NEWSNOW

MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011

GMAURITIANS WARNED – Page 2

newsnow.mu Issue No. 417

GWORLD OPINION – Pages 10-11 Liverpool

GMUBARAK FIDDLES – Page 12
GFOREIGNERS FLEE – Page 13 snatch
Carroll
TORRES MOVE
NOW IMMINENT

GNewcastleʼs Andy Carroll.

LONDON: Liverpool had a British transfer record offer
accepted by Newcastle United for striker Andy Carroll,
the Premier League club said last night.
The 35 million pounds deal also appeared to open the
way for Fernando Torres to move to Chelsea for a report-

CHAOS
ed 50 million pounds as the transfer deadline approached
(3am Mauritian time).
Newcastle, who had turned down two offers for the 22-
year-old yesterday, caved in when Carroll handed in a
transfer request which they “reluctantly” accepted.
Reports put the fee at 35 million pounds ($56.14 mil-
lion), plus add-ons, which would make him comfortably
the most expensive signing by a British club, eclipsing the
fee Manchester City paid Real Madrid for Robinho and
Manchester United paid Tottenham Hotspur for Dimitar
Berbatov.

RULES
Carroll’s move to Liverpool, who have also signed
Uruguay’s Luis Suarez from Ajax as new manager Torres
to complete his switch to Chelsea.
The powerful Carroll, born in the Newcastle heartland
of Gateshead, made his first-team debut in 2006 and has
developed into one of the Premier League’s most feared
frontmen, netting 11 times in the league this season.
Although Dalglish insisted yesterday that Liverpool,
who rejected Chelsea’s first offer of 35 million pounds,
were ready to ignore all bids, it is claimed the improved
offer could persuade the club’s American owners to

EGYPT
change their minds.
“With regards to Fernando, it’s the same as what the
club statement was two or three days ago,” Dalglish said.
“We will stick to that and we won’t be adding to that.
“Our supporters deserve to be told but I think our sup-
porters deserve to be told definitive news rather than spec-
ulative stuff.”

MICHAELA MURDER PROBE NEARS END – Page 3


WARNING TO MAURITIANS:
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Stay away
from Egypt
GA woman passes an Egyptian soldier while carrying a placard that reads “Mubarak, leave,
God help us” during a protest in Cairo yesterday.
ALL MAURITIANS SAID TO BE SAFE
Clifford Vellien
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional
Integration and International Trade has warned
Mauritians not to fly to Egypt as thousands of
protesters are still occupying the streets calling
for President Hosni Mubarak to resign.
“The ministry strongly advises Mauritians not to
undertake any travel to Egypt until the situation
improves,” stated a communiqué issued yesterday.
It also said that the Mauritian mission in Egypt “has
informed that all Mauritians are safe”.
The communiqué urged Mauritians who are current-
ly in Egypt to exercise extreme caution and avoid
being in crowded areas. They are also advised to give
their whereabouts to the Embassy of Mauritius in
Egypt in case the situation deteriorates further.
HAVE A RELATIVE IN EGYPT?
Any worried relatives in Mauritius can con-
tact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the fol-
lowing numbers:
Mr R. Sawmy - First Secretary: 942-1719
(mobile), 405-2606/07 (office)
feedback@newsnow.mu
MauritiusNow
Page 2
Water
curbs
remain
in place
RECENT DOWNPOURS
ʻENCOURAGINGʼ
By Nitesh Boodhoo
Water supply restrictions remain.
That was the message from the Ministerial
Committee chaired by the Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Public Utilities and
Energy, Dr Rashid Beebeejaun, which met yes-
terday.
Even though many areas of the country have
been hit by major downpours over the past few
days, water levels in most reservoirs have only
very slightly gone up leaving water level at
reservoirs still below average.
And it’s no change for most of the regions
which have recently been getting water only
once a day.
The Communications Manager of the Central
Water Authority (CWA), Mr Bhishek Narain,
told NEWSNOW yesterday that the downpours
have had only a very slight impact on the critical
water situation.
“It’s encouraging. The underground water
reserves of the country have also benefitted from
the downpours. But we are still at below-average
which has compelled the committee to maintain
water curbs.” M
He explained that these measures will keep the
country on the “safe side”.
“We will need to have heavy downpours for
two weeks for our water reserves to be full. Let’s
pray that the rains come and that they last,” he
added.
According to latest figures released by the
CWA, the water level at the Mare aux Vacoas
reservoir as at yesterday (Monday) was 37.5%,
Piton du Millieu was at 43.1%, Nicoliere was at
77.9% and the Midlands Dam was at 39.2%.
Mr Rabin Sawmy, First Secretary at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, told NEWSNOW that so far his office
has not received any unfavourable reports on the
Mauritians who are currently in Egypt.
He also said that though international communica-
tion with Egypt is very difficult, the ministry is being
informed about the situation there, particularly on the
security of Mauritians. About the number of
Mauritians who are in Egypt, he said that some 15 to
20 locals are there, adding that it’s difficult to know the
exact figures as some Mauritians are in the country for
business, others are there to attend meetings or confer-
ences.
Mr Ah-Yao Lam, chief of protocol at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, said that Mauritius is seeking the
assistance of France to repatriate the Mauritians from
Egypt if it is necessary. He too warned Mauritians in
Egypt to be “extremely cautious”.
Mr T. Reetoo - Acting First Secretary: 250-
0753 (mobile), 405-2611 (office)
Mr S. Gaffar – Second Secretary: 405-2557
(office)
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 3

Michaela murder
probe nears end DETECTIVES TYING UP FINAL
LAWYER COMPLAINS
ABOUT COVERAGE PIECES OF A DEADLY PUZZLE
By Nitesh Boodhoo By Nitesh Boodhoo away from the room and minutes later, I saw
Treebhoowoon and supervisor Moonea leaving the
Mrs Poonum Sookhun, the lawyer for suspect Dassen Narayanen, The Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT) is room. They were sweating.
sent a communiqué yesterday stating that three newspapers “have nearing the end of the investigation into the murder “I asked them what happened and Treebhoowoon
reported quite clearly that my client has apparently been suffering of Michaela Harte-McAreavey, whose body was told me that he had slight trouble with one of the
from hallucinations, in particular having experienced the return of found in Room 1025 at the Legends Hotel on wheels of his trolley.” Police revealed that it was
the spectre of the murder victim, late Mrs Michaela McAreavey January 10. the conversation between the three men, which was
born Harte”. This is untrue, The MCIT is still waiting for the DNA report recorded on CCTV, which gave them a vital lead in
the lawyer said. from the Forensic Science Laboratory to
She claimed that one of the submit the entire report on the killing to the
newspapers has also made a Director of Public Prosecutions.
direct link of such occurrence All five suspects – Sandip Mooneea,
to the well known masterpiece floor supervisor, Avinash Treebhoowoon
of William Shakespeare, and Raj Theekoye, room attendants,
Macbeth. Dassen Narayanen and Seenarain Mungoo,
“I have grave concern as to security officers – will appear at the
the implication of my client District Court of Mapou tomorrow.
into a guilt trip for murder The final crime reconstruction concern-
made by the three newspapers ing the murder took place on Saturday at
(to which) I referred,” she the Legends Hotel, where the prime murder
said. suspect, Sandip Mooneea, who has denied
“I have no choice but to the allegations, showed investigators his
raise awareness about the location at the time of the killing.
need for the media and press Mooneea told police that it was only
to report matters responsibly after he learned that there was a problem
and accurately,” she added. that he rushed to room 1025.
She clarified that after she GSuspect Dassen Security officer Naranayen, who is sus-
pected to have switched the electronic
had various and thorough con- Narayanen. swipe card of Room 1025 to hand it over to
ferences with her client, she
learned that no such occurrence has happened. the main suspect also took part a recon-
“The MCIT has not mentioned about my client hallucinating nor struction on Saturday.
has the medical doctors of the hospital observed any such halluci- Narayanen showed to investigators the
nations. Put simply, my client has not been suffering from any kind path he took and where he handed over the
of hallucination whatsoever.” key card of the room to Sandip Mooneea.
She explained that Dassen Narayanen was taken to hospital for While Mooneea continues to deny the
a “rather minor” respiratory problem which, according to her, is charges, the second murder suspect,
nasal or asthma-related and otherwise any stress suffered was Avinash Treebhoowoon, who is also provi-
nothing other than a normal consequence of him being held in sionally charged with murder, explained
detention. during his reconstruction how Mooneea
“The point I make is a simple and clear one: Whilst the media strangled the victim while he pinned her to
and press exercise the right to freedom of expression, I also draw the floor by holding her legs.
your attention that such freedom should not be exercised in a way Raj Theekoy, charged with conspiracy to
that will encroach upon fair reporting. commit murder, told investigators his exact loca- the murder investigation.
“More importantly, my client has a constitutional right to a fair tions on the day Michaela Harte-McAreavey was However, the last security officer to be arrested,
trial before a court of law. It is therefore improper for the three killed during what police believe was a robbery Sandeep Mungoo, may be bailed this week after a
newspapers I referred to imply a guilt trip of Shakespearian pro- gone wrong. statement by Dassen Narayanen exonerated him.
portion upon my client pending a murder investigation let alone a According to his statement, the door of room Narayanen had claimed that he initially incriminat-
formal charge related to murder at this early stage,” she said. 1025 was closed and the work trolley of Avinash ed Mungoo because he was not on good terms with
Treebhoowoon was in front of the door. “I went him.

Minister hits back in Ameer row

By Nitesh Boodhoo
Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and
Employment Shakeel Mohamed has hit
back at a trade unionist in the continuing
row over sacked MBC employee Rehana
Ameer.
The President of the Government Hindi
Teachers’ Union (GHTU), Mr Suttyhudeo
Tengur, criticised the minister and trade
unionists for giving false hope to Mrs
Ameer.
Mr Mohamed told NEWSNOW yester-
day that Mr Tengur “does not even know
about the employment laws”.
“A little knowledge is dangerous. Tengur
has very little knowledge about the situation
and therefore he should refrain from mak-
ing comments,” Mr Mohamed said.
“If Tengur is criticising trade unionists,
Mrs Ameer and my ministry, he must sure-
ly have a political agenda behind this.”
He explained that the Ministry of Labour,
Industrial Relations and Employment does
not have the authority to refer an industrial
dispute to the Commission of Mediation
and Conciliation (CMC).
“However, Mr Tengur is claiming that we
referred the case of Mrs Ameer to the CMC
which shows he does not even know about
the procedures.
“Tengur is directly attacking the laws and
institutions of the country; he needs to
know his subject thoroughly before making
any comments,” said Mr Mohamed.
“We can only advise the person who
needs to enter a statement at the CMC,
which was what we did. We can only go
according to the laws.
“We need to understand that the role of
the CMC is at this stage to negotiate for
reinstatement of Mrs Ameer, which is
something that cannot be forced on the
employer. Tengur does not even know about
the functions of the CMC. He needs to keep
quiet,” the minister said.
“I will always give advice to Mrs Ameer
according to the existing laws. By claiming
that I am giving false hopes to Mrs Ameer
shows his (Tengur’s) ignorance.”
GShakeel Mohamed.

MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Fuel increase
hits price
of air tickets
YOUʼLL PAY EUROS15 FROM TODAY
Air Mauritius is increasing the
fuel surcharge for tickets issued
on or after February 1, to Euros
15 per sector.
The national carrier justified the rise
because of the “sustained escalation in
the price of fuel”.
According to a communiqué, the last
fuel surcharge was in July 2008. “It has
been reduced twice since then,” says
the same communiqué.
Air Mauritius, which last week
announced its capacity plan for April
2011 to March 2012 in which a “record
number” of 1,850,000 seats is
deployed, says it will continue “to
monitor the price of fuel and keep sur-
charges under constant review”.
SEATS APLENTY
Europe: Over 23,000 additional seats or +5%
Paris: 13,700 additional seats or +5%
Joint flights operated by Air France leaving Mauritius at
night, hence improving the tourism product. Also, depar-
ture from Paris in the evening, providing twice as many
connecting flights from France and the rest of Europe.
London: 13,000 additional seats or +9%
India: 11,300 additional seats or +5%
Far East: 17,000 additional seats or +11%
Australia: 8,600 additional seats or +15%
Africa (South Africa, Kenya and Madagascar): 13,500
additional seats or +4%
Reunion: 17,500 additional seats or +4%
Rodrigues: 14,000 additional seats or +12%
Kidnap suspect in hospital
By Nitesh Boodhoo
Kidnapping suspect Diop Bhoyroo, who
was in detention at La Bastille Prison, was
admitted to hospital yesterday. The cause
of his admission has not been revealed.
Bhoyroo is being closely watched by
guards from the Groupement
d’Intervention de la Police Mauricienne
(GIPM).
Diop Bhoyroo and his twin, Yannick,
are both accused of sequestration. Diop
Bhoyroo and his father, Jose , were also
charged with illegal possession of
firearms.
Jose Bhoyroo was granted bail during a
previous hearing. The alleged offence of
possession of firearms occurred on
October 12, 2006.
The Major Crime Investigation Team
(MCIT) conducted a search in the farm of
Jose Bhoyroo in La Ferme. They alleged-
The decision to increase seating
capacity is in line with the government
goal to attract more tourists from
emerging economies. The announce-
ment was made following a joint meet-
ing held with the Mauritius Tourism
Promotion Authority (MTPA). A meet-
ing was also held with the travel part-
ners in Mauritius.
For the first time ever, Air Mauritius
will be offering 1,850,000 seats on its
network worldwide – a 6.3% increase
over last year.
Capitalising on the growth opportu-
nities in the emerging economies and
with a view to diversifying its market
base, the airline also announced direct
services to Shanghai in China with
effect from July this year as the hall-
ly found two handguns in the possession
of Diop and his father. They were both
arrested and investigators found out that
they did not have a firearm licence. During
the search, a certain amount of ammuni-
tion was also discovered.
On September 29, 2006, police discov-
ered Christophe Antoinette, a taxi driver,
trapped in a hole in the farm of Jose
Bhoyroo. The taxi driver was guarded by a
Rottweiler which investigators believed
belonged to the “twins”.
Mr Antoine, in his statement to the
MCIT, explained that he was “put in the
hole” by the Bhoyroo brothers.
A month ago, Yannick and Diop were
released by the District Court of Black
River after a common charge of murder
was dropped. They were previously
accused of having killed their younger
cousin, Judex Bhoyroo, 16, but Magistrate
Adeelah Hamuth cleared them of all
mark of its growth in Asia.
André Viljoen, the airline’s Acting
CEO, stated: “Air Mauritius’ capacity
deployed in our next financial year
reaches the highest ever for the airline
and we are delighted to be providing
more seats on our existing services
(and new service to Shanghai) to our
valued customers.
“We hope that the tourism and travel
partners will be pleased with the addi-
tional opportunities for growth world-
wide and in particular in the emerging
economies – a strategy we have adopt-
ed and which is aligned with govern-
ment’s objectives to rebalance the
growth of the tourism industry and
build in more resilience.”
charges because of a lack of evidence.
Three accomplices named in the murder
case were also released.
During the previous hearing of the pre-
liminary enquiry into the murder of Judex
Bhoyroo in the same court, Chief Police
Medical Officer, Dr Sudesh Kumar
Gungadin, stated that the bones secured by
investigators as evidence were not those of
humans but animals.
Furthermore, the report of the Forensic
Science Laboratory (FSL) confirmed that
the bones recovered on the farm in La
Ferme of Jose Bhoyroo were animal
bones.
Amidst confusion and a probable
administrative mistake, the Bhoyroo
brothers left the court but later surrendered
themselves voluntarily at the Rose Hill
Police Station. They have been in custody
since then.
ʻObligatoryʼ
Page 4
Bible
Studies
causes row
By Sheena Ramdonee
Minister of Education and Human Resources
Dr Vasant Bunwaree has revealed that an
enquiry has been launched into a charge that
Bible Studies are obligatory in colleges run by
the Bureau d’Education Catholique (BEC).
The issue was raised by Mr Ajit Gopal, pres-
ident of a socio-cultural group, Kranti.
Mr Gopal made a statement to the police
claiming that College du St Esprit is imposing
Bible Studies on students of different religious
faiths. Mr Gopal says this is nothing less than
trying to urge these students to convert to
another religion.
Mr. Jacques Malie, rector of the St Esprit
College, told NEWSNOW that Bible Studies is
a subject taught in many colleges for the past
five years.
“It is ridiculous to say that we are trying to
convert people to other religions. Bible Studies
is taught twice a week and it is nothing but an
initiation to ancient civilisations, history and
geography.
“If parents show some kind of apprehension
then we explain it to them. Parents have signed
a form before their children joined college
informing them of the subjects to be taught
from Form I to Form III. This socio-cultural
group (Kranti) is blowing things out of propor-
tion,” says Mr. Malie.
Mr Malie also added that Bible Studies is an
elective subject taught from Form I to Form
III. This means that students are free to decide
if they want to do it or not. But according to the
regulations of the ministry, there are no elec-
tive subjects in Form I to III; students are sup-
posed to do all the subjects decided by the
school.
Responding to a question from NEWSNOW,
Minister Bunwaree said that no college is
allowed to impose such a subject on its stu-
dents.
“Nowhere in our education system is it men-
tioned that colleges are allowed to impose
these subjects. They did not receive any
instructions to do so from the ministry. It has to
be the choice of the parents and the students. If
the parents agree to their children studying
Bible then there is no problem but if they are
against it and the college is imposing on them,
then necessary actions will be taken.”
GDiop Bhoyroo
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 5

Hawkers on move
ITʼS TAKEN A WHILE BUT FEBRUARY 5 IS PONT DE PARIS DAY
Rakshita Ramessur
The distribution of stalls to relocate the hawkers
of Desforges Street to Pont de Paris will be made
by drawing lots in the Municipal Town Hall on
February 4.
The information was revealed to NEWSNOW yester-
day Lord Mayor of Port Louis Dr Mahmad Khodabaccus.
The much-delayed Rs26 million Pont de Paris project is
the site for the relocation of hawkers from Desforges
Street in the capital which has been declared a non-hawk-
er zone.
Work on electricity, parking facilities and infrastructure
are now finally completed at the site.
Speaking to NEWSNOW, Dr Khodabaccus confirmed
that Pont de Paris will house 70 stalls for food and 60
stalls for non-foodstuffs.
The hawkers will be officially registered by the author-
ities and will pay an annual licence fee of Rs2,000 apart
from the monthly rental, which is Rs1,000 per stall.
Operations at Pont de Paris will start on February 5.
“Once the hawkers from Desforges Street have been
relocated to Pont de Paris, we will not tolerate any other
hawkers there. There will be strict penalties for those
breaking the rules,” warned the lord mayor.
Food hawkers
Mr Faizal Ghoorbin, spokesperson for the food hawk-
ers, told NEWSNOW he was happy to hear the site is
ready. “Let’s hope for the best. We do not want to wait for
much longer. As it is, several food hawkers are not work-
ing these days. A proper food court will help us to offer a
better service to our clients.”
Dr Khodabaccus said he intends to implement firmly
the plans he announced when he was appointed. These
include the eradication of poverty in the capital which, he
says, will be done in collaboration with the Ministry of
Social Integration and Economic Empowerment.
“Solutions must be found. Everyone must give a help-
ing hand to give Port Louis its true value,” he said.
“We must raise awareness among residents and visitors
about the importance of keeping their environment clean.
Everyone wants to live in a clean region and we are will-
ing to give them the facilities.
“I am aware of the hard work and this will take some
time, but I want to say that the work has already begun,”
he said.
A clean-up campaign was launched last Sunday at
Camp Yoloff which witnessed the participation of the cit-
izens of several regions.
“We intend to keep contact with all the volunteers and
go into all suburbs of Port Louis. I want to fight against
all aspects of unhealthiness. In two weeks time we will
start the same operation at Pointe-aux-Sables and cover
the whole of Port Louis.”

Police chief
pleased
with Dragnet
crackdown
Commissioner of Police Dhun
Iswar Rampersad, is very satis-
fied with the positive outcome
of Operation Dragnet over last
weekend.
Police arrested 226 people, of
whom 201 had arrest warrants
issued against them.
The remaining arrests were
for road traffic offences, busi-
nesses which have been operat-
ed at illegal hours, illegal
traders, hawkers and taxis
“maroon”.
Sixteen drivers were arrested
and tested positive for alcohol.
The police commissioner, who
directly supervised the Dragnet
operation, said that the force
will organise such operations
more frequently.
Among the several aims of the
operation was to simulate better

Voter registration is on coordination among the different

The registration of voters in Mauritius and
Rodrigues by the Electoral Commissioner’s
Office (ECO) started on January 28 and is
due to end on February 11.
The electoral officials estimate that by the
end of this annual door-to-door exercise they
would have listed up to 900,000 people. Last
year, the number of voters registered in
Mauritius and Rodrigues was 875,799.
New voters recorded on this year’s list
must have already reached their 18th birthday
in the past year. Those who turn 18 by August
15 will also be considered.
A team of officers will also visit colleges
where many students of the Higher School
Certificate (HSC) would have turned 18.
“We can register many new voters through
this procedure. Normally the management of
the college cooperate fully with us,” explains
a senior electoral officer.
This newly-compiled electoral register will
be used if the municipal elections are held
after August 16, 2011.
Registration is compulsory and continuous
and is executed in three phases.
Officials from the ECO register voters in
annual door-to-door visits. Thereafter a com-
prehensive network of centres is open where
voters can check and may correct any mis-
takes from the previous phase.
In the final phase the register of voters is
published.
“This annual house-to-house enquiry is
usually done in January. Our officers visit
every household after office hours on week-
days and during weekends, in order to regis-
ter electors,” explains the senior electoral
officer.
Every member of the household eligible to
vote must complete a return as prescribed by
law, while newly-qualified electors have to
fill in a declaration of qualification.
According to the electoral officer, the pro-
visional registers will be ready by March 31
and will be made available for consultation
to members of the public for two weeks from
April 1 in various registration centres
(schools, village halls, community/social
welfare centres, etc) after office hours on
weekdays and Saturdays.
All objections regarding entries in the elec-
tors’ lists can be made to the registration offi-
cer.
“Objection sittings are held on or before
June 15 each year, after giving appropriate
notice to the persons whose names are object-
ed to. It is only then that the registers of elec-
tors are finalised after taking into account the
lists of eligible voters abroad, deceased and
emigrated persons obtained from the relevant
authorities,” he said.
The registers are published and come into
force on August 16 each year.
divisions of the force.
The operation was carried out
by the regular police, the
Emergency Response Service,
Special Mobile Force (SMF)
and the National Coast Guard.
Police arrested the highest
number of people in the Eastern
region (60), 29 arrests were
made in the Central region and
24 in Port Louis North.
The operation also organised
roadblocks and 6,790 vehicles
were checked and 1,397 drivers
contravened for traffic offences.
Police also fined several driv-
ers for speeding, with 43 drivers
contravened in the West, 34
drivers in the South, 27 in the
East, 18 for the North, 16 in
Port Louis and six in Rodrigues.
Six other drivers were also
booked for noise pollution.

feedback@newsnow.mu
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 6

OECD claims
tax treaty
‘loopholes’
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), the agency at the
forefront of the global crackdown on tax
havens, believes that India’s Double Tax
Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius
had “gaps that needed to be filled”.
A study of information exchange and transparency of
made by companies based in Mauritius.
In addition, the low tax rate for foreign companies,
up to a maximum of 3%, is said to be another attraction.
In any case, capital gains tax is exempted due to the
provisions of the DTAA between India and Mauritius.
Though Indian tax authorities have been negotiating
amendments to the treaty for insertion of a limitation of
benefit clause, said the Times of India report, “the

More support
tax and investment rules in Mauritius – sometimes crit- absence of political will” has stalled the process and
icised as a source for routing of “black money” into meant that the loopholes remain unplugged.
India – “could be a headache for the government which An OECD study, released last Friday, said there were
other loopholes.
GDr Amita Pathak

is already under attack for not doing its bit to check
secretion of ill-gotten wealth,” notes an OECD report.
The report, carried in the online edition of the Times
of India, claimed Mauritius had “lax norms” that pro-
planned for
For instance, the treaty allowed for disclosure of
information to the persons in respect to whom informa-
tion or documents had been sought. It also showed that

vided room for routing of funds from one country to
another.
Indian authorities have in the past feared that re-rout-
HIV/AIDS
even in cases where guidelines to track investors and
details of their wealth were available, the Mauritian
authorities have not been able to make full use of the
provisions.

ing of funds was taking place through Mauritius –
Indian tax officials suspect that Indian nationals were
sending black money overseas and then getting it back
into the country via Mauritius.
Mauritius has always maintained that tightening of
rules has made it tough for investors to undertake such
transactions.
The so-called “lack of transparency” is often cited as
the reason for global investors based in the US and
Europe opting to route investment into India through
Mauritius. India accounts for over half the investment
sufferers
For instance, the DTCs with India allowed for auto-
matic exchange of tax information on a routine basis
but Mauritius has not exchanged information over the
last three years, the study claims.
“Also, Mauritius does not seem to have done its bit in
informing countries such as India with whom it has tax
treaties about an amendment to its domestic laws that
now allows for sharing information on non-residents
and offshore companies that do not pay tax in Authorities have set up Advocacy Committees at the
Mauritius,” concludes the report. municipal/district/village council levels in 153 regions of
the country in a bid to implement in Mauritius the Global
Fund Project on HIV/AIDS.
The committees, an initiative of the Ministry of Gender
Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare in col-

