efficiency, and showing customers how
world-leading the GCC aluminium
industry, and Qatars in particular,
have become.
Chief supply chain officer Yahya

al-Rashdan said, As one example, the leading global commodities consultancy CRU recently
rated Qatalum fourth among global
smelters based on criteria of increase in efficiency and lowering of
business costs.
He added: The conference has
also been an opportunity for us not
just to network but to learn from
others ensuring we remain on
top of international best practice in
all aspects of what we do. So a B2B
event like this has allowed a fantastic exchange of information, as we
could meet with current and potential partners as we continue to
grow and reach new markets.

National Bank of Oman, the sultanates

second-largest lender by assets, reported
a 13.7% rise in third-quarter net profit
yesterday, beating analysts forecasts.
The lender made a net profit of 14.1mn
rials ($36.62mn) in the three months
to September 30, according to Reuters
calculations based on financial statements,
up from 12.4mn rials in the corresponding

period of last year. Four analysts polled

by Reuters on average forecast the bank
would make a quarterly profit of 11.70mn
rials. The bank, which appointed Ahmed
al-Musalmi as chief executive in May,
made a net profit of 37.1mn in the first nine
months of 2014 rials, up from 31.2mn rials
in the same period of 2013, a bourse filing
showed.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS

Most Gulf markets fall on global gloom

Reuters
Dubai

ost stock markets in the

Middle East fell yesterday as European stocks,
which had led them up in the previous session, changed direction
and US equities continued to decline.
Dubais bourse fell 2.9% to a
one-month closing low of 4,572
points as all liquid stocks closed
in the red. Heavyweight developer Emaar Properties dropped
3.7% and Dubai Islamic Bank fell
2.7%.
Abu Dhabis index fell 1.1%,
although some stocks gained,
including Union National Bank
which rose 0.2% after brokerage EFG Hermes said on Monday
it might secure a place in MSCIs
emerging market index next
month.
I think whats happening in
the US and international markets

is pressuring the markets here in

the region, said Ali Adou, portfolio manager at The National Investor in Abu Dhabi.
The pan-European FTSEurorst 300 Index rose in the rst
half of Mondays session, helping markets in the UAE, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia rebound. But
it closed in the red on that day
as worries about a weak global
economy resurfaced, and the US
benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.7% on
Monday to a ve-month low. European stocks then fell further on
Tuesday.
Saudi Arabias main index fell
1.9% as most stocks, including
blue chips, declined. However,
some stocks, such as Saudi Cement Co, Yanbu Cement Co,
Southern Province Cement Co
and Eastern Cement Co, edged up.
Cement production involves
heating minerals to very high
temperatures and the drop in oil
prices could reduce energy costs
for companies in the sector.

Brent crude oil fell to a fresh

low yesterday, trading at its weakest level since 2010 after the International Energy Agency cut its
estimates for oil demand this year
and next.
Egypts bourse also remained in
a prot-taking mood as virtually
all stocks declined and the main
index fell 2.6%.
Ezz Steel was one of the few exceptions, jumping 3.4% after its
subsidiary Al Ezz Dekheila Steel
Co Alexandria said late on Monday that natural gas supplies to its
plant had resumed.
According to Naeem Brokerage,
Al Ezz Dekheila accounts for more
than 90% of the parent companys earnings before tax, interest,
depreciation and amortisation
(EBITDA).
Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwaits
index added 0.3% to 7,581 points;
Omans bourse edged down 0.4%
to 7,167 points, while Bahrains
benchmark pulled back 0.4% to
1,459 points.

Heavyweight developer Emaar Properties dropped 3.7% yesterday as Dubais bourse fell 2.9% to a one-month closing low of 4,572 points.

QSE sustains bull

run on banking,
telecom buy interest
By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter

uying interest, especially at the banking and telecom

counters, helped the Qatar Stock Exchange sustain
the bullish run for the second day yesterday as its key
index breached the 13,500 mark.
Foreign institutions hunt for equities led the 20-stock
Qatar Index (based on price data) to gain 0.24% to 13,511.11
points as volumes shrank.
Large-caps were largely sought after in the market, which
is up 30.17% year-to-date.
The index that tracks Shariah-principled stock was seen
melting compared to gains in the other indices in the bourse,
where trading volume was largely skewed towards real estate
and banking stocks.
The Total Return Index rose 0.24% to 20,151.69 points
and the All Share Index by 0.15% to 3,420.09 points; even
as the Al Rayan Islamic Index was down 0.03% to 4,540.64
points.
However, Qatari and non-Qatari retail investors as well as
domestic institutions turned net prot-takers in the market, whose capitalisation rose 0.32%, or more than QR2bn,
to QR728.41bn.
Large and micro-cap equities were seen gaining 0.99%
and 0.11%; while small and mid caps fell 1% and 0.45% respectively.
Banks and nancial services stocks gained 0.98%, followed by telecom (0.41%) and insurance (0.23%), but transport shrank 0.84%, realty and industrials 0.48% each and
consumer goods lost 0.4%.
Major gainers included Industries Qatar, QNB, Qatar Islamic Bank, Barwa and Vodafone Qatar.
However, Doha Bank, Aamal Company, Gulf International Services, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding, Ezdan,
Mazaya Qatar, United Development Company and Nakilat
bucked the trend.
Ezdan, Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank were the most active in terms of volume and value.
Foreign institutions turned net buyers to the tune of
QR32.98mn against net sellers of QR118.08mn the previous
day.
However, domestic institutions turned net sellers to
the extent of QR11.57mn compared with net buyers of
QR43.38mn on Monday.
Qatari retail investors also turned net prot-takers to the
tune of QR14.37mn against net buyers of QR81.46mn the
previous day.
Non-Qatari individual investors net selling rose to
QR7.08mn compared to QR6.75mn on October 13.
Total trade volume shrank 24% to 7.85mn shares, value by
26% to QR411.7mn and transactions by 18% to 4,638.
The telecom sectors trade volume plummeted 47% to
0.55mn equities, value by 41% to QR17.02mn and deals by
35% to 255.
The real-estate sector saw its trade volume plunge 28%
to 3.06mn stocks, value by 36% to QR66.71mn and transactions by 35% to 732.
The banks and nancial services sectors trade volume
reported 27% shrinkage to 2.44mn shares, 31% in value to
QR197.03mn and 21% in deals to 1,656.
The transport sectors trade volume fell 16% to 0.16mn
equities, but value was up 4% to QR8.16mn. Transactions
eroded 30% to 109.
However, the consumer goods sectors trade volume
zoomed 33% to 0.52mn shares, while value fell 29% to
QR20.28mn and deals by 5% to 282.
The market witnessed a 22% surge in the insurance
sectors trade volume to 0.11mn stocks, 2% in value to
QR7.34mn and 22% in transactions to 121.
The industrials sectors trade volume was up 3% to 1.01mn
equities but on a 3% fall in value to QR95.15mn. Deals rose
1% to 1,483.
In the debt market, there was no trading in treasury bills
and government bonds.

MAR issues guidelines for dividend payments

Masraf Al Rayan has urged shareholders to visit its website,
www.alrayan.com, for proper information and guidance on
dividend payments.
In compliance with Qatar Central Bank instructions, Masraf Al
Rayan has published on its website the list of its shareholders
(in alphabetical order) who have not come forward to receive
their dividend checks for the years 2007 and 2008. The bank
has encouraged all shareholders to verify the bank website
first and then visit any of the Masraf Al Rayan branches to
receive their checks.
For more information and clarification regarding dividend
payments or any other issue, shareholders could also contact
Masraf Al Rayans Shareholders Unit at 44253213, 44253214,
444253215.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS

Indonesia facing tough times: QNB

T

he tightening of global liquidity

emanating from the tapering of
Quantitative Easing (QE) in the
US has led to periodic bouts of capital
outows from Indonesia, exchange rate
weakness and higher ination since mid2013, QNB has said in a report.
In response, the Indonesian central
bank has hiked interest rates to combat inflation and used international
reserves to support the currency, while
the government has introduced export
restrictions to reduce domestic price
increases.
As a result, real GDP growth slowed to
5.1% in the second quarter of 2014, from
5.8% in 2013, reecting lower exports and
weak investment spending.
We expect real GDP growth to slow
further from 5.1% in 2014 to 4.5% in 2015
as the exchange rate could weaken further and policies remain tight, QNB said
in its Indonesia Economic Insight 2014.
An export and investment-led recovery in 2016 could lift growth to 5.2%,

provided reforms are implemented.

Ination may rise from 5.5% in 2014
to 6% in 2015, owing to fuel subsidy cuts
and currency weakness, before easing to
5% in 2016 once the currency stabilises.
The weaker IDR should help reduce the
current account decit over the medium
term, by making imports more expensive
and exports cheaper.
However, gains from greater export
competitiveness may be limited by the
large share of imported intermediate
goods in nished exports.
The removal of subsidies should help
reduce the scal decit in 2015-2016,
while allowing greater scal space for
much-needed infrastructure investment.
Banking sector growth is expected to
continue slowing in 20142016 on tighter domestic liquidity and rising interest
rates.
Deposit growth should fall into single
digit, based on further capital outows
likely in 2015.

Trans-Pacific Partnership pact so near, yet so far

By Arno Maierbrugger
Gulf Times Correspondent
Bangkok
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, one of the
large-scale and most comprehensive free-trade
agreements ever negotiated that would have
strong implications on world trade including
Middle East countries, seems to have reached a
blind alley. It turned out that the biggest and most
important economies involved in the negotiations,
Japan and the US, probably will not reach an
accord due to lack of faith between the two
nations. This became clear when Japans Minister
of Economic Policy Akira Amari walked out of a
TPP meeting with his American counterparts endSeptember, citing essential differences in what the
trade pact should encompass on both sides.
The TPP is a trade agreement first drafted in
2005 that has since grown to include 12 nations
representing around 40% of global GDP and
one-third of global trade. The potential member
countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore,

Peru, the US and Vietnam, with another nine

countries, most notably China, Indonesia, India,
Taiwan and South Korea, having shown interest
in joining the pact. The draft of the agreement
contains a broad range of economic topics,
including among others customs, agriculture,
health, intellectual property, investment,
e-commerce, financial services, labour issues,
market access for goods, telecommunications
and the highly disputed investors-state arbitration
where corporate tribunals would be able to sue
governments over a breach of the treaty.
TPP negotiations have been widely criticised
for their secrecy and the impression that the US
economy would benefit the most from it. In AsiaPacific, which would be a core region of a future
TPP agreement, Thailand and Malaysia have
shown their reluctance to join the negotiations.
In Malaysia, influential ex-prime minister Mahatir
Mohamad blasted the agreement as a pact
to extend the USs hegemony over Southeast
Asia, arguing that Malaysia would be neocolonalised by American capital interests and
used as a trade zone to block China. If I am
asked if we need the TPP, I say we dont, he said.

In Thailand, US President Barack Obama tried to

talk former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra
into the trade pact in 2013, but officials quickly
denied that the country will be involved, saying
that the TPP was not in Thailands interest.
The TPP, which is widely seen as a pet project
of President Obama who labelled it as a 21st
century trade pact of unseen dimensions,
has also been under fire by critics for mainly
supporting interests of US lobbyists while
opening doors for currency manipulations and
having adverse impacts on environment and
public health systems in the potential member
countries, the latter because access to generic
medicine would be limited.
An established TPP pact would obviously
bring other free-trade zones including the Gulf
Cooperation Councils common market in the
defensive and force them to enhance their own
regional economic co-operation to be able to
compete with a powerful TPP region. However,
it is highly uncertain if follow-up negotiations on
the TPP (the next is slated for October 25 to 27 in
Australia), will accomplish anything after Japan
so demonstratively opted out.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
Japans JICA ties up with IDB arm, eyes Jordan sukuk
Reuters
Tokyo
The Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) has signed an agreement
with the private sector arm of the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB) to develop
Shariah-compliant transactions with a
focus on sukuk (Islamic bonds).

JICA joins other development agencies

such as the World Bank and the Asian
Development Bank in building links with
Islamic finance.
Sukuk, investment certificates which
follow religious guidelines such
as bans on interest and monetary
speculation, have over the past year
grown in prominence as a funding tool
beyond the industrys core markets

of the Middle East and southeast Asia.

JICAs agreement calls for efforts to
develop Islamic money markets across
the IDBs 56 member countries, the
Jeddah-based Islamic Corp for the
Development of the Private Sector said
in a statement.
In June, Jordans ministry of finance
asked for assistance from JICA in
issuing sukuk, one of the Jordanian

governments objectives under a

development programme with the
World Bank. Jordan is studying how
to issue its first sukuk but pressure to
cut public debt and a preference for
concessionary loans from aid donor
countries have hindered the plan.
JICAs agreement will help raise
awareness of Islamic finance and attract
other Japanese lenders to the sector,

Kunio Okamura, JICAs senior special

adviser, was quoted as saying in the
statement.
Some Japanese banks are increasingly
active in Islamic finance, though most of
this is focused outside Japan; Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corp and Bank of TokyoMitsubishi UFJ have been expanding
their Islamic businesses in Malaysia.
JICA is a regular bond issuer in Japans

domestic market and could follow stateowned Japan Bank for International
Cooperation in helping Muslim countries
with capital-rasing efforts. Last week,
Tunisia issued a $825mn bond on the
domestic Japanese market, guaranteed
by the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation, Tunisias third such bond
since 2012. Tunisia is now preparing for
its debut sovereign sukuk issue.

India wholesale ination

slows to 5-yr low of 2.38%
AFP
New Delhi

A vendor is seen at a wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Mumbai. Indias wholesale price inflation eased for a fourth
straight month in September to 2.38%, its lowest level in nearly five years, government data showed yesterday.

ndia posted better ination data

for a second straight day yesterday,
stirring hopes it is making headway in taming prices and will be able
to cut interest rates to spur a sluggish
economy.
Wholesale ination slowed to a veyear low of 2.38% last month, its weakest since October 2009, commerce
ministry data showed.
The encouraging gures came a day
after the release of gures showing that
the more widely tracked consumer price
ination fell to 6.46% in September.
Consumer ination now is at its
lowest level since the government introduced a new index nearly three
years ago, and is down from over 10%
last year.
Analysts, however, noted that high
year-ago gures had helped improve
the wholesale and consumer ination
numbers and warned that this statistical base effect would wear off around
November.
That will be a moment of truth when
the Reserve Bank of India will be able
to see whether the downward ination
trend can be sustained, they said.
The central bank has said that before lowering rates it wants to break
the back of ination which has been a
persistent problem in India, where the
World Bank says a quarter of the 1.2bn
population lives in deep poverty.
The bank, which kept its trend-

setting lending rate on hold at a steep

8% last week, has set a goal of whittling down consumer ination to 6%
by January 2016.
Capital Economics Asia economist
Mark Williams said a rate reduction
could come late this calendar year if
ination news remained positive.
Many analysts are looking to the
next nancial year (starting April) for
the rst rate cut but it could come this
calendar year if the news is good, Williams told AFP.
Indias economy has posted two years
of sub-5% growth, the longest slowdown in a quarter-century, and business has been clamouring for rate cuts
to reduce borrowing costs and spur investment and consumer spending.
Septembers consumer and wholesale price ination drop was helped
by bountiful rains in the last stages of
a patchy monsoon that reduced food
prices. Global crude oil prices, which
have fallen nearly 20% this year, have
also helped improve the ination outlook in the country, which depends on
energy imports.
If this (downward) trend is sustained, the central bank remains on
track to achieve its 6% consumer price
ination target, said Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian Economic Research at HSBC.
However, the central bank is likely
to wait for further evidence price
pressures are contained, Neumann
said, forecasting monetary policy authorities will remain in wait-and-see
mode for an extended period of time.

DLF faces tough choices after fund-raising ban

Reuters
New Delhi/Mumbai

ndias most indebted property rm DLF

will be forced to sell assets, even unnished projects, to meet debt obligations,
say bankers, after the property rm was
banned from the capital markets for three
years the market regulators harshest penalty ever.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India
(Sebi) ruling on Monday will cut off DLFs access to the Mumbai stock market, Asias bestperforming bourse this year. The company,
shouldering $3bn of debt, will also be barred
from the bond market just as its free cash ow
sinks to multi-year lows.
The ban follows what Sebi said was DLFs
failure to provide key information on subsidiaries and pending legal cases at the time of its
record-breaking 2007 initial public offering.
Yesterday, DLF shares fell to a record low at
the market close, wiping out $1.2bn in market
value.
The Sebi ban comes as slowing home sales
due to poor consumer sentiment, high ination and interest rates hit developers in Asias
third-largest economy. Bankers and analysts
say the only option left for DLF, Indias most
indebted property developer, is to divest assets, even half-complete projects, if the Sebi
order is upheld.
Thats the only practical option because the

banks are also very cautious in lending to the

sectors like real estate. So renancing would
not be that easy, a banker with a large US bank
that previously worked with DLF said, declining to be named as he was not allowed to speak
to the media about client-specic issues.
The ruling also adds to the regulatory pressure and political scrutiny on DLF.
DLF is facing a probe from the antitrust
watchdog and has been accused by the media
and political opponents of entering into improper land deals with well-connected businessman Robert Vadra. DLF and Vadra, the
son-in-law of opposition Congress party chief
Sonia Gandhi, have denied the allegations.
The Sebi ban also comes ahead of the state
assembly elections in the northern state of
Haryana today. Any change in government
could affect DLFs future projects in the region, analysts say.
An official at the Securities Appellate Tribunal said DLF could try and ask for a stay
on the order until the appeal is heard. DLF
declined to comment beyond the statement it issued late on Monday. The company
said it would defend itself against the order
passed by Sebi. Sebi is embarking on a plan
to standardise corporate reporting in India,
and chairman UK Sinha has warned that noncompliant companies will be punished.
DLFs net debt stood at about Rs185bn
($3bn) at end-March and its rate of interest was 12.08%, according to the companys
annual report. Its free cash ow for the scal

year ended March 31 fell to Rs5.18bn, the lowest in four years, Reuters data shows.
ICRA estimates about 59% of DLFs total
outstanding debt of about Rs224.11bn at endMarch to be bank-funded and the remainder as
non-bank, according to Rohit Inamdar, a senior
analyst at the Indian credit rating agency.
In the short term, this is a big issue for
DLF clearly because there is a looming liquidity crisis in case the sales velocity does not
pick up, said V Krishnan, a sector analyst at
Mumbai-based brokerage Ambit Capital.
Ambit estimates that with about 57mn
square feet of projects under development, DLF
needs about Rs2bn a month towards construction costs, and its interest outow to service
debt is also about Rs2bn a month currently.
The companys operating cash ow of about
Rs3bn will barely cover its construction costs
and half its interest cost, given the slow pace
of home sales in DLFs primary market of Delhi
and the surrounding region, Krishnan said.
DLF will either need to slow its pace of
execution in under-construction projects
or monetise some of its assets at distressed
valuations to contain or improve its operating
cash inows, said Krishnan, adding that it
could look for term loans from banks though
that will not come cheap. DLF, which builds
homes, offices and shopping centres and has
about 26mn square feet of leased assets, will
also be barred from listing a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for three years, shutting yet another avenue for raising funds.

Workers walk past a billboard of DLF at Gurgaon in New Delhi.

The Indian property firm will be forced to sell assets, even
unfinished projects, to meet debt obligations, say bankers.

IndiGo to
place big
aircraft
order by
early 2015
Reuters
Singapore

ndian low-cost carrier IndiGo

is close to placing a large order
worth billions of dollars for a
variety of aircraft and could reach
a decision as early as 2015, a senior aviation analyst and several
industry sources said.
IndiGo, Indias largest airline
by market share, could pick up a
combination of regional planes
that can seat up to 100 passengers, narrowbody aircraft such
as the Airbus A320s that it already operates, and widebody
jets for launching medium- to
long-haul services, said Binit
Somia, the director of South Asia
at industry consultancy CAPA.
Speaking at a conference yesterday, he added that an order
was imminent.
Two industry sources familiar with orders by Indian airlines
conrmed that the airline was
actively looking for aircraft and
could make a decision by early
2015. Both sources declined to
be identied as they were not
authorised to speak to the media.
Officials from IndiGo, Indias
only protable carrier, could not
be reached for comment. In an
e-mail, a spokesman for Airbus
said, Its routine to have discussions with airline customers
however we do not conrm any
discussions which may or may
not be happening.
Any plans for widebody aircraft would mark a switch in IndiGos business model, which
has so far focused on domestic
and international ights of up
to ve hours, and make it the
rst Indian long-haul, low-cost
airline. The company, whose fortunes contrast with other carriers
struggling in an Indian market
that faces severe overcapacity, is
expected to list its shares early
next year with an initial public
offering that could be worth up to
$400mn, three people involved
in the deal have said.
The order under consideration
could include around 100 more
A320s, the sources said. The
airline, which competes with
SpiceJet Ltd and GoAir in its
home market, operates 83 A320
aircraft and placed orders in 2011
for 180 more, largely for the upgraded re-engined A320neo variants, with deliveries expected to
begin early next year. The airline
has also inked a deal to take 12
A320s from Singapores Tiger
Airways on lease.
These aircraft will allow IndiGo to retire its older aircraft and
keep the average age of its eet
to around six years, helping to
keep operating costs down. The
airline could also look at jet and
turboprop regional aircraft, such
as those built by Brazils Embraer
SA, Canadas Bombardier and
Europes ATR, the sources said.

US firm Costco to enter China through Alibabas Tmall

Reuters
Beijing

US warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale said yesterday it would open an online store in China.

US warehouse club operator Costco

Wholesale Corp said it would open an
online store in China using Alibaba Group
Holdings fast-growing Tmall online
marketplace, entering the countrys
booming e-commerce market to combat
slowing sales at home.
Costco said the online store would
provide customers in mainland China
with both branded products, which would
initially include food and healthcare
goods, and also products under its
Kirkland Signature private label business.
Costco sees tremendous growth

opportunities in China, especially in

light of Chinese consumers increasing
appetite for imported products,
executive vice president Jim Murphy said
in a statement yesterday.
China-based iResearch in July raised its
2014 growth forecast for Chinas online
retail sales to 45.8% from 32.4%. The
consultancy forecast sales of 2.76tn yuan
($446.6bn) for the year.
Alibabas Tmall offers virtual store fronts
and payment portals to merchants and
Costco said Tmall Globals warehouse
stores would help it cut logistics costs
and delivery time.
Costco, which has reported slowing
same-store sales growth for the last three
years, said Tmall.com would also connect

it with its consumer online marketplace

Taobao.com and its daily deals site
Juhuasuan.com.
Costcos Asian presence, as of May,
included 19 shops in Japan and 10 each
in Taiwan and Korea through majorityowned subsidiaries, while its online
presence was restricted to the US,
Canada, the United Kingdom and MexiCo.
The company adds to a growing list of
western retailers, including Zara owner
Inditex, Britains Burberry and ASOS, who
have joined TMall this year.
Costco shares closed at $126.97 on
Monday on the Nasdaq. They have risen
6.7% so far this year compared with a 1.8%
fall in the broader Dow Jones US retailers
index .

