QATAR | Page 28
Cameron
INDEX
QATAR
REGION
ARAB WORLD
2 – 9, 28
10, 11
11, 12
COMMENT
BUSINESS
CLASSIFIED
INTERNATIONAL 13 – 24 SPORTS
GULF TIMES
In brief
BUSINESS | Warning
S&P threatens to
cut US credit rating
Standard & Poor’s yesterday
threatened to downgrade
America’s prized AAA credit rating
unless the Obama administration
and Congress find a way to slash
the yawning federal budget deficit
within two years. S&P, which
assigns ratings to guide investors
on the risks involved in buying
debt instruments, slapped a
negative outlook on the country’s
top-notch credit rating and said
there’s an at least a one-in-three
chance that it could eventually
cut the country’s long-term AAA
rating. A downgrade, which would
leave Germany and France with
a higher rating, would erode the
status of the US as the world’s
most powerful economy and the
dollar’s role as the dominant global
currency. Pages 30, 37
BUSINESS | Results
Doha Bank posts 15%
jump in Q1 profit
Buoyant core revenue streams
helped Doha Bank to report a 15%
jump in its first-quarter (January-
March) net profit to QR363mn.
Net interest income rose by
33.4% to QR393mn, said Doha
Bank chairman Sheikh Fahad bin
Mohamad bin Jabor al-Thani after
the board meeting yesterday. Loans
and advances stood at QR26.10bn
and total assets increased by about
5% to QR46.40bn, while customer
deposits and unrestricted
investment depositor accounts
rose 3% to QR28bn, reflecting the
strong liquidity position of the
bank, he said. Page 33
ENERGY | Outlook
LNG prices seen rising
on Qatar-Japan deal
Long-term gas prices are likely
to rise after Qatar announced at
the weekend it would supply an
extra 4mn tonnes, or more than
60 cargoes, to Japan over the
next 12 months, possibly diverting
supplies from Europe, traders
said yesterday. Japan is battling
to minimise power shortages in
the aftermath of a devastating
earthquake and subsequent
tsunami in March. “If Qatar
diverts to Japan more than 60
cargoes that it had contractually
committed to others, that would
have a big impact on spot and
long-term prices,” said a source in
LNG trading at a Japanese trading
house. Page 35
Accreditation system for private schools
By Bonnie James
Deputy News Editor
Q atar will establish a national
accreditation system for pri-
vate schools to enhance the
quality of education and to attract
outstanding schools to the country.
The overall condition of private
schools will be assessed and the pro-
posed accreditation system tested
in them, the National Development
Strategy (NDS) 2011-2016 has stated.
The accreditation system is to be
applied to all private schools after fi-
nal refinement. A set of measures will
be designed for attracting more out-
standing schools.
The NDS is looking at completing
plans pertaining to developing and
improving the quality of education in
private schools.
Increasing the share of Qatari stu-
dents approaching or meeting na-
tional standards in math, science and
English is envisaged.
The government will review and
incorporate best practices of teaching
math, science and English in national
curricula, apart from monitoring and
25, 26
29 – 37
38 – 43
Support for Nato role
44 – 48 in Libya at Debates
PM calls
for Arab
growth
model
The Mena region will need to
create more than 18mn jobs over
the next 10 years, says the Prime
Minister
By Pratap John
Chief Business Reporter
H
E the Prime Minister and For-
eign Minister Sheikh Hamad
bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani
has called upon the Arab countries to
“devise and crystallise” an economic
model that suits their conditions,
boosts growth and productivity and
generates jobs.
“We are in a crucial stage of de-
velopment and this has to continue.
Hence we require an economic model
that drives growth and create the
much needed jobs for our youth in
the Mena region,” Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim said in his opening note at the
Arab Banking Conference 2011 at the
Sharq Village yesterday.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim’s speech
was read by the Qatar Central Bank
Governor, HE Sheikh Abdullah bin
Saud al-Thani.
Stressing the need for economic re-
forms, the Prime Minister said: “We
must begin this at our own house.
Economic reforms are required be-
cause imbalance exists in growth in
many countries in the Mena region.
We must be able to effectively com-
bat corruption, offer good governance
and provide transparency.”
Referring to the political crises
across the region, Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim said: “These are mainly due
to corruption, unemployment and an
exorbitant rise in the cost of living.
The unemployment rate in the Mena
region is among the highest in the
world. In some Mena countries this
exceeds 10%. Worse still, most of the
providing support systems for low
academic achievers.
The NDS points out that Qatar’s
school system must also acknowledge
weaknesses in student capabilities.
On national and international tests,
many Qatari students perform below
expectations in core subjects such as
math and science.
Programmes should be considered
to support students who are weak in
these areas so that they can success-
fully continue their schooling, the
NDS has recommended.
The K–12 national curriculum,
learning outcomes and instructional
programmes, must be aligned with
individuals’ post-secondary aspira-
Curricula for
special needs pupils
Qatar will develop exclusive cur-
ricula for pupils with special needs, in
connection with defining a national
curriculum for K–12 general education.
The government will evaluate the
infrastructure of specialised institutions
and facilities and develop capacity as
needed. Page 2
BRITAIN | Page 14
steps up
fight against DOW JONES QE NYMEX
electoral 12,201.60 8,645.17 107.30
reform -140.24
-1.14%
Latest Figures
-83.82
-0.96%
-2.36
-2.15%
pu
bl TA 978
Q since
is
A 1
he R
d
in
TUESDAY Vol. XXXII No. 8235
April 19, 2011
Jumada-I 15, 1432 AH
www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals
Emir receives Libyan council chairman
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani meeting with Libyan Transitional National Council chairman Mustafa
Mohamed Abdul Jalil and his accompanying delegation at Al Wajbah Palace yesterday. HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad al-Thani attended the meeting. Also present were HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin
unemployed are young people.” Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani and a number of ministers. Talks dealt with the latest developments in Libya. Page 3
He said the Mena region would need
to create more than 18mn jobs over
the next 10 years. This is an extremely
difficult task given that the economic
development has not reached the “re-
quired standard” in many countries
of the region.
EU takes step toward military mission
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim touched
upon the rising food prices and said: Reuters body has yet to make such a request. in the western city of Misrata.
“This has had a negative impact on Brussels “The 27 have now adopted unani- Misrata has been under siege for
many countries in the region. Many mously the concept of the opera- seven weeks, during which hundreds
countries have not been able to cope tions,” a spokesman for EU foreign of civilians are thought to have been
T
with the increase in food price be- he EU has outlined a provision- policy chief Catherine Ashton said. killed, and evacuees say conditions
cause of lack of resources. As a result al plan that could see European “But it’s not a detailed plan of ac- are becoming increasingly desperate.
of this, many Arab people have mini- troops sent to the besieged tion - it’s just the next step and we Valerie Amos, head of the UN Office
mum sustenance.” Libyan city of Misrata to protect aid would only get to the stage of any de- for the Co-ordination of Humanitar-
On the global economic crisis, he deliveries if requested by the UN, EU tail if and when there is a request from ian Affairs, has responded to Ashton
said it was mostly a result of “too officials said yesterday. the UN,” Michael Mann said. by saying she would prefer first to
much freedom and too little control The 27 EU states agreed at the Ashton wrote to UN Secretary- explore civilian options as it could be
on the markets”. start of this month it would be will- General Ban Ki-moon on April 8 say- counter-productive for military forc-
Hitherto, the economies were ing to launch such a mission if ing the European Union was ready es to be involved, an EU official said.
based on the principle that the mar- the UN asked for it, but the world to act to help relieve the situation Page 12
kets could function and develop the
way they want. They were expected to
regulate themselves, but that did not
happen.
“What we have subsequently seen
in many countries around the world is
misuse of market principles and pri-
vatisation. A consequence of which
was problems relating to risk man-
agement in banks.”
The global economy shrunk by
about 0.6% in 2009, which has had
an impact on the financial system as
a whole. There is still an imbalance
in the global economic growth de-
spite efforts by many governments to
kickstart respective economies by al-
locating large sums of money in sup-
port of their financial markets.
“The economies of many advanced
countries are still in bad shape. On
the other hand, many countries in
Asia and Latin America are doing
well,” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said.
Page 33
tions and Qatar’s needs for a skilled
workforce, it is urged.
The NDS observes that most
schools adhere to a standard cur-
riculum so there is little variation in
school profiles.
Qatar needs to provide diverse edu-
cation options that allow students to
choose curricula and teaching meth-
ods that match their aspirations and
abilities, the document highlights.
A uniform public K–12 system
neglects students with special tal-
ents and interests, such as those
drawn to arts, music or sports, it is
stressed.
The school system also largely ig-
nores vocational and technical tal-
ents. International benchmarks sug-
gest that Qatar would be well served
by offering student-oriented learning
and fostering talents outside of the
standard curriculum.
These goals could be achieved
through special classes or specialised
schools. In this connection, the gov-
ernment will implement programmes
to support less talented students.
The target is to strengthen institu-
tional capacity to cater to diverse stu-
dent needs.
 Gulf Times
2 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
QATAR
Deputy PM receives Macedonian envoy
HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of Emiri Diwan, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, holding talks with the
Ambassador of Macedonia to Qatar, Fuad Hasanovic, yesterday. They discussed a number of issues of common concern.
Exclusive curricula for
pupils with special needs
By Bonnie James
Deputy News Editor
Q
atar will develop spe-
cialised curricula for
students with special
needs, in connection with de-
fining a national curriculum
for K–12 general education.
The government will
evaluate the infrastructure
of specialised institutions
and facilities, including
digital access - for students
with disabilities - and de-
velop capacity as needed.
The National Development
Strategy (NDS) 2011-2016
points out that Qatar has
adopted inclusive policies for
children with special needs.
Schools are encouraged to
accept these students, and
more than half of schools
are equipped to meet the
needs of students with
physical disabilities.
Several institutions ca-
ter to students who cannot
be taught in regular class-
rooms, offering these stu-
dents the education needed
to help them lead a mean-
ingful life.
As the student popula-
tion has grown, however,
shortages have arisen in the
provision of education and
training to students with
special needs.
Few teachers in govern-
ment schools have been
trained how best to support
such students, and experts
who can assist students
with moderate and serious
disabilities are unavailable.
Overall, increasing the
capacity of specialised in-
stitutions would lower the
pressure on mainstream
schools and reduce waiting
lists for existing specialised
institutions.
The NDS states that the
government will invest in
faculty development for
teaching students with spe-
cial learning needs.
Qatari specialists are to be
developed to provide compre-
hensive services for students
with special learning needs.
Awareness campaigns
will be launched for par-
ents of students with spe-
cial learning needs and for
other students and society
at large.
Qatar will invest in the
development of institu-
tions to enhance teaching of
students with disabilities,
including identifying edu-
cation and career pathways.
The targets in this regard
are to increase the share of
schools equipped with infra-
structure for students with
disabilities to 80% and aug-
ment the capacity of spe-
cialised institutions and the
number of Qatari specialists.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 3