Monument
Michel to return award By Clifford Vellien
laboration with the National Women’s Council, are
designed to encourage and support people living with
HIV/AIDS and work in their favour “so that the commu-

to slaves
nity understands and respects them”.
Mr Sylvio Michel, leader of political party Les Verts-Fraternels, told The aim is also to make the population aware of the pre-
NEWSNOW yesterday that he is planning to return his distinct order vention and treatment of HIV/AIDS and to fight stigmati-
of merit medal to the president of the republic. sation and discrimination.
He said that next week his party will hold a committee to decide Members of the committees include headmasters, rec-
“when I will give back the medal” to the authorities. tors, religious leaders, private business leaders, council-
The 176th anniversary of the aboli-
In 2008, Mr Michel was awarded by the distinct order of merit lors, youth leaders, women’s and men’s groups and asso-
tion of slavery will be commemo-
Grand Officer of the Order of The Star ciations (fishermen’s associations, leaders of women and
rated today at the International
and Key of the Indian Ocean (GOSK) youth wings of faith-based groups), and representatives of
Slave Route Monument, Le Morne.
for distinguished service in the social trade unions.
A centrepiece of the event will be
and political fields. Launching the committees, Minister of Gender Equality,
the unveiling of a magnificent stone
Mr Michel says he has been motivat- Child Development and Family Welfare Mrs Sheila
monument at the the foot of Le
ed by the fact that the Le Morne Bappoo stressed they will become the new essential tool
Morne mountain, in front of the
Heritage Trust Fund is not respecting a for Mauritius in the prevention and information campaign
public beach.
management plan which recommends on HIV/AIDS.
It has been carved by
the development of the Morne region. She also underlined the necessity to eliminate the prob-
Rajivanayan Pandey, Dean of the
The Morne is a UNESCO World lem of stigmatisation and called for a change of mindset.
Faculty Arts and Crafts College of
Heritage site. The government is among the first on the African conti-
Fine Arts and in charge of the
According to Mr Michel, if the nent to have offered free treatment to people suffering
sculpture department at the
authorities do not carry out work there, from HIV/AIDS, observed the minister.
University of Lucknow in India.
According to statistics, around 4,600 HIV cases have
Freedom
UNESCO can in the future delist the
site from its list. been detected since the start of the epidemic in Mauritius.
He deplores that the commemora- Dr Amita Pathack, National Aids Coordinator from the
The sculptor has carved two
tion of the abolition of slavery in National Aids Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s Office,
slaves on a rock inspired by the
Mauritius is celebrated “without said that while it is true that in Mauritius the epidemic is
theme of freedom.
respect to the ancestors who had suf- GSylvio Michael Through his creativity, the artist
concentrated among drug users and people with “risky
fered a lot”. behaviours”, HIV is very much present at every level of
portrays a fascinating picture that
“Instead of making a ceremonial celebration, they are having a pic- the society and in each part of the country.
depicts a page of Mauritian history.
nic on the beaches of Le Morne with a lot of drinks and food,” he said. The secretariat will make available about Rs8.4 million
This initiative was made possible
He added that the authorities did not approve the Verts-Fraternels over the next five years to support the ministry’s initiatives
through a joint collaboration
request to hold its ceremony on January 30 and 31 on the beaches at in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
between the Ministry of Arts and
Le Morne. Instead, permission was granted for January 30 only, from Since May 2010, the National Women’s Council has
Culture and Le Morne Heritage
10am to 1pm. been implementing the Global Fund Project on HIV/AIDS
Trust Fund.
He also said that the authorities have “kept away Les Verts- with emphasis on prevention, treatment and stigma reduc-
During his visit to Mauritius, Mr
Fraternels” from the official ceremony to be held today to mark the tion.
Pandey met local artists and gave a
176 anniversary of the abolition of slavery. “If they do not recognise The objective of the Project is to decentralise the imple-
talk on sculpture at the Ministry of
our contribution and our party, then the distinct order medal represents mentation of HIV/AIDS activities and create better under-
Arts and Culture.
nothing,” he said. standing and acceptance by involving the population in
general.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Shaping the future
leaders of an industry
By Clifford Vellien
The tourism industry in Mauritius continues to
grow – despite the occasional economic blips
caused by events beyond the island’s control,
such as the crisis in the Eurozone.
And this year Mauritius is hoping to
reach a major milestone by welcoming a
record high of one million tourist arrivals.
To safeguard the “dream destination”,
the focus should be on education and train-
ing in the tourism sector. The Constance
Academy, also known as the Constance
Hospitality Training Centre (CHTC) Ltd,
has been providing tourism-related cours-
es to more than 5,000 students.
Its General Manager, Mr Claude Narain,
a founder member of the centre, had a
lengthy career in the hospitality sector.
Before the CHTC was launched, he was
the General Manager of Belle Mare Plage
Hotel, a five-star holiday resort with golf
facilities. It’s part of the Constance Hotels
Experience (CHE).
With the expansion of the group and the
setting up of other holiday resorts in Mauritius and
Seychelles, Mr Narain decided to set up the training
centre as “we have to provide a better service to the vis-
itors, and excellent training brings excellent quality in
our jobs”.
CHE has seven hotels in the Indian Ocean region –
Le Prince Maurice and Belle Mare Place (Mauritius);
Halaveli Resort and Moofushi Resort (Maldives);
Lemuria Resort and Ephelia Resort (Seychelles) and
Tsarabanjina (Madagascar).
So on June 1, 1998, the hospitality training centre
NEWSMAKER
began its mission of training those who will ensure the
progress and development of the industry in the years
to come.
Its conception and location at Constance, a village on
the East coast, favours a calm and serene environment,
which helps foster active learning.
The centre’s primary goal is to deliver quality train-
GMauritian hotels are world renowned, but
to remain so they need a steady supply of
professional, committed staff.
ing, coaching, counselling and support with a “delicate
touch of passion and humility” to all its partners.
Its pyramidal concept, starting from roots-based
courses Level 1 such as Adult Literary and IC3 (basic
computer studies) to Level 6 providing a Diploma in
Hospitality Management, is still attracting jobseekers
Page 7
Claude Narain
knows the
hospitality
inside out,
having spent a
lengthy career
in the industry.
Nowadays,
though, he is
making sure
that Mauritius
has a constant
stream of able
and professional
staff to drive the
tourism industry
on to greater
heights...
or employees already in the tourism sector.
“The entrance door leads you to apprenticeship and
when you get out of the exit door, it’s with a Diploma
in Hospitality Management,” said Mr Narain.
Foreign student are among the trainees of the CHTC,
which has partnership agreements on the exchange of
students and training in hotels with the Seychelles
Tourism Academy and France-based
FODENO.
The CHTC has been awarded official
registration as a private post-secondary
educational institution by the Tertiary
Education Commission.
“During these 13 years, the Constance
Academy has been developed as a nation-
al and regional training centre. Our vision
is to inspire our people to become high
performers,” said Mr Narain.
In its early days, the CHTC provided
in-house training, that is courses offered
only to hotels in the Constance Group,
but later opened its doors to trainees of
other hotels and also to members of the
public, particularly those living in the dis-
trict of Flacq.
The CHTC then gradually provided
apprenticeship training in collaboration
with the Hotel School of Mauritius (HSM) and the
Mauritius Institute of Training and Development
(MITD).
“We have established a career guidance plan for our
employees, starting from the bottom to attain the top in
a gradual methodology of training comprising six lev-
els,” Mr Narain said.
Professional, dynamic graduates of this and other
training establishments should ensure that Mauritius
keeps its place in the elite of destinations.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Good Morning Readers!
I hope the past week has been as adventurous for you as
it has been for me. From the moment I signed off my last
column (on January 24), it has been raining in NDC with
few intermissions. And as much as I love rain, I don’t
recall ever being so scared of it – perhaps it’s the fact that
I’m on an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean that
makes the hair on my neck rise!
Back to last Monday, it started raining heavily around
10am; the earlier part of the morning had been cloudy,
breezy and slightly damp. Since I moved here, I’ve not
paid as much attention to rain simply because it is all too
frequent on this side of the island. So, I spent a few hours
reading and checking out what my friends are doing on
Facebook.
Then around midday, I decided it was time to go to the
gym and looking outside my window, I noticed a huge
pool of rainwater accumulating just outside my place. The
downpours were heavy and threatening to become more
perilous with thunder roaring across the dark, overcast
skies. I contemplated how difficult it might be to find a
bus or wait at the bus stop.
I decided to take my car. Almost as soon as I backed out
of the garage, I realised that it was almost impossible to
see ahead. The ping-pong-ball-sized drops were hailing
down like never before – at this point in time, I wasn’t
even driving. Yet, I ventured forward slowly, hoping that
visibility might improve as I moved away from home.
The level of water just outside home was about ankle-
high. The depression in the road trapped the water. The
drains, roads and sugarcane field all around couldn’t soak
up the pressure of water pouring down from the sky and
from at least three other directions on land.
Those who take this road regularly will know that it’s
not at all straight or level. The dozens of troughs from Eau
Bouille to St. Pierre were all flooded by this time. Driving
at 40kmph was next to impossible – the downpour turned
the windshield opaque – and so I slowed to below 30 and
proceeded cautiously in second gear.
I couldn’t see the rivers running
across roads from one sugarcane field
to the next covering many of the low-
lying parts of the road at Ripailles,
Beau Bois and L’Avenir. It was only
when I drove into one and saw the
water flying off the sides or forcing
its way into my car that I realised I
I survive The
had a problem.
The rainwater entered my exhaust
and parts of the engine and I got the
feeling that the car might soon choke.
So I turned around about a kilometre
from St. Pierre and dropped the idea
Great Flood
momentarily of going to the gym. I
remembered some of the water-filled
potholes this time around and man-
aged to keep the water from entering
the engine, driving mostly in first
gear now.
Then, an hour or so later when the
of NDC...
rain looked like it might be dying out
I went to the bus stop and had to wait
about 30 minutes before I got a cab.
The cabbie and I discussed how diffi-
cult it was to drive on the day. From
inside the gym, I kept an eye on the
heavens and the rain kept bucketing
with varying intensity almost non-
stop.
Then, for about 15 minutes, it
stopped just as I was about to step
out. I went to the hairdresser’s and
talked about what a relief it was that
the rain had stopped. We had spoken
too soon. We were jinxed. It started
pouring again; so hard that it actually
hurt my face and head when I stepped
out.
Twenty minutes later, I managed to
find a home-bound bus and perched
next to a neighbour. We laughed and
enjoyed the heavy rain, looking out
the glass at people wading through ankle-deep water on
the concealed pavements. Some residential areas already
looked like inundated disaster zones.
Construction work at the Verdun-Terre Rouge road has
been halted since that day and there’s no sign of it restart-
ing any time soon. In fact, the excavated track turned into
a deep river of raging, red water and I fancied that instead
of cars, we might now have to buy boats. My neighbour
told me I would have a lot of work to do once I got home.
People who have been living in NDC long enough
know that the house I live in is built downstream and has
been flooded many times in the past. I prayed that would
not happen. Upon reaching home, I showered and relaxed
Tj ON
TUESDAY
tjhussain@gmail.com
with a mug of hot tea. Minutes later, amid the deafening
noise of the raindrops, I heard the cries of our neighbour
– the old woman said something like, “The house is
drowning!”
I rushed to the window where she was and noticed
water seeping into the room I call the Green Room. It’s a
large, workshop-like space that I use as my office and TV
lounge. I have a desktop computer and my TV here in
addition to other electronics. It took me a minute to assess
the situation before I unplugged the electronics and start-
ed moving them on to higher ground.
The old woman stayed outside trying to divert the water
to the other side of the house where we have some sandy
ground. She called out to her grandson to give me a hoe
Page 8
so I could join her. I removed some of the pebbles on the
outside only to discover they were lying on a cemented
floor. Next, I tried creating canals that got some of the
water away from the entrance to the Green Room.
I also assisted the old lady who was desperately sweep-
ing as hard as she could to get the water away from the
cemented ground into the absorbing mud. She asked me
to use bricks to create a barrier outside the Green Room
entrance as she fortified it with a metallic plate. I added
gravel and sand to the barrier and was relieved to see
some of the water inside receding slowly. My better half
frantically did what she could inside.
Outside, at the main entrance, we had to line up about
a dozen bricks to keep the water from flowing inwards as
cars passed. It took about an hour of hard labour to ensure
that my home was safe. Once the danger had subsided, I
went out to assess the situation and saw some of my
neighbours also frantically trying to keep the water out.
It was a sight that I won’t forget any time soon. The rag-
ing water pouring into a dozen or so outlets; yet the
depression outside looked like a deep lake. In the panic
and excitement, I had forgotten to cover the upper half of
my body and realised my shorts were soaking wet and I
needed to get out of them to avoid catching a cold.
In a plot next door that neighbours use for planting veg-
etables, there must have been at least six to eight inches
of standing water that had nowhere to go. I could only
imagine the plight of my neighbours.
The rest of the evening went by sharing our experience
with friends and family, listening to the news, and people
calling us to inquire how we were. Someone told us that
NDC had had the highest recorded rainfall anywhere on
the island and that the next 24 hours could be critical. I
spent most of the night making sure our barriers were not
breached.
The next morning was bright and sunny and only late in
the evening did it start raining again – but nothing serious,
thankfully! I find it funny how Mother Nature, with
ridiculous predictability, repeatedly manages to negate
the predictions of meteorologists.
Every time they say it will rain, it
doesn’t, and vice versa!
One of the more romantic effects
of this weather phenomenon has
been the mist. Driving home late
twice last week – once from Eau
Bouille and the other time from St.
Pierre – it seemed our little village
had been cloaked by a fog. The air
was clear before Eau Bouille on
this side and before Ripailles on
the other side.
As soon as you entered this juris-
diction, it was eerily similar to a
Wes Craven blockbuster; the mist
seemed to be alive, crawling with
intent along the ground and easily
evident from inches away.
Visibility in this region during the
evenings has recently been dismal
to say the least. The only other
place where I’ve witnessed a simi-
lar scene once before was around
Curepipe.
In fact, last Saturday evening,
there was an event at the communi-
ty centre here and I went for a few
minutes to see the mindless vio-
lence, kicking and punching that is
known as karate here. There wasn’t
even a pinch of self-defence dis-
played by any of the contestants.
However, I notice the mist coming
into the hall through the open win-
dows.
It brought back memories of the
2005 Rupert Wainwright movie
“The Fog”. I highly recommend
this chill-thrill if you can make it
around here, especially if you’re
driving in from St. Pierre because
once you leave NDC and head into
Salazie and Eau Bouille, there are
no street lights for miles. The road twists and turns
viciously in many places with nothing but sugarcane
fields on both sides. Talk about making your skin crawl!
If you’re driving around during the daytime and are
lucky enough, you may still experience the fog that makes
this place incredibly mystifying. Unfortunately, I may
soon be moving out of here. Destination unknown!
Since last Sunday, the rains have stopped bombarding
us during the day but the night usually brings all the
sound effects and lights. Did I mention the little snails
have grown twice, perhaps even thrice in size during the
past few days?
Until next week friends, stay safe and happy!
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 9