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
SAUDI ARABIA
Company Name

QATAR
Company Name
Zad Holding Co
Widam Food Co
Vodafone Qatar
United Development Co
Salam International Investme
Qatar & Oman Investment Co
Qatar Navigation
Qatar National Cement Co
Qatar National Bank
Qatar Islamic Insurance
Qatar Industrial Manufactur
Qatar International Islamic
Qatari Investors Group
Qatar Islamic Bank
Qatar Gas Transport(Nakilat)
Qatar General Insurance & Re
Qatar German Co For Medical
Qatar Fuel Co
Qatar Electricity & Water Co
Qatar Cinema & Film Distrib
Qatar Insurance Co
Ooredoo Qsc
National Leasing
Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev
Mesaieed Petrochemical Holdi
Al Meera Consumer Goods Co
Medicare Group
Mannai Corporation Qsc
Masraf Al Rayan
Al Khalij Commercial Bank
Industries Qatar
Islamic Holding Group
Gulf Warehousing Company
Gulf International Services
Ezdan Holding Group
Doha Insurance Co
Doha Bank Qsc
Dlala Holding
Commercial Bank Of Qatar Qsc
Barwa Real Estate Co
Al Khaleej Takaful Group
Aamal Co

Lt Price
87.80
62.30
20.74
27.70
19.50
17.44
94.00
137.10
208.20
85.60
46.05
86.30
55.30
113.10
24.04
44.60
13.19
222.50
187.00
44.00
99.10
131.10
26.80
22.75
32.70
184.00
126.90
115.70
53.40
22.00
185.40
124.00
50.00
117.60
19.85
32.50
57.50
60.90
72.00
40.45
47.00
15.01

% Chg
1.62
0.00
1.17
-0.89
0.00
-0.34
-1.05
-2.07
2.16
2.03
-0.22
-0.46
-0.54
0.98
-0.83
0.90
-2.51
-0.67
-1.06
0.00
0.10
0.15
-0.56
-0.87
-0.61
-0.49
-0.08
-0.17
0.56
-1.12
0.49
0.32
0.00
-2.00
-0.70
-1.81
-0.69
0.33
0.56
0.50
1.51
-1.31

Volume
10,291
16,791
501,457
149,002
349,432
195,412
53,046
3,463
306,084
12,978
500
124,908
34,098
182,080
88,649
1,567
79,801
24,079
62,001
668
39,774
51,027
88,943
281,331
284,514
3,789
34,651
35,694
720,591
46,933
227,489
127,740
20,945
197,470
2,430,945
21,800
280,635
62,452
298,092
200,576
32,296
162,189

SAUDI ARABIA
Company Name
Saudi Hollandi Bank
Al-Ahsa Development Co.
Al-Baha Development & Invest
Ace Arabia Cooperative Insur
Allied Cooperative Insurance
Arriyadh Development Company
Fitaihi Holding Group
Arabia Insurance Cooperative
Al Abdullatif Industrial Inv
Al-Ahlia Cooperative Insuran
Al Alamiya Cooperative Insur
Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev
Al Babtain Power & Telecommu
Bank Albilad
Alujain Corporation (Alco)
Aldrees Petroleum And Transp
Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C
Alinma Bank
Alinma Tokio Marine
Al Khaleej Training And Educ
Abdullah A.M. Al-Khodari Son
Allianz Saudi Fransi Coopera
Almarai Co
Saudi Integrated Telecom Co
Alsorayai Group
Al Tayyar
Amana Cooperative Insurance
Anaam International Holding
Abdullah Al Othaim Markets
Arabian Pipes Co
Advanced Petrochemicals Co
Al Rajhi Co For Co-Operative
Arabian Cement
Arab National Bank
Ash-Sharqiyah Development Co
United Wire Factories Compan
Astra Industrial Group
Alahli Takaful Co
Aseer
Axa Cooperative Insurance
Basic Chemical Industries
Bishah Agriculture
Bank Al-Jazira
Banque Saudi Fransi
United International Transpo
Bupa Arabia For Cooperative
Buruj Cooperative Insurance
Saudi Airlines Catering Co
Methanol Chemicals Co
City Cement Co
Eastern Cement
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunicat
Etihad Etisalat Co
Emaar Economic City
Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insu
United Electronics Co
Falcom Saudi Equity Etf
Filing & Packing Materials M
Wafrah For Industry And Deve
Falcom Petrochemical Etf
Gulf General Cooperative Ins
Jazan Development Co
Gulf Union Cooperative Insur
Halwani Bros Co
Hail Cement
Herfy Food Services Co
Al Jouf Agriculture Developm
Jarir Marketing Co
Jabal Omar Development Co
Al Jouf Cement
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co
Knowledge Economic City
Kingdom Holding Co
Saudi Arabian Mining Co
Malath Cooperative & Reinsur
Makkah Construction & Devepl
Mediterranean & Gulf Insuran
Middle East Specialized Cabl
Mohammad Al Mojil Group Co
Al Mouwasat Medical Services
The National Agriculture Dev
Najran Cement Co
Nama Chemicals Co
National Gypsum
National Gas & Industrializa
National Industrialization C
Maadaniyah
National Shipping Co Of/The
National Petrochemical Co
Rabigh Refining And Petroche
Al Qassim Agricultural Co
Qassim Cement/The
Red Sea Housing Services Co
Saudi Research And Marketing
Riyad Bank
Al Rajhi Bank
Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co

Lt Price
48.48
17.32
13.50
71.24
26.09
22.25
23.86
19.80
43.91
19.45
102.92
13.27
42.87
51.85
25.22
58.17
121.44
22.67
61.29
68.01
62.04
58.18
78.79
24.30
23.36
138.13
29.13
37.01
105.88
27.99
57.17
50.39
77.60
31.80
97.33
46.02
48.17
62.13
32.20
64.00
37.73
69.75
30.81
36.20
77.70
138.29
53.17
184.47
16.34
25.52
61.74
10.34
85.96
16.32
38.61
110.00
36.20
60.42
52.00
36.10
42.32
18.54
26.29
81.00
26.23
101.61
50.57
190.62
51.99
21.37
14.85
21.68
23.26
37.91
25.62
81.99
63.23
18.56
12.55
115.50
41.73
35.05
15.29
35.14
33.15
34.63
54.66
36.76
33.00
28.20
15.47
98.97
54.70
19.90
19.81
67.45
17.57

% Chg
-2.24
-1.53
0.00
-1.77
-1.77
-0.85
-1.00
4.98
-0.99
-0.77
-1.61
-0.38
3.23
-2.85
-3.45
-1.27
-1.64
-1.39
-1.27
-0.90
2.51
-6.19
-3.70
0.00
-0.55
-0.58
0.38
-0.86
-2.38
-5.47
-1.31
-3.39
-2.14
-3.43
-2.28
-3.20
1.20
-3.66
-2.95
3.64
-1.74
0.00
-5.02
-2.29
0.00
0.82
0.72
-2.87
-1.27
-5.24
0.21
-2.36
-1.39
-1.39
-1.25
-3.31
0.00
-2.61
-1.25
-0.82
0.31
-1.59
-1.90
1.25
-2.49
-0.37
-1.33
-2.41
1.23
-3.65
-2.04
-2.52
-0.09
-0.71
-2.59
-0.71
-2.90
-0.59
0.00
-1.61
1.58
-0.51
-1.99
1.91
-0.87
-3.75
-1.28
0.63
-1.14
-3.98
-1.96
-0.03
-3.29
-0.10
-1.34
-0.97
-2.06

Volume
87,241
1,194,812
290,104
314,582
764,919
283,606
2,010,628
262,976
1,002,479
136,362
22,639,122
889,397
676,316
732,711
1,107,337
605,840
25,589,666
162,507
129,198
1,652,133
1,511,082
1,674,146
320,237
356,249
1,108,966
329,714
311,114
3,584,301
513,090
474,048
275,604
695,470
652,796
372,589
355,650
653,676
1,604,995
2,957,984
320,481
7,747,236
633,868
316,499
324,790
220,118
106,664
790,710
4,534,309
261,210
1,733,756
1,647,861
2,489,322
988,477
167,479
105
800,739
721,813
15,510
909,100
726,843
310,703
90,932
757,324
30,811
144,608
95,515
2,290,138
1,110,883
18,985,892
995,673
555,334
3,345,848
1,920,391
68,308
1,193,501
630,273
232,073
629,754
509,179
1,454,731
1,509,051
105,569
2,479,748
661,750
1,390,391
211,924
2,003,232
744,867
36,567
276,907
53,517
1,191,517
3,018,270
1,188,820

Saudi British Bank

Sabb Takaful
Saudi Basic Industries Corp
Saudi Cement
Sasco
Saudi Dairy & Foodstuff Co
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co
Al Sagr Co-Operative Insuran
Saudi Advanced Industries
Saudi Arabian Coop Ins Co
Salama Cooperative Insurance
Samba Financial Group
Sanad Cooperative Insurance
Saudi Public Transport Co
Saudi Arabian Refinery Co
Hsbc Amanah Saudi 20 Etf
Saudi Re For Cooperative Rei
Savola
Saudi Cable Co
Saudi Chemical Company
Saudi Ceramic
Saudi Electricity Co
Saudi Fisheries
Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker Co
Saudi Hotels & Resort
Arabian Shield Cooperative
Saudi Investment Bank/The
Saudi Industrial Development
Saudi Industrial Export Co

KUWAIT
Lt Price
57.99
45.61
119.04
113.52
31.41
124.22
159.00
44.37
24.85
53.49
35.65
44.95
15.23
36.94
76.08
35.20
11.75
80.63
12.28
72.90
139.00
16.96
36.19
85.00
38.14
46.48
28.90
19.89
60.53

% Chg
-1.89
-2.50
-4.16
1.43
-2.03
5.48
-1.79
-3.52
-1.51
1.38
0.54
-1.75
0.00
-2.04
-1.22
0.57
-0.84
-3.56
-1.68
-0.22
-2.67
-0.99
-1.92
-0.60
-0.05
-3.07
-0.69
-1.34
-2.67

Volume
42,131
1,361,290
7,333,587
93,742
669,608
164,359
172,433
431,968
362,544
514,642
598,504
818,334
275,323
444,942
1,100
1,003,190
649,305
494,189
126,841
186,890
1,093,274
622,949
118,446
524,223
296,743
266,052
902,212
449,136

KUWAIT
Company Name
Securities Group Co
Sultan Center Food Products
Kuwait Foundry Co
Kuwait Financial Centre
Ajial Real Estate Entmt
Gulf Glass Manuf Co -Kscc
Kuwait Finance & Investment
National Industries Co
Kuwait Real Estate Holding C
Securities House Kscc
Boubyan Petrochemicals Co
Al Ahli Bank Of Kuwait
Ahli United Bank (Almutahed)
National Bank Of Kuwait
Commercial Bank Of Kuwait
Kuwait International Bank
Gulf Bank
Al-Massaleh Real Estate Co
Arab Real Estate Co
Kuwait Remal Real Estate Co
Alkout Industrial Projects C
AAyan Real Estate Co
Investors Holding Group Co.K
Markaz Real Estate Fund
Al-Mazaya Holding Co
Al-Madar Finance & Invt Co
Gulf Petroleum Investment
Mabanee Co Sakc
City Group
Inovest Co Bsc
Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing
Al-Deera Holding Co
Alshamel International Hold
United Industries Co
Mena Real Estate Co
National Slaughter House
Amar Finance & Leasing Co
United Projects Group Kscc
National Consumer Holding Co
Amwal International Investme
Jeeran Holdings
Equipment Holding Co K.S.C.C
Nafais Holding
Safwan Trading & Contracting
Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate
Gulf Finance House Ec
Energy House Holding Co Kscc
Kuwait Slaughter House Co
Kuwait Co For Process Plant
Al Maidan Dental Clinic Co K
National Ranges Company
Kuwait Pipes Indus & Oil Ser
Al-Themar Real International
Al-Ahleia Insurance Co
Wethaq Takaful Insurance Co
Salbookh Trading Co K.S.C.C
Aqar Real Estate Investments
Hayat Communications
Kuwait Packing Materials Mfg
Soor Fuel Marketing Co Ksc
Alargan International Real
Burgan Co For Well Drilling
Kuwait Resorts Co Kscc
Oula Fuel Marketing Co
Palms Agro Production Co
Ikarus Petroleum Industries
Mubarrad Transport Co
Al Mowasat Health Care Co
Shuaiba Industrial Co
Kuwait Invest Co Holding
Hits Telecom Holding
First Takaful Insurance Co
Kuwaiti Syrian Holding Co
National Cleaning Company
Eyas For High & Technical Ed
United Real Estate Company
Agility
Kuwait & Middle East Fin Inv
Fujairah Cement Industries
Livestock Transport & Tradng
International Resorts Co
National Industries Grp Hold
Marine Services Co
Pearl Of Kuwait Real Estate
Warba Insurance Co
Kuwait United Poultry Co
First Dubai Real Estate Deve
Al Arabi Group Holding Co
Kuwait Hotels Co
Mobile Telecommunications Co
Al Safat Real Estate Co
Tamdeen Real Estate Co Kscc
Al Mudon Intl Real Estate Co
Kuwait Cement Co
Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel
Kuwait Portland Cement Co
Educational Holding Group
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance
Kuwait China Investment Co
Kuwait Investment Co
Burgan Bank
Kuwait Projects Co Holdings
Al Madina For Finance And In
Kuwait Insurance Co
Al Masaken Intl Real Estate
Intl Financial Advisors
First Investment Co Kscc
Al Mal Investment Company
Bayan Investment Co Kscc
Egypt Kuwait Holding Co Sae
Coast Investment Development
Privatization Holding Compan
Kuwait Medical Services Co
Injazzat Real State Company
Kuwait Cable Vision Sak
Sanam Real Estate Co Kscc
Ithmaar Bank Bsc
Aviation Lease And Finance C
Arzan Financial Group For Fi
Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co
Manafae Investment Co
Kuwait Business Town Real Es
Future Kid Entertainment And
Specialities Group Holding C
Abyaar Real Eastate Developm

Lt Price
124.00
108.00
350.00
146.00
236.00
690.00
74.00
222.00
37.00
91.00
750.00
435.00
670.00
980.00
690.00
325.00
350.00
79.00
56.00
83.00
0.00
104.00
0.00
0.00
138.00
52.00
102.00
1,040.00
415.00
78.00
0.00
23.00
100.00
110.00
45.50
160.00
63.00
790.00
80.00
47.50
75.00
144.00
92.00
440.00
128.00
39.00
87.00
0.00
265.00
0.00
52.00
0.00
100.00
495.00
65.00
94.00
83.00
87.00
600.00
150.00
176.00
0.00
110.00
154.00
124.00
188.00
86.00
0.00
250.00
0.00
48.00
0.00
30.50
106.00
300.00
106.00
890.00
51.00
85.00
190.00
57.00
228.00
136.00
16.00
142.00
192.00
100.00
190.00
0.00
650.00
36.00
310.00
99.00
455.00
97.00
1,380.00
162.00
0.00
65.00
142.00
550.00
720.00
42.50
310.00
69.00
60.00
118.00
51.00
90.00
260.00
84.00
66.00
0.00
80.00
46.00
65.00
54.00
255.00
64.00
68.00
0.00
54.00
114.00
162.00
48.00

% Chg
0.00
-1.82
0.00
1.39
2.61
-1.43
0.00
0.00
-6.33
-1.09
1.35
1.16
1.52
-1.01
4.55
1.56
0.00
6.76
0.00
1.22
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.47
4.00
2.00
-1.89
-5.68
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
3.77
0.00
-1.23
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.06
0.00
0.00
-1.08
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
7.22
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.56
2.17
0.00
-1.14
0.00
-1.32
0.00
0.00
5.77
0.00
0.00
-1.05
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-2.04
0.00
7.02
1.92
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.92
0.00
-1.04
1.79
0.88
0.00
6.67
0.00
0.00
3.09
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.41
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.04
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.85
0.00
1.19
-6.06
-1.43
-1.64
1.72
6.25
-1.10
-5.45
5.00
1.54
0.00
0.00
0.00
4.84
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.89
5.56
-5.81
-1.03

Volume
1,164
598,500
68,200
2,632
604,338
7,200
50,000
30,868
6,500
4,227,385
91,018
19,808
9,442
513,613
16,000
253,641
77,638
1,322,464
2,243,253
1,050,265
441,000
3,540,686
1,200
2,075,955
209,459
31
87,769
6,530,144
5,000
1
70,000
5,000
10,100
20
1,500
1,669,564
75,212
289,401
21,000
2,789
50
4,322,297
1,012,513
11,920
9,300,631
16,666
307
3,758
943,930
666
370,501
50
19,326
15,000
14,818,062
14,037
600
50,000
161,841
19,970
7,199,708
18,987,963
63,812
19,000
102,000
817,520
56,000
494,846
44
2,903,240
522,766
49,200
71,142
92
113,045
2,390,681
130,000
2,046,521
997,440
38,000
734,430
900
25,100
8,134
6,390
921,950
40,000
2,932,676
855,467
8,549,266
33,930
72,750
8,975,151
1,184,823
11,687,617
8,991,653
5,000
9,567,352
327,579
157,010
500
44,910
17,826,347
290,676
168,072
191,200
5,311,332
250,187
272,625
5,912,703

Company Name
Dar Al Thuraya Real Estate C
Al-Dar National Real Estate
Kgl Logistics Company Kscc
Combined Group Contracting
Zima Holding Co Ksc
Qurain Holding Co
Boubyan Intl Industries Hold
Gulf Investment House
Boubyan Bank K.S.C
Ahli United Bank B.S.C
Al-Safat Tec Holding Co
Al-Eid Food Co
Al-Qurain Petrochemicals Co
Advanced Technology Co
Ekttitab Holding Co S.A.K.C
Kout Food Group
Real Estate Trade Centers Co
Acico Industries Co Kscc
Kipco Asset Management Co
National Petroleum Services
Alimtiaz Investment Co Kscc
Ras Al Khaimah Co
Kuwait Reinsurance Co Ksc
Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport
Human Soft Holding Co
Automated Systems Co
Metal & Recycling Co
Gulf Franchising Kscc
Al-Enmaa Real Estate Co
National Mobile Telecommuni
Al Bareeq Holding Co Kscc
Union Real Estate Co
Housing Finance Co S.A.K.C
Al Salam Group Holding Co
United Foodstuff Industries
Al Aman Investment Company
Mashaer Holdings
Manazel Holding
Mushrif Trading & Contractin
Tijara And Real Estate Inves
Kuwait Building Materials
Jazeera Airways
Commercial Real Estate Co
Future Communications Co
National International Co
Taameer Real Estate Invest C
Gulf Cement Co
Heavy Engineering And Ship B
Refrigeration Industries & S
National Real Estate Co
Al Safat Energy Holding Comp
Kuwait National Cinema Co
Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Co
Independent Petroleum Group
Kuwait Real Estate Co
Salhia Real Estate Co Ksc
Gulf Cable & Electrical Ind
Al-Nawadi Holding Co K.S.C
Kuwait Finance House

OMAN
Lt Price
0.00
33.50
124.00
840.00
178.00
42.00
91.00
76.00
520.00
232.00
67.00
122.00
234.00
0.00
53.00
930.00
50.00
310.00
120.00
570.00
74.00
132.00
188.00
84.00
410.00
420.00
116.00
77.00
84.00
1,580.00
0.00
160.00
24.50
97.00
0.00
91.00
180.00
61.00
90.00
68.00
405.00
440.00
98.00
136.00
69.00
47.50
114.00
152.00
355.00
166.00
34.00
900.00
88.00
430.00
80.00
375.00
790.00
150.00
840.00

% Chg
0.00
1.52
1.64
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.25
-1.30
0.00
1.75
1.52
0.00
0.86
0.00
-3.64
0.00
5.26
-3.13
0.00
0.00
2.78
4.76
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.32
-1.18
2.60
0.00
1.27
-2.00
-1.02
0.00
-2.15
-2.17
1.67
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.15
2.08
0.00
0.00
2.15
0.00
1.33
0.00
0.00
1.49
-19.64
-1.12
-4.44
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.20

Volume
7,138,492
158,290
6,150
20
500
435,470
919,600
55,272
1,698,000
1,000
500
1,413,979
2,132,453
18,002
174,300
496,000
810
1,462
1,031,000
5,010
10,000
1,262,000
50
5,651
500
31,763
393,336
86,928
22,735
1,749,884
1,202,900
2,463,353
4,967
3,828,696
532,601
867,500
15
158
935,819
10,000
751,600
1,516,750
460,741
79,050
10,000
428,950
1,567,002
10
638,211
150
730,000
69,165
5,918
50
4,081,961

OMAN
Company Name
Voltamp Energy Saog
United Finance Co
United Power Co
United Power/Energy Co- Pref
Al Madina Investment Co
Taageer Finance
Salalah Port Services
Asaffa Foods Saog
Sohar Poultry
Shell Oman Marketing
Shell Oman Marketing - Pref
Smn Power Holding Saog
Al Shurooq Inv Ser
Al Sharqiya Invest Holding
Sohar Power Co
Salalah Beach Resort Saog
Salalah Mills Co
Sahara Hospitality
Renaissance Services Saog
Raysut Cement Co
Port Service Corporation
Packaging Co Ltd
Oman United Insurance Co
Oman Textile Holding Co Saog
Oman Telecommunications Co
Sweets Of Oman
Oman Orix Leasing Co.
Oman Refreshment Co
Oman Packaging
Oman Oil Marketing Company
0Man Oil Marketing Co-Pref
Oman National Investment Co
Oman National Engineering An
Oman National Dairy Products
Ominvest
Oman Medical Projects
Oman Ceramic Com
Oman Intl Marketing
Oman Investment & Finance
Hsbc Bank Oman
Oman Hotels & Tourism Co
Oman Holding International
Oman Fiber Optics
Oman Flour Mills
Oman Filters Industry
Oman Fisheries Co
Oman Education & Training In
Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50%
Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%
Oman Europe Foods Industries
Oman Cement Co
Oman Chlorine
Oman Chromite
Oman Cables Industry
Oman Agricultural Dev
Omani Qatari Telecommunicati
National Securities
Oman Foods International Soa
National Pharmaceutical-Rts
National Pharmaceutical
National Packaging Fac
National Mineral Water
National Hospitality Institu
National Gas Co
National Finance Co
National Detergents/The
National Carpet Factory
National Bank Of Oman Saog
National Biscuit Industries
National Real Estate Develop
Natl Aluminium Products
Muscat Thread Mills Co
Muscat Insurance Company
Modern Poultry Farms
Muscat National Holding
Musandam Marketing & Invest
Al Maha Petroleum Products M
Muscat Gases Company Saog
Majan Glass Company
Muscat Finance
Al Kamil Power Co
Interior Hotels
Hotels Management Co Interna
Al-Hassan Engineering Co
Gulf Stone
Gulf Mushroom Company
Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-Shar
Gulf Investments Services
Gulf International Chemicals
Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co Ltd
Global Fin Investment
Galfar Engineering&Contract
Galfar Engineering -Prefer
Financial Services Co.
Flexible Ind Packages

Lt Price
0.42
0.14
1.61
1.00
0.00
0.15
0.65
0.94
0.21
2.02
1.05
0.66
1.04
0.18
0.38
1.38
1.50
2.45
0.66
2.18
0.45
0.48
0.43
0.29
1.66
1.33
0.15
2.45
0.26
2.26
0.25
0.39
0.31
0.00
0.42
0.00
0.45
0.52
0.23
0.00
0.23
0.00
5.01
0.63
0.02
0.08
0.13
0.18
0.00
1.00
0.77
0.58
3.64
2.53
1.45
0.66
0.16
0.52
0.00
0.10
0.00
0.06
2.05
0.68
0.15
0.70
0.00
0.36
3.75
0.00
0.28
0.16
0.00
0.00
1.65
0.00
2.50
0.86
0.29
0.15
0.31
0.00
1.25
0.13
0.08
0.42
0.25
0.21
0.21
10.50
0.12
0.20
0.43
0.16
0.06

% Chg
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-5.70
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.89
0.00
-1.83
0.00
-0.30
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.53
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-2.14
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.28
0.00
-3.76
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.62
0.00
0.00
1.07
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.81
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.01
0.00
0.00
0.00
-4.48
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.38
0.00
0.00
0.00

Volume
3,377
10,000
221,348
12,220
11
224,000
6,096
62,500
911,644
169,172
558,694
3,950
246,067
751,838
5,000
389,000
243,440
381,000
20,000
500
125,500
413,039
1,115,127
-

Company Name
Financial Corp/The
Dhofar Tourism
Dhofar Poultry
Aloula Co
Dhofar Intl Development
Dhofar Insurance
Dhofar University
Dhofar Power Co
Dhofar Power Co-Pfd
Dhofar Fisheries & Food Indu
Dhofar Cattlefeed
Al Batinah Dev & Inv
Dhofar Beverages Co
Computer Stationery Inds
Construction Materials Ind
Cement & Gypsum Pro
Marine Bander Al-Rowdha
Bank Sohar
Bankmuscat Saog
Bank Dhofar Saog
Al Batinah Hotels
Majan College
Areej Vegetable Oils
Al Jazeera Steel Products Co
Al Sallan Food Industry
Acwa Power Barka Saog
Al-Omaniya Financial Service
Taghleef Industries Saog
Gulf Plastic Industries Co
Al Jazeera Services
Al Jazerah Services -Pfd
Al-Fajar Al-Alamia Co
Ahli Bank
Abrasives Manufacturing Co S
Al-Batinah Intl Saog

Lt Price
0.13
1.00
0.18
0.53
0.58
0.22
1.47
0.00
0.00
1.28
0.17
0.17
0.26
0.25
0.05
0.00
0.00
0.23
0.71
0.37
1.13
0.50
5.50
0.48
0.00
0.74
0.34
0.00
0.39
0.39
0.55
0.75
0.23
0.05
0.00

% Chg
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.89
-0.56
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-0.83
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-2.99
0.00
0.00
-0.87
0.00
0.00

Volume
500
1,184,920
2,137,389
93,760
5,000
7,660
14,573
-

UAE
Company Name
National Takaful Company
Waha Capital Pjsc
Union Insurance Co
Union National Bank/Abu Dhab
United Insurance Company
Union Cement Co
United Arab Bank
Abu Dhabi National Takaful C
Abu Dhabi National Energy Co
Sudan Telecommunications Co$
Sorouh Real Estate Company
Sharjah Insurance Company
Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel
Ras Al Khaima Poultry
Ras Al Khaimah Co
Rak Properties
Ras Al-Khaimah National Insu
Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics
Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co
National Bank Of Ras Al-Khai
Ooredoo Qsc
Umm Al Qaiwain Cement Indust
Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50%
National Marine Dredging Co
National Corp Tourism & Hote
Sharjah Islamic Bank
National Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw
National Bank Of Fujairah
National Bank Of Abu Dhabi
Methaq Takaful Insurance
#N/A Invalid Security
Gulf Pharmaceutical Ind-Julp
Investbank
Insurance House
Gulf Medical Projects
Gulf Livestock Co
Green Crescent Insurance Co
Gulf Cement Co
Foodco Holding
Finance House
First Gulf Bank
Fujairah Cement Industries
Fujairah Building Industries
Emirates Telecom Corporation
Eshraq Properties Co Pjsc
Emirates Insurance Co. (Psc)
Emirates Driving Company
Al Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S.
Dana Gas
Commercial Bank Internationa
Bank Of Sharjah
Abu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi
Al Wathba National Insurance
Intl Fish Farming Co-Asmak
Arkan Building Materials Co
Aldar Properties Pjsc
Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co.
Al Khazna Insurance Co
Agthia Group Pjsc
Al Fujairah National Insuran
Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co
Abu Dhabi National Insurance
Abu Dhabi National Hotels
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Abu Dhabi Aviation

Lt Price
1.13
2.70
1.08
6.40
2.00
1.45
7.00
7.18
1.03
0.93
0.00
4.30
1.20
1.55
1.60
0.90
3.80
3.50
1.06
8.95
135.00
1.25
1.28
6.70
6.10
1.85
3.25
4.25
14.50
1.01
0.00
3.01
2.75
1.20
2.31
3.00
0.84
1.36
4.38
3.85
17.75
1.50
1.45
11.50
1.22
7.50
4.50
8.52
0.62
1.75
1.76
0.99
5.35
8.75
1.60
3.35
43.00
0.66
6.03
300.00
2.73
6.82
3.75
6.50
8.35
3.40