QATAR

Emir receives head of

Libyan national panel
QNA
Doha

H
H the Emir Sheikh
Hamad bin Kha-
lifa al-Thani held
talks with the Chairman
of the Libyan Transitional
National Council (LTNC),
Mustafa Mohamed Abdul
Jalil at the Al Wajbah Palace
yesterday.
HH the Heir Apparent
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
al-Thani, HE Prime Min-
ister and Foreign Minister
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim
bin Jabor al-Thani and a
number of ministers at-
tended the meeting.
Talks dealt with the latest
developments in Libya.
The Emir hosted a lunch-
eon banquet in honour of
the Libyan delegation.
The Libyan delegation HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani receiving the Chairman of the Libyan
left Doha later yesterday. Transitional National Council, Mustafa Mohamed Abdul Jalil, at the Al Wajbah Palace.
The LTNC chairman Mus-
tafa Abdul Jalil was seen to his departure, Abdul Jalil Libya will praise it through- through the state-owned Qa-
off at Doha international expressed deep thanks to out history,” Abdul Jalil said. tar International Petroleum
airport by HE the Minister Qatar, the Emir, the gov- Qatar has recognised the Marketing Company (Tas-
of State for Foreign Affairs ernment and the people of Libyan Transitional Na- weeq), in delivering four ship-
Ahmed bin Abdullah al- Qatar for their support to tional Council as the sole ments of petroleum products
Mahmoud. the people of Libya. “Qatar’s legitimate representative of to the Libyan port of Benghazi
In statement to Qatar position is distinguished the Libyan people. and in exporting two oil ship-
News Agency (QNA), prior and brotherly. The people of Qatar has also succeeded, ments out of Tobruk.

American students’ delegation arrives

QNA connects Qatari and Ameri- their Qatari counterparts Last Spring, QFI
Doha can youth, sponsored by from Qatar Independent Sec- launched the cultural ex-
Qatar Foundation Interna- ondary School for Girls and change programme as part
tional (QFI). Omar bin Al-Khattab Educa- of their Arabic language and

A
diverse group of
students from cit-
ies across the United
States arrived in Doha yes-
terday as part of a cross-
cultural exchange trip that
The American students,
teachers and chaperones hail
from public schools in Bos-
ton, Massachusetts; Honolu-
lu, HI; Chicago, IL; and Seat-
tle, WA. They will be joining
tional Complex for Boys.
The group will explore Qa-
tar, participate in education-
al and leadership activities,
practise Arabic, and connect
with their Qatari peers.
cultural initiatives in two
urban public high schools
in the United States: the
Washington (D.C.) Latin
Public Charter School and
the Boston Arts Academy.
 Gulf Times
4 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

QATAR
In brief

QF campaign Jordanian king to

visit Qatar today

celebrates
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani will welcome
Jordanian King Abdullah II and
the accompanying delegation
upon their arrival at Doha
International Airport today for a
one-day working visit to Qatar.
Tuck (centre) chairing the event as Warnock (left) and Preston look on. The Emir and the Jordanian

Golden Age
monarch will hold talks on ways
to cement bilateral ties as well as
other issues of common concern.

Singular GCC railway authority Phone call from

‘needed to look into standards’ Palestinian leader

of Learning
By Sarmad Qazi Europe,” Warnock said.
Staff Reporter The ever-expanding SCL-
Gulf works to promote the
study and understanding of
PPP like in Kuwait. There will
be a range of likely contractual
issues, not least the interface
issues in the project,” Warnock
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani yesterday
received a telephone call from
Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas. Bilateral ties and latest
developments on the Palestinian

W
hile the proposed construction law amongst all said. arena were reviewed during the

E
xactly 1,000 years after
Ibn al-Haytham, the man
described as the world’s
first true scientist, began his
magnum opus Kitab-al-Mana-
zir, Qatar Foundation for Edu-
cation, Science and Community
Development (QF) is this week
celebrating human achievement
and the unlocking of human po-
tential.
QF has launched a global cam-
paign to underline what can be
achieved when people’s true po-
tential is unlocked. It will show-
case 12 pioneers who, together,
symbolise QF’s goal of becoming
a creator of knowledge in Qatar,
the Middle East and around the
world.
Also referred to as the ‘Found-
er of Experimental Physics,’ Ibn
al-Haytham was a scientific
pioneer whose ground-breaking
masterwork now ranks alongside
the works of other pioneers such
as Newton and Galileo.
Ibn al-Haytham embodied a
500-year period of educational
and scientific discovery in the
Arab World, known as the Gold-
en Age of Learning, which saw
Arab scholars – from Baghdad
to Bokhara, Cairo and Cordoba
– leading the world across sci-
ence, medicine, philosophy and
the arts.
Unified by the Arabic lan-
guage, inventions ranged from
algebra, pharmacies, Arabic
numerals, human anatomy and
the categorisation of animal and
plant life, to the hypodermic sy-
ringe, windmills, irrigation and
the guitar – innovations which
continue to make their mark to-
day.
“Throughout the Golden
Age, which ran from the 9th
to the 13th Century, Arab
scholars were recognised
for major advances in
astronomy, mathematics,
chemistry and other
fields of learning. At
Qatar Foundation, we are
committed to reviving and
continuing this important
legacy by building a
platform for research and
innovation, and fostering
a culture of quality and
excellence”
Launching the QF campaign,
president Dr Fathy Saoud com-
mented: “Throughout the
Golden Age, which ran from the
9th to the 13th Century, Arab
scholars were recognised for
major advances in astronomy,
mathematics, chemistry and
other fields of learning. At Qatar
Foundation, we are committed
to reviving and continuing this
important legacy by building a
platform for research and inno-
vation, and fostering a culture of
quality and excellence.”
Dr Saoud pointed out that QF
is bringing world-class educa-
tion and research, work experi-
ence and career opportunities to
Qatar, so that the young people
can develop the foundation in
science, the attitudes and the
skills required for the knowledge
economy. “At the same time, we
are building Qatar’s innovation
and technology capacity, and
knowledge base, by developing
and commercialising solutions
through key sciences.
“We are fostering a progres-
sive society appropriate to the
knowledge economy – while
enhancing our cultural life, pro-
tecting Qatar’s values and herit-
age, and addressing immediate
social needs in the community.
“Qatar Foundation is helping
to create a renaissance of learn-
ing in Qatar and the broader
Arab World,” Dr Saoud added.
GCC-wide rail net-
work will bring tre-
mendous benefits to the Middle
East, the daunting challenge of
setting up a singular author-
ity for standards and co-ordi-
nation needs to be addressed,
officials from law firm Norton
Rose said yesterday.
Speaking at a Society of Con-
struction Law – Gulf (SCL)’s
Doha event held at the Qatar
Financial Centre, partner at
Norton Rose Donald Warnock
said co-ordination is particu-
larly important as each of the
GCC countries with plans for
a railway is employing different
models.
“The GCC rail network is a
fantastic benefit to the Mid-
dle East… the challenge is (an)
authority to set up standards,”
Warnock said, while pointing
out that it is not clear whether
local state laws will apply when
borders are crossed.
“There is a 2011 report (to
come out), which is going to
look into the establishment of a
GCC rail authority and that will
be looking at standardisation
and co-ordination, and will
hopefully lead to a top-down
review, which is what we had in
those involved in the construc-
tion industry in the region.
In Qatar, there are five prin-
cipal rail projects: a high-speed
rail-link to Bahrain across the
Friendship Causeway, Ras Laf-
fan to Mesaieed freight and
passenger link, Doha-Saudi
Arabia link to the GCC net-
work, Doha City Metro, and
the West Bay and Lusail people
mover networks.
According to the lawyer,
the Qatari model is led by the
government where Qatari Diar
(51%) and Deutsche Bahn In-
ternational (49%) are respon-
sible for managing, design and
construction as well as the
implementation of the entire
project.
“My understanding is that
the procurement will begin in
June 2011 and construction is
due to commence in 2012,” he
said.
For the sake of consideration,
the Kuwaiti model is a public-
private-partnership (PPP)
where the government, IPO in-
vestors and selected developers
will have 10%, 50% and 40%
stakes respectively, he said.
“The approach adopted here
(in Qatar) is not the traditional
These range from general
risk profile, payment, and site
risk to insurance, permits, ter-
mination, and limit on liability,
he said.
Site risk, for example, War-
nock pointed out will be of
great consideration to the con-
tractors, or whether environ-
mental permits will be a con-
tractor’s responsibility.
“My understanding is that
most contracts here are subject
to the Qatari law and courts,
and that Qatari courts are a
fairly decent place to resolve.
The one question mark is the
competency of the judges on
technical issues who tend to
appoint a technical expert who
may be closer to a party you
are in conflict with,” Warnock
said.
Based on other rail projects
around the world, the official
said, the ones to be carried out
in the region are also political-
ly-sensitive, and a contractor
should also be wary of political
interferences, which generally
lead to a slowdown.
Norton Rose partner Martin
Preston also spoke. The ses-
sion was chaired by Julie Tuck
of law-firm SNR Denton Qatar.
call.
Advisory Council
holds meeting
The Advisory Council held its
39th weekly session yesterday
under the chairmanship of
its Speaker HE Mohamed bin
Mubarak al-Kholaifi.
During the session, the memo of
the Cabinet’s General Secretariat
concerning the Advisory
Council’s recommendations
on a draft law amending some
provisions of the Trade Law,
promulgated by Law No. (27) for
2006, was read out.
Vodafone FY
results on May 25
Vodafone Qatar will announce
their full-year results for the year
ending March 31, 2011 following a
meeting of the Board on May 25.
Results will be publicly available
on the afternoon of May 25 on
Vodafone Qatar’s website at
www.vodafone.com.qa and on
the Qatar Exchange website
www.qe.com.qa. A summary
of the financial results will also
be published in the local Qatari
newspapers on the May 26 .