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MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
OpinionNow Page 10

Extracts of views and commentary from around the Global Village

United in impotence
Malign confusion reigns in the Egyptian capital as
power ebbs from the regime of Hosni Mubarak to the
streets but could find nowhere of legitimacy or perma-
nency to settle.
The personnel changes announced by a desperate
President on Saturday – the head of intelligence to
become Vice-President and the former head of the Air
Force to become Prime Minister – paved the way, along
with the existing state of emergency, for the imposition
of martial law. Mr Mubarak’s televised meeting with the
generals sent the same message. If the army and the
President were united, however, they were united in
impotence.
With the people in control of Cairo’s Tahrir Square,
some suburbs and parts of other cities reportedly under
vigilante rule, and supplies of basic food and fuel threat-
ening to run short, the stand-off of the past week had to
be coming, in some way, to a head.
Low-flying military aircraft, clearly calculated to
intimidate, suggested that the relative bonhomie
between military and civilians might be coming to an
end. New columns of tanks said the same. But any
aggressive use of force threatened to complicate the
most obviously benign resolution. Egypt, and the region
as a whole, were precariously poised between a tenta-
tively positive denouement and chaos.
Cometh the hour
As in Tunisia, one hallmark of the protests has been
the absence of any leader; the focus is hostility to Mr
Mubarak's continued rule. Yesterday, there was a sense
that “cometh the hour, cometh the man”, as Mohammad
ElBaradei, Nobel prizewinner and former head of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, moved to step into
the breach, addressing crowds in Tahrir Square. For
much of the outside world, Mr ElBaradei looks very like
an ideal one-man interim solution; the more pertinent,
and harder, question is whether he can wield authority
among his compatriots.
At best, Mr Mubarak’s designation of a Vice-President
and his public show of solidarity with the military were
designed not to preserve his 30-year rule, but to ensure
an orderly transition – or a transition as orderly as it can
be at this late stage.
If the President cedes power and the military can
retain popular trust, there is the outline of at least a tem-
porary solution. An interim administration with the
prominent involvement of the armed forces would be
hard for Egypt’s Western allies to stomach, but – with a
short, fixed term, a promise of rapid reforms and an
early date for free elections – it could be the least bad of
many scenarios. Mr ElBaradei’s imprimatur, or direct
involvement, could make the difference.
The immediate test for any interim regime would be
whether it could win the confidence of the protesters
thronging the streets and those people sheltering in their
homes too frightened to go out. For Egypt’s friends in
the world, the test would be whether they would be able
to hold any new regime to its undertakings.
If Mr Mubarak’s moves in recent days are designed
not to ease a transition, but to reinforce his hold on
power, it is hard to see how popular anger can be held
back.

GA protester carries
a soldier on his
shoulders as they
Profound change
chant anti-government in the Arab world
slogans in Cairo.
is unfolding
Hosni Mubarak has run out of road, writes the GUARDIAN newspa-
per. This is obvious to all: to the police who have fled the streets, to
senior members resigning from the ruling party, and to the millions of
Egyptians who have taken over its cities. But not to the president him-
self.
On Saturday he appointed a successor – as if he still had the moral
authority to do so. The demonstrators did not budge. Anti-government
slogans were sprayed on the side of tanks, with the tacit approval of
the conscripts manning them. The curfew kept on being ignored, and
on Sunday a new name was added to the passenger list of the plane
that the crowds hope will fly the regime to Saudi Arabia. It was that
of the president’s latest appointee.
He is General Omar Suleiman, the intelligence chief who saved his
president in an assassination attempt, and has since been involved in
all Egypt’s power-brokering, in Israel and elsewhere. He once negoti-
ated a truce between Fatah and Hamas, but has since helped to keep
Gaza’s siege intact and the Palestinians divided.
The self-appointed nemesis of Hamas’s political relative, the
Muslim Brotherhood in his own country, he is the sort of Arab strong-
man whom Israel feels (and the US used to feel) instinctively at home
with. A doer, whose deeds are as effective as they are hidden. The