% Chg
0.00
-4.59
0.00
0.16
0.00
-2.68
0.00
0.00
-0.96
-1.06
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-1.84
-4.26
0.00
0.00
-5.36
-0.44
0.00
0.00
0.00
-9.83
0.00
-3.14
0.00
0.00
0.00
-2.88
0.00
-2.59
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.20
-1.45
0.00
-8.33
-1.39
0.00
0.00
-0.43
0.00
0.00
0.00
14.36
-3.13
0.00
0.00
-1.98
0.00
0.00
-5.88
-5.37
0.00
0.00
0.50
0.00
7.06
0.00
7.14
-2.26
1.21
0.00

Volume
3,843,393
1,374,951
50,000
2,277,059
50,000
350,000
4,024,558
511,880
2,557
2,000
547,003
757,575
433,154
45,000
36,467
4,500
425,000
91,476
2,140,969
2,974,689
24,171,060
1,000
8,623,718
25,000
87,890
22,540,817
67,125
10,500
551,000
965,219
4,656,666
-

BAHRAIN
Company Name
United Paper Industries Bsc
United Gulf Investment Corp
United Gulf Bank
United Finance Co
Trafco Group Bsc
Takaful International Co
Taib Bank -$Us
Securities & Investment Co
Seef Properties
Sudan Telecommunications Co$
Al-Salam Bank
Delmon Poultry Co
National Hotels Co
National Bank Of Bahrain
Nass Corp Bsc
Khaleeji Commercial Bank
Ithmaar Bank Bsc
Investcorp Bank -$Us
Inovest Co Bsc
Intl Investment Group-Kuwait
Gulf Monetary Group
Global Investment House Kscc
Gulf Finance House Ec
Bahrain Family Leisure Co
Esterad Investment Co B.S.C.
Bahrain Duty Free Complex
Bahrain Car Park Co
Bahrain Cinema Co
Bahrain Tourism Co
Bahraini Saudi Bank/The
Bahrain National Holding
Bankmuscat Saog
Bmmi Bsc
Bmb Investment Bank
Bahrain Kuwait Insurance
Bahrain Islamic Bank
Gulf Hotel Group B.S.C
Bahrain Flour Mills Co
Bahrain Commercial Facilitie
Bbk Bsc
Bahrain Telecom Co
Bahrain Ship Repair & Engin
Albaraka Banking Group
Banader Hotels Co
Ahli United Bank B.S.C

Lt Price
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.23
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.21
0.00
0.19
0.00
0.27
0.89
0.18
0.05
0.19
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.23
0.84
`
0.00
0.23
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.83
0.00
0.00
0.16
0.87
0.00
0.00
0.45
0.34
2.10
0.84
0.06
0.81

% Chg
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-5.83
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.94
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
2.70
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-5.26
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
-3.66
0.00
0.00
0.00
-4.66
-1.73
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00

Volume
11,383
74,458
180,067
363,777
17,000
79,900
290,000
200,000
24,134
14,000
30,000
42,608
18,000
60,477
10,000
69,067
155,927
3,446
11,983
200,000
250,000

LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
DJIA

WORLD INDICES
Company Name

Exxon Mobil Corp

Microsoft Corp
Johnson & Johnson
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
General Electric Co
Procter & Gamble Co/The
Jpmorgan Chase & Co
Chevron Corp
Verizon Communications Inc
Coca-Cola Co/The
Intl Business Machines Corp
Pfizer Inc
At&T Inc
Merck & Co. Inc.
Intel Corp
Walt Disney Co/The
Visa Inc-Class A Shares
Home Depot Inc
Cisco Systems Inc
United Technologies Corp
Mcdonalds Corp
Boeing Co/The
American Express Co
3M Co
Unitedhealth Group Inc
Goldman Sachs Group Inc
Nike Inc -Cl B
Du Pont (E.I.) De Nemours
Caterpillar Inc
Travelers Cos Inc/The

Lt Price
91.32
43.91
98.63
77.91
24.50
83.29
57.95
111.39
48.51
43.65
184.69
28.62
33.92
56.64
32.34
84.64
204.78
89.96
23.25
100.60
91.29
122.72
82.94
135.24
83.43
180.20
85.18
65.85
94.16
93.92

% Chg
0.52
0.60
-0.49
0.45
2.29
-0.10
-0.36
-0.57
0.29
-0.95
0.64
0.53
0.30
0.89
2.76
0.87
0.24
-0.71
1.40
1.30
0.62
1.88
0.19
1.76
-0.62
0.80
-0.25
0.21
2.71
0.43

10,955,716
19,208,989
12,506,662
3,330,989
19,615,279
3,451,944
14,803,984
4,688,133
7,822,470
10,318,537
1,744,996
10,447,326
10,992,203
5,499,310
26,235,606
4,124,249
1,563,601
5,717,233
14,666,865
2,128,920
2,399,911
1,941,145
2,655,206
1,804,573
2,960,436
2,119,377
1,955,411
3,237,368
3,133,897
1,719,803

FTSE 100
Company Name
Wpp Plc
Wolseley Plc
Wm Morrison Supermarkets
Whitbread Plc
Weir Group Plc/The
Vodafone Group Plc
United Utilities Group Plc
Unilever Plc
Tullow Oil Plc
Tui Travel Plc
Travis Perkins Plc
Tesco Plc
Standard Life Plc
Standard Chartered Plc
St Jamess Place Plc
Sse Plc
Sports Direct International
Smiths Group Plc
Smith & Nephew Plc
Shire Plc
Severn Trent Plc
Schroders Plc
Sainsbury (J) Plc
Sage Group Plc/The
Sabmiller Plc
Rsa Insurance Group Plc
Royal Mail Plc
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B Shs
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs
Royal Bank Of Scotland Group
Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc
Rio Tinto Plc
Reed Elsevier Plc
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc
Randgold Resources Ltd
Prudential Plc
Petrofac Ltd
Persimmon Plc
Pearson Plc
Old Mutual Plc
Next Plc
National Grid Plc
Mondi Plc
Meggitt Plc
Marks & Spencer Group Plc
London Stock Exchange Group
Lloyds Banking Group Plc
Legal & General Group Plc
Land Securities Group Plc
Kingfisher Plc
Johnson Matthey Plc
Itv Plc
Intu Properties Plc
Intl Consolidated Airline-Di
Intertek Group Plc
Intercontinental Hotels Grou
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc
Imi Plc
Hsbc Holdings Plc
Hargreaves Lansdown Plc
Hammerson Plc
Glencore Plc
Glaxosmithkline Plc
Gkn Plc
G4s Plc
Friends Life Group Ltd
Fresnillo Plc
Experian Plc
Easyjet Plc
Dixons Carphone Plc
Direct Line Insurance Group
Diageo Plc
Crh Plc
Compass Group Plc
Coca-Cola Hbc Ag-Cdi
Centrica Plc
Carnival Plc
Capita Plc
Burberry Group Plc
Bunzl Plc
Bt Group Plc
British Sky Broadcasting Gro
British Land Co Plc
British American Tobacco Plc
Bp Plc
Bhp Billiton Plc
Bg Group Plc
Barclays Plc
Bae Systems Plc
Babcock Intl Group Plc
Aviva Plc
Astrazeneca Plc
Associated British Foods Plc
Ashtead Group Plc
Arm Holdings Plc
Antofagasta Plc
Anglo American Plc
Aggreko Plc
Admiral Group Plc
Aberdeen Asset Mgmt Plc
3I Group Plc
#N/A Invalid Security

Lt Price
1,142.00
3,165.00
156.50
4,000.00
2,213.00
193.90
825.50
2,526.00
518.50
337.60
1,648.00
179.80
387.30
1,086.00
676.50
1,504.00
593.50
1,208.00
974.00
5,140.00
1,919.00
2,205.00
227.70
359.20
3,290.00
464.30
399.90
2,256.50
2,174.00
357.80
957.50
3,163.50
961.00
5,145.00
4,368.00
1,382.50
981.00
1,311.00
1,137.00
175.10
6,525.00
879.00
976.50
434.90
391.30
1,821.00
75.56
222.50
1,024.00
290.90
2,876.00
200.10
315.80
339.60
2,503.00
2,169.00
2,590.00
1,163.00
634.60
872.00
558.00
326.15
1,371.00
292.40
251.80
301.10
790.50
941.50
1,362.00
361.00
273.60
1,727.50
1,310.00
949.00
1,322.00
293.80
2,213.00
1,142.00
1,425.00
1,565.00
369.50
882.50
679.00
3,430.00
426.65
1,686.50
1,025.00
222.00
448.60
1,056.00
497.70
4,406.50
2,548.00
930.00
853.00
679.50
1,423.00
1,477.00
1,259.00
397.40
357.40
0.00

% Chg
0.26
0.54
0.38
0.91
2.69
0.05
2.17
0.60
-2.08
0.66
1.73
-0.44
0.57
-1.23
-0.29
0.33
3.22
1.68
-0.26
0.00
1.48
1.52
-0.44
1.90
1.23
-0.28
1.57
-0.57
-0.84
-0.75
2.19
2.38
0.26
0.49
-0.30
1.28
-0.15
1.71
-0.87
1.04
2.11
0.80
1.09
1.66
1.93
0.28
0.92
-0.18
0.20
0.21
4.39
1.47
-0.16
4.78
0.56
0.18
0.08
2.47
0.28
-0.34
0.09
1.73
0.07
0.83
-0.16
1.01
1.54
0.11
1.64
1.09
-0.58
0.20
2.18
0.80
1.69
0.07
2.69
0.71
-3.65
1.23
0.30
0.28
0.15
0.42
-1.23
1.57
-1.44
-0.63
0.79
1.64
0.14
1.17
2.08
1.64
3.77
0.37
2.52
1.10
-0.08
0.68
0.25
0.00

Volume
6,160,727
1,471,987
8,567,482
651,479
1,328,533
107,441,223
2,632,595
3,771,693
5,545,216
4,433,926
1,193,571
28,711,497
4,476,103
6,254,053
2,132,121
2,472,125
1,298,160
986,470
2,914,156
2,797,932
794,125
533,755
8,017,366
3,293,839
3,426,182
3,535,224
4,291,282
3,940,778
8,507,600
9,884,354
11,473,923
6,819,951
3,665,978
1,774,302
615,478
5,918,948
1,917,831
1,936,156
3,439,229
16,303,731
620,474
9,709,340
1,617,936
2,330,864
5,292,350
1,477,578
109,893,649
11,994,612
1,717,224
10,325,349
1,043,882
19,262,209
1,449,179
14,890,329
321,637
1,662,204
1,922,950
1,185,808
27,767,330
2,762,922
2,148,432
37,089,862
8,697,390
9,310,462
4,099,236
2,855,976
1,596,347
1,883,328
2,172,008
4,097,817
5,360,492
3,957,372
3,662,423
4,658,848
638,491
12,951,420
1,429,692
1,224,112
4,003,947
538,366
13,084,721
4,411,319
2,798,738
3,958,913
42,723,816
10,235,925
6,489,570
62,693,543
6,013,490
1,661,123
7,106,699
3,414,265
997,313
2,982,454
5,329,410
3,630,894
10,130,999
690,234
725,483
5,237,986
1,577,368
-

TOKYO
Company Name
Inpex Corp
Daiwa House Industry Co Ltd
Sekisui House Ltd
Kirin Holdings Co Ltd
Japan Tobacco Inc
Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd
Toray Industries Inc
Asahi Kasei Corp
Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings
Kao Corp
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd
Astellas Pharma Inc
Eisai Co Ltd
Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd
Fujifilm Holdings Corp
Shiseido Co Ltd
Jx Holdings Inc

Lt Price
1,328.50
1,885.50
1,243.50
1,375.00
3,391.50
3,961.00
684.80
871.90
348.00
6,572.00
504.80
4,092.00
4,500.00
1,536.50
4,238.50
1,619.00
3,348.50
1,726.00
469.90

% Chg
-1.12
-1.85
-1.85
-1.57
-2.92
-2.39
-1.47
-2.26
-2.79
-1.97
-1.27
-1.65
-1.89
-4.03
-0.04
-1.25
1.00
-3.49
-2.37

Indices

Volume

Volume
7,702,300
3,814,000
7,434,100
4,112,700
7,024,800
3,339,400
7,772,000
9,102,000
13,304,000
2,081,200
6,820,400
2,437,500
4,189,400
17,697,800
2,203,500
3,882,700
10,113,100
3,593,800
16,303,500

Lt Price

Change

Dow Jones Indus. Avg

S&P 500 Index
Nasdaq Composite Index
S&P/Tsx Composite Index
Mexico Bolsa Index
Brazil Bovespa Stock Idx
Ftse 100 Index
Cac 40 Index
Dax Index
Ibex 35 Tr

16,418.68
1,890.67
4,258.89
14,127.51
43,197.03
58,598.39
6,392.68
4,088.25
8,825.21
10,204.90

+97.61
+15.93
+45.24
-99.85
+108.36
+641.86
+26.44
+9.55
+12.78
+17.60

Nikkei 225
Japan Topix
Hang Seng Index
All Ordinaries Indx
Nzx All Index
Bse Sensex 30 Index
Nse S&P Cnx Nifty Index
Straits Times Index
Karachi All Share Index
Jakarta Composite Index

14,936.51
1,214.27
23,047.97
5,204.02
1,040.79
26,349.33
7,864.00
3,194.40
22,261.49
4,922.58

-364.04
-28.82
-95.41
+50.88
-4.98
-34.74
-20.25
-7.75
+28.03
+9.53

TOKYO
Company Name
Bridgestone Corp
Asahi Glass Co Ltd
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Meta
Sumitomo Metal Industries
Kobe Steel Ltd
Jfe Holdings Inc
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co Ltd
Sumitomo Electric Industries
Smc Corp
Komatsu Ltd
Kubota Corp
Daikin Industries Ltd
Hitachi Ltd
Toshiba Corp
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Nidec Corp
Nec Corp
Fujitsu Ltd
Panasonic Corp
Sharp Corp
Sony Corp
Tdk Corp
Keyence Corp
Denso Corp
Fanuc Corp
Rohm Co Ltd
Kyocera Corp
Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd
Nitto Denko Corp
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Nissan Motor Co Ltd
Toyota Motor Corp
Honda Motor Co Ltd
Suzuki Motor Corp
Nikon Corp
Hoya Corp
Canon Inc
Ricoh Co Ltd
Dai Nippon Printing Co Ltd
Nintendo Co Ltd
Itochu Corp
Marubeni Corp
Mitsui & Co Ltd
Tokyo Electron Ltd
Sumitomo Corp
Mitsubishi Corp
Aeon Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Ufj Financial Gro
Resona Holdings Inc
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdin
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Gr
Bank Of Yokohama Ltd/The
Mizuho Financial Group Inc
Orix Corp
Daiwa Securities Group Inc
Nomura Holdings Inc
Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Holdin
Ms&Ad Insurance Group Holdin
Dai-Ichi Life Insurance
Tokio Marine Holdings Inc
T&D Holdings Inc
Mitsui Fudosan Co Ltd
Mitsubishi Estate Co Ltd
Sumitomo Realty & Developmen
East Japan Railway Co
West Japan Railway Co
Central Japan Railway Co
Ana Holdings Inc
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
Kddi Corp
Ntt Docomo Inc
Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc
Chubu Electric Power Co Inc
Kansai Electric Power Co Inc
Tohoku Electric Power Co Inc
Kyushu Electric Power Co Inc
Tokyo Gas Co Ltd
Secom Co Ltd
Yamada Denki Co Ltd
Fast Retailing Co Ltd
Softbank Corp

Lt Price
3,358.00
545.30
257.00
0.00
159.00
1,973.50
1,429.00
1,426.00
26,815.00
2,348.50
1,508.00
6,049.00
759.20
444.30
1,263.00
6,573.00
336.00
668.80
1,175.50
274.00
1,822.00
5,430.00
43,950.00
4,611.00
18,005.00
5,830.00
4,576.50
10,960.00
5,479.00
620.50
962.70
5,978.00
3,404.00
3,116.00
1,452.50
3,274.50
3,304.50
1,082.00
1,002.00
11,060.00
1,214.00
679.60
1,574.50
6,307.00
1,099.00
2,015.00
1,068.00
577.40
569.30
415.10
4,023.50
557.30
187.00
1,355.00
772.20
595.80
2,426.00
2,182.00
1,452.00
3,209.00
1,262.00
2,940.00
2,189.00
3,498.00
7,853.00
4,803.00
13,735.00
230.10
6,218.00
6,284.00
1,673.50
339.00
1,194.50
904.40
1,133.00
1,021.00
573.60
6,112.00
338.00
36,930.00
6,877.00

% Chg
-2.69
-1.09
-1.15
0.00
-1.85
-2.08
-0.21
-3.06
-3.13
-0.87
-1.05
-4.05
-2.82
-2.57
-2.02
-3.15
-2.89
-0.96
-3.09
-4.20
-3.19
-3.55
-2.70
-2.10
-0.94
-3.64
-2.82
-2.71
-2.42
-2.85
-2.04
-3.89
-1.99
-2.35
-2.61
-2.91
-2.20
-2.83
-1.76
-1.12
-0.78
-1.56
-1.44
-6.67
-3.26
-2.59
-2.33
-2.04
-3.64
-2.47
-2.34
-2.28
-1.22
-2.52
-2.71
-3.12
-1.80
-2.28
-2.19
-2.13
-1.17
-3.34
-2.06
-3.50
-2.75
-2.88
-3.51
-5.27
-1.49
-2.66
-2.62
-4.24
-1.81
-4.30
-1.56
-3.68
-2.18
-1.93
0.90
-2.53
-3.14

Volume
4,750,500
7,062,000
43,737,000
21,431,000
3,914,200
4,138,000
3,933,700
311,700
7,920,500
7,352,000
2,598,700
24,745,000
31,950,000
8,866,000
2,081,900
22,808,000
16,579,000
11,706,200
31,754,000
14,670,300
1,906,600
178,400
2,420,900
1,741,800
1,145,200
2,500,300
1,177,500
1,607,900
19,662,000
22,859,300
16,568,000
6,154,300
5,205,400
5,166,700
2,126,500
7,981,700
5,370,800
2,655,000
675,700
11,625,600
19,051,000
12,203,400
2,082,600
13,450,700
10,654,500
6,231,800
63,376,600
17,899,000
31,520,000
11,174,600
5,443,000
158,197,800
12,978,600
15,971,000
39,113,600
1,227,100
2,266,400
7,486,300
3,343,700
4,063,500
7,002,000
6,698,000
3,591,000
2,398,100
1,125,600
462,600
42,919,000
3,377,100
4,413,400
8,273,000
10,755,900
2,666,500
5,242,900
1,473,800
3,372,400
13,101,000
1,387,200
19,805,700
1,214,800
18,169,200

SENSEX
Company Name
Zee Entertainment Enterprise
Wipro Ltd
Ultratech Cement Ltd
Tech Mahindra Ltd
Tata Steel Ltd
Tata Power Co Ltd
Tata Motors Ltd
Tata Consultancy Svcs Ltd
Sun Pharmaceutical Indus
State Bank Of India
Sesa Sterlite Ltd
Reliance Industries Ltd
Punjab National Bank
Power Grid Corp Of India Ltd
Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd
Ntpc Ltd
Nmdc Ltd
Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
Lupin Ltd
Larsen & Toubro Ltd
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd
Jindal Steel & Power Ltd
Itc Ltd
Infosys Ltd
Indusind Bank Ltd
Idfc Ltd
Icici Bank Ltd
Housing Development Finance
Hindustan Unilever Ltd
Hindalco Industries Ltd
Hero Motocorp Ltd
Hdfc Bank Limited
Hcl Technologies Ltd
Grasim Industries Ltd
Gail India Ltd
Dr. Reddys Laboratories
Dlf Ltd
Coal India Ltd
Cipla Ltd
Cairn India Ltd
Bharti Airtel Ltd
Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd
Bharat Heavy Electricals
Bank Of Baroda
Bajaj Auto Ltd
Axis Bank Ltd
Asian Paints Ltd
Ambuja Cements Ltd
Acc Ltd

Lt Price
316.00
580.05
2,467.00
2,372.10
456.05
86.95
488.00
2,699.20
802.90
2,523.55
249.55
961.25
925.50
136.05
402.15
140.70
153.95
2,962.10
1,274.05
1,330.45
1,439.90
1,013.15
157.00
347.00
3,918.30
649.75
139.60
1,478.05
1,004.05
731.25
151.00
2,852.45
868.35
1,723.00
3,393.90
447.45
2,935.30
104.95
344.20
578.50
284.10
398.40
656.30
226.00
871.50
2,412.00
397.10
646.10
208.15
1,383.30

% Chg
0.10
-0.77
-0.60
0.17
-0.37
2.11
-1.66
-0.64
-0.12
1.53
-0.12
0.35
0.57
0.89
-1.13
0.32
-1.06
-0.36
0.40
0.24
-0.41
0.46
-1.29
-1.01
-0.62
2.33
-0.39
0.01
-1.35
1.51
-0.07
-0.78
-0.96
-1.87
-0.73
0.78
-0.27
-28.56
1.00
0.44
-1.98
1.75
-2.30
3.57
0.71
2.69
2.64
-1.46
-0.34
-0.26

Volume
1,181,506
2,125,174
184,114
771,653
6,760,494
6,242,878
4,202,935
1,284,359
1,459,883
2,070,167
25,689,663
4,769,734
949,065
8,277,351
3,523,511
5,784,707
3,612,176
190,282
571,246
657,243
1,625,714
1,002,562
6,639,587
5,505,688
931,982
2,182,004
4,375,829
2,229,836
2,123,752
606,391
12,860,062
467,986
2,205,881
741,400
65,926
967,212
224,490
103,563,378
2,521,580
1,399,476
3,504,628
2,547,294
1,309,710
7,259,701
1,249,995
537,814
6,186,734
876,221
1,552,711
263,555

Traders are seen in front of the DAX board at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The DAX 30 added 0.15% to 8,825.21 points
yesterday.

Strong earnings on Wall Street pull

Europe stocks out of German gloom
AFP
London

trong earnings on Wall Street

helped revive European equities
yesterday after they sank in early
trading on gloomy German sentiment
and a cut in growth forecasts.
Londons benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day up 0.42% at 6,392.68
points, while in Paris the CAC 40 gained
0.23% to 4,088.25 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 added 0.15% to 8,825.21
points.
The bad news kept on coming today
for the German economy but with European markets trading at yearly lows, decent earnings from the US banks... saved
shares (from) another huge sell-off, said
CMC Markets UK analyst Jasper Lawler.
Europes main stock market indices
had been down sharply in midday trading after German investment sentiment
turned negative and fell to its lowest
level in nearly two years.
That news came amid concerns about
the economic fallout from geopolitical
crises and lower-than-expected growth
at home and abroad.
The German government then
slashed its 2014 growth forecast to 1.2%
from 1.8%. For 2015, it now forecasts
1.3% growth instead of 2.0%.
Despite this implicit admission that
Germany, the motor of the eurozone
economy, will not get back into gear in the
near future, the government refused to

consider changing policy to ease austerity

and implement stimulus measures as its
European partners have urged.
But European indices bounced back
after strong earnings reports by US
banks and Johnson & Johnson.
Citigroup also reported higher thirdquarter quarterly earnings, up 6.6% to
$3.4bn, on a big 9.9% jump in revenues
to $19.6bn.
Meanwhile Wells Fargo came in at the
estimated level and JPMorgan Chase
came in just shy.
Johnson & Johnson raised its annual
earnings forecast after a 59.3% jump
in its third quarter earnings to $4.7bn,
surpassing analyst expectations.
This helped Wall Street stage a rally,
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average
rising 0.82% to 16,454.10 points in midday trade.
The broad-based S&P 500 advanced
1.14% to 1,896.05, while the techrich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped
1.46% to 4,275.32.
Brieng.com analyst Patrick OHare
said that yesterdays market is likely
beneting from a budding sense that
the stock market is oversold on a shortterm basis and due for a rebound of
some kind.
However shares in Athens took a
5.7% beating as investors frowned on
Greeces intention to terminate its IMF
assistance early.
The adverse market reaction to the
Greek governments plans to exit its
IMF bailout early has underlined the

HONG KONG

HONG KONG

Company Name
Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-H
Bank Of East Asia
Bank Of China Ltd-H
Bank Of Communications Co-H
Belle International Holdings
Boc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd
Cathay Pacific Airways
Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd
China Coal Energy Co-H
China Construction Bank-H
China Life Insurance Co-H
China Merchants Hldgs Intl
China Mobile Ltd
China Overseas Land & Invest
China Petroleum & Chemical-H
China Resources Enterprise
China Resources Land Ltd
China Resources Power Holdin
China Shenhua Energy Co-H
China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd
Citic Ltd
Clp Holdings Ltd
Cnooc Ltd
Cosco Pacific Ltd
Esprit Holdings Ltd
Fih Mobile Ltd
Hang Lung Properties Ltd
Hang Seng Bank Ltd
Henderson Land Development

fragility of market sentiment towards

the country and presumably made it
very unlikely that Greece will be able
to carry through its plans, said Sarah
Pemberton at London-based Capital
Economics.
In currency trading, the euro slumped
to $1.2658 from $1.2753 late on Monday
in New York, on the disappointing German data.
The euro has shed nearly a tenth of
its value since May as stalling European
growth keeps interest rates low while in
the US they should go up next year as
the recovery there takes hold.
Sterling suffered on receding expectations of a rise to British interest rates
over the next few months as official data
revealed a surprisingly sharp drop to
British ination.
The euro rose a three-week high
against the British pound at 79.61
pence. The European single currency
later stood at 79.45 pence, up from
79.26 pence on Monday.
The pound touched an 11-month low
against the dollar at $1.5905, before recovering to $1.5932, down from $1.6083
on Monday.
The price of gold meanwhile climbed
to $1,234.75 an ounce on the London
Bullion Market from $1,229 on Monday.
The German data and forecast cut also
helped push down the yield on 10-year
bonds to a new record low of 0.835% in
trading on the secondary market.
The rate of return on 10-year French
bonds also hit a record low of 1.195%.