Expat woman gets jail for fraud Doha forums seek

help to ship Japan aid
By Nour Abuzant June 2009 when Nokia wrote the accused was clear when she The three Iranians carried the
Staff Reporter to the company demanding the delayed the payment for Nokia, boy back to his house and the

A
Jordanian woman has
been sentenced to three
years’ imprisonment
and subsequent deportation for
misusing her position in a ma-
jor company to get 580 mobile
phones worth QR1.27mn from
Nokia.
The Doha court of first in-
stance heard that the woman
prepared the purchasing order
under the name of her employer
and promised to pay Nokia the
money through a cheque.
The fraud was discovered in
money.
The Jordanian, 34, denied any
wrongdoing during interroga-
tions and told the judges that
she bought 580 mobiles to be
distributed as gifts to winners of
competitions organised as part
of the company’s annual party .
According to the chargesheet,
the accused “disposed of” the
mobile handsets and pocketed
the money.
The judges ruled that her job
as secretary in her company
had nothing to do with pur-
chases and she knew that very
well. The criminal intention of
they observed.
Three Asian
expats jailed for
sex offence
Three Asian expatriates have
been sentenced to 15 years’ im-
prisonment and subsequent
deportation for kidnapping and
raping a compatriot boy on May
18 last year.
The Doha court of first in-
stance heard that the boy, then
15, was riding a bicycle near
Abu-Hamour petrol station
when a car carrying the three
accused approached him .
According to the chargesheet,
one of the accused forced the
boy to board the car. “They drove
off to a deserted area where
they raped the victim inside an
under-construction building in
Hadarma area.”
victim’s brother informed the
police about the incident.
A forensic report supported
the boy’s claim and the the ac-
cused were convicted accord-
ingly.
The defendants’ lawyer ar-
gued that the confessions of
his clients were taken under un-
reasonable circumstances. The
court dismissed the lawyer’s
claim saying that the confes-
sions matched the boy’s state-
ments during the pre-trial in-
terrogations .
The convicts have challenged
the verdict in an upper court.
D
oha Mums and Doha
Expat Ladies have ap-
pealed to any company,
organisation or individual to
help the forums ship free of
cost the backpacks they col-
lected for the children of Japan.
Both the forums have col-
lected almost 1,700 backpacks
following an appeal on face-
book, which was subsequently
posted on their website.
The original plan was to ship
about 100 backpacks through
the US base in Doha.
“Many schools got involved.
On the original due date we had
over 770 backpacks. After the
second due date we had almost
an additional 900 plus back-
packs,” a spokesperson said.
Now, with close to 1,700 back-
packs and with 250-300 boxes,
the US base is unable to ship for
free because of the huge number.
“If we have to pay, we would
be looking at about $10,000 or
QR36,500. Once they get to To-
kyo, Japan, the Girl Scouts/US
Military will help deliver them
to the children in the affected ar-
eas,” she added. The forums may
be contacted through Wendy
Baugh-Dobrasz (66119297).

Commercialbank adopts Omega

skills development programme
C
ommercialbank has
adopted the ‘Omega
Credit Skills Devel-
opment Programme,’ an
internationally recognised
certification conducted by
the Omega Performance
Corporation.
The Bank considers the
programme an impor-
tant element of its ongo-
ing efforts to enhance the
performance and skills of
its employees by provid-
ing them with world-class
learning and development
opportunities.
In all, 20 select staff re-
ceived their certificates at a
recognition dinner held at Stevens with the course participants and other officials.
the Bank’s head office in the
Commercialbank Plaza. Commercialbank Group Commercialbank and its as- Steve Mullins said: “Com- derstand and anticipate
The Omega Credit Skills CEO Andrew C Stevens set portfolio. mercialbank is commit- ongoing customer needs.
Development Programme said: “Our people are key Stevens also asserted that ted to giving world-class Passing Omega is a great
enables bank staff to dem- contributors to the success Commercialbank is keen training to ensure that its achievement and provides
onstrate high levels of tech- of the Bank. We operate not on investing in employee employees are equipped to a solid platform for world
nical expertise, covering all only in a highly competi- training programmes that make the right decisions for class banking ability.”
aspects of commercial lend- tive environment but also go a long way in enhancing both the customers and the Omega Performance
ing and financial analysis in very challenging times each employee’s knowledge Bank. Corporation is a leader in
which will help Commer- and well trained employees and skills and thereby equip “Passing Omega dem- world-wide credit train-
cialbank continually match who make a positive daily them to improve the Bank’s onstrates that our staff can ing and is the performance
the high standards required contribution through well bottom line performance, meet the standards required benchmark for this type
to maintain solid asset qual- considered lending deci- consistently. to maintain a healthy loan of computer-based credit
ity. sions are a strong asset to Corporate Banking head portfolio and further un- learning. .