The transition...
Defying a curfew and violent repression, the peo-
ple of Egypt are refusing to back down until
President Hosni Mubarak goes. They regard the
concession he has made, the dismissal of his own
Cabinet, as a contemptible joke, writes THE
HINDU.
Hundreds of thousands have occupied central
areas of Cairo and other major cities, and their
ranks have swelled even as the tear gas has spread
and the beatings have intensified. The ruling
National Democratic Party’s building has been
burned down; the state TV building and the
Foreign Ministry have been attacked.
More than 1,000 people were arrested in the first
three days and a similar number have been injured
in Cairo alone, with figures not yet known for
Alexandria and other cities. Newspapers report
over 100 deaths so far, but the protests show no
diminution despite the closure of access to the
Internet and mobile phone networks.
The mass rage has many causes, from long-term
structural unemployment through rising and
apparently uncontrollable food prices to rampant
corruption and the brutality of the notorious secu-
rity agencies. Yet unlike the 1977 bread riots,
which forced Anwar Sadat to restore a grain and
fuel subsidy, the present and still largely leaderless
protests are directed against the entire political
structure in a country of great importance to the
region and the rest of the world.
Egypt’s population of 80 million is far and away
the biggest in North Africa and West Asia, and the
country is the guardian of the Suez Canal.
Tunisia’s brave people, who recently ended Zine
El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year rule, may well have
inspired Egyptians. Another factor has been the
influential role played by Al Jazeera – the standout
voice of aggressive, independent journalism in the
Arab world – in channelling popular discontent
through the region.
Muslim Brotherhood
After an absurd attempt to blame the Ikhwanul
Muslimeen or Muslim Brotherhood, the Mubarak
regime turned to violence, with the police and
semi-official thug militias using tear gas and rub-
ber-coated steel bullets against protesters. Tanks
have also been deployed.
Cables released by WikiLeaks show that the
United States has had no illusions about the
régime. Washington and its allies now stand thor-
oughly exposed for using aid of over $2 billion a
year and silence over internal repression to turn
Cairo into a crucial agent of their regional policy,
particularly in suppressing demands for justice for
the Palestinians.
The Egyptian people’s uprising is showing the
world that this highly prized western ally is utter-
ly devoid of legitimacy. That message will echo
through every other dictatorship in the region.
same reasons make him anathema to the nationalist revolution taking
place on the streets. How things develop depends very much on the
role that the army is seen to play in the next few critical days.
Military presence
Citizens woke up on Sunday to find al-Jazeera’s broadcasts via an
Egyptian satellite halted, and a heavy military presence on the streets.
It is the one remaining sign of the state and the regime is clearly play-
ing the security card, one of the last it has to play. Its message is crude
– but could still be effective. It is saying that the only alternative to
Mubarak is chaos. And yet the fact that some of the looting is being
organised by plain-clothed policemen is not lost on citizens. Many
have formed vigilante groups to protect their property.
A battle is being waged for the army’s hearts and minds.
Demonstrators want it to guarantee constitutional change, and to over-
see the creation of a national unity government and then fresh and fair
elections. But for that to happen, Mubarak and his henchmen must go.
There were no signs of the popular protest dimming on Sunday,
which was supposed to be a day of work. In Tunisia, a government of
national unity has become a revolving door, as the remaining stalwarts
of the ousted Ben Ali regime are whistled off stage, one by one. About
the only one left is the prime minister himself. A similar clear-out
could soon be underway in Egypt if this revolution succeeds.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel was watching
events closely, as well he might. The US, in full retreat from the posi-
tion it expressed only a week ago, told Mubarak that shuffling the
deck would not be enough, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on
Sunday uttered two words that are particularly ominous for him –
“orderly transition”.
However this drama plays out, something quite profound is chang-
ing in the Arab world. So often written off, or thought to have been
subsumed by Islamism, pan-Arabism is finding voice once again in
the shape of this secular protest against dictatorship.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Is Hosni Mubarak’s time up after 30
years as Egypt’s undisputed and interna-
tionally legitimised leader?
After a week of Egypt’s enraged and
predominantly young people battling his
security forces in the streets of Cairo and
other cities, he is a shadow of his former
Pharaonic self.
He has for the first time had to name a
vice-president from the military, relin-
quishing any dream he may have had of
naming his banker son Gamal as succes-
sor, and appointed a new government
headed by a former airforce chief, a job
he once held himself.
Egyptians in revolt on the streets of
Cairo, in defiance of curfews, martial law
and the army, are not impressed. They
insist Mubarak must go. But there is little
idea of what may follow, or whether
Mubarak’s belated promises of reform
will translate into the real change
Egyptians clearly yearn for.
Is Hosni Mubarak staying or leaving?
Is there going to be change or not? Is a
new era of freedom and democracy on its
way or is it more of the same for
Egyptians?
Analysts, ordinary Egyptians and
opposition leaders say that if the popular
upheaval demanding Mubarak quit after
three decades of commanding an ossified
system is not adequate warning enough to
make the regime introduce urgent
change, what will be?
Chaos reigns
In a week of stunning protests that have
shaken Mubarak’s rule and alarmed Arab
rulers, more than 100 people have been
killed and chaos has reigned in Egypt’s
streets, Mubarak has offered a tantalising
glimpse he may step down and 80 million
long-suffering Egyptians are caught
between their yearning for freedom and
their fear of chaos.
Mubarak is nonetheless showing every
sign of clinging to power at any cost. On
Sunday he sent warplanes swarming in
intimidatory waves over Cairo and troops
and tanks into city streets in a show of
force to scare off Egyptian protesters, and
terrify the population into fearing any
change of regime.
Protesters shouting “freedom, democ-
racy, change”, sensed something ominous
about Mubarak’s appointment of his
intelligence chief as his vice-president,
and likely successor, and a former air
force chief as his new prime minister.
The crowds pouring into the streets
clearly have no desire to see Mubarak’s
Page 11
Now hear this...
Clock is ticking
for Mubarak
three decades of autocratic rule replaced They said whether Mubarak stays or of the Egyptian people,” Clinton told Fox
by a military line-up featuring his closest goes ahead of the presidential vote set for News Sunday.
cronies. September this year will be dictated by Egyptians from across the political
“We don’t want Mubarak and his the army, which could insist that he does spectrum say nothing less than an over-
cronies. He just shuffled the deck. This not stand. haul of the power structure will stave off
won’t bring change,” said Saad Khalifa. “I think Mubarak is going but he is not another crisis.
“He and his children have milked the going tomorrow,” said Middle East com- As in Tunisia, Egypt’s exploding
country and its wealth. He doesn’t want mentator Rami Khouri. “This is definite- young population, most of them under-
to leave. All these changes he made are ly a signal that he (Mubarak) personally employed and frustrated by oppression at
sedatives.” and his entire system have been signifi- the hands of a corrupt and rapacious elite,
Egypt’s sprawling armed forces – the cantly challenged. demand a complete clear-out of the old
world’s 10th biggest at more than “The appointments he made are not guard, not just a reshuffle of the govern-
468,000-strong, which have received very encouraging. They do not bode well. ing class.
$1.3 billion a year in U.S. military aid The signs are clear that this system has Any serious change will also have to
since Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel in been challenged in a very dramatic way,” set in motion plans to eradicate Egypt’s
1979 – have been at the heart of poverty where 40% live on $2 a day, open
power since army officers the political arena to the opposition and
staged the 1952 overthrow of
As in Tunisia, Egypt’s exploding
end an emergency law that allows police
the monarchy. to round up activists, torture and try them
young population, most of them
Mubarak, who once appeared in military courts without charge.
underemployed and frustrated
to have surmounted that legacy, “Change is inevitable,” said Khouri.
has now had to fall back on the “On every level Egypt is a bankrupt
by oppression at the hands of a
army as his last line of defence, corrupt and rapacious elite, country. This is the result of the misman-
putting military men into the agement of the economy, their mediocre
demand a complete clear-out
top government posts and policies, abuse of power and mistreat-
removing a facade of civilian ment of their own people.”
of the old guard, not just a
rule that went up in flames with
reshuffle of the governing class Analysts say Egypt’s political future
the torching of his ruling cannot exclude the Muslim Brotherhood,
National Democratic Party the country’s most influential and organ-
offices. Khouri added. ised Islamist opposition, who discretely
But many analysts saw Mubarak’s Despite the show of force by Mubarak joined protests driven by Web-savvy,
nomination of a successor, after refusing and his military, the picture on the streets more educated, middle class Egyptians.
to do so for 30 years, as a diminution of is unnerving. Protesters, albeit fewer in The Brotherhood, from long experi-
his powers. They said Mubarak no longer number than last week, continue their ence of confrontation with the authori-
has the discretionary power he enjoyed defiance. Another inhibiting factor are the ties, is wary of commitment to protests. If
for long, sparking speculation that he angry mobs spreading fear in the capital, it overreaches, it risks a harsher crack-
could be being pushed towards a mili- looting, ransacking and vandalising prop- down under pressure from Western gov-
tary-approved handover of power. erty. ernments worried about an Islamist
“The army is in a tight spot and they In a clear expression of concern, U.S. takeover.
are deciding what to do about the presi- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the The Brotherhood, like other Islamist
dent,” said Faysal Itani of Exclusive United States wanted to see “orderly tran- groups in many Arab countries, has cold
Analysis. sition” through free and fair elections in feet about governing. Its strategy focuses
“The army may see Mubarak as a lia- its key ally and the Arab world’s most on a political reform agenda shared by
bility but they won’t want to see him flee populous nation. other groups – free and fair elections, rule
with his tail between his legs like Ben “We ... don’t want to see some takeover of law, a new constitution.
Ali. I think they would like to see him go that would lead not to democracy but to But that is what Egyptians as a whole
but in an orderly fashion.” oppression and the end of the aspirations now appear to be demanding.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
EGYPT ERUPTS
Mubarak
shuffles
cabinet
to calm
protests
BUT DEMONSTRATORS REJECT
CHANGES, WANT HIM OUT
By Marwa Awad & Dina Zayed
CAIRO
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over-
hauled his government yesterday to try to
defuse a popular uprising against his 30-
year rule, but angry protesters rejected the
changes and said he must surrender power.
On the seventh consecutive day of unrest in the
Arab world’s most populous nation, tens of thou-
sands of protesters rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square
chanting “Get out... We want you out” and singing
Egypt’s national anthem.
Troops backed by tanks and armoured personnel
carriers made no effort to disperse the crowd even
two hours after a curfew started although helicop-
ters flew overhead. “This is all nonsense,” said
protester Omar el-Demerdash, 24, a research
executive, adding: “The demand is clear: We want
Mubarak and his men to get out. Anything other
than that is just not enough.”
ARMY BACKING
Egypt’s powerful army now appears to hold the
key to Mubarak’s fate. Although the Generals
have held back from crushing the revolt, they have
not withdrawn support for him.
The uprising, unprecedented in scale and inten-
sity in this once tightly-controlled country, erupt-
ed last week when frustration over repression, cor-
ruption, poverty and the lack of democracy under
Mubarak boiled over.
InternationalNow
“
This new cabinet is too
little, too late. I think
Mubarak will probably be
gone well before 30 days
is up.
About 140 people were killed in clashes with
security forces in scenes that overturned Egypt’s
standing as a stable country promising emerging
market and attractive tourist destination.
Mubarak, a close US ally and a stalwart in
Western policy towards the Middle East, respond-
ed by offering economic reform to address public
anger over hardships. Yesterday, he named
General Mahmoud Wagdy, previously head of
Cairo criminal investigations department, as the
new Interior minister. Wagdy’s predecessor was
reviled by many Egyptians because of the repres-
sive tactics used by the police force to quash the
opposition and criticism of the President.
Mubarak, clinging to power as his legitimacy
vaporises, on Saturday named his intelligence
chief Omar Suleiman, a former military man, as
vice-President, a post vacant for 30 years. It was a
move seen by some as a prelude to a transition in
power. He also appointed former air force com-
mander Ahmed Shafiq as Prime Minister after
sacking the entire cabinet.
Page 12
GA man carries a picture of
Egyptian President Hosni
Mubarak portraying him as
Hitler during a protest in
Cairo yesterday.
But it appeared the moves would do little to turn back the groundswell
against the 82-year-old ruler. “This new cabinet is too little, too late. I
think Mubarak will probably be gone well before 30 days is up,” Zaineb
Al-Assam, a Middle East expert at London-based Exclusive Analysis,
told Reuters. “There are some figures in the cabinet who are deeply
unpopular. An example is General Wagdy. That’s going to add to the
protests. Mubarak will be seen by the army as a liability.”
Dave Hartwell, Middle East analyst at IHS Jane’s, said the govern-
ment changes ruled out the possibility that Mubarak’s son Gamal –
until last week widely viewed as his likely successor – would take
over. “The speculation is these changes are being forced on Mubarak
by the army and the conclusion is the army is now wielding influence
behind the scenes.”
CALL FOR MASS RALLIES
Protesters called for mass rallies today saying one million people
could take to the streets to mark a week since the uprising broke out.
Although the movement started with no clear leaders or organisa-
tion, the Opposition is taking steps to organise.
The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group, said it was seeking to
form a broad political committee with Mohamed ElBaradei to talk to
the army. ElBaradei, a Nobel peace laureate and former head of the
UN nuclear agency, has urged Mubarak to go and has lent his interna-
tional stature to a movement that has lacked a leader.
The Brotherhood, which has wide support among poor Egyptians,
has until now kept in the background of an uprising spearheaded by
the young urban poor and students, fearing a harsh crackdown.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Governments evacuate citizens
BEIJING/FRANKFURT: Governments, airlines
and tour operators worked together yesterday to
fly their nationals out of Egypt, where protesters
pressed their campaign to topple President
Hosni Mubarak.
The US embassy in Cairo said it began evac-
uating US nationals who wish to leave to loca-
tions in Europe. US assistant secretary of state
for Consular Affairs Janice Jacobs said 2,400
US citizens had asked for help to leave Egypt.
Up to 52,000 Americans are registered with the
embassy in Cairo.
An embassy spokesman was quoted as saying
by Egyptian state media that a total of eight
planes were scheduled to leave yesterday evac-
uating 1,000 passengers.
European airlines, including Lufthansa,
Austrian Airlines and Air Berlin, said they were
sending larger aircraft than usual to Egypt to
meet demand and had agreed additional flights
with foreign ministries.
Officials in Turkey and Cyprus said they were
making contingency plans to receive tourists
evacuated from Egypt and speed them on to
their destinations.
Two Chinese airlines, Air China and Hainan
Air, said they would each send a chartered flight
to Cairo to bring home Chinese citizens. There
were at least 500 Chinese nationals stuck at
Cairo’s international airport, a Chinese consular
official in Cairo told Reuters by telephone.
Witnesses reported scenes of chaos at Cairo
Airport on Sunday with many people, including
Egyptians, scrambling to get on a decreasing
number of scheduled flights. “Access to the air-
port was very difficult. On a 20 kilometre route
we had to pass through 19 checkpoints, 10 by
the army and the others by citizens,” a Greek
man arriving in Athens at around 1300 GMT
told state broadcaster NET TV.
Some European and Asian companies started
evacuating staff. Automakers Daimler, BMW
and Nissan said they had shut down operations at
plants in the country while Volkswagen said it
had halted deliveries. Oil company Royal Dutch
Shell planned to evacuate about 60 families of its
international staff from Egypt as a safety meas-
ure, a source close to the company told Reuters.
Page 13
EU agrees to
freeze assets
of Tunisia’s
ousted leader
BRUSSELS: European Union
foreign ministers agreed yester-
day to freeze the assets of
Tunisia’s former President Zine-
al Abidine Ben Ali and his wife,
an EU official said.
The sanctions could be extend-
ed in future to other people con-
sidered to have misappropriated
state funds, the official said.
Ben Ali and his family built up
interests in many Tunisian compa-
nies and industries during his two
decades in power, including
hotels, banks, tuna exports, con-
struction, newspapers and phar-
maceuticals. He was driven out by
a popular revolt on January 14 and
sought refuge in Saudi Arabia.
EU ministers meeting in GOusted President of
Brussels were also expected to Tunisia Zine al-Abedine
look at ways to offer better trade Ben Ali.
terms to Tunisia to help strength-
en the country’s economy.
Since Ben Ali’s overthrow, the intends to freeze any deposited
EU has been trying to create a there. France has announced
new relationship with a country measures to block any suspicious
with which it developed strong movements of Tunisian money.
trade and political ties during Catherine Ashton, the EU’s
Ben Ali’s 23 years in power. foreign affairs chief, spoke to
France, Tunisia’s former colo- Tunisia’s Foreign minister by
nial ruler, Italy and Spain have telephone on Friday and invited
all had good relations with Ben him to come to Brussels this
Ali and his government in recent week to discuss how the EU
years while at the same time urg- could help the country as it tries
ing democratic reforms. to restore stability.
It was not yet clear where the The EU plans to send a team of
Ben Ali family’s assets were held experts to Tunisia in the coming
although Switzerland has said it weeks to help plan new elections.
Pakistan could
see Tunisia-style
unrest: Red Cross
NEW DELHI: Food insecurity caused by devastating floods in
Pakistan could eventually lead to social unrest similar to that seen in
Tunisia, the head of the international Red Cross federation warned
yesterday.
Increasing disasters and conflicts across the world and shrinking aid
from traditional Western donors meant emerging economies like
India, China and Brazil should play a greater role in humanitarian
relief, Tadateru Konoe said. Pakistan is still reeling from floods six
months ago that have left 11 million people homeless and devastated
hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops in the traditional food-bas-
ket regions of Sindh and Punjab.
Konoe, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and
Red Crescent Societies, said some agricultural areas were still sub-
merged, and resulting price rises and growing food insecurity could be
destabilising. “If the crops may be lost for successive years, that may
develop into some sort of social unrest and political turmoil. That is
what the President was very much worried about,” Konoe told Reuters
referring to Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari.
“I don’t how long they can stand this type of situation... but it may
be utilised by political opponents to criticise the government; so a
minor thing may become a big thing like the situation in Tunisia,” he
said in an interview.
Pakistan is saddled with a long list of troubles, including a Taliban
insurgency, rampant poverty, corruption and power cuts. Inflation is
fast becoming one of the most potentially explosive problem. The
floods have fuelled increases in the price of food such as vegetables,
making it harder for ordinary people to survive. Konoe said Zardari
had expressed concern over the problem of food insecurity while the
Red Cross head was on a visit to Pakistan in October last year.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 14

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MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 15