Lt Price
3.18
31.15
3.50
5.43
8.70
25.00
13.90
131.10
4.72
5.49
21.45
24.00
92.75
21.10
6.65
18.88
17.82
20.80
21.40
11.46
13.16
64.70
12.52
10.40
10.52
3.90
22.90
128.00
51.35

% Chg
-0.63
-1.27
0.29
-0.55
-0.91
-0.20
-1.97
0.15
-2.28
-0.18
-0.46
-0.21
-0.91
0.24
-0.30
-0.94
2.41
3.23
-1.15
-0.35
-0.45
-0.23
-3.10
-0.19
-1.68
-1.02
-1.51
-0.39
1.28

Volume
14,566,826
1,217,800
309,005,720
27,956,072
12,513,907
10,272,670
9,731,243
3,180,794
17,617,780
185,279,124
13,665,905
2,248,511
15,957,267
18,513,097
66,284,869
2,480,600
18,071,744
6,898,094
11,147,070
19,766,249
8,345,879
2,555,996
136,772,835
7,003,740
2,257,024
8,024,878
2,205,330
819,600
3,186,507

Company Name
Hong Kong & China Gas
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clear
Hsbc Holdings Plc
Hutchison Whampoa Ltd
Ind & Comm Bk Of China-H
Li & Fung Ltd
Mtr Corp
New World Development
Petrochina Co Ltd-H
Ping An Insurance Group Co-H
Power Assets Holdings Ltd
Sino Land Co
Sun Hung Kai Properties
Swire Pacific Ltd-A
Tencent Holdings Ltd
Wharf Holdings Ltd

Lt Price
17.88
170.90
78.60
96.70
4.89
9.02
30.55
9.26
9.50
58.35
72.10
12.40
113.40
100.00
113.40
55.25

% Chg
0.90
-0.70
0.51
-0.51
0.20
0.11
-1.13
-0.86
-0.73
-0.51
1.19
-0.16
0.35
-0.50
-0.87
-0.18

Volume
14,250,527
7,795,176
11,495,754
4,519,461
270,877,575
17,511,800
2,111,242
9,203,856
73,290,708
7,650,001
4,020,649
3,994,135
4,190,288
718,740
18,539,179
3,448,004

GCC INDICES
Indices
Doha Securities Market
Saudi Tadawul
Kuwait Stocks Exchange
Bahrain Stock Exchage
Oman Stock Market
Abudhabi Stock Market
Dubai Financial Market

Lt Price
13,511.11
10,177.11
7,580.83
1,459.49
7,166.73
4,891.58
4,571.90

Change
+32.99
-200.83
+23.63
-5.67
-31.97
-55.21
-136.80

Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The
accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended
as an offer or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank
or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on
this data.

CURRENCIES
DOLLAR

QATAR RIYAL

SAUDI RIYAL

UAE DIRHAMS

BAHRAINI
DINAR

KUWAITI
DINAR

14

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS
CORPORATE RESULTS

JPMorgan posts profit as trading picks up, legal costs ease

The Corporate & Investment Bank saw strong
performance in fees, maintaining a No 1 position in
global (investment banking) fees year to date, with
particular strength in equity capital markets, Chief
Executive Jamie Dimon said in a statement.
In Markets, we saw increased activity and better
performance overall, particularly in currencies and
emerging markets, he said.
Dimon said on a conference call with reporters that
his health prognosis was excellent.
I feel good and Im happy the treatments are over.
The bank was hit last year by an after-tax expense
of $7.2bn to settle government allegations of wrongdoing related to mortgage instruments before the
financial crisis. The latest results included a legal
expense of $1bn after tax.

Citigroup

JPMorgan Chase & Co reported a third-quarter

profit as the biggest US bank boosted revenue from
trading and investment banking, and moved past
the huge legal claims that pushed it into a rare loss
in the same quarter last year.
The bank, confirming figures leaked earlier on an
investment website, said yesterday it recorded net

income of $5.6bn, or $1.36 per share, for the three

months ended September 30, compared with a loss
of $380mn a year earlier.
Analysts had expected earnings of $1.38 per share,
according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and JPMorgans shares were down 1.7% at $57.19 in premarket
trading.

Citigroup said it would pull out of consumer banking in 11 markets, including Japan and Egypt, as the
most international US bank focuses on more profitable businesses.
Citigroup, which reported a better-than-expected
13% rise in adjusted third-quarter net profit, is
returning to an earlier structure of concentrating its
extensive global reach on business clients by pruning its consumer businesses worldwide.
Citigroups shares rose 3.3% to $51.52 in early trading yesterday.
The latest exits will bring down to 24 the number of
countries where Citigroup has consumer banks.
I am committed to simplifying our company and
allocating our finite resources to where we can generate the best returns for our shareholders, Chief
Executive Michael Corbat said.
The third-largest US bank said it would exit consum-

er operations in six Latin American countries, as

well as Japan, Egypt, the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Guam. Citigroup said it would continue to serve
institutional clients in these markets.
Cumulative revenue from these markets was $1.6bn
in the last 12 months, while net income was only
$34mn with a 0.11% return on assets.
Citigroup said its unusual expenses in the third
quarter included $59mn related to the sale of consumer businesses in Greece and Spain.
Adjusted net profit for the quarter rose to $3.67bn,
or $1.15 per share, from $3.26bn, or $1.02 per share,
a year earlier, helped by better results from its portfolio of troubled assets left over from the financial
crisis. Adjusted revenue increased 10% from a year
earlier to $20bn as fixed income trading business
improved.

Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Co, the fourth largest US bank,
reported a 1.7% rise in third-quarter profit yesterday
as its mortgage business stabilized.
The San Francisco-based banks net income applicable to common shareholders rose to $5.41bn, or
$1.02 per share, in the quarter, in line with analysts
expectations. That was up from $5.32bn, or 99 cents
per share, a year earlier.
Mortgage lending rose by $1bn from the second
quarter to $48bn, though new home loans were
40% below the level in the third quarter of 2013.
Income from mortgage banking rose 2% to $1.63bn
as Wells Fargo earned bigger profits from selling
home loans to investors.
A drop in refinancing activity beginning in the summer of 2013 caused mortgage banking income to
plunge for four consecutive quarters.

Overall revenue was up 3.6% to $21.21bn on a 2%

increase in net interest income and a 6% rise in fee
income, most of which came from higher trust and
investment fees. Wells Fargos loan portfolio grew by
3.7% to $838.9bn in the quarter from the same period
a year earlier, led by a 13% increase in commercial
and industrial loans. Excluding balances the bank is
liquidating, loans grew 7% from a year earlier.

Gazprom
Russian gas producer Gazprom said yesterday its
second quarter net profit was up 13% to 227.6bn
roubles ($5.6bn) boosted by foreign exchange gains
but still short of analysts expectations.
A Reuters poll of analysts had expected Gazprom to
post 234bn roubles in the second quarter net profit,
up from 202bn roubles the same period of last year.
The company added that its revenues were up to
1.32tn roubles in the second quarter of this year
from 1.11bn roubles a year ago, beating analysts
expectations of 1.29tn roubles.
Gazprom - in the spotlight due to a pricing dispute
with Ukraine after stopping supplies there in June,
citing unpaid debts - said it had to set aside 215.8bn
roubles in the first six months of the year due to
Ukraines gas debt.
Andrey Polischuk, an analyst with Raiffeisenbank,
said that provisions are a temporary negative issue. In total, Ukraine owes Gazprom $5.4bn for gas
supplies. When the debt is returned it will boost
their (Gazproms) results, Polischuk said. Ukraine,
Russia and European Union representatives will
meet on October 21 trying to resolve gas pricing issue. Gazprom added that its net debt fell to
894.55bn roubles in the first six months of the year
from 1.11tn roubles as of December-end of 2013.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

15

BUSINESS

German gloom deepens as investor sentiment hits new low

AFP
Frankfurt

he pall of gloom hanging over

the German economy, Europes
biggest, deepened in October as
investment sentiment turned negative
and fell to its lowest level in nearly two
years, a survey showed yesterday.
The widely watched investor condence index calculated by the ZEW
economic institute fell by 10.5 points
to minus 3.6 points in October, its lowest level since November 2012, and the
rst time since then that it has been in

negative territory, ZEW said in a statement. It was the 10th month in a row
that the index has fallen.
ZEWs nancial market experts expect the economic situation in Germany to decline further over the medium
term, said ZEW president Clemens
Fuest.
Geopolitical tensions and the weak
economic development in some parts
of the eurozone, which is falling short
of previous expectations, are a source
of persistent uncertainty. These factors
are tarnishing growth expectations in
Germany, Fuest said.
A raft of recent disappointing data,

Iran says can live

with lower oil
Reuters
London

ran, in a change of tack, is

saying it can live with lower
oil prices, moving closer to
the views of Saudi Arabia and
other Gulf Opec members and
reducing the likelihood of any
collective cut in Opec output to
support prices.
Opecs traditionally secondlargest producer is normally
among the rst members of the
Organisation of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries to call for
supply cuts to support prices.
Iran needs relatively high oil
prices to balance its budget, analysts say.
But a drop in oil prices - which
fell towards $86 a barrel yesterday, the lowest since 2010 - did
not prompt calls for cuts in Opec
supply.
At this time of year, it is normal to have some price weakness, a source familiar with
Irans oil policy told Reuters.
And oil-price weakness has
been compensated for by the appreciation of the dollar.
Opecs Gulf Arab producers

are at ease with lower prices.

Saudi Arabia has been quietly
telling market participants it
is comfortable with lower oil
prices, a shift in policy that may
be aimed at slowing the expansion of rival producers including those riding the US shale oil
boom. Another core Gulf Opec
producer, Kuwait, said on Sunday Opec was unlikely to cut
production.
Western sanctions have drastically reduced Iranian oil output
and exports and have limited its
ability to participate in output
cuts at a time when Tehrans
energy-dependent economy is
suffering from much lower oil
revenues.
In the past, Opec countries
have cited a weakening dollar
as a reason to justify higher oil
prices, which erode the purchasing power of dollar-based oil
revenues.
But the dollar is close to a
four-year high against a basket
of currencies, helping offset the
drop in prices. I am not worried at all, a second source familiar with Iranian thinking said
recently, when asked about the
drop in oil prices.

Alwaleed warns against price slide

Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal
said the worlds top oil exporter
should start worrying about the
recent slide in global oil prices
and warned against the negative
effect of such a drop on the state
revenue. In an open letter to Oil
Minister Ali al-Naimi and other
ministers, dated October 13, Prince
Alwaleed said he was astonished
about comments reportedly made
by Naimi aiming to alleviate the
substantial negative implications
on the Saudi budget and economy
due to the big drop in oil prices.
He was referring to comments
made by the oil minister in Kuwait
on September 11 where he played
down concerns about the drop in
oil prices below $100 per barrel.
Brent crude oil was trading just

above $88 a barrel yesterday - its

lowest in almost four years - as
expectations faded that Opec
could cut output in an effort to
shore up prices and curb the
emerging oil glut.
Last week, Saudi officials
briefed oil market participants
in New York on the kingdoms
policy, making clear that Saudi is
prepared to tolerate a period of
lower prices - perhaps as low as
$80 a barrel - in order to retain
market share, Reuters reported
on Monday.
The global oil benchmark has
declined more than 20% from a
2014 high in June of $115 per barrel as supplies rose and demand
slowed in the US, Europe and
China.

including factor orders, industrial production, and foreign trade have likely
contributed to the growing pessimism
among nancial market experts, ZEW
added.
Only last week, the countrys leading economic institutes slashed their
growth forecasts for both this year and
next. And the German government is
scheduled to publish its own latest updated forecasts later on Tuesday.
In the wider eurozone, industrial
output fell by 1.8% in August, the latest
data showed, a steep drop and another
sign that recession in the 18-nation
currency bloc could return.

For its survey, ZEW questions analysts and institutional investors about
their current assessment of the economic situation in Germany, as well
as their expectations for the coming
months.
The sub-index measuring nancial
market players view of the current
economic situation in Germany fell by
22.2 points to 3.2 points in October, its
lowest level since June 2010.
A frequent criticism of the ZEW
index is that it can be volatile and is
therefore not particularly reliable.
Berenberg Bank economnist Christian Schulz said the drop in October

was bigger than expected. The ZEW

highlights that the latest sell-off in
European equity markets ... risks reinforcing the condence hit which like
in a game of dominoes has spread from
German investors via German manufacturing to German consumers and
the rest of the eurozone throughout
this year, Schulz said.
Underlying economic data so far
were not nearly as bad as the August
declines in industrial output and orders suggested, but we have slashed
our short-term forecasts for Germany
and the eurozone since August and
now expect stagnating output in the

Nearly 3% of output is
vulnerable if oil prices
fall to $80, says IEA
Reuters
London

early 3% of global oil

production is vulnerable to cuts if prices fall
to $80 per barrel, making some
projects in Canada, Angola, Brazil and Norway unprotable, the
International Energy Agency
(IEA) said.
The estimate was included in a
monthly report in which the IEA
also cut its forecasts for oil demand and said prices may drop
further.
A tumble in the price from the
years high above $115 per barrel
to below $90 has focused investors and oil companies once
again on the breakeven level the point at which net return on
a project turns positive.
All told, roughly 2.6mn
bpd of world crude oil production comes from projects with a
breakeven price in excess of $80
per barrel, the report said yesterday.
This represents 2.8% of the
93.2mn bpd of production in the
third quarter of 2014.
Some Canadian production
has among the highest breakeven
rates, the IEA said.
Canadian synthetics (oil
sands) projects have the highest percentage of production of
the types examined here (about
25%) that would fall into a negative net present value if there
were to be an extended period
of prices below that level, the
report said.
Projects with high breakeven

An oil refinery is seen at sunrise in Denver. Brent crude fell almost 3% to a fresh low yesterday, trading at
its weakest level since 2010.
rates are scattered around the
world, however. Places as diverse as onshore China, offshore
shallow-water Malaysia, Nigeria, conventional onshore US,
shallow-water UK and onshore
conventional Russia have significant amounts of high breakeven
production, the report said.
It noted that some planned,
high-cost projects had already
been cancelled.
In the US, slightly more than
4% of shale oil production re-

quires a breakeven price of

more than $80 per barrel, the
IEA said.
A large proportion of deep
water exploration operations
have high breakeven rates, the
report noted, though the picture
is mixed.
Some 8% of deep water
crude oil production is adjudged
to require a breakeven of $80 per
barrel or higher ... totalling some
1.05mn bpd or 1.1% of liquid
production, the report said.

Asia markets up on bargain-buying

AFP
Tokyo

sian markets were mixed yesterday following another heavy selloff on Wall Street, with Tokyo
taking a thumping as traders returned
from a long weekend to a much stronger
yen.
With condence in the state of the
global economy knocked by a series of
weak data, oil prices are struggling at
multi-year lows with traders worried
about a possible supply glut.
Tokyo tumbled 2.38%, or 364.04
points, to a two-month low of 14,936.51,
with exporters hit by the yens advance.
Shanghai lost 0.28%, or 6.53 points,
to end at 2,359.48 and Hong Kong fell
0.41%, or 95.41 points to 23,047.97.
But Seoul ended 0.11% higher, adding 2.04 points to 1,929.25, and Sydney
rallied 1.01%, or 51.9 points, to close at
5,207.4.
In other markets, Bangkok added
0.29%, or 4.43 points, to 1,546.78; supermarket operator Big C Supercenter
lost 3.93% to 220baht, while Airports of
Thailand rose 2.27% to 225baht.
Jakarta ended up 0.19%, or 9.53 points,
at 4,922.58; telecoms rm Indosat gained
1.05% to 3,860 rupiah, while retailer
Ramayana Lestari Sentosa fell 5.45% to
780 rupiah
Kuala Lumpur ended at at 1,796.38,
falling just 0.82 points or 0.05%; Petronas Gas shed 0.8% to 21.20 ringgit, while
Nestle lost 0.8% to 66.50.
Singapore fell 0.24%, or 7.75 points,
to close at 3,194.40; casino operator Genting Singapore eased 0.91% to

third and fourth quarters and only a

modest pick-up in early 2015, the expert said.
But due to a very healthy labour
market, low debt and rising real incomes, Germany is in a good position
to weather the downturn and emerge
from it strongly next year, Schulz
added.
Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown said that the combined
fall in eurozone industrial production
and the sharp drop in German ZEW investor sentiment add to the risk that
the single currency area may be entering its third recession in six years.

Pedestrians pass before a share prices board in Tokyo. Japanese stocks closed down
221.32 points to 15,079.23 yesterday.
Sg$1.085, while property developer CapitaLand dipped 0.33% to Sg$3.02.
Taipei rose 0.65%, or 57.0 points, to
8,768.39; Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added 0.41% to Tw$121.0
while Hon Hai Precision Industry was
0.21% higher at Tw$96.0.
Wellington fell 0.47%, or 24.16 points,
to 5,145.89; Chorus was down 1.32% at
NZ$1.875 and Air New Zealand ended
2.99% off at NZ$1.785.
Manila eased 0.32%, or 22.03 points, to
6,946.06.
Global markets have been struggling of
late as a string of weak data from Japan,
China and the eurozone has fanned fears
about the global economy, while the Federal Reserve also said it was concerned

about the outlook. And on Wall Street

Monday the three main indexes were
hard hit as investors ed.
The Dow sank 1.35% and the S&P 500
shed 1.65%just weeks after the two had
touched record highs. The Nasdaq lost
1.46%.
But yesterday saw investors tentatively return to buying in Asia, picking up
cheaper stocks.
The dollar also picked up slightly after tumbling below 107 in New York on
Monday.
Dramatic reversal -The greenback
bought 107.24 yen yesterday, up from
106.83 in New York Monday afternoon.
However, that was not enough to support the Nikkei as it is still sharply down

from 107.79 in Tokyo on Friday, before a

three-day weekend there.
Most of the Nikkeis gains over the
last several weeks have come on the back
of the dollars rapid rise without much
fundamental buying support behind it,
so a dramatic reversal such as this is possible, if not likely, when the dollar falls
back to earth, Toshihiko Matsuno, senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities,
told Dow Jones Newswires.
The euro bought $1.2702 and 136.24
against $1.2753 and 136.25.
Analysts said Hong Kong shares got
some support from hopes of an end to a
more than two-week stand-off between
the government and pro-democracy
protesters that has shut down parts of
the city.
Police moved in for a second day yesterday to clear barricades, opening up
one of the main thoroughfares for the
rst time this month. However, demonstrators have refused to lift their blockade until the citys Chief Executive CY
Leung steps down and they are granted
full universal suffrage by China.
World oil prices extended their losses
after the Opec cartel signalled that producers have no intention of cutting output, even with a supply glut.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was down 34
cents at a two-year-low $85.40 in afternoon trade and Brent crude retreated
31 cents to $88.58, its lowest since mid2010.
Both contracts are down by about a
fth from their 2014 highs touched in
June.
Gold was at $1,233.25 an ounce against
$1,227.19 late Monday.

Meanwhile the Opec is unlikely to call an emergency meeting

as proposed by Venezuela, two
Opec sources said yesterday, a
sign the exporter group is in no
rush to discuss a collective response to the sharp drop in oil
prices.
Venezuela last week became
the rst member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to call for an
emergency meeting to arrest the
slide in oil prices, which have slid

to below $88 a barrel, the lowest

since 2010.
But the suggestion has met
with a cool response from others in Opec, which appears split
on what action if any should be
taken to halt the slide. The next
scheduled Opec meeting is on
November 27 at Opecs Vienna
headquarters.
The ordinary meeting is not
very far away, said an Opec delegate, who declined to be identied by name. It would be surprising to meet before.
While the drop in prices has
caused concern in some Opec
countries, the chance of collective action looks unlikely. Kuwait
said on Sunday Opec was unlikely to cut production, while Saudi
Arabia told Opec that it raised
output in September.
Indeed, Saudi Arabia has been
telling oil market participants
that it is comfortable with lower
prices, a policy shift that may be
aimed at retaining market share
in years to come, Reuters reported on Monday.
Another Opec source downplayed the chance of an emergency meeting taking place.
No preparations are being
made. It seems to have almost
died away, the source said.
The rst delegate added that
winter demand should support
the oil market in coming months
and appreciation of the US dollar had partly offset the impact
of lower oil prices for some producers.
At this time of the year, it is
normal to have some price weakness, the delegate said.

Sensex ends lower;

rupee slumps
Reuters
Mumbai
Indian shares edged down
yesterday as DLF plunged after
the market regulator banned it
from tapping capital markets,
although broader losses were
capped as Reliance Industries
gained after better-thanexpected earnings and lenders
rose on easing inflation.
Sentiment was weak across the
globe as deepening worries
about the health of the global
economy dragged Wall Street,
Europe and Japan lower.
Adding to the concerns, foreign
institutional investors, who
have invested $13.7bn this year,
turned net sellers.
Overseas investors sold Indian
shares worth $110mn on
Monday, their fourth session of
selling in five.
Markets should trade rangebound in the near-term.
However, an expectation of
growth picking up in India will
lead to higher valuations, said
Dipen Shah, head of private
client group research at Kotak
Securities.
Export-oriented companies
should be able to report better
numbers, while domestic
infrastructure companies will
still see some tough time.
The benchmark BSE index fell
0.13% to 26,349.33, while the

broader NSE index ended 0.26%

lower at 7,864. Technology
stocks led the fall as investors
took profits after a two-day rally.
Infosys, which gained 8.1% in the
last two sessions after reporting
its quarterly earnings on Friday,
fell 0.6%, while Tata Consultancy
Services closed down 0.6%.
Meanwhile the rupee slumped
yesterday, retreating from a
nearly three-week high hit
earlier in the day as growing
worries about global economic
growth sparked a recovery
in the dollar, offsetting data
showing sharply easing
domestic inflation.
The dollar recovered its
footing in Europe yesterday
after sinking to its lowest in a
month against the yen amid
deepening worries over global
growth and an equities sell-off
that is gathering pace.
The partially convertible rupee
closed at 61.41/42 per dollar
compared with 61.0950/1050
on Monday, its weakest close
since October 1.
That marked a sharp swing
after the rupee had risen to
as much as 60.90 earlier in
the day, its highest level since
September 23.
The rupee ceded ground in the
late session as the dollar index,
which measures the greenback
against a basket of currencies,
was up close to 0.2% for most
of the session.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

BUSINESS

GULF TIMES

QSE may have more

liquidity providers

Qatar annual
inflation
up 3.6% on
rising rents

By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter

By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter

Fast rising rents and costlier

furniture and transport led
Qatars consumer price index
(CPI) inflation to rise 3.6% yearon-year in September, according
to official figures.
The CPI inflation, however, was
unchanged compared to the
previous month, even as food
prices went up, said the Ministry
of Development Planning and
Statistics. The rent, fuel and
energy group, which is the
most influential and carries
the maximum weight of 32.2%
in the CPI basket, recorded
an increase of 8.1% y-o-y in
September 2014.
The index was up 0.6% from the
previous months level.
After eliminating the effect of
rent, the overall index was up
0.2% from the previous months
level and showed an increase
of 1.9% when compared to
September 2013, said the
ministry figures.
According to QNB projection,
the countrys inflation is
expected to rise to 3.8% in
2014 as higher infrastructure
spending will result in a large
inflow of workers, putting
pressure on housing and prices.
The food, beverages and
tobacco group, which has a
weight of 13.2% in the CPI basket,
saw 0.9% surge from September
2013. The index had risen 0.5%
from the previous months level.
Transport and communication
group, which has a weight
of 20.5% in the CPI basket,
witnessed its index surge

atar Stock Exchange (QSE),

which is racing ahead to expand
the investment universe for investors, is expected to see more liquidity providers (LPs), a move that ought to
enhance the liquidity in the market and
better price discovery.
Discussions are currently underway
to have more LPs, a senior official of QSE
said here on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the bourse in association with
QNB Financial Services (QNBFS) and
Commercial Bank Investment Services
(CBIS).
However, the official did not disclose
the names of entities and neither did he
tell how many LPs (otherwise known as
market makers) would be there in the
market.
At present, the Qatar Financial Market
Authority has granted licence to LPs
viz the Group and CBIS.
It has become imperative for Qatar
to strengthen the LP scheme in view of
the expected launch of exchange traded
funds (ETFs) and exchange traded products (ETPs).
In May last year, the nancial market
regulator had approved the liquidity provision scheme that can be carried out by
the nancial services rms.
The LPs will enable the nancial service rms to submit constant quotes for
the sale or purchase of a particular security to increase its liquidity as per the
controls and conditions set forth in the
LP agreement.
Liquidity provision is an important
development for us at QSE...Improving
liquidity is one of the key components in
our overall market development strategy
and the LP regime is an important element in helping us to achieve this goal,
QSE CEO Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori told
the meeting. Stressing that the bourse

Al-Mansoori says liquidity provision is an important development for the QSE.

will continue to work with the regulator
and other agencies to increase the issuer
base and to introduce new products and
services, he said the QSE continues to
work on improving market access with
the aim of increasing the investor base
and also continues to seek out ways to
improve liquidity across the board for the
benet of all.
Efforts are now on a war footing to
launch ETFs and it is learnt that to begin
with, foreign debt-based and general index-based ETFs are set for launch, which

will be followed by Islamic-index based

ETFs.
ETFs are mostly (but not exclusively)
index-based open-ended funds that can
be bought and sold as quickly and easily
as ordinary shares on a stock exchange.
They provide investors with the opportunity to access markets that were previously closed to them.
Qatar could expect to see total emerging market ETF buying of $175mn, a Bank
of America Merrill Lynch report had said.
The LP activity will assist in reduc-

ing the prices volatility, promoting condence among investors, fostering the
listing of new companies and helping to
ensure fair and orderly market.
LPs accept the obligation to provide
bids and offers in pre-determined securities and in exchange receive a volume
related discount on the trading fees.
These obligations are reected in an
agreement between LP and the exchange.
LPs can enter this activity either at their
own initiative or at the request of a listed
company.