New students at an event previewing Northwestern University in Qatar.
Largest Northwestern
batch welcomed to campus
N
orthwestern University in Qa-
tar has welcomed its largest
group of admitted students in
the university’s three-year history to
campus.
The group of more than 80 visited
campus for Preview NU, an event held
in their honour. This year, the class’
comprehensive admission score was
more than 20% higher than in years
past, said Mounir Ouanaimi, North-
western’s director of admissions.
“Northwestern admitted a very
competitive class this year,” Oua-
naimi said. “Each year we’ve seen an
increase in both the number and aca-
demic prowess of applicants and this
year was no exception.”
The comprehensive admissions
score is an internal measure that
Northwestern uses to identify the
strongest candidates and takes into
QATAR
account standardised test scores, high
school grades, essays, recommenda-
tions and a personal interview.
The entrance tests were so tough
that some students who had applied to
Northwestern last year and were ad-
mitted, but declined to attend, failed
to win admission this year after apply-
ing a second time, Ouanaimi said.
The admitted students were clearly
excited by the possibility of becoming
Northwestern students.
Alanna Alexander decided to ap-
ply to Northwestern after attending a
summer workshop at the university in
which she learned how to shoot video
and narrate stories with moving im-
ages. Alexander applied to the jour-
nalism programme.
“I’m really excited about North-
western,” Alexander said. “I love jour-
nalism because it’s about people and
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 5
because there is always something
happening – things people are doing,
new ideas, new inventions.”
Alexander is looking forward not
only to the academics at Northwest-
ern, but also to the extra-curricular
activities available to all students in
Education City.
“You have the chance to grow as an
overall person through the activities
that are here: recreational photogra-
phy, community service and every-
thing else,” she said.
In addition to being exceptionally
strong academically, this year’s group
of admitted students also represented
more than 25 countries – including the
US, China and countries around the
region.
For the third year in a row, more
Qataris were admitted than any other
nationality.
 Gulf Times
6 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
QATAR
Top companies showcase
products at wireless meet
T
he 26th conference of the
Wireless World Research
Forum (WWRF) conclud-
ed in Doha last week. The con-
ference which lasted for three
days was held with the theme
“Wireless Solutions for Vertical
Markets” to highlight the role of
wireless technology in develop-
ing solutions and applications
for the different sectors.
The conference brought to-
gether leaders in the field of
wireless research and technolo-
gies from both the industry and
academia.
Topics of interest for the con-
ference included various topics
of high importance to Qatar and
the region such as the regional
research and development ini-
tiatives, intelligent transporta-
tion systems, wireless for smart
living and mobile health (m-
health).
The conference which was
held for the first time in the Mid-
Qtel presents GIS solutions MoI taking
N part in Map
ew Geographic Informa-
tion System (GIS) solu-
tions presented by Qtel
at this year’s Map Middle East
conference will positively im-
a company spokesman said.
The major exhibition
pact businesses and consumers,
conference,
which brings together experts
from across the region to share
knowledge about the value and
potential of geo-spatial infor-
mation, is taking place in Doha
this year.
A wide range of research and
solutions are being demonstrat-
ed that will help capture data
and deploy the information to
support business processes.
Qtel is one of the pioneers
Qtel officials presenting their Geographic Information System solutions at Map Middle East 2011.
‘Completion of power Lusail City holds appreciation
grid’s second phase ceremony for plant operators
major achievement’ T
T
he completion of the sec-
ond phase of GCC inter-
connectivity power grid
was the greatest achievement of
the grid presidency held by Qa-
tar, Qatar General Electricity and
Water Corporation (Kahramaa)
president Issa Hilal al-Kuwari
said yesterday.
Al-Kuwari will soon hand over
the chairmanship to Kuwait’s
nominee in the power grid after
Qatar holding the presidency for
the last three years.
Terming the rotation of presi-
dency of the GCC Grid once in
every three years an excellent
level of co-operation and un-
derstanding existed between the
member-states, al-Kuwari said
it was only because of close ties
that the first and second phase
of the grid could be completed in
time.
With the UAE joining the grid
last week with the completion of
a 900MW power station in Sala,
the country is now linked to Qa-
tar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and
Kuwait, which were partners in
dle East was organised by the
QU Wireless Innovations Center
(QUWIC) at Qatar Science &
Technology Park, with the spon-
sorship of the Qatar National
Research Fund (QNRF).
The conference was an oppor-
tunity for national organisations
and individual professionals to
interact with the world leaders
of wireless technology research
and development.
On another hand, the confer-
ence enabled some of the leading
national organisations to show-
case their activities in this area.
Among those were Qtel, Qatar
National Research Fund and
QUWIC.
Among the distinguished
guests was Mohammed al-
Thani, director of Public Health
Department, Supreme Coun-
cil of Health, who attended the
plenary session on the m-health
and applications.
The sessions featured among
in the field of GIS technology,
having identified the potential
of using the solutions back in
1991. The first automation proc-
ess for GIS, an application called
TEAMS (Telecommunication
Access Network Management
System) was developed for Qtel
in 1996.
In 2001, the Qtel GIS team
identified a GIS Application
Network Engineer (NE) solution
that offers a universal query and
display GIS system. Through
this web-based solution, Qtel
employees can access a virtual
map of Qatar which is updated
in real-time, showing new cable
systems and neighbourhoods,
enabling the company to con-
Issa Hilal al-Kuwari: Kahramaa president
the first phase of the project
completed last year.
“I consider it as a great hon-
our for Qatar and personally
for me that the second phase
of the grid was commissioned
during my tenure,” said al-
Kuwari.
The budgetary allocations
for the project in the first two
phases were always on sched-
ule and there were absolutely
others Omar Bondogji, head of
business development, QUWIC
who talked about the impor-
tance of creating m-health ap-
plications locally, reviewed chal-
lenges and opportunities in this
space, and explained about m-
health applications being devel-
oped by QUWIC with national
partners in Qatar.
“We are very proud to see our
efforts materialising in hosting
this world class conference in
Doha,” said Adnan Abu-Dayya,
executive director, QUWIC.
“As a leading innovations cen-
tre in Qatar and the region, we
have strategic goals to build lo-
cal capacity and to establish an
eco-system for research and
development. This conference
is another step on this direction
and we will continue to con-
tribute further to making Qatar
a regional hub for research and
development,” concluded Abu-
Dayya.
tinue to extend the range of serv-
ices across Qatar’s fast-growing
urban and rural areas.
Today, the solution provides
one of the most accurate refer-
ence points for the growth and
development of Qatar.
Qtel’s GIS enables the com-
pany to map-out the position
of base stations and towers, and
track the development of the
cable network throughout Qa-
tar. Using the GIS system, Qtel
is able to proactively assess the
strength of the mobile network
throughout Qatar by looking at
coverage areas for its towers, en-
suring the company continues
to provide the most reliable net-
work in the country.
no hurdles for their funding at
any stage, added al-Kuwari.
With the completion of the
two phases of the project, the
member-states could explore
the new markets for power
within the region, said the
Kahramaa chief.
In the event of power emer-
gency, the state concerned
could purchase electricity
from the grid, said al-Kuwari.
A panel of experts at the Wireless World Research Forum held at the Sheraton in Doha.
The system has enabled the
company to roll-out its national
fibre network in record time,
connecting homes across Qatar
with ultrafast Broadband Inter-
net. Qtel has been able to track
the development of the high-
speed fibre network and ensure
that it is fully connecting with
new developments and residen-
tial areas throughout the coun-
try.
Qtel works with a wide range
of organisations across Qatar to
ensure the data within its GIS
solution is fully up-to-date, and
is increasing mapping customer
data onto its geospatial system to
help improve service levels and
response times.
he management of Lusail
City has held an apprecia-
tion ceremony in recog-
nition of the achievements and
efforts by the batching plants
operators to make the north-
ern logistic area of the project a
waste and concrete-free area.
Around 60 representatives from
the companies that participated in
the cleaning campaign attended.
“Approximately 300,000 cu-
bic metre of construction debris
LREDC officials with some of those honoured at the ceremony.
T
he Ministry of Interior
(MoI) is participating
in the seventh ‘Map
Middle East’ conference and
exhibition organised by GIS
Centre at the Ministry of Mu-
nicipality and Urban Planning
(MoMUP) and GIS Develop-
ment Foundation .
The event opened by the
Minister of Municipality and
Urban Planning HE Sheikh
Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa al-
Thani on Sunday, ends today.
The theme of this year’s
conference is building capaci-
ties for GIS infrastructure in
the region. The MoI is taking
part in the exhibition rep-
resented by the Information
Systems Department (ISD)
with a pavilion that includes
an advanced equipment as
well as some systems the ISD
has launched such as geo-
graphical directory system and
licensing system of General
Directorate of Civil Defence.
The director of ISD, Brig-
adier Salih Khamis al-Ku-
baisi, said that the ministry
is participating in the Map
Middle East 2011 as part of
its co-operation and co-or-
have been removed for recycling
the surplus and rejected prod-
ucts. We can be proud of these
achievements,” Lusail Real Es-
tate Development Company
(LREDC) chief executive officer
Essa Mohamed Ali Kaldari said.
Lusail in its effort to combat
waste hazards that might affect
the area, protect the environ-
ment and the workers’ health, as
well as to abide by the manage-
ment plant strategy, has con-
dination with the MoMUP.
“There is a comprehensive
project by the department to
using geographical maps in
MoI systems especially for
mobile security patrols for
easy access to the incident
place at the earliest possible,”
said Brigadier al-Kubaisi.
“There is a
comprehensive project by
the department to using
geographical maps in MoI
systems especially for
mobile security patrols”
He also added that the de-
partment is displaying ad-
vanced systems such as mobile
equipment to be fixed in secu-
rity patrol cars and it will help
the police personnel to reach
the accident place at the earli-
est possible through minute
maps fixed in the system. It also
will help to communicate with
the operations room and patrol.
About the geographical di-
rectory system, he said that it
is an Internet-based system
that displays geospatial data
of Qatar with a number of
tools for exploring and search.
ducted workshops to help the
batching plants operators con-
trol the concrete waste in the
area. The workshops gave clear
indication of the waste collec-
tion, conditioning systems and
the waste disposal processes,
which were set up specifically for
this purpose.
“We are continuously striving
to make Lusail and Qatar the best
examples to go by, in the indus-
try,” the official explained while
Qatargas
team makes
presentation
at London
conference
A
Qatargas team took the
stage at an ethical cor-
poration conference on
social and environmental risk
management earlier this month.
The Qatargas team highlighted
examples of how Qatargas uses a
wide range of tools, including cor-
porate social responsibility and
sustainability, to manage and pre-
pare for risks of an environmental
and reputational nature.
The conference was entitled
“Social & Environmental Risk
Management and Implementa-
tion: Innovation and Inspiration
for the Extractive Industry.”
Qatargas was represented by
James Baldwin, environmental
manager, and Dana Haidan, cor-
porate citizenship officer. They
presented a paper on “Environ-
mental Risks & Reputational
Damage: How to identify and re-
duce the threats to our business.”
Presenting the paper, they
said: “Qatargas has developed
a corporate citizenship pro-
gramme aligned with the com-
pany’s vision of becoming the
world’s premier LNG company
by 2015 and in support of Qatar
National Vision 2030 and Na-
tional Development Strategy.
They said: “As we have grown
as a company so have our global
customer base and the markets to
whom we deliver LNG. In turn, the
significance of our relationships
and our environmental and social
responsibilities have increased.
This has brought far greater effi-
ciency and effectiveness of opera-
tion, but also greater vulnerability.
Due to our evolving size we recog-
nise that we are now key players in
a dynamic energy market system.
This heightens a series of reputa-
tional risks and therefore expec-
tations of risk management and
enhanced transparency increase.”
Further explaining, Dana
Haidan noted: “Our reputa-
tional / social risk management
strategy is challenging and must
account for and balance numer-
ous conditions, perspectives and
variables across our diverse op-
erational and business portfolio.
For the challenging and evolving
area of reputational risk and its
strong links to environmental
risk, our corporate social re-
sponsibility (CSR) programme
represents an excellent mecha-
nism for addressing these chal-
lenges across the company and
its operations.”
James Baldwin concluded by
saying: “Qatargas through its pi-
oneering innovation has led the
way in Qatar by demonstrating
that ecological and engineering
management can be worked in
tandem to achieve both opera-
tional and environmental wins
simultaneously and reduce costs
at the same time.
urging all concerned to continue
with the good work.
Awards and certificates were
distributed to reward the em-
ployees who participated in the
cleaning campaign.
“I am very much honoured to
receive a reward of appreciation
for participating in a project,
which aims to help make our en-
vironment a healthy one,” said
an employee who participated in
the cleaning campaign.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 7