Bond BLACKBERRY DEADLINE IN INDIA COMES TO

movies
composer
Barry dies
LONDON: British composer
John Barry, who won five
Oscars and is best known for
creating music for the James
Bond movies, has died. He
was 77.
“It is with great sadness that
the family of composer John
Barry announce his passing on
January 30, 2011 in New
York,” his family said in a
statement released by Bond
production company EON
Productions.
No cause of death was
given, but the BBC reported he
died of a heart attack.
Fellow composers paid trib-
ute to Barry’s influence. “I
think James Bond would have
been far less cool without John
Barry holding his hand,” fel-
low Bond composer David
Arnold told BBC Radio.
According to online biogra-
phies, Barry trained as a classi-
cal pianist but turned his atten-
tion to jazz and learned to play
the trumpet. In the late 1950s,
he became leader of the John
Barry Seven, which hired Vic
Flick as lead guitarist. It was
Flick who performed the
famous James Bond guitar riff,
which accompanies the open-
ing credits of the movies.
He began arranging music
for singers on a television
series, including Adam Faith,
and composed the score for
Beat Girl, in which Faith
appeared, in 1960.
Barry’s work brought him to
the attention of producers of
Dr. No, who were dissatisfied
with the score they had been
given and so called in Barry to
help. As well as five Oscars,
he won four Grammy awards.
Barry’s Bond compositions
included Goldfinger, From
Russia With Love and You Only
Live Twice, and his Academy
Awards included best music
for Dances With Wolves, Out
of Africa and Born Free.
END, PAKISTAN RESTRICTS SERVICES
New Delhi asks
for email data By C.K. Nayak & Faisal Aziz
NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD
India rejected yesterday Research In Motion’s
(RIM) offer to allow it only partial access to
its BlackBerry data services as neighbouring
Pakistan also moved to restrict the popular
smartphone’s services.
It was not immediately clear what the Indian gov-
ernment, which says it is driven by security concerns,
would now do after the Canadian smartphone maker
failed to fulfill demands to monitor encrypted corpo-
rate email by a January 31 deadline. RIM had previ-
ously said was confident India would not ban its serv-
ices. Earlier this month, RIM said it had given India
the means to access its Messenger service ahead of
the deadline, but reiterated that it could not give the
authorities access to monitor secure corporate emails.
Home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told a
news conference the government still wanted access
to emails. “I think a decision will be taken today by
the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs),"”
Chidambaram added. RIM’s India-based spokesman
was not immediately available for comment.
Last year, India demanded access to all BlackBerry
services as part of efforts to fight militancy and secu-
rity threats over the Internet and through telephone
communications, demands echoed by several other
countries that have also tried, sometimes successful-
ly, to restrict the popular smartphone. Yesterday,
India’s neighbour Pakistan called on mobile phone
operators to stop BlackBerry services to foreign mis-
sions amid concern about the security of the commu-
nications, industry sources said.
RIM encrypts email messages as they travel
between a BlackBerry device and a computer known
as BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The
Canadian smartphone maker has said that it does not
have a master key to decode emails adding that each
organisation would have the technical capability to
grant access to its own encrypted enterprise email.
Last year, the company narrowly escaped a ban in
GA BlackBerry mobile phone user inside a shop in Kolkata, India. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Ozawa is
indicted
TOKYO: Japanese ruling party powerbro-
ker Ichiro Ozawa was charged yesterday
over a funding scandal, Jiji news agency
said, a widely expected judicial move.
Ozawa’s indictment will give fresh
ammunition to opposition parties that con-
trol Parliament’s upper house and are
refusing to join multiparty talks on tax
reform to curb Japan’s huge debt and
instead trying to force Prime Minister
Naoto Kan to either resign or call a snap
election for the powerful lower chamber.
Ozawa, who once headed the
Democratic Party of Japan, faced manda-
tory indictment over suspected misreport-
ing by his political funds body after a lay
judicial panel decided last year that he
must be charged.
NEWSLINE
South Korea
rejects talks
SEOUL: South Korea yesterday rejected
a push by the North to bring forward
military talks by 10 days saying it was
not enough time to prepare for their first
dialogue since the North’s deadly attack
against a border island last year.
Pyongyang sent a message to the
South’s Defence Ministry at the weekend
calling for the preliminary talks, which
Seoul has suggested take place at the
Panmunjom truce village on February 11,
to start today.
Talks at the military and political level
between the rival Koreas are routinely
set after proposals and counterproposals
as the two sides vie for higher bargaining
positions and rarely break down over
scheduling conflicts.
Iran blocks
more sites
TEHRAN: Iranians have found their
access to major news websites even more
restricted than usual as more foreign sites
were blocked by a government filter,
Reuters witnesses observed yesterday.
Yahoo News and Reuters.com, both
usually accessible in Iran, were unavail-
able joining other long-blocked news
sites such as the BBC, Facebook and
Twitter. One Iranian government official
said authorities were “looking into the
source of the problem” to remove it. The
move comes as many Iranian politicians,
including President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, are portraying anti-govern-
ment protests in Egypt as being inspired
by Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which over-
threw the US backed Shah in 1979.
Israeli court
jails spy
JERUSALEM” An Israeli court sen-
tenced an Israeli-Arab human rights
activist to nine years in prison on Sunday
after convicting him last year of spying
for the Lebanese guerrilla group
Hezbollah.
Amir Makhoul had confessed to the
spying charge as part of a plea bargain at
Haifa District Court, which added a fur-
ther year’s suspended sentence to the
nine years behind bars. The court
dropped a separate charge carrying a
much longer sentence.
In passing sentence, the court said:
“(The accused), an Israeli citizen, chose
willingly and with cognisance, apparent-
ly due to nationalistic motives, to aid
Israel's most bitter enemies.”
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 16

GIndonesian pop singer Nazril ʻArielʼ Irham is
accompanied by his television star girlfriend Luna
Maya as he waits in a temporary detention cell before
his verdict in Bandung of the Indonesiaʼs West Java
province yesterday.
‘Porn’ pop
star jailed
SINGERʼS SEX TAPES WITH GIRLFRIENDS
WERE DISTRIBUTED ON THE INTERNET
JAKARTA
An Indonesian pop star whose sex tapes with
his celebrity girlfriends spread wildly on the
Internet was jailed yesterday for three-and-a
-half years in a case that led to a wide crack-
down on Internet porn in the country.
The trial highlighted a divide between a youthful
Indonesia set against censorship on the Internet and
conservative pressure groups in the world’s most
populous Muslim country who rallied outside the
court demanding a harsher penalty.
Nazril “Ariel” Irham, 30, was jailed under a con-
troversial pornography law, which was passed in
2008 to ban public displays of nudity and behaviour
that could incite lust. “The defendant is legitimately
and convincingly guilty of giving chances for others
to spread, make and provide pornography,” said
judge Singgih Budi Prakoso in a west Javan court
where 1,000 police tried to control a rowdy crowd.
Police said earlier a friend of Irham’s had taken
the sex tape off his computer and posted it on the
Internet. Irham denied it was him on the tape.
The crowd at the court included teenaged female
fans of Irham’s band Peterpan wearing T-shirts with
the word “freedom”, and skullcap- and headscarf-
wearing members of Islamic groups. Members of
both groups were angered by the verdict. Irham was
also fined 250 million rupiah ($27,692).
Under the pornography law, anyone who pro-
duces, makes, copies, circulates, broadcasts, offers,
trades, loans or provides pornography can be jailed
for between six months and 12 years and can be
fined up to six billion rupiah ($665,900).
The law was seen by many as a step back in dem-
ocratic and officially secular Indonesia, where for-
eign investors are hoping for more openness and
pro-market reforms to increase its allure as an
emerging market investment destination.
After the Irham case blew up, Communications
and Information minister Tifatul Sembiring, of the
Islamic PKS party, called for tighter Internet con-
trols. Research in Motion, makers of the popular
Blackberry telephone and messaging system, said
two weeks ago it would comply with the govern-
ment’s order to block access to pornographic sites
via its devices.

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MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Long live
the King
COLIN FIRTH MOVIE HONOURED AT
SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES
Oscars front-runner The King’s Speech won
the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild
Awards on Sunday giving the British royals
drama yet another boost four weeks ahead
of Hollywood’s biggest night.
The film took the prize for best ensemble cast,
the guild’s equivalent of the best picture Oscar.
While SAG’s top honor has a spotty record as an
Oscar barometer – with a success rate of about 50
percent – The King’s Speech has been on a roll in
the past week winning the top prizes from both
Hollywood’s directors and producers.
The winners of SAG’s individual acting awards
mirrored the results at the recent Golden Globes
and the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards further
reducing the likelihood of much surprise when the
Oscars are handed out in Hollywood on February
27.
British actor Colin Firth, who stars in The King’s
Speech as stammering wartime monarch king
George VI, was named best actor. Natalie Portman
was named best actress for her role as an unhinged
ballerina in Black Swan.
The supporting prizes went to a pair of actors
from The Fighter, a fact-based boxing drama:
Christian Bale as a crackhead former boxing hero
and Melissa Leo as a feisty, blue-collar matriarch.
The King’s Speech triumphed over Black Swan,
BEAUTY BRIGADE
GActor Colin Firth holds his two SAG Awards for
ʻThe Kingʼs Speechʼ at the 17th annual Screen G(From left) Actress Sofia Vergara of the television series ʻModern Familyʼ,
Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California. actress Christina Hendricks from the television show ʻMad Menʼ and actress
Natalie Portman accepts the Outstanding Female Lea Michele from ʻGleeʼ arrive at the 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Actress in a Leading Role award for ʻBlack Swanʼ. in Los Angeles, California.
Page 17
The Fighter, the Facebook drama The Social
Network and the lesbian family comedy The Kids
Are All Right. It picked up a leading 12 Oscar
nominations last Tuesday, including best picture,
director and actor.
Firth, previously best known for romantic
comedies such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, thanked
his “dream cast”. Australian actor Geoffrey Rush,
an Oscar nominee for his role as the reluctant
king’s unconventional speech therapist, said the
movie was a true example of ensemble acting.
“We have such a roll call of extraordinary heavy
hitters,” said Rush.
Portman, 29, trained for months for her role in
Black Swan, a melodrama set in the New York bal-
let world. She recently became pregnant by one of
the movie’s co-stars.
The Screen Actors Guild also honours perform-
ances in television. HBO’s new Prohibition-era
series Boardwalk Empire took best cast ensemble
for a drama while its star Steve Buscemi won for
his role as a corrupt politician.
Emmys favourite Modern Family won for best
comedy ensemble, and 89-year-old former Golden
Girl Betty White was a popular winner for her role
as a sassy caretaker in the new comedy Hot in
Cleveland.
Julianna Margulies made it two in a row for
what she called the “role of a lifetime” as a but-
toned-up lawyer in the legal drama The Good
Wife, and Alec Baldwin won for the fifth straight
year for his role as a network executive in the
comedy 30 Rock.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
BusinessNow Page 18

Brent oil
nears $100
FEARS OF EGYPT PROTESTS CHOKING SUPPLIES
By Kevin Plumberg
HONG KONG
Brent oil futures climbed near $100 a
barrel and Asian stocks fell yesterday
hurt by fears that deadly protests in
Egypt may foment unrest throughout the
Middle East and choke oil supplies
accelerating a move out of riskier assets.
More than 100 people have been killed dur-
ing six days of protests in Egypt aimed at top-
pling President Hosni Mubarak. A wider con-
flagration in the region could threaten the
flow of oil at a time when policymakers in
emerging markets are already bedeviled by
high food and fuel prices and some developed
economies have been gaining momentum.
US S&P 500 futures were up 0.2% after
Wall Street closed down 1.8% on Friday
while US Treasury futures were flat on the
day suggesting that investors would take a
wait-and-watch approach to the Middle East.
“To the extent that the instability continues,
investor reaction will most likely push oil and
Treasury bond prices higher, and global equi-
ties lower.” Mohamed El-Erian, co-chief
investment officer at bond giant PIMCO, told
Reuters. “The situation in Egypt is very fluid.”
The US dollar, yen and Swiss franc, which
all strengthened against the euro on Friday in
reaction to the escalating Egyptian situation,
were largely stable with protesters in Cairo
camped out and calling for Mubarak to step
down after 30 years of rule.
INFLATION UNEASE
The prospect of more expensive energy
bills in high growth emerging markets added
to unease about rising inflation among
investors, who had last week pulled money
out of developing equity markets for the first
time in more than a month, fund tracker
EPFR Global said in a note.
Emerging Asian currencies, down broadly
yesterday, will be tested this week ahead of
Lunar New Year holidays with focus on infla-
tion data from Indonesia, South Korea and
Thailand due today.
US crude for March delivery was trading at
around $90 a barrel after hitting a high of
$90.87 a barrel early in the session. Focus
GA worker checks the price of fuel at a
gas station in Hong Kong.
would likely be on Brent futures though,
where the lead month contract was trading
just shy of $100 a barrel.
“For the global economy, Egypt is less
important; though it does matter for access to
the Suez Canal, a key oil distribution route,”
ANZ Bank economist Sharon Zollner said in
a note to clients.
“The greater fear is that the turmoil could
spread to other Middle East countries, includ-
ing even Saudi Arabia. If that happens, then
all bets on oil prices are off.”
Egypt controls the Suez Canal and the
Suez-Mediterranean (SUMED) Pipeline,
which between them moved more than 2 mil-
lion barrels per day (bpd) of crude and oil
products in 2009.
Some analysts believe the selling of risky
assets in emerging Asia will subside rather
quickly because of the region’s relatively
superior fundamentals, particularly when it
comes to credit markets. “Asia will begin to
decouple very quickly and even in the Middle
East will start distinguishing between names.
People will start looking to go long the risk
and some of these trades will begin unwind-
ing soon,” said Vijay Chander, credit strate-
gist with Standard Chartered Bank.
Moodyʼs
cuts Egypt
rating,
warns
on govt.
spending
LONDON: Moody’s Investors
Service cut its rating on Egypt’s
debt yesterday on concern about
its public finances becoming the
second credit agency to turn
negative since the country was
plunged into political crisis.
Moody’s said the one-notch
downgrade, to Ba2 from Ba1
with a negative outlook, was
prompted by a significant rise in
political risk and concern that
the government’s response to
mounting unrest could under-
mine Egypt’s already weak pub-
lic finances.One analyst suggest-
ed the cut, coming as protesters
camped out in central Cairo
vowed to stay until they had
toppled President Hosni
Mubarak from power, was over-
due. “Finally the rating agencies
wake up. Egypt rated flat with
Turkey was always a joke,”
Timothy Ash, head of CEEMEA
research at RBS, said.
Moody’s joined peer Fitch
Ratings, which cut the outlook
on its BB+ country ceiling to
negative on Friday, in saying the
political turmoil would likely
undermine Egypt’s economic
reform programme. “There is a
strong possibility that fiscal pol-
icy will be loosened as part of
the government’s efforts to con-
tain discontent,” Moody’s said.
“A background of rising infla-
tionary pressures further compli-
cates fiscal policy by threatening
to increase the high level of budg-
etary expenditure on wages and
subsidies.” President Mubarak,
who sacked his inner circle of
ministers on Saturday, ordered his
new cabinet on Sunday to pre-
serve subsidies, control inflation
and provide more jobs, state tele-
vision reported.
The growing protest move-
ment is driven in large part by
public anger at rising prices,
unemployment and the huge dis-
parity between rich and power.
That means any successor
administration to Mubarak,
should he be forced from power,
would be likely to keep subsi-
dies in place and might boost
social spending.