2.7% y-o-y in September 2014.

However, it was down 0.4% from
the previous months level.
The entertainment, recreation
and culture group, which
carries a weight of 10.90% in
the CPI basket, saw its group
index rise 0.2% compared to
September 2013; even as it fell
0.8% compared to the previous
months level. The furniture,
textiles and home appliances
group, which has a weight of
8.2% in the CPI basket, saw its
group index surge 5.2% y-o-y in
September this year.

The rent, fuel and energy

group, which is the most
influential and carries
the maximum weight of
32.2% in the CPI basket,
recorded an increase
of 8.1% year-on-year in
September 2014
It was, however, down 0.1% from
August 2014. The garments
and footwear group, which
carries 5.8% in the CPI basket,
saw its price spurt 2.7% y-o-y
in September 2014 and it was
unchanged from the previous
months level.
The medical care and medical
services group, which has
2% weight, reported a 0.7%
increase year-on-year in
September 2014 but the index
was unchanged compared to
the previous months level.
The miscellaneous goods and
services group, which carries
7.2% weight in the CPI basket,
saw its group become costlier
by 1% y-o-y in August 2014;
whereas it was down 0.3% from
the previous month.

FORMULA 1 | Page 7

CRICKET | Page 10

Bianchi will
win the biggest
qualifying lap
of his life: father

Afridis
comments
irresponsible,
says PCB chief

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Dhul-Hijja 21, 1435 AH

FOOTBALL

GULF TIMES

SPORT

Ailing Neymar
scores all four as
Brazil rout Japan
Page 2

Qatar to host camp

for 2015 Womens
World Cup refs
Doha: Qatar will host a preparation camp for assistant referees
set to feature at the FIFA Womens
World Cup to be held in Canada
next year. More than 60 delegates will be present at the Doha
seminar set for November 10-14,
Qatar Football Association (QFA)
announced yesterday.
QFAs head of Referees Committee
Hani Balan said: We are thrilled
to have this opportunity to hold
a preparation camp for referees.
We are delighted that FIFA has the
confidence in our ability to host
such seminars.
He said a host of football-related
meetings will also take place at the
Doha seminar.
It will be the first time that a
football forum will be held outside
Japan and Korea, two key members of AFC.
Referees Committee executive director Naji Jouni said: It is a matter
of great significance that a football
forum will be held in Doha. More
than 27 officials related to 2018
FIFA World Cup will also be held in
Doha for a separate meeting to be
held from November 8 to 15.

Qatar players celebrate Khalfan Ibrahims 61st minute goal against Australia yesterday. PICTURES: Anas al-Samaraee

FRIENDLY

Khalfan scores
in Qatars win
over Aussies
Home team confident ahead of Gulf Cup of Nations
By Joe Koraith
Doha

ootball, as any other sport, sticks to a familiar script

where the favourites tend to win and the challengers
tend to come up short. Yesterday, however, was one
of those days when one saw a OHenryesque twist in
the tale with Qatar pulling off a shock but well-deserved 1-0
win over Australia thanks to a 61st minute goal from Khalfan
Ibrahim.
All the pre-match talk in the Aussie camp was about how
they were expected to dominate teams like Qatar, especially
having faced tougher opposition in the 2014 World Cup but
yesterday Qatar proved that they have it in them to put up a
ght and defeat teams that are stronger than them on paper.
The possession percentage showed that the home side
had 41 per cent possession as compared to 59 per cent for
the visitors but the Aussies, despite having a couple of clear
chances didnt prove to be incisive in the nal one-third of
the pitch - an issue that has been raked up after they failed
to nd the back of the net during the recent friendly against
UAE.
Neither team had too many shots on target, with both
teams registering just two each by the end of the match,
and it seemed more like a chess game where the contestants
were looking to pounce on the mistakes of the other.
It was a measured approach from both the teams right
from the start and though the Aussie players had, before the
match, spoken about playing the game at their own tempo
to disturb the rhythm of the home side, there was no such
sign of it on the pitch.
The rst chance of the match fell to Qatar and that too in
the 17th minute when Australia conceded a corner and Hassan al-Haydos, who took it, sent in a perfect cross into the
middle but it missed everyone and went out.
In the 22nd minute the visitors could have taken the lean
through Tommy Oar who found himself with the ball inside
the box and took the shot only for Qatars goalkeeper Qaseem Burhan to make himself as wide as possible and block
the shot.
The very next minute, Qatar came close through Abdulaziz Hatems effort from the edge of the box which needed the Aussie goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak to save at full
stretch.
This was a good period for the home side which saw them
create a few chances. They had three corner kicks to boast of
and even a great counter-attacking run by Ibrahim, which
saw him pass to Sebastian Soria inside the box but the Qatar
striker had run too wide and couldnt take the shot and the
attack, just like the corners came to nothing.
That brought an end to the rst half. In the second half,

Teammates congratulate Qatars Khalfan Ibrahim for his

goal against Australia yesterday.
Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi brought on midelders Luiz
Martin and Majed Mohamed to shake things up and the duo
brought with them not just fresh legs but also a sense of
solidity in the centre of the eld and Qatar started to look
livelier.
The winning goal in the 61st minute started with al-Haydos setting off on a solo run on the right ank and getting
as far as the box only for the ball to be cleared off his feet.
The clearance landed only as far as Ibrahim who passed to
Soria. Soria pushed it to al-Haydos, who cleverly crossed it
into the path of the diminutive striker, who didnt make any
mistake and put it past the Aussie keeper.
The Aussies werent expecting that and their leaky defence, which had managed to keep a clean sheet for the rst
time in 13 matches during the friendly against UAE, had
conceded a goal again.
The visitors tried to up the tempo of the game after conceding the goal but it was the home side that grew in condence.
In the 68th minute, Aussie striker Tim Cahill had a great
chance when he got the ball inside the box. He turned and
red but Qatar keeper Burhan was again there to block the
shot. Australias closest chance was in the 85th minute when
Mathew Leckie got a cross inside the box, just six yards out
but scuffed his shot.
Qatar can walk away from the match with their heads held
high for having upset the superior Aussies and also feeling
condent about going into next months Gulf Cup of Nations on a high. Meanwhile, the Socceroos will have to go
back to drawing board to nd out how they can nd the back
of the net.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

FOOTBALL
FRIENDLY

FOCUS

Ailing Neymar
scores all four as
Brazil rout Japan
Neymar scores four in easy win, takes Brazil tally to 40
Reuters
Singapore

eymar shrugged off a

cold to score all four
goals in a sumptuous
display as ve-times
world champions Brazil routed
an under-strength Japan 4-0 in
a friendly yesterday to maintain
Dungas perfect start since returning as coach.
The Brazilian skipper took his
impressive tally to 40 goals in 58
matches after his strikes against
the shabby Asian champions on
a patchy National Stadium pitch
deemed far short of international standards by Singapores
Football Association.
Neymar had no problems with
the poor surface, however, as the
Barcelona striker entertained
the 51,577 crowd with icks and
tricks around his cool nishes
in a display tting of the famous
yellow number 10 jersey. Brazilian great Pele was a previous
wearer of the shirt and is the
countrys record scorer with 77
goals, but the 22-year-old Neymar is sure to better the mark
if he continues to deliver such
high-calibre displays.
We have told him he still has
a lot of areas where he can improve, Dunga told reporters after
making it four wins out of four
with no goals conceded since returning in July. Now that he is
captain he has more responsibility and status in the Brazil team,
he has responded well but still
looks like he is playing with his
friends, yet we still want to see
him play even better.
Neymar rattled the post with a
free kick just before opening the
scoring in the 18th minute when
he rounded Japan goalkeeper Eiji
Kawashima and lashed the ball
into an empty net after being put
clear by Diego Tardelli.
The goal allowed Brazil, who
had been lethargic after the
heavy travel schedule and Saturdays 2-0 win over Argentina
in Beijing, to slow the tempo
against the Asian champions,
who were missing the injured
Shinji Kagawa and opted to start
with Keisuke Honda and Yuto
Nagatomo on the bench.
Honda came on at the start of
the second period but it was the
Brazilian bench who had a greater impact, with replacement
Philippe Coutinho slipping a ball
through Japans porous backline
to Neymar, who slotted home a
second in the 48th minute. The
hard-working Shinji Okazaki al-

Brazils Neymar (L) celebrates with teammate

Robinho after scoring his fourth goal against
Japan during their soccer friendly match in
Singapore yesterday. (Reuters)

My Clasico
comeback is
fate: Suarez
Reuters
Barcelona

uis Suarez is likely to

play his rst competitive
game for Barcelona in La
Ligas Clasico against
Real Madrid later this month and
he says it is no coincidence his
biting ban expires the day before one of the biggest xtures in
world soccer.
FIFA sidelined the controversial Uruguay striker for four
months and banned him for nine
competitive internationals after he bit Italy defender Giorgio
Chiellini at the World Cup nals
in Brazil. The ban ends on Oct. 24,
meaning Suarez, who had already
been sanctioned twice for biting
opponents and once when he was
accused of racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice
Evra, could run out at the Bernabeu the following day if selected
by Barca coach Luis Enrique.
You know, Im the kind of
person who believes that things
happen for a reason, Suarez
said in an interview published
on Barcas website (www.fcbarcelona.es) on Tuesday. Out of
all 19 teams in the league, its precisely against Real Madrid at the
Bernabeu that Ill make my comeback, added the 27-year-old.
There must be a reason.
Suarez has been training hard
with his new team mates to make
sure he is ready for action when
the ban expires and he does not
appear to have lost his instinct
for goal. He netted a double for
Uruguay in a 3-0 friendly win
over Oman on Monday, his second appearance for the South
Americans on their tour of the
Middle East after he played in

Fridays 1-1 draw with Saudi

Arabia.
Suarez will join Lionel Messi
and Neymar in a formidable
Barca attack and he said he was
hungry to help the club return
to winning ways after they failed
to win major silverware last season. All I can say is that I have
arrived with the desire to be a
success at Barca that I am hungry to win titles, Suarez said.
I have the chance to play
for the team that I have always
wanted to play for and its a
chance I intend to make the most
of. I want to show the fans that I
want to be a success at Barca and
to help my team mates as much
as I can.
WRONGLY ACCUSED
Suarez said he had found it
difficult to admit to his attack on
Chiellini and it had taken him a
few days before he was able to
face the truth.
Those were days when I
didnt want to know about it. I
just wanted to be with my wife
and children, who supported me
through that time.
I didnt want to listen to
anybody, or speak to anybody.
I didnt want to accept it. He
admitted he had made mistakes
but said he had been wrongly
accused of racism over the Evra
incident. I was accused without
evidence and thats what grieved
me the most, he said. The others were actions when it was me
who did wrong. I accepted that
and asked for forgiveness but
the racism thing, when I was accused without evidence, that did
upset me. Barca are two points
clear of Valencia at the top of
La Liga after seven matches and
host Eibar on Saturday.

LUIS SUAREZ

most pulled one back but he rattled the post from a narrow angle
in a brief highlight for a team still
struggling to adapt to their new
Mexican coach Javier Aguirre.
Dunga, criticised at home for
being too negative before his
rst stint ended in 2010, has had
no such issues as he continues
to x up a battered team humiliated 7-1 in this years World
Cup semi-nal by Germany. He
brought on Robinho and Kaka,
who almost scored with his rst
touch but the forwards 77thminute header was pushed on to
the bar by Kawashima.
Japan, though, failed to clear
and when a shot came back in
from the left the goalkeeper
could only palm the ball straight
to Neymar who swept it home.
Kaka then turned provider as
he swung over a cross from the
left and Neymar leapt highest to
head home in the 81st minute.

Dunga delights in Brazil flexibility and brilliant Neymar

Brazil coach Dunga has made a perfect start
to his second stint in charge of the national
side and yesterdays friendly win over Japan
offered him plenty of reasons to feel that Julys
World Cup nightmare could soon be forgotten.
As hosts, Felipe Scolaris side bullied their way
through to the semi-finals before a 7-1 humiliation to Germany cost the coach his job and left
many observers believing the rebuilding job
would be a long and painful process. Dunga,
who led the side from 2006-10, was handed the
task of restoring respectability for the five-times
World Cup winners and his spotless record in
four matches since taking over and the form
of mercurial forward Neymar suggests Brazil
are already on an upward trajectory. Neymar
was brilliant in Singapore yesterday, wowing
a pro-Brazil crowd of 51,577 as he reveled in a
free-roaming role to score all four goals in a 4-0
thrashing for a dominant Brazil side that exuded
confidence from the kickoff. I tinkered with the
lineup today as I wanted to see how we played

without a striker in the second half, Dunga told

reporters, having already beaten arch-rivals
Argentina 2-0 in a Beijing friendly on Saturday. I
did this because Neymar picked up a cold after
the match in China and I thought it would be better to give him freedom and let him concentrate
only on scoring goals, Dunga added. All the
formations seem to suit this team as I like to try
different things. Even at the end when we had no
strikers, it worked well. Dunga added that not
too much should be made of the victory over an
inexperienced Japan side also going through a
rebuilding process but was full of praise for his
talismanic striker, who took his international tally
to 40 goals in 58 matches. Dunga admitted he
was delighted with his sides attitude on the short
Asian tour and felt that following the 1-0 friendly
wins over Colombia and Ecuador last month, his
squad was showing a strong desire and hunger
to revive Brazils fortunes. The way we played
these two matches shows that the team is in the
right frame of mind, he said.

SPOTLIGHT

Messi brace as Argentina put seven past Hong Kong

AFP
Hong Kong

rgentina strolled to a 7-0 friendly win over Hong Kong yesterday,

with superstar Lionel Messi and Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain
both netting a brace. Coach Gerardo Martino started with a second-string side that saw Barcelonas Messi, Manchester Uniteds
Angel Di Maria and Sergio Aguero of Manchester City all on the bench.
Messi came on with half an hour of the match remaining. By then the score
was already 4-0 but soon the little wizard had made it ve, playing a neat
one-two before dinking the ball over goalkeeper Yapp Hung-fai.
He was then instrumental in Argentinas sixth, pulling the ball back from
the byline to give Nicolas Gaitan of Benca the easiest of tap-ins from inside
the six-yard box. It was Gaitans second goal of the match. The rst came
just before half-time when he cut in from the right and smashed the ball in
with his left foot. Just a minute earlier Higuain had scored his rst, heading
down a cross from the left. The forward got his brace and Argentinas fourth
with a simple pass into a open goal less than ten minutes into the second half.
Sevillas Ever Banega had opened for Argentina on 19 minutes, pouncing
on some woeful Hong Kong defending. Yapp fumbled a weak effort which
landed at the feet of Lee Chi-ho who scuffed a clearance straight to Banega,
for the midelder to drill the ball home. With ve minutes to go Messi scored
his second and Argentinas seventh, taking the ball down beautifully with his
left foot before going past three Hong Kong defenders and riing it low into
the corner. Other stars who didnt start for Argentina included Sergio Romero, Pablo Zabaleta, Javier Mascherano, Martin Demichelis and Erik Lamela.
Manchester Citys Zabaleta entered the fray on 60 minutes with Di Maria
and Mascherano coming on ten minutes laterall three coming through the
match unscathed.

Argentinas Lionel Messi (C)

scores his first goal during
their friendly against Hong
Kong in Hong Kong
yesterday. (Reuters)

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

FOOTBALL
EURO QUALIFIERS

FOCUS

Sigurdsson dents
Dutch Euro hopes,
Pelle fires Italy
When I saw the red card I thought it had killed us
AFP
London

orld Cup seminalists the Netherlands hopes of

qualifying for Euro
2016 took another blow on
Monday as a Gyl Sigurdsson
double gave Iceland a 2-0 win
over the European giants.
Icelandwho
only
just
missed out on a place at their
rst ever World Cup nals when
they lost in the play-offs for this
years global showpiecetop
Group A alongside the Czech
Republic with a perfect nine
points from three games while
the Dutch, who lost to the
Czechs in their opening qualier, are six points adrift in third
place.
Croatia and Italy top Group
H, also with nine points apiece,
but their victories on Monday
couldnt have been more different, the Croats whipping Azerbaijan 6-0, one short of their
record victory over Andorra in
the Euro 2008 qualiers.
Italy, who had eked out a 2-1
win over Azerbaijan last Friday,
relied on a goal from Graziano
Pelle on his debut to scrape a 1-0
victory over minnows Malta,
who played for an hour with 10
men following Michael Mifsuds
dismissal.
Italy coach Antonio Conte
admitted there needed to be a
big improvement if they are to
see off Croatia in Milan next
month. The big game against
Croatia will tell us just how
good we are after these rst two
months, said Conte, who saw
centre-back Leonardo Bonucci
sent off late on.
We need to get down to work
if were to succeed.
Wales, who have not been
at a major nals since the 1958
World Cup, overcame being reduced to 10 men to edge Cyprus
2-1 in Cardiff and hold a one
point lead over Israel, who beat
Andorra 4-1, in Group B.
When I saw the red card I
thought it had killed us, said
Wales coach Chris Coleman.
We never had determination in the last campaign, we
were too soft. We are a different
group of people this time, the
players have really matured.
Their respective victories
gave them some breathing space
over two of the favourites to
qualify from the group World
Cup qualiers Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium, who drew
1-1.
Sigurdsson put Iceland ahead
in the 10th minute with a coolly
taken penalty after Gregory van
der Wiel had fouled Birkir Bjarnason.
Both Dutch skipper Robin van
Persie and fellow veteran Arjen
Robben had excellent chances

Netherlands forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (C) vies with Icelands defender Ragnar Sigurdsson (R) during the Euro 2016 Group A qualifying
match in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Monday. (AFP)

Hodgson take aim

at Rodgers over
Reds stars fitness
AFP
London

ngland manager Roy

Hodgson has risked
inaming his already
simmering feud with
Brendan Rodgers by criticising
the Liverpool managers method
of keeping Raheem Sterling t.
Hodgsons relationship with
Rodgers was again put in the spotlight after he claimed Liverpool
midelder Raheem Sterling asked
to be excluded from the England team for Sundays 1-0 win
in Estonia because he felt tired.
Shortly after revealing the details
of the conversation with Sterling,
Hodgson told Rodgers he must do
his bit to ensure the 19-year-old
does not suffer from further physical and mental fatigue.
The 67-year-old then went a
step further by criticising one of
the methods Rodgers uses to try
to ensure his quickest players,
presumably including Sterling,
recover properly from matches.
Rodgers revealed last month
that he is a strong believer in giving his fast players two-days
to recover from matches due to
the stresses and strains their
speed causes on their bodies.
Rodgers spoke of his frustration
at Hodgsons refusal to adopt the
two-day recovery method for
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge last month after he pulled
a thigh muscle during a sprint at
an England training session.
And it is understood Rodgers
also gives Sterling two days off
after games as he thinks it aids
the pacy players return to peak
tness.
But Hodgson says there is little evidence the programme
benets players recovery times.
Raheem might say it is something that is becoming ingrained
in him and that he felt the need
to talk about being tired more
than he would normally do,
Hodgson said.
But we have never had any
problems with that. I dont think
there is a lot of medical evidence
to support the two-day recovery. So if you want to, you
might want to research that one.
Certainly, the Germans
who you admire so muchthey
dont do it. That is for certain. I
would expect players not to take
it for granted that there will be
two-day recoveries.

Twitter blast
In the early hours of Monday
morning Sterling responded on
Twitter to those who had ridiculed him for asking to be rested
just eight weeks into the season.
Now listening too.. Excuse
me for being human??, the
19-year-old wrote after retweeting two critical messages posted
to him on the micro-blogging
website. It is understood that
Englands medical staff will be
contacting their counterparts at
Liverpool this week to talk about
Sterlings tness.
And Hodgson himself will call
Rodgers to discuss the matter.
I think I should speak to
Brendan, but it really is very
simple and I am sure he understands that situation, Hodgson
said. Raheem has played a lot of
games recently and it is the rst
year in the Champions League
for Liverpool for a while so the
games have obviously been quite
high pressure games, and I will
tell him he looked a bit tired and
I made the decision from that to
play Adam Lallana.
But Brendan has been talking
anyway about the pressures Raheem has been under and the fatigue that may have set in a little
bit so I am pretty sure that he will
be dealing over the next month
with Raheem as he sees fair.
Meanwhile, England captain
Wayne Rooney has revealed he
will celebrate racking up a century
of caps by walking out at Wembley
next month with his two children. Rooney will soon be bracketed alongside the likes of Bobby
Moore, David Beckham and Bobby
Charlton, with his 100th cap set to
arrive in next months European
Championship qualier against
Slovenia.
It will be great. Its a great honour to get 100 caps for England,
Rooney said. I did not think it
was possible when I rst got into
the team. Obviously my two boys
will walk onto the pitch with me,
but that will be it I think.

Liverpool defend approach

after England rows

Maltas Ryan Camilleri (L) and Italys Graziano Pelle fight for the ball during their Euro 2016 Group H qualifying match at the National
Stadium in Ta Qali, outside Valletta, on Monday. (Reuters)
to level midway through the
rst-half but the former saw
his effort saved by Hannes Halldorsson while the latter was off
target.
Failed lamentably
They were left to regret those
misses as the sparkling Sigurdsson added a second three minutes before the break, the Swansea City player tucking the ball
away when the Dutch defence
failed lamentably to deal with a
corner.
It was his fourth goal in his

last three games for Iceland.

Dutch coach Guus Hiddink
acted to turn things round at
half-time, replacing Wesley
Sneijder with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but it made little difference
and left the veteran coach with a
lot of thinking to do.
Croatia had the game
wrapped up by half-time as they
went in 4-0 up.
Andrej Kamaric converted
veteran Darjo Srnas cross in the
11th minute but it was substitute
Ivan Perisic who terried the
visiting defence once he came

on in the 24th minute.

He scored a bracethe rst a
header from Ivan Rakitics freekickwhile 21-year-old Marcelo Brozovic added a fourth in
time added on of the rst-half.
Playmaker Luka Modric made
it 5-0 from the penalty spot before he was removed four minutes later and the shellshocked
visitors went 6-0 down as
Rashad Sadygov put through
his own net just after the hour
mark.
Their Balkan neighbours
Bosnia also took a lead into the

half-time break, a smart leftfooted effort by Edin Dzeko giving them a 1-0 advantage over
Belgium.
The Bosnians had goalkeeper
Asmir Begovic to thank for going in ahead as he produced a
great save from Romelu Lukaku
two minutes before half-time.
The visitors, though, did get
back on equal terms six minutes into the second-half as
Toby Alderweireld set up Roma
midelder Radja Nainggolan to
beat Begovic from the edge of
the area.

A member of Liverpools coaching staff defended the clubs approach to player recovery yesterday following disagreements
between manager Brendan Rodgers and England head coach Roy
Hodgson. Hodgson has queried Rodgerss claim that speedy players
such as Liverpool pair Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling require
two days to fully recover after matches.
Hodgson claims there is little medical evidence to support the
strategy, but Liverpool first-team coach Mike Marsh says the club
will not alter their approach. With England there has been a lot
of discussion recently. We dont really change, Marsh told the
Liverpool website. Our fitness programmes have been well documented. We try to recover the players as best we can to prepare for
the games. We have a couple of days recovery after the game and
we work with the group that dont start (the previous match) and
we build up to the next game, and once one game finishes, we try
to recover as soon as possible. We try different ways. We do quite
a lot of analysis with the players, so we break them up into smaller
groups and get players feedback in different ways.
Sturridge has not played since sustaining a thigh strain on international duty last month, while Sterling started Englands 1-0 Euro
2016 qualifying win in Estonia at the weekend on the bench after
reportedly complaining of fatigue. Sturridge could return for Liverpools trip to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday, which marks the start
of a run of seven matches in 21 days for the Anfield club.

SPOTLIGHT

Orange alert for Netherlands and Hiddink

AFP
Amsterdam

he Netherlands, who nished third

at the 2014 World Cup in July, are
off to a woeful start to their Euro
2016 qualication campaign as
coach Guus Hiddink feels the heat after
picking up three points from three matches.
The 67-year-old, who led the Dutch to
the 1998 World Cup semi-nals in his rst
stint at the helm of his native country, and
repeated the feat four years later with South
Korea, is the man in the hot-seat after a
shock 2-0 reverse in Iceland on Monday.
Its nished for Hiddink, its time to
leave the position to a younger coach,
blasted Ajax coach and former international defender Frank de Boer in the aftermath of the Iceland shocker.

Hiddink, who has also had spells as national coach of Australia, Russia and Turkey
as well as Real Madrid, Chelsea and PSV
Eindhoven at club level, got off to the worst
possible start when Holland were beaten
2-1 by the Czech Republic in their opening
qualier.
A come-from-behind 3-1 victory, over
a Kazakhstan side ranked 127 in the world,
steadied the ship briey, before Iceland,
who have never qualied for a major tournament, upset the form book in Reykjavik.
Iceland and the Czech Republic hold
the top two spots and automatic qualication on nine points from three matches,
the Dutch are on three with Latvia (2), Kazakhstan (1) and Turkey (1) bringing up the
rear in Group A. We are playing without
any direction, continued De Boer, who
played under Hiddink at the 1998 World
Cup and won 112 caps as a player.