QATAR

DFI hosting events

at US film festival
T
he Doha Film Institute (DFI) is
hosting a series of events at the
10th Annual Tribeca Film Fes-
tival (TFF), which begins tomorrow
(April 20) in New York.
The DFI initiative at the 12-day TFF
is part of its ongoing cultural partner-
ship with Tribeca Enterprises to pro-
mote regional films and the impor-
tance of storytelling around the world.
The DFI is supporting a variety of
platforms, including industry events,
community screenings and a char-
ity football tournament, to promote
cross-cultural exchange and foster the
growth of the Arab film industry.
In addition, the DFI is hosting
the festival’s Filmmaker/Industry
Lounge, bringing together film pro-
fessionals and festival guests in an in-
teractive environment.
DFI executive director Amanda
Palmer said yesterday that the insti-
tute’s founding objective is to promote
the regional filmmaking industry and
provide Arab filmmakers the opportu-
nity and means to reach out to global
audiences.
“In addition to establishing stronger
links with other leading film festivals Palmer: the DFI’s objective is providing Arab filmmakers opportunities
to share synergies and serve as scouts
for outstanding works, this strategic North Africa) region and its potential pets Take Manhattan by Frank Oz.
partnership is intended to pair inter- impact on storytelling, production, The live-action musical feature will
national industry players with Arab and global distribution of Arab films. include pre-screening activities such
filmmakers, re-enforcing the talent Panellists include Kaabour, interna- as face painting, Muppet-themed
and creativity that is coming from this tional film distributor Richard Lorber, trivia, henna artists, sing-alongs and
region,” she explained. producer, director and screenwriter surprise guests to ensure fun for the
The DFI’s collaboration with the Cherien Dabis and producer of Cairo entire family.
TFF also gives the former an oppor- Exit, Sherif Madour. The session will The industry component includes
tunity to connect with international be moderated by Arab film consultant the networking event for indus-
communities through the powerful Hayet Benkara. try professionals and filmmakers at
medium of cinema, Palmer pointed As part of its mandate to bring com- the DFI hosted Filmmaker/Industry
out. munities together, the DFI will sup- Lounge.
The DFI celebrates Arab cinema port two diverse events that engage The event provides regional film-
with a special screening of Lebanese and entertain. makers a platform to interact and con-
filmmaker Mahmoud Kaabour’s Teta, The NYFEST Football Tournament nect with global players, share best
Alf Marra (Grandma, A Thousand will see the DFI team competing in practice and highlight the evolution
Times), recipient of the 2010 DTFF a charity event to raise funds for the and growing acceptance of Arab film-
Award for Best Documentary. promotion of football in a day inspired making.
The screening will be followed by a by togetherness and education. For more information, visit the
panel discussion on the recent upris- The second event is the open-air DFI’s official website at www.doha-
ings within the Mena (Middle East and screening of the 1984 classic Mup- filminstitute.com.
 Gulf Times
8 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

QATAR BRITAIN/
IRELAND

All-new Honda Jazz launched

H
onda Motor Co. (Middle
East Office) has announced
the arrival of the all-new
2012YM Jazz in the region. This
follows the recent launch of Odys-
sey in February 2011.
The new Jazz embodies fresh
design, improved aerodynamics,
improved interiors, improved fun
to drive character and reduced
road noise while following its tra-
dition of “Man Maximum, Ma-
chine Minimum” concept.
The exterior design of the new
Jazz is more advanced with higher
quality. The redesigned front and
rear bumpers improve its aerody-
namic performance that reduces
air resistance and increases fuel
efficiency, according to a company
statement.
The vehicle is also complement-
ed with a restyled headlight and
tail light for a refreshed appear-
ance. Overall, the exterior design
expresses dynamic motion and
spaciousness.
The muscular yet sporty wheel
arches and larger wheels on all
models also augment exterior aes-
thetics in line with the regional
customers’ requirements.
The cabin features an ingen-
ious layout with a natural feeling
of space and comfort. The large
three-metre cluster provides su-
The exterior view of the new Jazz.
perior visibility and permanent
illumination. In the centre of the
cluster is a multi-information dis-
play (MID) providing information
like instantaneous and average fuel
consumption, range, etc.
A panoramic sunroof (option
on EX) provides even more sense
of space and comfort in the cabin
that creates more freedom and
stronger connection with the out-
side surroundings. Stylishly inte-
grated into the fascia, the single
CD/Radio fitted to all models of-
fers MP3/WMA playback capabil-
ity and speed dependent volume
adjustment. The four speakers
are supplemented with a pair of
tweeters and USB adapter located
in the centre console.
The Jazz interior is full of prac-
tical utility, starting with 10 cup-
holders and a wide range of easy-
to-use storage spaces. The glove
box is with an AC vent also to keep
beverages cool in the hot and hu-
mid GCC region, reflecting Hon-
da’s attention to detail.
Jazz will be the first car in its
class to be equipped with 5AT
which ensures smooth and power-
ful start performance and higher
fuel efficiency. In addition, dual
mode Paddle Shifter System en-
hances “fun to drive” character-
istics and thus more attractive for
young customers.
The ACE (Advanced Compati-
bility Engineering) body structure,
a concept that has been rolled out
across the Honda range, provides
multiple energy absorbing path-
ways to disperse impact energy
and prevent cabin deformation.
Standard on all models are dual
front airbags and three point seat-
belts in all five seating positions.
All Jazz models are equipped with
ABS and electronic brake force
distribution system as standard
equipment. In addition to child
seat bar, tether anchors are pro-
vided in both left and right rear
seats.
With its 1.5L i-VTEC engine, the
Jazz achieves an outstanding bal-
ance between fuel efficiency and
fun to drive performance which is
unmatched in its class. The five-
speed automatic transmission
system and its closely matched
gear ratios also help improve fuel
economy.

Expatriate forum holds children’s competitions

T
he pair of Adhit- Children who took
yanarayanan and part in the quiz and
Sooryanarayan drawing
got the top place in the competitions
quiz competition for organised by Qatar
students conducted by Tamizhar Sangham.
Qatar Tamizhar Sang-
ham recently.
Varun Kumar and
Nivedhitha took the
second place. John Il-
ango anchored the
event.
The Sangham also
hosted a drawing com-
petition and QTS pres-
ident A D K B Charles
gave away the prizes to
the winners.

Advisory Council to recommend

special cells for bounced cheques
The problem of bounced cheques
was discussed by the Advisory
Council in its session yesterday in
the context of the Cabinet’s note
on the subject, according to the
local Arabic press.
The Cabinet had sought further
discussions on the recommen-
dations made by the Council
last year regarding the setting
up of special cells in the Capital
Police Station and in the security
branches of the Ministry of Inte-
rior, besides a separate division
in the courts of law to deal with
bounced cheques.In its delibera-
tions yesterday, the Council re-
solved to recommend to the Cabi-
net that the special cells should
be granted effective powers to
settle the problem in a spontane-
Officials attend Singapore conference
ous manner and to avoid the
need for longwinded processes
of litigation in the courts of law. It
has recommended that the cell
officials can summon the parties
involved in every dud cheque
case -- the person who has issued
the cheque and the beneficiary --
and settle the matter amicably by
mutual consent.
It has also recommended that the
Qatar Central Bank should impose
strict control on all financial transac-
tions in the banks and that it should
stipulate that cheque books should
not be issued to persons known to
be in default in this matter. Similarly,
persons who have cases pending
against them in the courts because of
bounced cheques should be barred
from availing the cheque facility.

135 Aids cases detected in newcomers

A total of 135 Aids cases were found in 2010 during the compulsory
medical checkup for newcomers, Dr Ibrahim al-Sha’ar, director of the
Medical Commission told an Arabic daily yesterday.
The total number of expatriates rejected on medical grounds stood at
4,480, of which 4,089 was for lung-related diseases, he said.
According to the official, the commission conducted last year medical
tests on 368449 newcomers and the majority of them (28,319) worked in
the fields of foodstuff, barber shops, beauty saloons, laundries and health
clubs. Dr al-Sha’ar also mentioned the smoothness of the procedures
after the adoption of the networking system in the administration.
Nakilat and Nakilat–Keppel Offshore and Marine (N-KOM) attended the Sea Asia Exhibition and Conference
held in Singapore. From left: Abu Bakar Mohamed Nor, CEO of N-KOM; Nelson Yeo, managing director of
Keppel Offshore and Marine; Mohamed Ghannam, chairman of N-KOM and managing director of Nakilat; Lim
Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport, Singapore;
Tong Chong Heong, CEO of Keppel Offshore and Marine; Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence,
Teo Chee Hean; Rashid Ali al-Khater, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Singapore; Michael Chia, director of
Group Strategy and Development, Keppel Corporation and managing director of Keppel Offshore; Christopher
Hayman, chairman of Seatrade.

Nakilat gets international certification

N
akilat has been certified
under ISO 9001:2008
and under the OHSAS
18001:2007 standards by Lloyd’s
Register Quality Assurance
(LRQA), it was announced yester-
day.
LRQA is one of the world’s lead-
ing accreditation authorities and
recognised for their high standards
of technical competence.
“These certifications attest
to Nakilat’s high international
standards of service, organisa-
tional effectiveness and com-
mitment to a safe and healthy
workplace and environment,”
chairman Hamad Rashid al-Mo-
hannadi said.
LRQA’s MEA area manager
Basem Obaid awarded the cer-
tificates to al-Mohannadi dur-
ing Nakilat’s sixth annual general
meeting.
Al-Mohannadi receives one of the certificates from Obaid.
“Nakilat’s achievement is
in line with the clear vision of
HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin
Khalifa al-Thani of applying
the highest standards of safety,
health, environment and qual-
ity,” al-Mohannadi explained.
Nakilat managing director Mo-
hamed Ghannam said: “This new
milestone represents another tan-
gible example of our commitment
to excellence in all business areas.
“This accomplishment high-
lights the dedication of the entire
Nakilat team working in co-oper-
ation to effectively implement and
maintain the integrated manage-
ment system necessary to achieve
the company’s vision and mis-
sion.”
The official stated Nakilat’s goal
is to be the world’s leading owner
and operator of vessels for the
transportation of LNG and associ-
ated products.
“We also aim to be the provider-
of-choice for ship repair and con-
struction services, as measured by
customer satisfaction, financial
profitability, growth, operational
efficiency and high standards of
safety, health, environment and
quality,” he added.