Shares continue to slide, euro up on inflation data
LONDON: Global shares continued to
slide yesterday while Europe’s bench-
mark Brent crude was just short of $100 a
barrel on fears political unrest in Egypt
could spread among regional oil-produc-
ing nations.
Benchmark Brent crude had come off
slightly to trade down 0.5% at $98.86 a
barrel by 1143 GMT after hitting a 28-
month high on Friday while benchmark
U.S. crude futures were flat. OPEC secre-
tary general Abdullah al-Badri said the
WORLD MARKETS
group would boost supplies if needed, but
he did not expect the Egypt troubles to hit
supplies via the country.
Protest-contagion fears and risk aver-
sion pushed European shares down as
much as 1% with some traders taking the
opportunity to book profits before losses
were pared. At 1200 GMT, the index was
down 0.5%.
U.S. stock futures are flat to 0.2%
higher after Friday’s biggest one-day loss
in six months, but investors remain cau-
tious about political risk. Elsewhere, the
MSCI world equity index and Thomson
Reuters global stock index were both
down around 0.3% while emerging stocks
were down 0.9%.
Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei share
average had ended down 1.2% while the
MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan stock index
fell 1.1%. Among commodities, spot gold
fell after posting its largest daily gain in
eight weeks on Friday while copper rose
1% and other base metals also gained on
short-covering ahead of a week-long
Chinese holiday.
The euro and short-dated German
bonds yields both got a boost from news
euro zone inflation had risen more than
expected in January fuelling expectations
for an interest rate rise.
Consumer price inflation in the 17-
nation euro area rose 2.4% year-on-year
in January well above the European
Central Bank’s target to keep it below, but
close to 2%.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 19

BOTTOM LINE INDIA APPROVES $12bn POSCO STEEL MILL

LinkedIn
eyes $175
million IPO
NEW YORK/BANGALORE:
Investors are closely examining the
financial details disclosed in
LinkedIn Corp’s IPO filing trying to
determine how much the company is
worth. LinkedIn, which filed on
Thursday to raise up to $175 million
in an IPO, is attracting significant
interest as the first social networking
company to start the process of
becoming publicly traded.
LinkedIn has posted sequentially
increasing revenue in each of the
past seven quarters. It has posted
several quarterly losses during that
period – $2.9 million in the March
2009 quarter – but has been prof-
itable for the past two quarters,
according to its filing with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange

Honda Q3
Commission.

tumbles but
outlook lifted GPOSCOʼs plant in Pohang city, South Korea.

TOKYO: Honda Motor Co raised

its cautious annual outlook beyond
market expectations as a recovery
in the key US market helps counter
the strong yen and sliding Japanese
sales, which dragged its third-quar-
ter profits down 29%.
Japan’s top automakers are all
expected to report a sharp decline
in October-December profits as the
Govt. okays
end of subsidies for eco-friendly
cars has hammered domestic sales
since October.
Honda, which fell behind Nissan
Motor Co to become Japan’s third-
biggest automaker last year, raised
its operating profit forecast for the
year to March 31 to 620 billion yen
biggest FDI
By Nigam Prusty
($7.55 billion) from 500 billion
NEW DELHI The long-delayed
clearance for Indiaʼs
yen. A survey of 20 analysts by
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S forecasts

Smartphone
biggest foreign direct
profit of 594 billion yen. India’s Environment Ministry
approved yesterday South Korean
investment follows a

fires Toshiba
POSCO’s plans for a $12 billion steel
mill, a boost for the foreign invest- year in which
Environment minister
ment climate in Asia’s third-largest

revenue
economy after several setbacks for
big ticket industrial projects. Jairam Ramesh has
The long-delayed clearance for India’s
blocked several
projects raising criticism
biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) fol-
TOKYO: Japan’s Toshiba Corp has lows a year in which Environment minister

said third quarter operating profit
more than doubled on buoyant
sales of NAND flash memory and
liquid-crystal displays used in
tablets and smartphones including
Apple’s iPad and iPhone.
The world’s second largest suppli-
er of NAND chips kept its full year
operating profit forecast unchanged,
but lifted its net and pretax profit
estimates. South Korean rival
Samsung Electronics is also expect-
ed to benefit this year from booming
demand for smartphones and
tablets, after it reported its weakest
profit in six quarters last week.
Toshiba posted a 37.5 billion yen
($456.8 million) profit for the three
months ending December 31 com-
pared to 14.5 billion yen in the
same period the previous year.
Jairam Ramesh has blocked several proj-
ects raising criticism he was jeapordising
India’s growth story.
India, one of the world’s fastest growing
major economies, needs foreign capital to
boost infrastructure and allow its economy
to grow at near double digits. But projects
have met with protests from largely poor
farmers in this densely populated country.
“It’s very good news that this issue has
now been settled,” said Taina Erajuuri,
Helsinki-based portfolio manager at FIM
India, which owns about $150 million
worth of Indian shares. “India, unlike
China, is a very difficult country for foreign
companies to get approvals especially envi-
ronmental approvals. Many foreign compa-
nies want to come to India, but the country
is very bureaucratic to put it mildly.”
The mill in eastern Orissa state has been
delayed by criticism it would ruin lives of
thousands of poverty-stricken people, who
he was jeapordising
Indiaʼs growth story.
say the plant will disrupt their betel leaf
plantations and forest-based livelihoods.
“Undoubtedly, projects such as that of
POSCO have considerable economic, tech-
nological and strategic significance for the
country,” the ministry said. “At the same
time, laws on environment and forests must
be implemented seriously.”
The ministry attached a series of addition-
al conditions for POSCO. A government
panel had earlier said there were no ecolog-
ical concerns over the plant. POSCO is
among several corporations, including
Vedanta Resources , which have come under
scrutiny from Ramesh.
A series of corruption scandals has shak-
en the government and a recent minor cab-
inet reshuffle saw several ministers’ portfo-
lios change, but Ramesh stayed on indicat-
ing his influence.
While investors tend to shrug off corrup-
tion scandals as a risk of emerging markets,
regulatory uncertainty threatens to taint
India’s attractiveness as a destination for
foreign firms eager for a slice of its boom-
ing $1.3 trillion economy. And the approval
granted to POSCO is unlikely to change
sentiment.
FDI in India fell 27% to about $14 bil-
lion in the current fiscal year through
November, dragged down in part by delays
in big investments.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 20
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
SportNow Page 21

AMERICAN WINS AT
TORREY PINES WITH
ONE -SHOT SHOW
GBubba Watson celebrates sinking a birdie putt on
the 18th green in final round play on Torrey Pines
South course to win the Farmers Insurance Open
PGA golf tournament in San Diego, California.
Birdie
Bubba’s
day out
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
SAN DIEGO
American Bubba Watson held off late
charges by Phil Mickelson and Venezuela’s
Jhonattan Vegas to clinch his second PGA
Tour title with an emotional one-shot victo-
ry at the Farmers Insurance Open on Sunday.
Left-hander Watson coolly birdied the par-five
last to keep his challengers at bay as he closed with
a sparkling five-under-par 67 on the tricky South
Course at Torrey Pines.
The long-hitting 32-year-old, a stroke off the
pace going into the final round, got up and down
from a greenside bunker at the 18th sinking a curl-
ing 12-footer before pumping his right fist in cele-
bration. Three-times champion Mickelson had a
chance to force a playoff by holing a wedge shot
from 72 yards out but his ball ended up four feet
from the pin to set up a closing birdie.
EMOTIONAL WATSON
“It means a lot,” a tearful Watson, whose father
Gerry died late last year after a lengthy battle with
lung cancer, said greenside. “My dad is not here.
Mom, I love you.” Asked if his breakthrough win at
last year’s Travelers Championship had helped him
at Torrey Pines, Watson replied: “No. It’s hard
every time you look at it. You’ve got Phil, you’ve
got the guy who won last week, Vegas. All I thought
about today was keeping my head down. And I did
that.”
San Diego native Mickelson closed with a 69 to
secure second place while PGA Tour rookie Vegas,
winner of last week’s Bob Hope Classic, bogeyed
the last for a 68 and a tie for third at 13 under with
American Dustin Johnson (66).
“I’m disappointed because I wanted to start the
year off with a win,” said Mickelson. “But on the
other hand, I played really good golf and gave
myself an opportunity.
“Bubba played some terrific golf. I did what I
thought would be enough, and it just wasn’t. Bubba
played too good. He made great shot after great
shot, and putt after putt.”
Six-times winner Tiger Woods, playing his first
event of the year, ended a frustrating week with an
erratic three-over 75 to share 44th place, a distant
15 strokes off the pace.
PROGRESSIVELY WORSE
“I hit a lot of good shots early in the week, and
then it progressively got worse,” said Woods. “I
have some work to do. There’s no doubt about that.”
Mickelson attracted a huge gallery when he teed
off with co-leader Bill Haas in cool, mainly over-
cast conditions and he briefly led by one after Haas
bogeyed the opening hole.
Watson drew level by knocking in a three-footer
to birdie the par-three third and he, fellow left-han-
der Mickelson and Vegas then duelled for suprema-
cy for the rest of the day. Vegas, with birdies at 12
and 13, and Mickelson, who horseshoed out with a
21-foot eagle putt on the 13th green, piled on the
pressure but Watson stayed in front.
He produced flawless golf over the back nine, got
to 15 under with a two-putt birdie at the 13th and
calmly sank a nine-footer to save par at the 17th.
Mickelson, who had slipped back with a bogey at
the 14th after dumping his approach into a bunker,
recovered with a birdie at the 17th where he struck
a wedge to three feet.
The bold bid by Vegas to win consecutive titles on
the US circuit effectively ended at the last when he
hit his second shot into the pond guarding the front
of the green. “It was a great day,” the 26-year-old
Venezuelan said after bogeying the final hole. “I
played really well. When it went in the water, I knew
I had to make an eagle and put a little pressure on
him. Unfortunately, things didn’t go my way.”
Mickelson, who laid up with his second after his
tee shot at the 18th ended up in the left rough, then
had to hole his wedge approach there to force a
playoff. Watson, sitting in the scoring trailer,
patiently waited until he was told Mickelson had
failed in his bid.