The ball is being played to (Arjen) Robben and (Robin) van Persie and then they
have to do it on their own, but Robben is
isolated up front and there is noone to help
him. added De Boer who said he never
understood the appointment of Hiddink.
Hiddink, took over from Louis van Gaal
who is now in charge of Manchester United after leading the Dutch to the World
Cup semi-nals where they were narrowly beaten by Argentina.
A number of players have also come
under the microscope of scrutiny, notably
the defenders Stefaan de Vrij of Lazio and
Portos Bruno Martins, while playmakers
Wesley Sneijder of Galatasaray and Ibrahim Affelay of Olympiakos have been labelled slow and lacking imagination.
The Dutch have regularly endured internal problems in the past and the relationship between Uniteds van Persie and

Schalke marksman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is

frosty at best, adding to discontentment
within the squad. Bayern Munich star Robben is one of Hiddinks supporters and believes the coach should not be blamed for
the teams sudden loss of form after switching to a 4-3-3 formation from the 5-3-2
line-up used by van Gaal. Forget about the
World Cup and stop talking about the 5-3-2,
the problem is not tactics, said Robben.
The problem is our mentality and people must stop believing we are good, because in reality we are not good. For Euro
2016, it is not too late but there are reasons
to be worried however and we have a difcult trip to Turkey. concluded Robben.
The Netherlands host Latvia in their
next match on November 16, the same
night Iceland travel to the Czech Republic.
There is then a winter break until qualifying resumes on March 28, 2015.

The Dutch bench with head coach Guus Hiddink (2-R) during
the UEFA EURO 2016 qualifier match between Iceland and The
Netherlands, in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Monday. (EPA)

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

SPORT
GOLF

TENNIS

McDowell aims to
restore World Match
Play to former glories
I believe this is a step in the right direction, coming back to London
Reuters
London

GRAEME MCDOWELL

itle holder Graeme McDowell is a man on a

mission this weekto
restore
much-needed
lustre to the World Match Play
Championship at the London
Club.
The 50th anniversary edition
of the tournament has failed to
attract the A-list golfers, with
world number one Rory McIlroy,
third-ranked Sergio Garcia and
number six Justin Rose among
those missing.
The greatest names in the
game, players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player,
Nick Faldo, Greg Norman and
Seve Ballesteros, feature on the
roll of honour but the 16-man
event has lost its identity in recent times.
The iconic West Course at
Wentworth staged the championship from 1964-2007. Since
then it has been to Spain and
Bulgaria, it even disappeared
from the calendar in 2008 and
2010, and McDowell has welcomed the move back to the
south of England.
I believe this is a step in the
right direction, coming back to
London, the world number 18
told a news conference on the eve
of the event.
When you look at the trophy
and the names on it, this tournament deserves a great spot in the
calendar. It deserves a quality
venue like this one this week.
This event needs to be reinstated to its former glory and
well do everything we can to
support that.
This is the nal year of Volvos
sponsorship and McDowell does
not want the World Match Play
to disappear from the calendar
again.
Volvo have done a phenomenal job for this tournament and
we dont want to be losing this
event, said the 2010 US Open
champion.

FLU BOUT
They have kept this tournament alive for the last three or
four years and now its great to
be back in London. This is where
it belongs.
The 35-year-old McDowell has
had two and a half weeks off and
admits it has been tricky coming
down from the high he experienced when helping Europe beat
the United States at the Ryder
Cup in Scotland last month.

It took me probably the best

part of a week and a half to get
over it, said the Florida-based
professional. I got a bout of u
when I came home.
Its amazing, its the rst
time Ive been ill in any shape or
form this year. Youre coming off
the high emotionally, physically
and mentally of the Ryder Cup,
added McDowell who beat Thai
Thongchai Jaidee 2 & 1 in last
years nal in Bulgaria.
Theres a come down, theres
no doubt about it. When you
have so much adrenaline ying
through your system, youve got
to come off that and sometimes
your body is a little susceptible
to getting ill.
The
Northern
Irishman,
seeded second this week behind
world number ve Henrik Stenson, is in the same round-robin
group as Dutchman Joost Luiten,
Mikko Ilonen of Finland and
Frenchman Alexander Levy who
won last weeks rain-shortened
Portugal Masters.
The top two in each of the
four groups go through to the
quarter-nal stage of a tournament that has a total prize fund
of 2.25 million euros ($2.85 million).

Reed promises more excitable fist pumps

Patrick Reed is unlikely to be repeating his Ryder
Cup whooping and hollering at this weeks
Volvo World Match Play Championship but the
American has promised to adopt the same sort
of killer instinct.
The 24-year-old formed a brilliant rookie partnership with Jordan Spieth at last months Ryder
Cup in Scotland and his vocal exhortations and
fist-pumping histrionics were among the highlights of the week at Gleneagles.
There will definitely be emotion and passion out
there this week, Reed told a news conference at
the London Club on the eve of the 50th anniversary edition of the World Match Play.
Its a passion I have for the game of golf and
with match play theres always that little extra
killer instinct that I have due to the fact I know
where I am at all times because the guy Im playing is next to me. Am I going to get as rowdy as I
did at the Ryder Cup? Probably not. With hearing
how the fans were cheering for the European
side, how much louder it was than for the American side, got me going even more, said Reed.
Playing great golf always gets me excited no
matter what. Whether Im on the PGA Tour or
over here, if Im making birdies and playing well
theres going to be fist-pumps and excitement
because Im playing the game I love and doing
it well. Reed was one of the few Ryder Cup successes for the United States as they slipped to
their eighth defeat in 10 editions of the biennial

team event. The excitable rookie played with

the aura of a veteran, winning three and a half
points out of four including a victory over world
number five Henrik Stenson in the singles.
Reed said his displays of patriotic emotion at
Gleneagles prompted a good response in the
aftermath of the matches.
I got 45 e-mails when I got home, only five were
from Americans, all the others were European
and every one of them was positive, they absolutely loved it, he said.
Thats the one week where you can go back and
forth with the crowds. It was respectful. Hopefully, I have more Ryder Cups to come where I
can do some more stuff.
Reed may not have looked it but he said there
were times when nerves kicked in at Gleneagles.
When I got to the first tee on the first day, to
hear the cheers, it was like all the oxygen got
sucked out, added the world number 26. It was
hard to pull the club back. It was one of those
events where I never thought I could feel that
way about golf in my life. Reed is the fifth seed
at the London Club and has been drawn in the
same round-robin group as European Ryder Cup
hero Jamie Donaldson, Swede Jonas Blixt and
former World Match Play champion Paul Casey.
The top two in each of the four groups go
through to the quarter-final stage of a tournament that has a total prize fund of 2.25 million
euros ($2.85 million).

Ferrer ready
to fight to
the end for
London spot
AFP
Vienna

avid Ferrers determination to qualify

for the season ending
World Tour nals is
such that he has opted to play
in the Vienna Open for the rst
time in 10 years.
The 32-year-oldseeded top
herehas decided to compete
in Vienna as has British number
one Andy Murray as they search
to accrue enough points to get
in the top eight which entitles
them to a place in the nals in
London in November.
Ferrer and Murray are ninth
and 10th respectively in the race
for places in London, for which
three remain unlled.
Canadian Milos Raonicwho
is playing in Moscow this week
in eighth spot at the moment,
the Spaniard is just 35 points
adrift of him and the Briton 95 in
arrears. Ferrer, who will play the
winner of either Simone Bolelli
and Tobias Kamke after he beneted from a rst-round bye,
said that he would battle till the
end of the qualifying process to
secure his place.
Of course it is my goal, Im
ghting for, said Ferrer, who
played in Shanghai last week
losing to Novak Djokovic in the
quarter-nals.
Its important for me. We
dont have too many tournaments. We have only three tournaments more to be in London.
Murray, seeded second, only
springs into action on Thursday against either Canadian
Vasek Pospisil or German Daniel
Brands.

Murray, who ew into the

Austrian capital in a private jet
after receiving his wild card entry, is due also to compete in Valencia again on a wild card entry
next week and the Paris Masters.
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Stan
Wawrinka have already qualied
for the nals.
One will go to Marin Cilic as a
Grand slam winner this season,
leaving three available.
On the court spectators witnessed the rst elimination of
a seed as German Jan-Lennard
Struff beat number seven seed
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of
Spain 6-3, 6-4.
Struff, ranked 52nd and a September semi-nalist at Metz,
led compatriot Benjamin Becker
into the second round, with
Becker defeating Romanian Victor Hanescu 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Struff was helped by nine aces
in his win over Garcia-Lopez;
the German challenger saved all
three break points he faced over
69 minutes. Becker earned his
second victory against Hanescu
following a 2009 win in Halle,
on grass. Croatian sixth seed Ivo
Karlovic spent two and a half
hours in defeating Argentine
Federico Delbonis 6-7 (1-7), 7-6
(11-9), 7-6 (7-2). Karlovic nished with 29 aces.
Serb Viktor Troicki, who
served a ban which ended in July
for delaying a post-match blood
test by 24 hours in 2013, beat
Victor Estrella Burgos 6-0, 6-3.
Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci got
off to a winning start, defeating Frances Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1, 6-4, with the winner
pounding a dozen aces at the
Stadthalle.

DAVID FERRER

RYDER CUP

Jimenez says he wants to captain Europe

AFP
London

yder
Cup
veteran
Miguel Angel Jimenez
says he would love to
captain the European
side and is throwing his hat in
the ring for the next showdown
in 2016.
The two-time vice-captain
was one of Paul McGinleys
deputies in Europes 16 to 11
victory over the Americans
at Gleneagles in Scotland last
month. Jimenez, 50, was also
vice-captain to late Spanish
great Seve Ballesteros in 1997
and has played in four Ryder
Cupsnishing on the winning
side twice.
The evergreen Spaniard, who
is the oldest winner on the European Tour, now wants to step up
and lead Europes nest golfers
to a fourth consecutive triumph
in two years time.
I would love to be captain.
That is something that every

player who competes in the Ryder Cup wants to do, Jimenez

told AFP in an interview before
this weeks Hong Kong Open.
The next edition of the biennial team showpiece takes place
at Hazeltine National in Chaska,
Minnesota, and Jimenez sent a
message to selectors that he was
ready to take the reins.
I will put my name out there
and hope the committee decides
that its going to be myself, he
said. Jimenez must convince a
panel of ve, including three
previous European captains
McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal
and Colin Montgomeriethat
he is the man for the job.
The panel, which also includes
Englands David Howell and
Chief Executive of the European
Tour George OGrady, is expected to make its decision early next
year.
Europe have won eight of the
last ten Ryder Cups with vicecaptains often going on to lead
the teamsomething Jimenez
thinks works in his favour, along

with the fact he still competes

with the continents top players.
An honour for me
When we pick a captain who
is active, thats very important.
It helps a lot, he explained.
Paul (McGinley) was playing
on the regular tour, I play on the
regular tour, Olazabal plays on
the regular tour. I think thats the
best thing we are doing.
And Jimenez already has experience of leading continental
Europehe was playing captain
during their draw with Asia in
the inaugural EurAsia Cup in
Malaysia earlier this year.
The amboyant star, who won
his 21st European title in May
when he took the Spanish Open,
was full of praise for McGinleys
captaincy.
Paul was a great captain. He
got very into each match. Being
involved and helping him and
the rest of the guys was an honour for me.
But the cigar-smoking golfer,
nicknamed The Mechanic,

wouldnt be drawn on public

criticism of United States captain Tom Watson by Americas
multi-major winner Phil Mickelson.
Its easy to talk after the defeat happens, said Jimenez, bidding for a record fth Hong Kong
Open title in the southern Chinese city this week.
Unfortunately for them we
retained the trophy, but if they
had won would people have had
the same criticisms?
Always you can do things
better but it can also always be
worse, he added.
Jimenez is looking to become
the rst player to win the Hong
Kong Open three years in a row,
but hell face stiff competition
from a star-studded eld when
the tournament gets under way
tomorrow.
Golf hall of famer Ernie Els
and Asias sole major champion
Y.E. Yang are also competing in
the $1.3 million co-sanctioned
European Tour and Asian Tour
event which nishes Sunday.

MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

SPORT
ATHLETICS

FOCUS

Indian sprinter
Chand fights cruel
gender rules
The 18-year-old says she has suffered trauma and embarrassment
AFP
New Delhi

teenage Indian sprinter who

was banned from international
competition for failing a gender
test is hoping her ght against
rules on sexual identity will spare others
the same fate.
Dutee Chand, 18, said she has suffered
trauma and embarrassment, but her challenge in the Court of Arbitration for Sport
could change controversial rules set by
athletics world governing body.
Chand, the daughter of weavers who
was brought up in rural poverty, had her
promising career turned upside down
when she was barred from this years
Commonwealth Games after showing elevated levels of testosterone.
I was devastated, Indias under-18
100 metres champion told AFP. I didnt
know what I had done wrong. I had not
taken any drugs, I had made no mistake so
why was I being singled out?
Chand was diagnosed with hyperandrogenism, a condition which produces
high testosterone levels and meant she fell
foul of the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) gender rules.
They were introduced after the IAAFs
struggles with the case of South African
runner Caster Semenya, who was banned
but later reinstated following investigations into her gender.
The rules are intended to stop women
competing with high levels of testosterone, which is known to increase strength
and muscle mass. But critics have challenged the science involved, saying the
link between testosterone and performance is unclear, and that testing is arbitrary and psychologically damaging.
I was told I must undergo surgery or
take hormonal treatment if I wanted to
salvage my career. I was stunned to hear all
this, Chand said by telephone from Bhubaneshwar, in her home state of Orissa.
Its so cruel. God has made me the way I
am. I dont want to change anything and I
also dont want to give up sports.
The IAAF told AFP it would not comment on the case, which is expected to be
decided within the next six months.
But the body said its regulations were
meant to uphold competitive equality
rather than question gender.
The IAAF regulation is based on extensive international expertise in both ethics
and medical science, Chris Turner of the
IAAF communications department said in
an email to AFP.
Chand is the rst to challenge the gender rules, but she is not the only Indian
athlete to be caught up in similar circumstances. Santhi Soundarajan was stripped
of her 800m silver medal from the 2006
Asian Games after being forced to undergo
invasive and humiliating gender verication testsa devastating turn of events
that drove her to attempt suicide.
Pinki Pramanik, who retired in 2007 after winning a team gold in the 4x400m relay at the same Asian Games, was accused
of being a man and raping her housemate
in 2012. Although Pramanik was later
cleared of the charges, she still carries
psychological scars from the episode and

Japans figure
skater Takahashi
announces
retirement
Reuters
Tokyo

aisuke Takahashi, the

rst Japanese man to
win an Olympic gure
skating medal, said
yesterday he is retiring from the
sport after 20 years on the ice.
The 28-year-old helped popularise the sport at home and
made Japanese skating history
by claiming a bronze medal at
the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
He also became the rst Japanese man to win a World Championship in 2010 and a gold
medal at the Grand Prix nal for
2012-2013.
Ive decided to retire from
skating and advance towards a
new goal, Takahashi told reporters at a hastily-called news
conference in the western city of
Okayama, where he was attending an awards ceremony.
Originally Id planned to take
a lot more time to think about
this, but then I thought the best
way to clear my path to start on
something new would be to quit
decisively, so I made up my mind
rather suddenly.
Takahashi said he had yet to
make a decision on what to do
next, but Japanese media reported he had expressed an interest
in coaching. The youngest of
four boys born to a carpenter and
a beautician, Takahashi began
skating at the age of eight after
visiting a newly-built ice rink in
his hometown with his mother,
who had hoped to interest him in
ice hockey.
Known more as a hard worker
than a prodigy, Takahashis perseverance began paying off when
he started competing.
In 2001-2002, his debut season as a junior, he became the
rst Japanese man to win the
World Junior Championships
before moving on to senior level
competitions the next year.
To defray expenses, his mother took on a second job working

for a company that made boxed

lunches, while his father would
travel to construction sites far
away in search of work, Japanese
media said.
Until his rst major victory, he
had only one pair of skates and
his mother made his costumes
herself.
A torn knee ligament and surgery kept Takahashi off the ice
for much of the 2008-2009 season, but he powered back to gain
a slot at the Vancouver Olympics, his second of three Olympic appearances, where he won
bronze.
His nal Olympic competition, at Sochi in February, was
tarnished by scandal when the
musician credited with composing the music he used for his
short programme, a man known
as the Beethoven of Japan, said
he had used a ghost writer for his
compositions. Takahashi went
on to place sixth.
He sat out this years world
championships, held in Japan
soon after the Olympics, with a
knee injury.
Sporting a neat goatee, Takahashi confessed he felt uncertain
about his future and would need
time to think it over.
The fact that Ive announced
my retirement publicly means I
have to get serious about what I
want to do next, he said, adding that the thing he most wants
right now is a clear goal.
When I was competing, I
didnt think about what to do
next. There was just one goal to
aim for after another and I didnt
have to really make a choice, he
added.
Everyone has to do this on
their way to becoming an adult,
Im just doing it later than most.
Takahashis mother told the
news conference she had mixed
feelings about his retirement.
I feel both lonely and happy,
she said, as Takahashi grinned
beside her. Your father and I
hope you will try hard at whatever you decide to do next.

Daisuke Takahashi helped popularise the sport at home

and made Japanese skating history by claiming a bronze
medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. (Reuters)

Indian athlete Dutee Chand is hoping her public

stand against international guidelines on sexual
identity will spur others suffering the same fate to
fight against the unethical rules. (AFP)

the numerous tests she was given by police to determine her sex. Chand said journalists had bombarded her parents with
questions like: Is she a boy or a girl?, and
Does she have periods?
Can you imagine what me and my
family are going through? Its so humiliating, she said.
With help from a researcher on gender
and sports, Chand decided to ght her
case and last month she led an appeal

with the sports arbitration court in Switzerland. The officials are also supporting
me in my ght. I now feel the whole country is behind me, she said. I just hope and
pray that my case sets a precedent so that
others like me dont have to suffer the kind
of trauma I am going through.
Chand enrolled in a national training
programme in 2006, and with the prize
money she won in athletic meets she
earned enough to move her family to a

four-room house in the city.

She can take heart from Semenya, who
was initially stripped of her 800m world
title but carried her countrys ag at the
opening of the 2012 Olympics, where she
won 800m silver.
Its heartening to know there are other women like me, said Chand. I want
people to respect me for who I am. I dont
want to be scrutinised and ridiculed for no
fault of mine.

CYCLING

Gilbert wins Tour of Beijing, Modolo takes final stage

AFP
Beijing

elgiums Philippe Gilbert won the nal

edition of the Tour of Beijing yesterday,
in the shadow of the Birds Nest stadium that hosted the 2008 Olympics.
Irelands Dan Martin, who was last years
runner-up, again took second place overall,
while 24-year-old Esteban Chaves of Colombia
took third.
Garmin-Sharps American rider Tyler Farrar took the green jersey for the points ranking
by a single point from Slovenias Luka Mezgec
(Giant-Shimano), thanks to his fourth place
yesterday.
Italian Sacha Modolo of Lampre-Merida won
a bunch sprint to take the races fth and nal
stage, a 117-kilometre (72-mile) course that
started at Tiananmen Square before making 12
loops of a circuit around the stadium.
It was really nice but still stressful for the
last lap, with a small gap like this, said BMC
rider Gilbert, who entered yesterdays stage

with only a three-second advantage over Martin and several sprint and place bonuses available. So, I took the before-last corner in a really
good position, and then I saw that it was okay,
because of the headwind in the last kilometre.
I didnt take any risk, added Gilbert, the 2012
World Champion.
While Monday and yesterdays stages took
place under clear blue skies, heavy pollution
earlier in the last WorldTour event of the season
forced Saturdays hilly second stage to be cut
short by about a quartera development that
gave a boost to Gilbert, who is not known as a
climber.
In his last professional race before retirement, French FDJ.FR rider Laurent Mangel
sought to go out on a high in Beijing, breaking
away from the pack with Belgiums Tosh van
der Sande (Lotto-Belisol) early on and the pair
maintaining a gap almost to the end, only to be
swept up by the peloton inside the nal kilometre. It was close, but we tried to make the
other teams work because we worked a lot this
week, stage winner Modolo said. In the end, it
worked out.

Its a good race and its good to take cycling

to new territories, he added.
But the Tour of Beijing was being run for the
last time, with the organisers admitting the
event has not been without difficulties, and
was overshadowed by some top-level withdrawals including Tour of Spain winner Alberto
Contador and WorldTour number one Alejandro Valverde.

Winner of the Tour of Beijing 2014, Gilbert Philippe (centre) celebrates with second placed Daniel
Martin (left) and third placed Johan Esteban in Beijing yesterday. (AFP)

TOUR OF BEIJING RESULTS

Stage: 1. Sacha Modolo (Lampre-Merida/ITA) 2
hours 40 mins 10 secs; 2. Gregory Henderson (Lotto-Belisol/NZL) same time; 3. Edvald Boasson Hagen
(Team Sky/NOR) st; 4. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp/
USA) st; 5. Moreno Hofland (Belkin Pro/NED) st
Overall standings: 1. Philippe Gilbert (BMC/BEL) 17
hours 59 mins 56 secs; 2. Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp/
IRE) + 3 secs; 3. Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE/
COL) + 9; 4. Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida/POR) + 11
secs; 5. Sergey Chernetski (Katusha/RUS) + 23
Points ranking: 1. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp/
USA) 45; 2. Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano/SLO) 44;
3. Moreno Hofland (Belkin Pro/NED) 33; 4. Philippe
Gilbert (BMC/BEL) 31; 5. Nikolas Maes (Omega
Pharma-Quick Step/BEL) 29

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

SPORT

PICTURE PERFECT

A handout picture released by the Seowon Valley Country Club shows the wedding ceremony of South Korean LPGA golfer Inbee Park (right) and golf coach Nam Ki-hyup. Park and Ki-hyup got married in Paju, north of Seoul, South Korea, yesterday. (EPA)

Action from yesterdays friendly

football match between Qatar and
Australia, played at the Lekhwiya
stadium in Doha. Qatar won 1-0.
(Pictures: Anas al-Samaraee)

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

MOTORSPORT
FOCUS

Buoyant Mercedes braced for nail-biting finale

Reuters
London

ercedes are almost ready to let Lewis

Hamilton and Nico Rosberg off the
leash now that the title-chasing
pair have secured the teams rst
Formula One constructors world championship. Almost, but not quite.
If you look at the points, we have made a
massive step towards the drivers title, said
Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff after the
teams ninth one-two and 13th win of the season
at last Sundays inaugural Russian Grand Prix.
So we could be coming into a situation
which everybody would love of course, and its
safe to let them race in the way they want to
race, he added.
Wolff said that for the time being, until it was
mathematically certain that the Mercedes drivers could not be overtaken, there remained an
invisible little leash restraining them.
While there is no question in anyones mind
that Hamilton or Rosberg will be crowned

champion at the end of the season, there is still

the slimmest of chances that Red Bulls Daniel
Ricciardo could do it.
The Australian is 92 points behind Hamilton
and 75 adrift of Rosberg with 100 remaining to
be won from the last three races. No other driver is in contention.
Ricciardo is the only man other than the
Mercedes drivers to have won this season but
he would still need three more victories to have
any chance and even then it would require the
Silver Arrows to draw an unthinkable blank.
Realistically, his chances are likely to be
snuffed out at the next race in Austin, Texas, in
three weeks time.
The one thing Mercedes do not want is to go
to Abu Dhabi with Ricciardo still in with a shout
and double points 50 for the winneravailable for the rst time.
The twist in the tail means Hamilton can take
nothing for granted, despite having won more
than twice as many races as his team mate.
He said he would just focus on trying to win
as always. Whatever will be, will be, he told
reporters on Sunday night. For me, its impor-

BONUSES ALL AROUND FOR MERCEDES F1 TEAM

Rank and file Mercedes team members are in
line for average bonuses of 10,000 pounds
($15,963) each after Lewis Hamilton and Nico
Rosberg brought home the Formula One constructors title last Sunday.
A team spokesman confirmed all permanent
staff members at the Brackley factory in central
England would get the payments as part of a
company bonus scheme set up at the start of
the season.
Red Bull, whose reign as world champions
ended at Sundays Russian Grand Prix, have
paid similar bonuses to their factory staff for

tant not to put any negative energy or concern

out there, and theres no need to be concerned
because Ive the utmost belief in this team and
the car, and Im in the best form of my life.
Theres no point thinking What if this happens or that happens, or what happens if he
wins?. Theres no point thinking those things.

the past four years. The drivers and technical head Paddy Lowe were addressing the
assembled staff at Brackley yesterday, a day
after Mercedes motorsport head and nonexecutive chairman Niki Lauda thanked them
on Monday.
Hamilton took his ninth win of the season
in Russia on Sunday, leading Rosberg to the
teams ninth one-two finish in 16 races.
The Briton now leads Rosberg by 17 points
in the championship with three races remaining and double points available for the finale in
Abu Dhabi.

I honestly think thats the wrong way to look

at it. Its like looking at a glass thats either half
empty or half full. Thats just the wrong approach.
The 2008 world champions triumph in Sochi
made him only the fourth driverafter Michael
Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and his compa-

triot Nigel Mansellto win nine races in a single season.

Rosberg has won four so far, Ricciardo three.
Yet, the Briton is still only 17 points clear of the
German who has everything to play for.
It is not beyond the realms of possibility for
Hamilton to win 11 races this season and still
end up without the title if Rosberg nishes second in the next two and then wins in Abu Dhabi
with Hamilton suffering a retirement.
For the moment, however, Hamilton is in the
form of his life. His victory in Sochi was the
fourth in a row for the Briton and he was quickest all weekend.
I have seen Lewis in such a great state of
mind. He is a happy person. He is happy in his
life, he is happy in the team, said Wolff, who
made clear he wanted the Briton to stay beyond
the end of next year when his contract expires.
There is so much competition in the team
between the drivers but we are still having this
team feeling. In the briengs, in our discussions, there is energy. And its moving the team
forward. He (Hamilton) is denitely in a different league since I rst met him.