Exhibition, meet on IT
opportunities in May
G
lobal Information and Com-
munication Technology (ICT)
heavyweights have given their
support to the first annual QITCOM
Conference & Exhibition to be held
from May 24 to 26, at the Doha Inter-
national Exhibition Centre.
Organised by IFP Qatar in partner-
ship with ictQATAR, the event is de-
scribed as a gateway for international
and regional ICT companies and or-
ganisations to see what Qatar has to
offer in terms of partnerships and re-
search and development centres.
Leading global telecoms solutions
provider Huawei was yesterday an-
nounced as the exclusive pearl sponsor
for the event.
The company’s products have been
deployed in over 100 countries and
have served 45 of the world’s top 50 tel-
ecom operators, as well as one third of
the world’s population. The company
operates 17 research and development
centres around the world including in
the US, Sweden, Russia and India.
Microsoft, one of the world’s top
companies, is a platinum sponsor.
Joining as diamond sponsors are some
of the best known names in the ICT
industry including technology and
consulting giant IBM, business man-
QCAA dept
gets quality
certificate
Q atar Civil Aviation Au-
thority (QCAA)’s Air
Navigation Department
(AND) has won the prestigious
Quality Austria (2008/9001)
certificate.
AND’s General Director
Ahmed Esshaq (right) is receiv-
ing the certificate from QCAA
chairman Abdul Aziz Moham-
med al-Noaimi.
AND’s Aeronautical Informa-
tion Services secures movement
of airliners at the Doha Interna-
tional Airport.
QATAR
George Ayache
agement software provider SAP and
business hardware and software com-
pany Oracle. Qatar Foundation for Ed-
ucation, Science and Community De-
velopment is also a diamond sponsor.
Also joining QITCOM 2011 as sponsors
are Qatar Computer Services, and Qa-
tar Datamation Systems.
QNB is the official bank of the event.
QITCOM 2011 has also secured some
of the ICT’s biggest names as strategic
partners.
Cisco is the digital media partner,
Qatar Science and Technology Park
is the innovation technology partner.
Furthermore, Qatar National Research
Fund is the official research partner,
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 9
and Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology
Center) is the strategic access partner.
“We have already had a tremendous
amount of interest in QITCOM 2011
and this is also reflected in the support
extended by these high profile spon-
sors and with ongoing interest from
others,” said George Ayache from IFP
Qatar. “This shows the strength and
potential of the ICT industry in Qatar
with investment in major ICT projects
set to double over the next five years as
part of the challenge to create a vibrant
and diverse knowledge based economy
by 2030.”
QITCOM 2011 will have the triple
themes of innovate, connect and trans-
form. It will showcase Qatar’s growing
stature in the ICT industry and under-
score the myriad of opportunities in
the country over the next decade.
The conference and exhibition will
run concurrently. The speakers in-
clude Apple’s former chief evangelist,
Alltop.com co-founder and renowned
motivational speaker Guy Kawasaki;
the US Access Board’s Planning Com-
mittee chaiman Phil Jenkins; Google’s
regional manager (Gulf) Mohamed
Mourad; and Alcatel-Lucent’s senior
vice-president (public affairs) Gabri-
ella Gauthey.
 Gulf Times
10 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

REGION

Gulf troops
to stay until
‘threat’ ends,
says Bahrain
Reuters complete misunderstanding be-
Manama/Dubai tween the GCC and Iran. This is
a threat.”
“I am not pointing fingers

B
ahrain’s foreign minister
said yesterday Saudi and
UAE forces called in to help
quell street unrest would leave
only when “any external threat”
he associated with Iran was seen
to be gone.
Pro-democracy demonstra-
tors in Bahrain have denied any
link with the Islamic Republic.
Bahrain’s prime minister de-
scribed the several weeks of
here, but what we are seeing
from Iran, on Bahrain, on Saudi
Arabia, on Kuwait, the occupa-
tion of the islands of the Emir-
ates, doesn’t make the situation
a positive one. It keeps it a con-
stant threat, and ongoing one.”
The protesters said they had
no loyalty to Iran, rejecting ac- Soldiers march during a ceremony marking Army Day in Tehran yesterday.
cusations by Bahraini officials
that they were supported by the
Islamic Republic and the Shia

Tension rises as GCC

anti-government protests by the
country’s disaffected Shia ma-
jority as a coup attempt and said
those who took part would be
held to account.
The mostly Shia protesters
in the outpouring of unrest in
militant movement Hezbollah,
which denied training demon-
strators.
Iran complained to the UN
about the deployment of GCC
forces in Bahrain and said it
could not remain indifferent to

asks UN to curb Iran

February and March demanded
more freedom, an end to dis-
crimination and a constitutional
monarchy in Bahrain.
Bahraini rulers crushed the
protests last month, deploy-
ing security forces in the capital
and calling in troops from Gulf
neighbours Saudi Arabia and the
UAE under the aegis of a Gulf de-
fence pact.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Kha-
led bin Ahmed al-Khalifah hint-
ed that Gulf troops could be there
for some time, saying they would
remain until what he described
as a threat to Gulf Arab countries
from nearby Shia power Iran was
the crackdown on protests.
“Bahrain has witnessed a coup
attempt,” Prime Minister Sheikh
Khalifah bin Salman al-Khalifah
said in remarks carried by media
yesterday. “No violators would
get away with it. All co-conspir-
ators and abettors must be held
accountable.”
The government has arrested
hundreds of people who took
part in the protests and state-
owned firms have fired Shia
workers who were absent from
work during a strike called for by
unions.
The International Trade Union
Confederation said in a statement
The Gulf Co-operation Council
calls on “the international
community and the (UN)
Security Council to take the
necessary measures to stop
flagrant Iranian interference”
AFP
Dubai
military intervention in Bahrain
last month.
“The main reason (for the
GCC move) is the uncovering of
Iranian (espionage) cells in Gulf
countries, in addition to direct
and indirect interference,” said
the head of the Dubai-based
Gulf Research Centre, Abdulaziz
Sager.
Earlier this month, Bahrain
tension, they seek to sow discord
among Shias and Sunnis... but
their plan will fail,” he said.
State television later reported
foreign ministry spokesman
Ramin Mehmanparast as saying
the GCC’s “repetitive and false
accusations” were “the wish
of enemies who for years have
sought to (act) against the unity
of the Muslim world.”
fire” after sending troops into
Bahrain to help in quashing a
month-long uprising.
Iran on Friday said it demand-
ed intervention from the UN Se-
curity Council to “stop the killing
of the people of Bahrain”.
The more strident GCC tone
came after Washington accused
Tehran of helping Syria in its
crackdown on pro-democracy
spokesman Mark Toner said last
week, calling the development a
“real concern.”
US Defence Secretary Robert
Gates warned during a regional
visit this month that extremist
groups such as Al Qaeda and Iran
would try to exploit unrest re-
sulting from pro-democracy up-
risings in several Arab countries.
“We must make sure these

over.
“There are no Saudi forces,
there are GCC (Gulf Co-opera-
tion Council) forces and they will
leave when they are done with
any external threat,” he told Reu-
ters on the sidelines of a confer-
ence in the United Arab Emirates.
Asked to elaborate, he said:
“The external threat is a region-
al one. The external threat is a
Media watchdog urges death investigation
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
yesterday urged an “independent
investigation” into the death in
detention of one of the founders
of an independent Bahraini news-
paper. RSF “is outraged to learn
that Karim Fakhrawi, one of the
founders of Bahrain’s only inde-
pendent newspaper, Al Wasat, and
a member of its board, died in cus-
tody on 12 April, one week after his
arrest”, the media rights watchdog
said in a statement. “We call for an
that about 2,000 workers who
took part in the protests had been
sacked, including 22 local trade
union leaders. “The authorities
are clearly targeting and discrimi-
nating against workers due to
their involvement in union activi-
ties,” the trade union group said.
It called for the International La-
bour Organisation to form a com-
mission to probe the firings.
independent investigation into the
exact causes of Fakhrawi’s death,”
it added. “Those responsible must
be arrested and tried.” Fakhrawi,
a 49-year-old businessman and
a member of Bahrain’s main Shia
group, the Islamic National Accord
Association, was arrested on April
3. Bahraini authorities have said
that Fakhrawi died from kidney
failure, but his relatives doubted
this, saying he was healthy when
arrested.
T
ension between Gulf states
and Iran has risen again,
with GCC members ac-
cusing their Shia neighbour of
“flagrant” meddling and Tehran
charging Washington with sow-
ing regional discord.
In a strong statement on Sun-
day, Gulf Co-operation Council
member states told Iran to stop
its “provocations,” a month after
Bahrain quelled a Shia-led upris-
ing, triggering a tirade of Iranian
condemnation.
The group called on “the in-
ternational community and the
(UN) Security Council to take
the necessary measures to stop
flagrant Iranian interference and
provocation aimed at sowing
discord and destruction” among
GCC nations.
Saudi Arabia on Sunday also
threatened to recall its diplomats
from Tehran unless they were
better protected, a week after
students protested outside the
Saudi embassy against Riyadh’s
said two Iranians were being put
on trial on charges of spying for
Tehran, and Kuwait announced
plans to expel Iranian diplomats
for alleged links to a spy ring
working for Tehran.
“Fuelling tension through
(Iranian) media like Al Alam
and (Hezbollah’s) Al Manar tel-
evisions, and the feeling among
Gulf states that their embassies
in Tehran were in danger” also
prompted the GCC statement,
Sager said.
“There is a contradiction be-
tween what the Iranians say and
what they do,” he said, and added
that Iran insists on meddling in
Arab affairs, despite statements
of readiness to resolve differ-
ences.
Iran’s hardliner President
Mahmud Ahmadinejad respond-
ed yesterday to GCC criticism by
blaming the US for the tension
with its Arab neighbours.
“America and its allies are try-
ing to create an Iranian-Arab
The GCC earlier this month
accused Iran of plotting against
its security after the Iranian
parliament’s foreign affairs and
national security committee
warned Riyadh “not to play with
Ahmadinejad calls for regional unity
Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad called for unity in
the Middle East yesterday, a con-
ciliatory message that contrasted
starkly with another senior
figure’s remarks against Saudi
Arabia. At a parade to mark the
annual army day, Ahmadinejad
said events had shown Wash-
ington had failed to dominate
the region, where uprisings
have taken place against several
US-backed governments, and he
issued a plea for “honest unity”.
“Safety and stability of the region
depends on honest unity and co-
operation between nations and
leaders in the region,” Ahmadine-
protesters, a claim that both Da-
mascus and Tehran denied.
“We believe that there is cred-
ible information that Iran is as-
sisting Syria... in quelling the
protesters,” US State Department
jad said in a speech. But at the
same ceremony, where military
hardware and troops paraded
past the top brass, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s
senior military adviser said Iran’s
anger at Riyadh’s intervention
in Bahrain had not diminished.
“The presence of Saudi forces in
Bahrain to suppress the Bahraini
people is against international law
and is a kind of military interfer-
ence in the internal affairs of Bah-
rain which is condemned from
the international law standpoint,”
Yahya Rahim-Safavi, former
chief of Iran’s elite Revolutionary
Guards, told reporters.
guys don’t make a free ride,”
Gates said.
Israel’s Prime Minister Ben-
jamin Netanyahu also warned
that Iran could jump on the
chance to manipulate Arab re-
volts.
“We could find that the Arab
Spring turns into an Iranian win-
ter,” he said on Sunday.
Lebanon’s Saudi-backed
caretaker prime minister Saad
al-Hariri has also slammed “bla-
tant Iranian interference” that
caused Lebanon and other Arab
countries to suffer “politically,
economically and in terms of se-
curity.”
But despite their close tim-
ing, Sager insisted that the lat-
est GCC criticism of Iran was not
linked to US pressure on Tehran.
“There are no American mo-
tives... and there is no co-ordi-
nation in this matter” between
the US administration and Gulf
states, he said.