Mixed emotions as Mickelson misses by a whisker

SAN DIEGO: Phil Mickelson had bitter-
sweet feelings on Sunday after narrowly
failing in his bid to win the PGA Tour
event in his native San Diego for the first
time in a decade.
The four-times major champion ended
up one stroke behind the triumphant
Bubba Watson, a fellow American and
left-hander who sealed victory with a
birdie four on the final hole.
Mickelson had an outside chance of
forcing a playoff by holing his wedge
approach at the last but he came up four
feet short and had to settle for outright sec-
ond place. “I’m disappointed because I
wanted to start the year off with a win,”
Masters champion Mickelson told
reporters after firing a three-under-par 69
in the final round.
“I feel like I really need to get a ‘W’
(win) and perform and come through on
Sunday heading into Augusta (for the
Masters) in a couple of months. But on the
other hand, I played really good golf and
gave myself an opportunity. I played well
on Sunday and had a good tournament.
Hopefully, I’ll use this as a springboard.”
Mickelson, who will compete in next
week’s Phoenix Open, gave his loyal fans
plenty to cheer for as he birdied three of
the last six holes to keep Watson under
pressure. He struck a superb lob wedge
from 113 yards to three feet at the par-four
17th to trail Watson by one but then
pushed his drive at the par-five last into
the left rough.
From there, he had no chance of reach-
ing the green in two and decided to lay up
with his second shot.
“I felt like I had a better chance to make
a three from the fairway trying to use that
bank and bringing the ball back or flying it
in,” said Mickelson, who rose to fourth in
the world rankings on Monday.
Moments later, Watson sank a 12-footer
for birdie on the 18th green, requiring
Mickelson to hole out from the fairway to
take the tournament into extra time.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
FA CUP
SHOCKER
Fulham crush Premier League rivals Spurs 4-0
GFulham manager Mark Hughes celebrates next to Tottenham Hotspurʼs manager Harry Redknapp as his team scores a goal in their
English FA Cup fourth round match at Craven Cottage in London.
LONDON
Fulham crushed Premier League rivals
Tottenham Hotspur 4-0, 10-man Arsenal
scraped a 2-1 win over League One
Huddersfield and big-spending Manchester
City drew 1-1 with Notts County in the FA
Cup fourth round on Sunday.
Tottenham, fifth in the Premier League and
looking forward to the Champions League knock-
out stages, conceded two penalties and a red card
in the first 14 minutes at Craven Cottage and were
4-0 down to Fulham by halftime.
Nigeria striker Victor Obinna hit a hat-trick as
West Ham United beat Nottingham Forest 3-2.
Orient were also rewarded for two upset wins
with a home tie against Arsenal and holders
Chelsea, should they win their home replay with
Everton, will host Reading.
DEFLECTED SHOT
At Fulham, Tottenham’s Alan Hutton felled Clint
Dempsey to allow Danny Murphy to slot the open-
ing spot kick after 10 minutes and four minutes
later, Michael Dawson also pulled back Dempsey
earning a red card and giving Murphy the chance to
net his second penalty.
Brede Hangeland tapped in the third and, after
shambolic defending by Spurs, semi-finalists last
season, Moussa Dembele lashed in a superb
fourth.
It was the third time this season that Spurs have
gone three goals down in a game, but at least
against Young Boys and Internazionale away in the
Champions League this season they salvaged
something from the second half. This was Spurs’
heaviest defeat to Fulham in their history.
Page 22
Minor league Crawley
Much of it was the result of a dreadful afternoon
draw Man United tie
for Dawson, who was culpable in part for both the
penalties and got himself sent off in the process.
“He started sloppy and gave two goals away,
which is not like him,” manager Harry Redknapp
said. “He got off to a terrible start. We gave away
two horrendous goals and Dawson got sent off.
LONDON: Crawley Town, the first minor league team to reach the
You can’t keep coming back from these starts.”
fifth round of the FA Cup for 17 years, were handed a plum tie at
Redknapp still hopes to sign Phil Neville from
Everton and, judging by Hutton’s performance, it
Manchester United in Sunday’s draw.
Another draw that captured fully the romance of the competition
was not hard to see why. Robbie Keane has gone
pitted League One (third division) Leyton Orient against London
on loan to West Ham. There were strong sugges-
rivals Arsenal at Brisbane Road.
tions in Spain on Sunday that Spurs have made a
“I’m confident we’ll get the whole town up there. There will be
bid for Fernando Llorente of Athletic Bilbao.
a procession of buses going,” Crawley chief executive Alan
Redknapp denied a bid had been made for West
Williams told Sky Sports from a packed function room at the south-
Ham captain Scott Parker.
ern England club. Crawley went through to the last 16 with a 1-0
The Spurs suffered, as their manager said, a
victory at League Two (fourth division) Torquay United on
“horrific start”, but as bad as they were,
Saturday, their third Football League scalp in successive games.
Redknapp’s side were beautifully dispatched by a
Manager Steve Evans said: “If there’s any non-league club capa-
Fulham team who are starting to rediscover their
ble of beating Manchester United, it’s Crawley Town.” Orient chair-
form. There was a vintage performance from
man Barry Hearn was also delighted with his club’s draw. “The tie
Murphy, who tucked away too penalties with the
minimum of fuss in the space of three first-
of the round is without a doubt Leyton Orient against Arsenal,”
joked Hearn. “This is our biggest game for 30 years.” The fifth
half minutes.
FIFTH ROUND DRAW
round will take place on the weekend of February 19 and 20.
Andy Johnson looked like the player he was
before that cartilage injury last season and, in
Moussa Dembele, Fulham have what might just be
one of the signings of the season.
A fifth-round place at home to the winners of the
GWest Ham v Burnley
replay between Wigan Athletic and Bolton
Wanderers awaits for Mark Hughes’ team and on GNotts County/Man City v Aston Villa
GStoke City v Brighton
this kind of form they look like a decent bet for the
quarter-finals. On Sunday, there was a flavour of
the club’s Europa League run last season, a deter- GBirmingham City v Sheffield (Wednesday)
mined, attacking Fulham team making life awk- GLeyton Orient v Arsenal
GEverton/Chelsea v Reading
ward for their opponents all game.
“I thought the second penalty was harsh and the GManchester United v Crawley
GFulham v Bolton/Wigan
sending-off as well,” Redknapp said. “Michael
feels it was harsh because Dembele had the shot.”
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011
City on
brink of
disaster
RICHEST CLUB HELD 1-1 BY OLDEST
LONDON
Manchester City, the richest club in soc-
cer, were in danger of humiliation as Notts
County, struggling in League One and
with a squad made up predominantly of
free transfers and trainees, matched their
millionaire rivals in every department.
Only a goal from Edin Dzeko salvaged City’s
position. But scoring equalisers against teams like
County clearly was not what Dzeko had in mind
when he signed for City for £27million this month.
A first goal for his new club
was nevertheless appreciated by
Roberto Mancini since the City
manager has identified the FA
Cup as a major opportunity to
win a trophy. Until Dzeko struck
with a super, left-foot volley in
the 80th minute, ambition
appeared to be moving aside for
humiliation at Meadow Lane.
Thanks to a fine goal from Neal
Bishop, a team that cost more
than £200million to assemble,
was in danger of losing to a side
made up entirely of free transfers
and loan signings.
In fairness to City, the condi-
tions did not help. Meadow Lane
was more like a ploughed field
than a football pitch thanks to the
two rugby matches that had been
staged there in the last week.
For cultured players like Yaya
Toure, Patrick Vieira and James
Milner, it was far from ideal. But
Paul Ince’s side deserve credit
for turning it to their advantage.
Sunday brought Bishop’s first
goal of the season and his second
for the club; it also crowned a
fine performance in the No 10
shirt. Not that Bishop was alone
in impressing for the hosts.
Centre-half Krystian Pearce
made life difficult for Dzeko
with a series of perfectly execut-
ed challenges while left back Jon
Harley demonstrated why he was
once considered an exciting
prospect at Chelsea.
They came into the game
encouraged by their victory at
Sunderland in the previous
round, but also inspired by the GNotts Countyʼs manager Paul Ince catches the
prospect of a tie between the ball as his Manchester City counterpart Roberto
world’s oldest league club and Mancini reacts during their FA Cup soccer match
the world’s richest. They were at Meadow Lane in Nottingham, central England.
determined in the way they attacked City, Alan
Gow threatening with an early free-kick after
being brought down by Jerome Boateng.
With Carlos Tevez absent with a back injury,
City were missing drive and invention up front.
But Yaya Toure went desperately close to scoring
when he accelerated to meet a fine cross from
Micah Richards, only to see his shot saved by
Stuart Nelson. Dzeko also put County under pres-
sure as did Jo. But Ince spent the interval remind-
ing his players they were capable of beating their
illustrious visitors and the momentum appeared to
switch to the team sitting 18th in League One.
Page 23
Real suffer shock at
SOCCER ROUND-UP
struggling Osasuna
MADRID: Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes suffered a huge blow
with a surprise 1-0 defeat at Osasuna on Sunday which left Jose
Mourinho’s side seven points adrift of leaders Barcelona.
Villarreal closed to within six points of Real in third place when
Giuseppe Rossi’s spectacular goal gave them a 1-0 win in a pulsating
encounter at Espanyol. Osasuna’s Javier Camunas broke the deadlock
against Real with a shot off the post in the 62nd minute of a typical-
ly bruising battle in the intimidating Reyno de Navarra stadium.
Mourinho responded by throwing new loan signing Emmanuel
Adebayor into the fray, but they were unable to score against a side
who had not won in their previous eight games. Real’s second defeat
of the season left them on 51 points from 21 games, seven behind
champions Barca, who won 3-0 at Hercules on Saturday to notch up
their 15th consecutive victory.
Debutant Pazzini
“There are still a lot of points available; we have to keep on fight-
ing,” Real midfielder Xabi Alonso told Spanish television.
spurs Inter comeback
MILAN: Substitute Giampaolo Pazzini scored twice and won a penal-
ty on a dream debut as Serie A champions Inter Milan roared back
from 2-0 down to beat visiting Palermo 3-2 in an enthralling encounter
on Sunday.
Second-placed Napoli also put on a show thrashing Pazzini’s now
toothless former club Sampdoria 4-0 with rampant Uruguay striker
Edinson Cavani netting another hat-trick as they cut the gap with lead-
ers AC Milan back to four points.
Faltering Juventus lost again, 2-1 at home to in-form Udinese as the
gulf in class between the fallen Turin giants and the other top teams
continues to be apparent. Pazzini, signed on Friday, was thrown on at
the break and soon scored with a superb turn-and-shot before
Palermo’s Javier Pastore had a penalty saved by fit-again Julio Cesar.
Pazzini then planted a bullet header into the bottom corner from
Maicon’s free kick and Samuel Eto’o completed the victory from the
Stuttgart woes mount
spot 14 minutes from time after Pazzini was pulled back.
after Freiburg blow
BERLIN :VfB Stuttgart’s problems continued after a 1-0 home defeat
by Freiburg on Sunday left the 2006-07 champions firmly in a
Bundesliga relegation battle.
Johannes Flum grabbed the winner after 24 minutes for the visitors,
who are enjoying a sparkling season and moved up to sixth.
Stuttgart were joined on 16 points from 20 games by bottom side
Borussia Moenchengladbach, who stunned Eintracht Frankfurt five
minutes from time with a goal from Belgian Igor de Camargo to win
1-0. Both teams are three points adrift of Cologne who occupy the rel-
egation playoff place.
Stuttgart, suffering their first defeat since the league resumed after
the winter break, were dominant in the second half, but with Brazilian
Cacau missing, they lacked a cutting edge against Freiburg.
Sven Schipplock failed to beat Freiburg keeper Oliver Baumann
with a curling shot from the right midway through the second period
Bordeaux end winless
and Stuttgart's Martin Harnik struck the post a minute from time.
run by beating Nice
PARIS: Girondins Bordeaux gave under-fire coach Jean Tigana a
boost by securing their first league win since late November with a 2-
0 victory over Nice on Sunday. Bordeaux moved up to eighth place,
11 points adrift of leaders Lille who beat Lens 1-0 on Saturday.
Defender Ludovic Sane scored the opener in the 38th minute finding
the back of the net from a corner at the near post before Anthony
Modeste took advantage of Nice’s passive defence to put his team two-
up just before the hour mark. Tigana now has some breathing space
after his future seemed to be in the balance following Bordeaux’s
embarassing French Cup exit to second division Angers last weekend
and a string of mediocre results since the beginning of the season.
Montpellier beat Nancy 2-1 away to climb up to fifth place on 33
points. Youssouf Hadji put Nancy ahead in the second minute, but
Souleymane Camara levelled six minutes later and defender Gary
Bocaly put Montpellier ahead for good with a powerful shot from 30
metres.
MAURITIUS Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Page 24

PREMIER LEAGUE

FIERY
FOUR
BOOST
DEVILS
GNemanja Vidic of Manchester United argues with a linesman during his teamʼs English Premier League match against Tottenham
Hotspur at White Hart Lane, London. Below (from left) Rafael, Patrice Evra and Rio Ferdinand.

MANCHESTER UNITED TO GET

“
ADDED AMMO IN VILLA CLASH
By Sonia Oxley
MANCHESTER

Premier League leaders Manchester Vidic should be

United will welcome back their alright. Rio started
running on Thursday.
first-choice back four at home to
Aston Villa tonight (midnight,
Mauritian time). Rafael should also be
Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Rafael
okay; he got the
all-clear on Friday
and Patrice Evra missed Saturday’s 2-1
victory over Southampton in the FA Cup,

and Evra had a

the second successive game United ral-
lied to win after falling behind.
Villa may not be as forgiving as
Southampton and Blackpool having tri-
umphed 1-0 in this fixture last season to
collect their first victory at United for 26
years. “We should have our back four-
back against Villa,” manager Alex
Ferguson told the club website.
“Vidic should be alright. Rio started
running on Thursday and hopefully will
be okay by Tuesday. Rafael should also
be okay; he got the all-clear on Friday and
Evra had a family bereavement so we left
him out at Southampton.”
United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar
is also available after being rested at the
weekend. A full midweek league pro-
gramme will come just after the transfer
window closes.
Liverpool, showing signs of revival
under Kenny Dalglish with back-to-back
wins, have some paperwork to complete
after Uruguay forward Luis Suarez
passed a medical and are boosted by the
return from injury of fan favourite Jamie
family bereavement
so we left him out at
Southampton.
Carragher. Dalglish said yesterday the
defender was available for Wednesday’s
match at home to Stoke City (2000) after
dislocating his shoulder in November.
Second-placed Arsenal, who trail United
by five points, host Everton tonight with
manager Arsene Wenger without midfield-
er Samir Nasri after he picked up a ham-
string injury that could sideline him for
three weeks. Third-placed Manchester City
travel to Birmingham City on Wednesday
and are hoping striker Carlos Tevez will
have recovered from a back problem.
United have 51 points from 23 games,
ahead of Arsenal on 46. Manchester City
are a further point behind having played a
game more while fourth-placed Chelsea
are 10 adrift of the leaders.