HOPING AGAINST HOPE

Bianchi will win the

biggest qualifying lap
of his life, says father
We have to keep our energy for Jules, to make him feel we are here and that we want to bring him home

Massa criticises
Pirelli tyre choice
for Brazil race
Brazilian driver Felipe Massa
says Pirellis choice of tyres for
his home Formula One grand prix
next month is very dangerous.
The Italian company announced last week it would be
taking its two hardest compounds
to Interlagosthe hard and medium tyresdue to the high energy
demands of the anti-clockwise
Sao Paulo circuit.
Dangerous, very dangerous,
Massa told reporters when asked
at the Russian Grand Prix for his
opinion on the choice.
I have no idea why they chose
medium and hard and its completely unacceptable, he added.

Dangerous, very
dangerous. I have no idea
why they chose medium
and hard and its completely unacceptable
Formula Ones only current Brazilian driver said the conditions at
the circuit could be wet and cold
and a hard tyre might not provide
enough grip in circumstances
where drivers needed to take a
gamble on dry tyres.
Massa, whose concerns about
safety have been heightened
by the horrific accident suffered
by friend and fellow driver Jules
Bianchi in Japan this month,
also said the track had been
resurfaced, which might cause
additional problems.
I already spoke to most of the
drivers, I spoke to the FIA, I spoke
to everybody, so more than what
I did I think is difficult, said the
Brazilian. We wait and see.
Pirellis motorsport head Paul
Hembery was puzzled by Massas
comments, pointing out the hard
tyre had been raced previously at
Interlagos, which hosts the penultimate race of the season.
Its one of the more aggressive
circuits we have on the calendar
and has the risk of creating blistering problems. We know that the
soft tyre under extreme loads has
the potential to blister, he said.
Hembery agreed however that
the new asphalt could be a factor
and said the company would
double check that before the next
meeting of the sports tyre working group.
If theres unanimous agreement, we can reconsider, he
added, although any change
would be based solely on the
technical data.

GET WELL SOON MATE... Formula One pilots stand in respect for their French colleague Jules Bianchi of Marussia F1 Team before the start of the race at last Sundays Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. Bianchi, who
suffered severe head injuries when his Marussia car crashed into a recovery vehicle at the Japanese Grand Prix, remains in a critical condition in hospital in Yokkaichi. (AFP)
AFP
Yokkaichi, Japan

he father of stricken Formula

One driver Jules Bianchi has
revealed the familys anguish
as they continue to hold a bedside vigil in the hope he will win the
biggest qualifying lap of his life.
Marussia team driver Bianchi remains
in a stable but critical condition at a
hospital in Japan following his a crash at
the Suzuka circuit nine days ago.
While tributes from the world of
sport continue to pour in for 25-yearold Bianchi, father Philippe and mother Christine wait anxiously by his
bedside looking and praying for the
slimmest signs of life.
There are times when I look at Jules
lying there in bed, without a scratch,
I have to give him a peck on the cheek
and say, Come on get up, what are you
doing lying there?, Philippe Bianchi
told La Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday.

In the space of a week our family

life has been destroyed. Its a nightmare. All we can do is wait and hope.
Philippe Bianchi, who runs a wellknown French karting club in Brignoles, spent my life around motorracing. But, he added: How can I even
think about going back on a track.
First they said the rst 24 hours
were crucial, then it became 72 and
now we are still here, with Jules who
is ghting. I see it, I believe it, I speak
to him, I know he hears me, he added.
Philippe Bianchi said the family
were living a nightmare, in unfamiliar
surroundings and without knowing
what the future might hold.
Maybe when Jules is better ... we
can move him to Tokyo and things will
be easier.
But who knows when that will
happen, if it happens. We have no certainties, we can only wait, he said.
One day he seems a little better, another a bit worse. The doctors dont say,
the damage in the impact was great but

they dont know how it will evolve.

Formula One officials have prepared a report into the accident and
have made safety proposals, including
automatic speed limits and possibly
equipping the recovery tractors and
cranes with skirts in future.
Former world champion Alain Prost
has been particularly scathing about the
use of such recovery vehicles, telling reporters in Russia at the weekend he was
furious about what had happened.
I dont want to make any polemics
with the FIA, because I have a lot of respect for what has been done in terms
of safety over the past 20 years, said
the Frenchman.
It is cars and tracks (that have been
made safer) and there was only one
thing left: It was this f****** truck on
the track.
Bianchi underwent surgery for severe head injuries and remains in intensive care, drawing parallels with the
sports most successful modern-day
icon, Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher is said to be waking up

very slowly from a medically induced
coma after suffering severe head injuries
from a skiing accident last December.
Bianchi said he now understands
what the Schumacher family have
gone through: I kept wondering,
Why dont they tell us more about
how he is?
But now I understand. Everyone
keeps asking me how Jules is but I cant
reply, there is no answer. Its very serious, but hes stable.
He added: Were desperate. Every
time the phone rings we know it could
be the hospital to say that Jules is dead.
Race conditions at Suzuka, where
Bianchi careered off the track in extreme weather conditions and collided
with an on-track recovery vehicle at
high-speed, have prompted criticism
in the wake of the tragedy.
Bianchi refuses to speak about the
race for fear of going crazy.
Its not the right time. I havent
seen the video and I dont want to see

it. I would go crazy, he added.

We have to keep our energy for Jules, to make him feel we are here and
that we want to bring him home.
He thanked Formula One drivers for
their support, with all of them standing in a silent circle before last Sundays Russian Grand Prix in a mark of
respect for their stricken colleague.
So many people have written to
me, I will reply, he said. (Jean-Eric)
Vergne, (Fernando) Alonso, (Felipe)
Massa have had strong thoughts.
(Lewis) Hamilton wrote us a lovely
email in which he said if he can do anything for us, he will.
We also saw (Valentino) Rossi,
(Marc) Marquez and other MotoGP
drivers with stickers made by Vergne.
Were sure Jules can feel all this
love and positive energy. The doctors
have already said its a miracle... that
no one has ever survived such a serious
accident. But Jules wont give up. He is
strong, he will win the biggest qualifying lap of his life.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

SPORT
NFL

Kaepernick rallies 49ers

for 31-17 win over Rams
We had Brandon on a double move, we liked his matchup and he did an amazing job running and making the catch
Reuters
Los Angeles

olin Kaepernick sparked

San Francisco with an
80-yard
touchdown
bomb as the 49ers overcame a slow start to beat the St.
Louis Rams 31-17 on Monday.
San Francisco trailed 14-3 just
seconds before halftime when
Kaepernick rocketed a long
strike to Brandon Lloyd for a
game-changing score.
We had Brandon on a double
move, we liked his matchup and
he did an amazing job running
and making the catch, Kaepernick told reporters, of the big
play.
We had to make plays.
The 49ers tallied 24 straight
points to take control, then nished off the Rams in the nal
minute where Dontae Johnson returned an interception
20 yards for a score as St. Louis
were trying to put together a tying drive.
It was the third straight win
for San Francisco (4-2), who
came into the game amid speculation about head coach Jim Harbaughs future with the team.
The victory put them ahead of
Seattle and just behind division
leaders Arizona in the NFC West.
Kaepernick took the lead role
with 343 yards passing and three
touchdown throws. He added 37
yards rushing.
I think his decision-making
(has really improved), 49ers
wide receiver Anquan Boldin
said of Kaepernick.
He has always been a good
leader. But he has really grown in
decisions, when you see him going through his reads.
St. Louis (1-4) lost their third
straight despite coming out
strong with an 80-yard drive
that ended with Benjamin Cunningham scoring a touchdown
from one yard out.
St. Louis quarterback Austin
Davis then hit Lance Kendricks
on a 22-yard touchdown that
gave the Rams a 14-0 edge after
the rst quarter.
Phil Dawson kicked a eld
goal to get San Francisco on the
scoreboard midway through the
second, before Kaepernick came
alive.
The
49ers
signal-caller
stayed hot in the third where
he connected with Boldin and

San Francisco 49ers outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks sacks St. Louis Rams quarterback Austin Davis during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome on Monday. The San Francisco 49ers defeated St. Louis Rams 31-17.
Michael Crabtree on touchdown
passes.
The Rams pulled within 2417 late in fourth and got the ball
back with about a minute remaining, but the interception
doomed their chances.
Davis nished with 236 yards
passing but completed just 21
of 42 passes. He was sacked ve
times by the 49ers defense.
Meanwhile, a Texas judge
Monday declined to recuse him-

self from the felony child-endangerment case involving NFL

star Adrian Peterson, who is accused of injuring his young son
with a disciplinary whipping.
Prosecutors in Montgomery
County, Texas, had asked that
Judge Kelly Case recuse himself
over disparaging remarks about
the attorneys on both sides.
The judges refusal to step
aside opened the door for a
hearing on the matter now

scheduled for Wednesday.

As that matter dragged on,
Petersons formal plea of notguilty to the charge he faces for
allegedly using a switch cut from
a tree to punish his four-yearold son was made public.
The former NFL Most Valuable Player faces two years in jail
and a $10,000 ne on the charge
of reckless or negligent injury to
a child.
Peterson, 29, was benched last

NHL

month, when he became one of

several high-prole NFL players faced with domestic violence
charges.
He was placed on the commissioners exempt list by his team,
the Minnesota Vikings, but continues to be paid.
Peterson is free on $15,000
bond, but prosecutors last week
asked the court to order him arrested for violating the terms of
his bail after he allegedly told a

court-hired drug tester he had

smoked marijuana.
Elsewhere, the Miami Dolphins
yesterday reinstated defensive
end Derrick Shelby after a onegame suspension following his
arrest at a Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, nightclub on misdemeanor
charges of trespassing and resisting arrest without violence.
Shelby was kicked out of the
club for groping two women and
refusing to listen to an off-duty

police officers instructions to

leave the clubs entrance, according to the police report of
the Oct. 4 incident.
I accept responsibility for
the distraction I caused the
team last week, Shelby said
in a statement. I have learned
from my past actions and am
fully committed to representing
the Dolphins organization in a
rst-class manner on and off the
eld.

BASEBALL

Brieres goal beats clock, Cards hope to keep

Avalanche defeat Bruins Molina in mix
Reuters
Boston

aniel Briere scored off

a rebound with less
than a second left in
the third period to lift
the Avalanche to a 2-1 win over
the Boston Bruins on Monday in a matchup of two teams
struggling offensively.
Hopefully there are many
more to come, but its certainly
a good feeling to nd a loose
puck like that late in the game
and get a big win especially
after the start that we had,
Briere said. Its been a little
bit of a roller coaster to start
the season, but we are hoping
this game will get us on our
way.
It was Brieres 300th career
goal.
Jamie McGinn also scored for
the Avalanche, who had opened
the season with two shutout
losses. Backup goaltender Reto
Berra made 27 saves in his rst
start of the season.
The game appeared to be
heading to overtime when Boston goaltender Niklas Svedberg
made a pair of stops in the closing minute.
Briere, at the edge of the

Colorado Avalanches Daniel Briere celebrates his game-winning

goal with teammate Erik Johnson (right) as Boston Bruins
defenseman Matt Bartkowski reacts with seconds left in the third
period of an NHL hockey game in Boston on Monday.
crease, red the puck over the
sprawling goalie just before
time expired after Jan Hejdas
shot from the point. The clock

read 0.0, but replays showed

the puck crossed the goal line
before time expired.
Elsewhere, Steven Stamkos

recorded his eighth career hattrick and defenseman Victor

Hedman played a part in four
goals as the Tampa Bay Lightning handed the Montreal Canadiens their rst loss of the
season on Monday.
Stamkos, who had no goals
in Tampa Bays (2-0-1) rst
two games, scored the Lightnings second goal Monday on a
wide shot with 10:09 left in the
opening period.
He scored again on a breakaway with 6:45 left in the second, then added a power-play
goal ve minutes later for a 4-1
lead.
Hedman, who opened the
scoring with his third goal in as
many games, collected assists
on the next three. Right winger
Nikita Kucherov contributed
two assists.
The Canadiens (3-1-0) came
in as the NHLs rst 3-0 team,
following two shootout wins,
but Tampa Bay (2-0-1) never let
the game get that close.

Results
Colorado
Anaheim
Ottawa
Tampa Bay

2
5
1
7

Boston
Buffalo
Florida
Montreal

1
1
0
1

AFP
New York

he St. Louis Cardinals

hope to call on injured
catcher Yadier Molina as
they continue their Major League Baseball playoff duel
with the Giants in San FrancisCo
Molina departed game two
of the best-of-seven National
League nal on Sunday in the
sixth inning with a strained left
oblique muscle near his ribcage
that he described Monday as the
worst pain I have ever felt in my
career.
Molina doubled over after
grounding out and had to be
helped from the eld in St. Louis.
But the Cardinals went on to
win the contest and knot the series at one game apiece.
He woke up feeling better than
he expected on Monday, playing
catch as the Cardinals prepped
for Tuesdays game three in San
FrancisCo
Even if he doesnt return right
away against the Giants, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny will
be keen to keep him active, because any player cut now would
also have to miss the World Series if his team advances. Thats
a tough rule, Matheny said.

And Molina is a tough player

for the Cardinals to replace.
You lose him, the whole dynamic of this team changes,
Cardinals third baseman Matt
Carpenter said.
Tony Cruz, who lled in at
catcher earlier this season when
Molina needed surgery on his
right thumb, took over on Sunday and did a creditable job.
Cruz, hes like Yadi Jr., said
Cardinals reliever Pat Neshek.
Its going to be a loss, but I dont
think well miss him as much because of Cruz.
The Cardinals tied the series in
unlikely style. The team whose 105
home runs during the regular season were the least of any National
league team, had four homers to
take their playoff tally to 11.
You know, throughout the
season, people were worried
about our power, rst baseman Matt Adams said. But we
knew inside the clubhouse that
we didnt lose any power. We
just have to go up there and have
good at-bats, and we know the
home runs will come.
Giants pitcher Tim Hudson
will have the task of containing the Cardinals in game three,
while St. Louis will send John
Lackey to the mound.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy

said his team felt condent after

claiming one victory in hostile
territory. But he expects the series to remain close.
This isnt going to be easy,
Bochy said. We are playing a
very good club, and they did a
good job of coming back on us.
Hudson gave up just one run
on seven hits in seven and onethird innings in the game two
of the National League division
series against Washingtonan
18-inning marathon eventually
won by the Giants.
Lackey has won four of his
past ve playoff starts, going 3-1
last October for the World Series
champion Red Soxwho beat the
Cardinals for the title last year.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday named
Chip Hale as their new manager,
replacing Kirk Gibson who was
sacked shortly before the club
completed its dismal 2014 Major
League Baseball campaign.
Hale, a former Arizona third
base coach, most recently served
as the bench coach for Oakland
Athletics manager Bob Melvin
for three years.
Were going to set a culture
here about winning, about having fun, about being competitive
in the clubhouse, having pride,
Hale said.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

RUGBY
Injury cloud
has silver lining
for Japan coach
Jones
TOKYO: Japan coach Eddie
Jones will be without eight
senior players for internationals against the Maori All
Blacks, Georgia and Romania
next month, but rather than
cursing his luck he says it is
fantastic timing with the
2015 World Cup looming.
Japan open their World Cup
campaign against South Africa on Sept. 19 next year and
Jones told a news conference
the raft of injuries offered
him the perfect opportunity
to run the rule over potential
squad players for the tournament in England.
Halfback Fumiaki Tanaka will
miss the November internationals as he is playing for the
Barbarians against Australia
and Leicester Tigers, while
the seven other absentees sit
out due to injury.
It was fantastic timing for
that to happen as it will
really test our depth and
is a fantastic opportunity
for those who have not
been in the 23 to show us
whether they are capable
of being in the 31-man
squad for the World Cup,
Japans Kyodo news
agency quoted Jones as
saying yesterday.
Japan host the Maori All
Blacks in Kobe on Nov. 1 and
then Tokyo a week later before they travel to Europe to
face Romania on Nov. 15 and
Georgia on Nov. 23.
Jones said the opposition
would give Japan a look at
the different styles they could
face in England next year.
Ranked 10th in the world
by governing body the IRB,
Japan will play in Pool B
with the Springboks, Samoa,
Scotland and the US.
The Maori are a free-running
unstructured team, while
Romania and Georgia are the
exact opposite, said Jones.
We may have prioritised the
World Cup ahead of shortterm results, but our target
is still to win the next four
games.
Japan have appeared at all
seven previous World Cups
but their only win came at
the 1991 tournament over
Zimbabwe and have suffered
numerous heavy defeats,
including a record 145-17 loss
to New Zealand in 1995.
They have improved greatly
under Jones with wins over
tier one nations Wales last
year and Italy in June, thanks
also to the growing success
of their domestic league,
which attracts a host of big
name internationals from
around the world.

BLEDISLOE CUP

Cooper back on bench

for embattled Wallabies
Im sure they will be determined to make the most of their opportunities
AFP
Sydney

ercurial y-half Quade

Cooper was among the
reserves named yesterday for the embattled Wallabies with Adam Ashley-Cooper chosen for his 100th Test
against the All Blacks in this
weekends Bledisloe Cup clash.
Under-re coach Ewen McKenzie made two changes to his
starting line-up with Christian
Lealiifano at inside centre and
Rob Simmons returning at lock
for a team that lost 21-17 to Argentina on October 3.
Lealiifano replaces the injured Matt Toomua while Simmons displaces James Horwill
from the beaten side in Mendoza.
Cooper has not played for
Australia this year after suffering a shoulder injury in May,
when he lost his place to Bernard Foley.
The Queensland Reds playmaker will make his return via
the bench with Foley installed
as the rst-choice number 10.
Ashley-Cooper will become
the sixth player in Australian
rugby history to reach the 100Test milestone in Saturdays nal Bledisloe Cup showdown in
Brisbane against a New Zealand
team that has already retained
the trophy.
He joins George Gregan (139
caps), Nathan Sharpe (116), George
Smith (111), Stephen Larkham
(102) and David Campese (101) as
Wallaby centurions.
Adam has had a remarkable
career and he deserves the accolades which come with joining what is an extremely elite
group of players to have played
100 games for Australia, McKenzie said.
Its a massive honour and a
true testament of his ability to
play at a consistently high level
over such a long period of time.
McKenzie
also
backed
Lealiifano and Cooper to make
a positive return.
Its always hard when you
have to watch from the sidelines, so Im sure they will be

Quade Cooper has a lot of great memories at Suncorp Stadium

determined to make the most of
their opportunities, he said.
Theyre two experienced
players who have performed at
a high level for Australia before,
and you cant discount the value
of experience in these big games.
Quade has had a lot of great
memories at Suncorp Stadium,
and well be looking for him
to provide the same impact
should he get called on late in
the game.

TEXT SCANDAL
McKenzie has had a tumultuous week dealing with the
fall-out of the Kurtley Beale text
scandal which led to the resignation of team business manager Di Patston.
The coach was forced to deny
having an affair with Patston
and rejected reports of team
splits over her role in the running of the team.
Beale faces an Australian

Rugby Union code of conduct

hearing, with his future in serious doubt, following the publication of the text messages between him and Patston.
The fallout has put McKenzies coaching position under
scrutiny at a time when his success rate has slumped to 52%
from his 21 Tests in charge.
The group has spoken about
the importance of this weeks
game and ensuring the focus

SPOTLIGHT

Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita

Kuridrani, Christian Lealiifano,
Joe Tomane; Bernard Foley,
Nick Phipps; Scott Higginbotham, Michael Hooper (capt),
Scott Fardy; Rob Simmons,
Sam Carter; Sekope Kepu, Saia
Faingaa, James Slipper.
Reserves: Josh Mann-Rea,
Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander,
James Horwill, Matt Hodgson,
Nic White, Quade Cooper, Rob
Horne.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM

Armitage could end England

exile with move home
Reuters
London

oulon anker Steffon Armitage could be

set to end his England
exile with a surprise
return to the Premiership to
make himself available for the
national team ahead of the 2015
World Cup.
The 29-year-old has ve
England caps but has been
overlooked by coach Stuart Lancaster since moving to
France in 2011 due to Rugby
Football Union rules that say
overseas-based players will be
selected only in extraordinary
circumstances.
But British media reported
on Tuesday that talks are taking
place between leading Premiership clubs and Toulon about
signing Armitage.
The seasons begun. We
have to be quick if he wants to
change, Toulon coach Bernard
Laporte told the BBC.
Armitage, who was voted
European player of the year
last season, signed a threeyear contract extension with
European champions Toulon
in 2013.
He has a contract (with
Toulon), but if the England
coach says if he plays for Bath
or for Saracens then he will play
in the World Cup, I think he has
to play for these clubs, he said.
Armitage, whose brother

remains on our preparation and

putting the team in the best
possible position to win the
game on Saturday night, McKenzie said.
Its always important to
perform in front of your home
fans, and this week offers the
team a chance to end the 2014
home Test season unbeaten, and
square the series against New
Zealand.
Australia (15-1) - Israel Folau;

Steffon Armitage set to end his England exile.

Delon also plays for Toulon,
emerged as a target for the
French selectors after a change
in International Rugby Board
(IRB) eligibility.
A move back to Englands
Premiership would represent
a coup for Lancaster, bringing
back an important player ahead
of next years tournament and
warding off interest from a major rival.
Armitage, a dynamic run-

ner and skilful operator at the

breakdown, would compete for
the England openside anker
position with captain Chris
Robshaw and give Lancaster
more strength in depth in a crucial position.
Toulon host Scarlets in the
European Rugby Champions
Cup on Sunday and if Armitage plays he would be ineligible
to represent another club in the
tournament.

Dallaglio calls on England to

set tone ahead of World Cup
Lawrence Dallaglio has called
on England to set the tone
ahead of the 2015 World Cup
by defeating some of their main
rivals for the trophy in the upcoming international series.
Stuart Lancasters side host
New Zealand, South Africa,
Samoa and Australia in next
months Tests in the next phase

of their build-up before hosting

the World Cup.
Former England captain Dallaglio believes winning as many
matches as possible at Twickenham, the venue for all but
one of their games at the tournament, between now and the
Group A opener against Fiji is
imperative.
And with the Springboks the
only team Lancasters England
have yet to defeat, Dallaglio
views them as the prized scalp.
England need to beat South
Africa, Dallaglio said on Monday. The last time they played
them at Twickenham in 2012
they were properly beaten up,
but this England side is much
stronger now.
Going into the World Cup
you want to make sure you can
beat every side, which makes
that xture fascinating.
To win a World Cup you probably have to play and beat two of
the southern hemisphere sides.
If England came away with
two out of three southern hemisphere victories, that would
show they are genuine World
Cup contenders.
Of course it would be lovely
if we were Six Nations champions next year, but Id be more
concerned if they were losing
at Twickenham. If England
win every game at Twickenham
theyll win the World Cup. Thats
what home advantage gives you.
Reconrming that less than a
year away would be good

Ten newcomers in
Kangaroos Four
Nations squad
AFP
Welllington

ewcastle
teenager
Sione Matautia and
South Sydney grand
nal heroes Alex Johnston and Dylan Walker were
among 10 newcomers named in
Australias 24-man squad yesterday for this months Four Nations rugby league tournament.
The Kangaroos have been
weakened by injuries to leading
players and coach Tim Sheens
ushered in some of the National
Rugby Leagues exciting young
stars for the tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
Matautia, 18, has played just
seven NRL games after debuting
for the Knights in July and if he
starts he will become the youngest Test player in Australian rugby league history.
Johnston had a spectacular
rookie season, scoring 21 tries in 18
games, including the opening try
in the Rabbitohs title droughtbreaking 30-6 grand nal victory
over Canterbury this month.
Rabbitohs teammate Walker
also earned a berth in the squad
along with Canterbury forwards
David Klemmer and Josh Jackson, Brisbane Broncos scrumhalf Ben Hunt and Penrith back
Josh Mansour.
The squad, led by skipper
Cameron Smith, has plenty of
rookies following the injuryenforced withdrawal of some
of the biggest stars in the game,

among them Jonathan Thurston

and Billy Slater, while New South
Wales skipper Paul Gallen is
serving a drug ban.
Australia kick off their Four
Nations campaign against New
Zealand in Brisbane on October
25, with England also facing Samoa on the same double-header
bill.
The Kangaroos then play England in Melbourne on November
2 and Samoa in Wollongong on
November 9.
The nal of the four-week
tournament will be held in Wellington on November 15.
Australia - Greg Bird (Gold
Coast Titans), Daly Cherry-Evans
(Manly Sea Eagles), Boyd Cordner
(Sydney Roosters), Cooper Cronk
(Melbourne Storm), Robbie Farah (Wests Tigers), Aidan Guerra
(Sydney Roosters), Jarryd Hayne
(Parramatta Eels), Ryan Hoffman (Melbourne Storm), Ben
Hunt (Brisbane Broncos), Greg
Inglis (South Sydney Rabbitohs),
Josh Jackson (Canterbury Bulldogs), Michael Jennings (Sydney
Roosters), Alex Johnston (South
Sydney Rabbitohs), David Klemmer (Canterbury Bulldogs), Josh
Mansour (Penrith Panthers),
Sione Matautia (Newcastle
Knights), Josh Papalii (Canberra
Raiders), Corey Parker (Brisbane
Broncos), Beau Scott (Newcastle
Knights), Cameron Smith (capt Melbourne Storm), Sam Thaiday
(Brisbane Broncos), Daniel Tupou
(Sydney Roosters), Dylan Walker
(South Sydney Rabbitohs), Aaron
Woods (Wests Tigers).