Dubai probing death

of Briton in custody
AFP A spokesperson for the
Dubai British embassy had told
AFP that a Briton had died
in police custody, and that

D
ubai is investigat-
ing the death of a
39-year-old British
man in custody in the emir-
ate, the public prosecutor
said yesterday.
“The Dubai Public Pros-
ecutor, Essam al-Humaidan
has announced that inves-
tigations into the death of
British citizen Lee Bradley
Brown are still underway,”
an English-language state-
ment reported.
Earlier yesterday, the
“Dubai Public Prosecu-
tion met with ... (Brown’s)
parents and allowed them
to view and claim the body
along with his personal ef-
fects,” it added.
In a statement on
Thursday, Dubai’s public
prosecutor said the Briton
had died in police custody
from suffocation, but me-
dia reports emerged alleg-
ing that he had been tor-
tured.
“The post-mortem re-
port ... had shown the death
of the British tourist was
caused by suffocation” from
vomit in his respiratory
tract, Humaidan has said,
adding that “blood and
urine tests... revealed traces
of hashish in the blood of
the deceased”.
“the embassy is in close
contact with Dubai po-
lice and has been assured a
full investigation will take
place” into the circum-
stances surrounding his
death.
Brown, who local news-
paper 7Days said was a
tourist, died in his cell on
April 11, nearly a week after
being arrested, the English-
language daily said.
According to the report,
the British embassy “said it
had been contacted by the
39-year-old’s family, who
claimed Brown was beaten
by police officers during his
detention”.
The embassy spokesper-
son said there was no im-
mediate confirmation of
any torture.
Humaidan said in the
statement that Brown was
jailed for “verbal and physi-
cal assault on female staff
of the Burj Al Arab Hotel”,
the iconic sail-shaped ho-
tel that bills itself as seven-
star.
Brown attempted to
push a female staff mem-
ber off one of the sixth-
floor internal balconies
before being restrained by
other hotel staff, Humaid-
an said.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 11

REGION/ARAB WORLD
VIOLENCE UNREST MILITANCY RIGHTS ACCIDENT

Suicide bombs kill five
at Baghdad Green Zone
Two suicide car bombings killed five people
and wounded 15 yesterday at the entrance
to Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone.
Officials said the bombings occurred at around
8.30am at the western gate of the Green Zone,
which houses the offices of Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki, the Iraqi parliament and the US and
British embassies. A queue of cars was waiting
to enter the Green Zone when the vehicles
exploded, a security official said. “Two suicide
car bombs exploded at the western gate of the
Green Zone,” said Baghdad security spokesman
Major General Qassim Atta, who blamed Al
Qaeda for the attack and put the toll at five
dead and 15 wounded.
81 hurt as Iraq security
forces, protesters clash
Eighty-one people were wounded, nine by
live fire, in a second day of clashes between
protesters and security forces in Iraq’s
northern city of Sulaimaniyah yesterday, a
medical official said. “Eighty-one people were
wounded, nine of them by bullets. Security
forces personnel are among the wounded,”
said Dr Raykot Hama Rashid, director of the
main hospital in the second largest city in
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan province. The
clashes took place in Peeramard Street in
central Sulaimaniyah, which has seen near
daily demonstrations since mid-February, and
where Rashid had said 31 people were injured
on Sunday, nine of them by bullets.
Five members of rebel
group arrested in Iran
Iranian security forces have arrested five
members of Sunni militant group Jundallah in
the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan,
the official Irna news agency reported yesterday.
“A (Jundallah) terrorist ring with the intention
of destabilising the region was identified and
obliterated,” the agency reported quoting the
provincial intelligence department as saying.
“Five terrorists were arrested along with four
explosive vests and some ammunition,” the
report said. Irna did not say when and where the
arrests had been made. The shadowy Jundallah,
whose leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in
June 2010, has been waging a deadly insurgency
in southeastern Iran for almost a decade.
Jordan urged to lift curbs
on freedom at universities
Human Rights Watch yesterday urged Jordan’s
government to end “restrictions on free
expression” at universities where intelligence
officers monitor the expression of opinions by
students. “The government should respond
to King Abdullah’s reform directive, including
greater academic freedom, by ending restrictions
on free expression on campus,” the New York-
based rights watchdog said in a statement..
“Jordan’s universities can’t be considered free
institutions of learning if intelligence officers are
breathing down the necks of those who think
critically and interfering with their peaceful
activities,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle
East researcher at HRW.
Military helicopter crash
in Darfur kills five: army
A Sudanese army helicopter crashed yesterday
in North Darfur, killing all five people on board,
an army spokesman said, in the second such
accident in less than a week. “The helicopter,
trying to land at El Fasher airport experienced
a technical problem and crashed,” Sawarmi
Khaled Saad told AFP. “The aircraft was
completely destroyed and all five people on
board were killed. Three of them were crew
and two were passengers. They were all in the
army,” Sawarmi added. The crew members were
all officers while the passengers were ordinary
soldiers, according to official Sudanese media.
The aircraft had just completed a regular flight,
the spokesman said.

Yemen ruling
party figures
form bloc to
back protests
The new party, called the The new party, called the Jus- stones, doctors said, and protest-
Justice and Development tice and Development Bloc, op- ers began to withdraw back to
Bloc, opposes the suppression poses the suppression of pro- their camp.
of protests and is demanding tests and is demanding an end Clashes erupted again as riot
an end to Saleh’s 32-year rule to Saleh’s 32-year rule, its leader police fired shots and teargas at A weapon and bullets are seen as Libyan rebel fighters pray near the front line along the western entrance gate of Ajdabiyah yesterday.
Mohamed Abu Lahoum said. a group of protesters, witnesses
Agencies The new party includes former said. Protesters responded by

Libya forces shell Misrata,

Sanaa ministers for tourism, human marching out of their camp again,
rights and transport from the rul- this time headed for Hudaydah’s
ing party, and a number of mem- main thoroughfare, residents

M
embers of Yemen’s rul- bers of parliament, who joined said.
ing party including three a stream of former officials who Five people were shot and 68

1,000 are evacuated by sea

former ministers formed
a new bloc yesterday to support
protests against the rule of Presi-
dent Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The protests, inspired by up-
risings that toppled the leaders
of Egypt and Tunisia, are now in
their third month and bring tens
of thousands of people onto the
have already deserted Saleh.
“We support the youthful rev-
olution and we are with it,” La-
houm said. “The issue is not the
split from the ruling party but the
difference in views.”
In Hudaydah, residents said
that plainclothes police armed
with clubs, pistols and stones had
were beaten or suffering from
teargas inhalation, they said. Za-
yed said protesters had built a
roadblock to try to prevent police
getting closer to the demonstra-
tions. Reuters A rebel spokesman said four spokesman in Misrata, said by vilians are thought to have been
z Gulf foreign ministers will meet Benghazi, Libya civilians were killed and five telephone. killed.
a Yemeni government delegation wounded by government shell- “It is clear Gaddafi wants to The Ionian Spirit steamed out
in Abu Dhabi today to discuss an fire which pounded Misrata, wipe out Misrata. Nato’s inac- of Misrata carrying 971 people,