10

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

CRICKET
SPOTLIGHT

Afridis comments irresponsible, says PCB chief

Reuters
Karachi

he Pakistan Cricket Board

(PCB) will look into comments made by stand-in
skipper Shahid Afridi which
fuelled speculation about the future
of captain Misbah-ul-Haq, board
chairman Shaharyar Khan said yesterday. The 40-year-old Misbah had
opted to sit out Pakistans third oneday international against Australia
in Abu Dhabi and all-rounder Afridi
was named to lead the side.
Afridis comments at a news con-

ference gave rise to speculation that

he was in line to lead the team during
next years World Cup and hinted at
strife within the team. Khan stepped
in to defuse the controversy and reiterated that Misbah would remain
in charge through next years showpiece event in Australia and New
Zealand.
As far as the PCB is concerned,
we are supporting Misbah and he
is our captain till the World Cup,
Khan said. The remarks made by
Afridi are regretful and unfortunate
and perhaps gave the indication of
something wrong in the team. We
are looking into Afridis statement to

see whether he has violated his central contract terms and if this is so
disciplinary action can be taken
against him.
The 34-year-old Afridi said he was
ready to lead the team and the board
should decide quickly who they
wanted as captain in the World Cup.
His remarks fuelled speculation
that Misbah, who has been leading Pakistan since 2010, was put
under pressure to step aside for the
third ODI. Misbah or me, whoever
is to lead Pakistan in the World Cup
he should know it now, Afridi said
after Pakistans one-run defeat
which handed Australia a 3-0 series

win in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Khan said Afridi should have
been more careful with his words
and added that Misbah had himself
opted to sit out because he was worried with his form. I had a long talk
with Misbah and he remains our captain but he himself has said that if he
doesnt get runs in the coming Tests
against Australia and New Zealand
he doesnt want to be a burden on the
team, Khan said.
The PCB chief also pulled Afridi up
on his form. Now people are saying
Afridi should be the captain but although his bowling has improved his
batting hasnt, said Khan. Its up to

the selectors to judge and see does he

(Afridi) deserve a place in the team,
Khan said.
Afridi took 3-46 in Pakistans 93run defeat in the rst one-dayer in
Sharjah, his rst wickets in seven
one-day internationals. Afridi, who
has so far played 384 one-day internationals, has made only one half
century in the last 28 innings.
Misbah has been Pakistans leading run scorer in Tests and ODIs over
the last three years but has struggled
since the tour to Sri Lanka in August.
He also failed to get runs in the rst
two ODIs against Australia, who
swept the three-match series.

FOCUS

Shahid Afridi

BIG BREAK

Clarke hopes Australia

can carry momentum

Pakistan name
rookie spinner
for Test series

In any form of the game I love seeing Australia have success and win

AFP
Karachi

AFP
Dubai

it-again Australian captain Michael Clarke said

yesterday he hopes his
team can carry the momentum of its Twenty20 and
one-day wins over Pakistan into
the two-match Test series starting next week.
Australia routed Pakistan 3-0
in the one-day series which nished on Sunday and also won
the only Twenty20 match by ve
wickets in Dubai. The 33-yearold, who sat out the one-day
series due to a hamstring injury,
will test his tness in the fourday preparation match against
Pakistan A starting from today.
That will put Clarke on course
for the rst of two Tests starting
in Dubai from October 22. The
second Test will be played in Abu
Dhabi from October 30. Its bviously a different format of the
game but the players that have
been involved in T20 and One
day series will take that condence into the Test matches,
said Clarke.
In any form of the game I
love seeing Australia have success and win and the momentum
players have been able to produce is really exciting and hopefully, the Test players can grab
that momentum and continue to
run with it.
Pakistan have not beaten Australia in a Test series since the
match-xing 1995 home games.
Then Pakistan captain Salim
Malik was banned for life after Australian playersShane

Warne, Mark Waugh and Tim

Mayalleged he offered them a
bribe to under perform on that
tour.
Clarke showed condence of
regaining full tness after getting
injured on the tour of Zimbabwe
in August. I feel a lot better now
than I did certainly after Zimbabwe when I tore a hamstring so
I will be playing in the four day
match. I think I am just trying to
take every single step along the
way and listen to the experts.
I have always worked exceptionally hard on my tness and at
33 of age that will certainly continue. I feel t and I have given
my body every single chance to
be as close to 100 percent as possible on a daily basis.
Clarke said Pakistan always
pose different challenges.
I think Pakistan in general are
very talented in all formats of the
game, always had very good spin
bowlers and good fast bowlers
who can execute reverse swing.
There are probably two major
areas as to how you face spin and
how you face reverse swing and
the other side of that is how you
bowl spin and how you bowl reverse swing, said Clarke.
Clarke says he has condence
in his one-day ability. I still
have got lot to offer in one day
cricket. The reason why I retired
from T20 was to give myself the
chance to be the best I can possibly be in the other two formats
and help Australia have success
I think it has probably given me
more hunger to get back into the
One-day format which I have
been missing in the last couple of
series, said Clarke.

ROUND-UP

BOTTOMLINE

Brisbane close in on Flintoff move

kistanaccording to FBR gures, less than
0.5 per cent of Pakistanis pay income tax, or
just 750,000 individuals out of a population
of some 180 million.

Agencies
London

x-England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is close to joining Brisbane Heat

for the 2014-15 Big Bash League, the
Australian clubs coach revealed in a
British newspaper interview published yesterday. Flintoff, 36, ended ve years in retirement earlier this year when he returned
to former club Lancashire for Englands T20
Blast tournament.
After initial struggles with injury, he
caught the eye on T20 nals daynotably
dismissing former England teammate Ian
Bell with his rst balland it convinced
Brisbane to move for his services.
Weve had discussions with Freddie,
Brisbane coach Stuart Law, who was at Lancashire from 2002 to 2008, told regional
newspaper the Manchester Evening News.
While Flintoff s best days are clearly behind him, Law said that he would not be
moving to Australia just to pick up a sizeable
pay-check. I have spoken to Fred and made
it clear that this is not a holiday, but he told
me cricket is number one for him, and that it
is not about collecting cash, its about winning trophies, said Law.
Flintoff has previously expressed an interest in playing in the Big Bash. If theres an
opportunity there, why not? Its one of the
things Ive wanted to do. I was about to sign
for Queensland in 2009 when I retired.

MISBAHS BANK ACCOUNTS FROZEN

FOR TAX EVASION
Pakistans revenue authorities have frozen
the bank accounts of cricket captain Misbah-ul Haq over alleged tax evasion, officials
said, plunging the star into fresh crisis.

akistan named uncapped

leg-spinner Yasir Shah
(right) to replace the
suspended Saeed Ajmal in their preliminary 19-man
squad for the two Tests against
Australia starting next week in
the United Arab Emirates.
Shah, 28, was one of the leading wicket-takers in the domestic season last year, with 48
scalps, but had little success in
one-dayers or the two Twenty20s he played on the tour of
Zimbabwe three years ago. He
has yet to play a Test but chief selector Moin Khan said he expects
Shah to deliver.
Shah is one of the fast-rising
spinners at the domestic level
and we have hopes that he will
come good against Australia,
Khan told AFP by telephone from
Dubai. The rst Test begins in
Dubai on October 22 and the second in Abu Dhabi on October 30.
Pakistan face a tough challenge
to replace Ajmal, who has singlehandedly anchored the teams
wins across all three formats
over the last ve years. Ajmals
bowling action was reported as
suspect during the Galle Test in
Sri Lanka in August. It was subsequently found to be illegal after
biomechanic analysis in Australia
which led to his suspension.
Left-arm spinners Zulqar
Babar and Raza Hasanwho both
played in the 3-0 one-day series
defeat against Australia in the
UAE which nished on Sunday
are also in the preliminary squad.
But there was no place for Ajmals spinning partner Abdur
Rehman, who endured a miser-

Australian captain Michael Clarke,

who sat out the one-day series due
to a hamstring injury, will test his
fitness in the four-day preparation
match against Pakistan A starting
from today.

Andrew Flintoff.
Misbah is currently struggling with poor
form with the bat and pulled out of the third
and nal one-day against Australia in Abu
Dhabi on Sunday. Federal Bureau of Revenue
(FBR) spokesman Shahid Hussain said that
batsman Azhar Alis accounts have also been
frozen. Hussain said: Misbah has not paid
taxes of 3.9 million rupees and Ali owes 1.5
million rupees in taxes, so the FBR has frozen
their accounts and as per rules, their banks
will be asked to deduct the amount if it is
there in their accounts.
A number of players have been investigated for tax evasion of the past few years. In
2012, the FBR warned Misbah and a number
of players over tax evasion, and in July this
year the 40-year-old approached nance
minister Ishaq Dar to resolve the income tax
issues. Dar reportedly promised to resolve
the issue but categorically told the players
that paying taxes is a national obligation for
every citizen. Tax evasion is rampant in Pa-

SPINNER PATEL CALLED UP FOR

ODIS AGAINST WINDIES
Gujarat and Kings XI Punjab left-arm spinner Akshar Patel has been included in the Indian squad for the remaining two One-Day
Internationals against the West Indies
Akshar and Manish Pandey have also been
called up for the one-off Twenty20 international to be played after the ODIs. Akshar
made his debut for India against Bangladesh in June. He claimed eight wickets from
ve matches in the Champions League T20
while Manish Pandey is yet to make his international debut.
Suresh Raina was named the Board Presidents XI captain for a three-day match in
Kanpur against the West Indies, ahead of the
Test series. Rohit Sharma and spinner Kuldeep Yadav have also been added.
India ODI squad for the last two ODIS: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan,
Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina,
Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra,
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Ishant
Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Murali Vijay, Kuldeep
Yadav, Akshar Patel.
India T20 squad: MS Dhoni (captain), Shikhar
Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh
Raina, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Karn Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, M Shami,
Sanju Samson, Manish Pandey, Umesh Yadav.
Board Presidents squad: Suresh Raina
(captain), Jiwanjot Singh, Lokesh Rahul, Naman
Ojha, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Wriddhiman
Saha, Karun Nair, Parvez Rasool, Pankaj Singh,
Ishwar Pandey, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma,
Kuldeep Yadav.

Ajmal ready for

bowling test, says
Pakistan board
Reuters
Karachi

ormer Pakistan offspinner

Saqlain
Mushtaq
believes
Saeed Ajmal has rectied his action to permissible limits and is ready to
undergo a test to return to
cricket, the countrys board
said yesterday.
The PCB will rst send
Ajmal, who was barred from
bowling in international
cricket for an illegal action, for an informal review,
chairman Shaharyar Khan
told reporters. The board had
hired Mushtaq on a shortterm contract to help Ajmal
correct his action, which
breached the 15 degrees level
of tolerance allowed by the
International Cricket Council for bowlers to straighten
their arm.
Saqlain has given a positive report that Ajmal has
managed to remodel his
bowling action to within
the permissible limits of the
ICC. He and Ajmal are both
ready to go for the informal
tests, Khan said.

Once he clears the informal test we will then ask the

ICC to test out Ajmal so that
he can be cleared before the
World Cup.
Ajmal, who has been Pakistans leading wickettaker in all formats for the
last three years, was rst reported by match officials in
August during the rst Test
against Sri Lanka in Galle.
Ajmal is vital to our chances
in the World Cup so we will
follow all the permitted
routes to get him cleared by
the ICC, Khan added.
Very soon we will be
sending him for an informal
review to one of the three
biomechanic labs of the ICC
and we are hopeful he can be
available for the World Cup.
In Ajmals absence, Australia thrashed Pakistan
in the lone Twenty20 and
blanked them 3-0 in the
three match ODI series in
the UAE. Khan, who visited
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
India to drum up support for
the return of international
cricket to Pakistan, said
some subcontinent teams
were ready to send their national teams to Pakistan.

able tour of Sri Lanka where Pakistan lost both Tests in August.
Experienced batsman Younis
Khan returns to the Test squad
after being dropped for the oneday series against Australia.
The announcement of a preliminary Test squad came after
pacemen Wahab Riaz and Junaid
Khan were injured during the
one-day series against Australia.
We will reduce the Test squad
to 15 after the four-day practice
match between Pakistan A and
Australia in Sharjah starting on
Wednesday, said Khan.
Two uncapped paceman, Imran Khan and Ataullah, who uses
only one name, are also in the initial squad. Ataullahs bowling action was reported in the national
Twenty20 tournament but Khan
said his action was cleared after
adjustments.
Misbah-ul-Haq
will lead the Test side.
Squad: Misbah-ul Haq (capt),
Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad
Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Shan
Masood, Sami Aslam, Younis Khan,
Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail,
Mohammad Talha, Rahat Ali, Imran
Khan, Ehsan Adil, Ataullah, Sarfraz
Ahmed, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah,
Raza Hassan.

Akram says
young Pak
players need
more support
Karachi: Former captain
Wasim Akram yesterday
blamed a lack of international cricket and the absence
of a system for developing
young players for Pakistans
disappointing defeats in
recent months.
Pakistan lost the final
one-day international against
Australia in Abu Dhabi on
Sunday to complete a 3-0
rout, and the upcoming Test
series in the United Arab
Emirates looks likely to be a
tough proposition.
The common complaint in
international cricket is that
teams play too many matches, but Wasim said Pakistan
were suffering for precisely
the opposite reason.
Australia were always
favourites to win the one-day
series, Wasim told AFP. So
dont blame the Pakistan
team, because they are
playing so much less international cricket than other
countries.
Pakistan lost one-day and
Test series against Sri Lanka
in Augusttheir first international encounters in six
months. I think the Pakistan
Cricket Board should arrange
more Under-19 tours and
Pakistan A tours which will
help groom youngsters.

Gulf Times
Wednesday, October 15, 2014

POSTER

Merv

Hughes

FORMER AUSTRALIAN FAST BOWLER | NICKNAME: FRUITFLY (THE BIGGEST AUSTRALIAN PEST!) | CROWD FAVOURITE

11

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

SPORT

GULF TIMES
FOOTBALL

Qatar beat Oman to get through to AFC U-19 quarters

Agencies
Yangon

hmed al-Sadis brace against Oman

saw Qatar sail through to the AFC
U-19 Championship quarter-nals as
Group D toppers. Qatar won the match
2-0 at Thuwunna Youth Training Centre Stadium yesterday even as 2012 nalists Iraq crashed
out in Nay Pyi Taw, losing 2-1 to North Korea.
Having scored the equaliser against Iraq in
their 1-1 draw on Sunday, al-Sadi was once more
the catalyst for Qatars ne display.
Al-Sadi earned the lead for Qatar after winning and converting a penalty only two minutes
shy of the hour-mark.
Less than 10 minutes later, he was on target
again for his tournament-leading fourth goal of
the competition.
The result means Qatar will now face Group C
runners-up China on Friday to compete for a place
in the semi-nals, while North Korea will face
Group C winners and East Asian rivals Japan.
Obviously it was a nal for all four teams to-

day, with us all having a chance to qualify and

my players looked a little nervous at the beginning, said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez.
In the second half we played well, especially
at the start of the 45, and we did what we needed
to do. The weather here was a bit hotter and our
legs arent as fresh as they were at the start of
the tournament, but my players responded well
and made a great effort.
Playing their third game in ve days, both
teams looked to conserve their rst half energy
on a hot and humid afternoon in Yangon.
Qatar had the halfs rst opportunity in the
20th minute, when Almoez Ali ran down the
left, reached the box and unleashed a powerful
shot for Oman goalkeeper Alaa al-Shiyadi to
make a strong save.
The second chance came on the half hour as
on-the-run Fahad al-Abdulrahman threaded
the ball through three Oman defenders and
found Ali, who slid his shot wide of the left upright.
Omans only chance of the half came one
minute from the interval when Hatem al-Rushadi put the ball well wide of the far post despite

nding himself with time and space in the box.

But the second period did bring forth the
games goals, though, as Qatar pushed to ensure
qualication as group leaders.
And it was on the 58th minute that they broke
the deadlock, as al-Sadi ran through a number
of defenders only to be brought down in the box
by Maadh al-Khaldi.
Al-Sadi dusted himself off before stepping up
the mark and, seeing the keeper move early to his
right, placed the ball casually to al-Shiyadis left.
The midelders second came just six minutes
later as an Abdullah al-Ahrak corner found alSadi arriving beyond the far post to head the ball
into the net.
Oman found it difficult to nd a way back into
the game from there, the only real opportunity
falling to al-Khaldi, who in a crowded box, failed
with his attempted bicycle kick from a corner,
with the defeat conrming their elimination
from the tournament and Qatars progress.
Action from Qatars last Group D AFC U-19
Championship match against Oman. Qatar won
the match 2-0 to top the group.

DOHA GOALS FORUM

SWIMMING

Comebacks not
on Bartolis mind
2013 Wimbledon champion says honoured to be part of 2014 Doha GOALS
By Mikhil Bhat
Doha

hen Wimbledon began this

year, it was the rst time
since 1997 that the champion did not defend her title.
Marion Bartoli retired 39 days after she
won her rst and last Grand Slam on the
grass courts of All England Club in 2013.
When I started playing in 2013, I knew
it would be very, very hard for me to keep
playing for a long time, Bartoli told Gulf
Times during a telephonic interview.
The pain I was feeling every day, how
tired I felt every day So I knew that most
probably it was my last year. Thankfully,
I think it was my destiny that I won the
Wimbledon that year.
She admits that winning a Grand Slam
made it easier for her to decide on retirement. It had been a dream. It made my
decision easier but had I been able to play
at the highest level, for sure I would have.
I wish I had won a Grand Slam earlier and
I would have continued playing. Unfortunately I didnt.
Despite the fact that modern power
game in tennis took a toll on her body, her
belief in the game remains the same as
before. I retired because I had a massive
shoulder injury, and my whole body was
breaking down. I unfortunately couldnt
play at a level I wanted to any more. But
I still love the sport and I still love to play
the sport whenever I get time. Obviously
being a Wimbledon member now [giggles] and now also a resident of London,
I am spending a bit of time there and am
able to play at the Wimbledon courts,
she said.
The 30-year-old added: I think womens tennis is getting more and more interesting. It is also attracting big crowds
to watch the game. It is growing. Also,
new players coming into the game are of
a very high level. It is great to see how it
keeps improving.
We are already in an era where we are

Frances Marion Bartoli retired 39 days after winning the 2013 Wimbledon title at the age of 29. (AFP)
playing a power game. We are not going to
go back to how it was played a couple of
decades ago.
Is the WTA Tour interesting enough to
entice her back? No, no, I wont come
back. One thing I am sure of is that I will
not come back, she asserted.
Bartoli, who was adjudged French
Sportswoman of the Year last year, is part
of a star-studded line-up of speakers who
have conrmed their participation at the
Doha GOALS Forum 2014 in Doha.
Others in the line-up are former World
Heavyweight Boxing Champion and 1968
Olympic gold medallist George Foreman,

Jamaican triple Olympic gold medallist

Veronica Campbell-Brown, former Olympic Champion and US Track & Field
director Jackie Joyner-Kersee, 1992 Olympic gold medallist Linford Christie
and retired German international footballer Christoph Metzelder.
Bartoli has played at the WTA event
in Qatar six times and reached the seminal stage twice 2011 and 2012. She was
recently seen at the Qatar Prix de lArc
de Triomphe in Paris, where HE Sheikh
Joaan bin Hamad al-Thanis horse Treve
won the event for the second straight
year.

My relationship with Qatar is extremely good. It is a place where I was

playing quite frequently on the WTA
Tour. So it is great to be invited to Doha,
she said.
On her participation in Doha GOALS,
she said: Its something that I am extremely proud of. I mean I am just 30
years old, and to be asked to speak at
this amazing global sports event is a
massive honour. I will be surrounded by
some of the biggest sports stars. It will
be interesting for me. If I can share my
experience with those involved, I will be
happy.

Tickets for World

Championships
go on sale
By Sports Reporter
Doha

wimming fans can rejoice as tickets go on sale

for swimmings season
nale, the 12th FINA
World Swimming Championships (25m), which will take place
in Dohas Hamad Aquatic Centre
between December 3 and 7.
This years FINA World Swimming Championships is already
proving to be a must-see event as
more than 1,000 swimmers have
registered their interest to compete more than any other world
championships in the past. The
ve days of thrilling competition will see 46 medal events with
morning heats starting at 9:30am
and the nals starting at 6pm.
Tickets will be on sale at leading
ticket retailer Virgin Megastores in
Qatar and online from tickets.virginmegastore.me.
Category A tickets are priced
20 QR for the morning heats
and 40 QR for the evening nals.
Category B tickets are priced at
10 QR for the morning heats and
20 QR for the nals. Doors open
at 8am each morning of the event
allowing fans to settle in before
the fast pace races get underway.
Previous victors at the FINA
World Swimming Championships include US Olympic gold
medallist Ryan Lochte, who took
home six gold medals at the last
Championships in 2012. South
African Olympic champion Chad
Le Clos, and multiple world
record-holder Katinka Hosszu
of Hungary are among the top
swimmers looking forward to a
return to Doha.
In addition, Roland Schoeman
(RSA), Daniel Gyurta (HUN),
Mireia Belmonte (ESP), Marieke
DCruz (AUS) and other key
athletes from Germany, Italy,
Russia, China, Japan and the
Netherlands are expected to be
present at the competition.
Speaking ahead of the competition, Qatar Swimming Association president and Doha 2014

CEO Khalil al-Jaber said, This

years FINA World Swimming
Championships is a must-attend
event for the community of Qatar. Weve already seen world
records broken at Hamad Aquatic Centre in the FINA Mastbank
Swimming World Cup hosted
here in August, so we know what
kind of performances the athletes are capable of here in Doha.
The buzz of the tournament is
not just conned to the swimming pool. The FINA Market
Street fun zone located just outside Hamad Aquatic Centre will
ensure the ultimate family fun
day out with interactive activities for all ages.
This year has been hailed as
Qatars year of swimming. For
the rst time in FINAs history,
a city has hosted both a World
Cup event and a World Championships event, showcasing the
countrys growing commitment
to swimming, and highlighting
the importance of this event for
world class swimmers.
Ahead of the World Championships, Doha will host the 3rd
FINA Aquatics Convention. The
convention will run from November 29 December 1 and will
provide a platform for industry
leaders and decision makers to
facilitate and support sustainable growth of aquatic sports
throughout the world. Taking
place at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel,
Doha, the conference includes
the FINA Extraordinary Congress, a session to determine future innovations and rule changes in the sport, and the 2nd FINA
Gold Swimming Coaches Clinic.
Doha is also showing its commitment to the future of swimming through a Youth Programme organised by Qatar
Olympic Committee and FINA.
The ve-day event will see 350
elite young swimmers experience the FINA Swimming World
Championships rst hand, gaining exposure to major international events and familiarise
themselves with competition
week format.

CRICKET

QCA honours Qatar Airways League champions and performers

By Sports Reporter
Doha

he Qatar Cricket Association

(QCA) honoured winners and
standout performers of the
Qatar Airways Cricket League
Championship at the annual Gala Dinner at Hotel Gulf Paradise.
Qatar Airways, like the past years,
supported the QCA National League
this season and many brilliant performances marked the division A, B
and C matches. The Division A title was
won by Commercial Bank, while Galfar
Al Misnad and HBK Club emerged as
champions in divisions B and C respectively.
Qatar Airways sales manager Ali Akbar Farabi was the chief guest at the
function and Qatar Olympic Committees Eisa Ali E Ghanem was the guest
of honour.
Also present on the occasion were
QCA president MA Shahid, QCA general secretary Manzoor Ahmad, head of
Domestic Cricket Gul Mohamed Khan
Jadoon, Chaudhry Mukhtar Ahmad,

Mohamed Akram, Syed Hassan Raza,

Mohamed Amjad Baig, Aminul Islam,
Mohamed Asif Raza and Jamshaid Ahmad.
Farabi congratulated the champions
of all three divisions and said that Qatar Airways would continue to help the
QCA in boosting the game.
Shahid extended his deep gratitude
to Qatar Airways for supporting cricket
in Qatar. He also hoped that the partnership between Qatar Airways and the
QCA would further prosper.
The QCA is always grateful to the
Qatar Olympic Committee and committed sponsors like Qatar Airways for
their backing to cricket. Were on the
right track of growth and improvement, said QCA general secretary Ahmad.
The past season has been good
for the game in Qatar. But we have to
push harder to take the sport to higher
reaches. In the next season, our targets
would obviously be higher and it would
be possible to achieve them only when
we all work in unison, he added.
Al Feroz bowler Hafiz Nadeem
scalped 22 wickets in Division A,

including three five-wicket hauls.

Awais of Asian Club and Shihabuddin
of Bangladesh Club had the distinction of securing seven wickets in two
matches.
Five batsmen struck a century each
in the Division A, including Mohamed
Boota of Al Feroz, who had Leaguehigh 125 against Bangladesh Club. Other century-makers were Awais (Asian
Club), Noman (Qatari Diar), Tanveer
(Asian Club) and Sanka (Al Hanzab
Club).
In Division B, Ali of Commercial
Bank and Tariq Afridi of Khyber Club
were the only ones to reach three-gure
scores. Janaka of Garvey Lions dominated the bowling charts, claiming ve
or more wickets in a match twice.
Zubair of Al Khor stole the batting
honours in Division C. The Al Khor
player twice hammered a century, with
107 against AKCC Katara being his
best knock. On six occasions, players
got ve wickets each and they were:
Suresh (Qatar Super Kings), Mujtaba
(Al Rayyan), Kamran (Mecton), Naushad (MTC), Mugheesh (HBK) and Abdul
Rehman (Al Rayyan).

Qatar Cricket Association president MA Shahid, Qatar Airways sales manager Ali Akbar Farabi and Qatar Olympic Committees
Eisa Ali E Ghanem with the awardees and QCA officials.