streets almost every day demand-
ing an end to endemic poverty and
corruption. Scores of protesters
have been killed.
At least 88 people were wound-
ed yesterday in the Red Sea port of
Hudaydah as plainclothes police
fired bullets and teargas at pro-
testers, who responded by hurl-
ing stones, witnesses and doctors
said.
After years of backing Saleh as a
bulwark against regional instabil-
ity and the activities of Al Qaeda’s
active Yemeni branch, Saudi Ara-
bia and the US are now pressing
him to negotiate with the opposi-
tion on handing over power.
attacked thousands of protest-
ers who had marched into the
streets outside the square where
they have been camping for weeks
calling for Saleh to go.
“We’re appealing for help in
medical supplies as we’re really
suffering from a severe shortage
... the medical situation is really
bad,” said protester Abdul Jabar
Zayed. “We have some friends
missing and we think they were
arrested, we are still making cal-
culations but no specific number
yet.”
In a first round of clashes that
hurt 15 people, two were shot and
the others were beaten or hit with
initiative to end the standoff be-
tween protesters and authorities,
a statement said.
Abu Dhabi today “will host an
extraordinary meeting of foreign
ministers of the Gulf Co-oper-
ation Council... with a Yemeni
government delegation,” the GCC
said in a statement.
GCC foreign ministers met on
Sunday in Riyadh with a Yem-
eni opposition delegation seek-
ing details on a plan for Saleh’s
departure.
On April 10 the GCC appealed
to Saleh to “announce the trans-
fer of his powers to the vice presi-
dent”.
A
chartered ship evacu-
ated nearly 1,000 foreign
workers and wounded
Libyans from Misrata yesterday
as rebels said they had gained
ground in fighting with govern-
ment forces in the besieged city.
“We wanted to be able to take
more people out but it was not
possible,” said Jeremy Haslam,
who led the International Or-
ganisation for Migration (IOM)
rescue mission.
“Although the exchange of fire
subsided while we were boarding
... we had a very limited time to
get the migrants and Libyans on
board the ship and then leave.”
Libya’s third-largest city and the
rebels’ main stronghold in the
west of the country, for a fifth
day yesterday.
But rebels also said they had
gained ground in fighting on bit-
terly contested Tripoli Street,
a key battleground in the city’s
seven-week siege by forces loyal
to President Muammar Gaddafi.
“The revolutionaries have
made progress and are control-
ling some areas surrounding
Tripoli Street, but danger is still
there because (Gaddafi’s) snip-
ers ... are now using (rocket-
propelled grenades) RPGs and
bombs,” Abdelsalam, a rebel
tion is helping him carry out this
plan. Are they waiting for a mas-
sacre to happen to realise that
they need to change tactics?”
Abdelsalam said.
“They need to realise that
their large aircraft are no longer
useful. Gaddafi changed tactics.
This is urban warfare.”
Another rebel spokesman
raised the death toll from shelling
on Sunday to 25, mostly civilians,
because several of the wounded
had died, and said about 100
people had been wounded.
Evacuees say conditions in
Misrata are becoming increas-
ingly desperate. Hundreds of ci-
most of them weak and dehy-
drated migrants mainly from
Ghana, the Philippines and
Ukraine, heading for the rebel
stronghold of Benghazi in east-
ern Libya.
It was the second vessel char-
tered by the IOM, which took out
nearly 1,200 migrants from Mis-
rata last Friday.
Among the rescued group
were 100 Libyans, including a
child shot in the face, the IOM
said in a statement. “...the mi-
grants still in Misrata cannot
survive much longer like this,”
said IOM Middle East represent-
ative Pasquale Lupoli.

World ‘losing’ war on piracy

AFP to make honest money, the lack of
Dubai structure, the lack of security, and
the lack of hope for a stable future,”
he added.

T
he world is losing the bat-
tle against piracy, the Somali
transitional government’s
foreign minister warned yesterday in
Dubai as he and other officials em-
phasised that the solution to piracy
lies on land.
“The race between the pirates
and the world is being won by the
pirates,” Mohamed Abdulahi Omar
Asharq told a counter-piracy con-
ference in Dubai.
“Consequently the status quo
view that manages acts of piracy
is no longer a viable strategy. It is
equally clear that piracy can only be
uprooted on land, where it grows and
persists,” Asharq said, appealing for
international aid.
“The world has so far only re-
sponded with containment. This
is not productive, or effective, or
practical, or morally defensible,” he
said.
“The international community
must make the urgent and necessary
investment in the Somali security
forces to build up the capability of
the state and to establish its national
authority.
“Without this twin strategy of
military authority and political re-
form and reconciliation,” which
Asharq said the transitional govern-
ment is also pursuing, “we cannot
end the consequences of the civil
war in Somalia.”
“And unless we do so, we will not
resolve the causes of piracy.”
Augustine Mahiga, the UN secre-
tary general’s special representative
for Somalia, also emphasised that
Mohamed Abdulahi Omar Asharq, foreign minister of the Somali transitional
government, speaks at the global anti-piracy conference in Dubai yesterday.
the solution to Somali piracy must
be on land.
“Piracy is one of the consequences
of a prolonged, two-decade political
crisis in Somalia,” Mahiga said.
“The approach to it must first and
foremost be political. It has been un-
derscored this afternoon that there
cannot be a military solution,” he said.
“When we address root causes in
Somalia, we don’t have to wait for
peace to come full-fledged,” he said,
noting that “we can begin to ad-
dress some key areas of development
in areas of relative stability such as
Puntland and Somaliland.”
United Arab Emirates Foreign
Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed
al-Nahyan said that “any actions
taken in the field of countering pira-
cy would not be effective unless es-
sential changes in security and sta-
bility on land in Somalia are made.”
And Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem,
the chairman of giant ports opera-
tor DP World, which co-sponsored
the conference with the UAE foreign
ministry, also said that a prosperous
and peaceful Somalia is the long-
term solution to the problem of pi-
rates based there.
“The current international focus
is in finding near-term, offshore
solutions for the piracy menace,”
Sulayem said. But “it is increasingly
clear that the community of nations
needs to be thinking also long-term,
and on shore.
“This is because stable, prosper-
ous economies are the only effective,
enduring solution to piracy, which
feeds on the lack of opportunity
While the solution is ultimately
a stable Somalia, there remain seri-
ous challenges to establishing peace
in a country that has been torn by
decades of civil war, since the 1991
overthrow of president Mohamed
Siad Barre.
Fighting continues in Somalia,
with the fundamentalist Shebab in-
surgent movement controlling large
swathes of the country, though it
has lost ground in recent weeks to an
offensive by African Union and pro-
government forces.
Mahiga also noted that a lack
of dialogue between various So-
mali political actors, and bickering
among political leadership, remains
problematic.
International naval forces includ-
ing those from the US, Nato, the Eu-
ropean Union and a number of other
countries have since 2008 been
tasked with hunting the pirates, but
have clearly not ended the problem.
The two-day conference in Du-
bai opened just days after mari-
time watchdog the International
Maritime Bureau (IMB) said that
worldwide pirate attacks in the
first three months of 2011, driven
by Somali pirates, were the highest
ever at 142.
Piracy has made shipping increas-
ingly perilous off the Horn of Africa,
and its costs have been extensive.
Ron Widdows, the president of
Neptune Orient Lines and chairman
of the World Shipping Council, esti-
mated the yearly cost of piracy to the
shipping industry at “3.5 to maybe
upwards of 8bn dollars.”
 Gulf Times
12 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

ARAB WORLD
Gaza gives
Crowds seek murdered
Italian
Assad ouster a hero’s
farewell
after deaths AFP
Gaza

Protests grip Syrian cities rights organisations say has
despite pledges by the killed at least 200 people.
president to lift a draconian “Homs is boiling. The security
emergency law forces and the regime thugs have
been provoking armed tribes for
Reuters a month now,” a rights activist
Amman said from the city.
Civilians who took to the
streets “were shot at in cold
P
alestinian civilians joined
others. It also said a military members of the Hamas
unit clashed with gunmen on police and security forces
the highway heading north from yesterday for a funeral to mourn
Homs, killing three gunmen. the death of an Italian activ-
“Protesting peacefully is ist killed by a Salafist group last
something we respect but block- week.
ing roads, sabotage, and carrying Hundreds of people gath-
out arson is something else and ered in Gaza City and at the
can no longer be ignored,” Sana Rafah border crossing to pay

T
housands demanded the
overthrow of Syrian Pres-
ident Bashar al-Assad
yesterday at the funeral of eight
protesters killed in the central
city of Homs as unrest swelled
despite a promise to lift emer-
gency law.
Activists in Homs said the
eight were killed late on Sunday
during protests against the death
in custody of a tribal leader.
Wissam Tarif, a rights activist
in contact with people in Syria,
said he had the names of 12 peo-
ple killed in the city.
“From alleyway to alleyway,
from house to house, we want
to overthrow you, Bashar,” the
mourners chanted, according to
a witness at the funeral.
YouTube footage showed
thousands of people in a city
square.
Assad, facing a month of
demonstrations against his au-
thoritarian Baath Party rule,
said on Saturday that legislation
to replace nearly half a century
of emergency law should be in
place by next week.
But his pledge did little to
appease protesters calling for
greater freedoms in Syria, or
curb violence which human
blood,” he said.
Further north in Jisr Al Shugh-
our around 1,000 people called
yesterday for “the overthrow of
the regime”, echoing chants of
protesters who overthrew lead-
ers in Egypt and Tunisia, at the
funeral of a man they said was
killed by security forces.
In the main port city of La-
takia, activists reported deaths
from clashes overnight.
“We heard there were several
deaths yesterday,” a rights activ-
ist. “The pattern is repeating it-
self: protests, killings by security
forces, funerals turned into pro-
tests, and more killing and vehe-
ment slogans against Bashar.”
Tarif said there had been five
deaths in Latakia overnight,
when security forces opened fire
on protesters. Ammar Qurabi of
Syria’s National Organisation for
Human Rights said he had the
names of two dead protesters.
At a funeral on Sunday in the
town of Talbiseh, north of Homs,
two witnesses said security forc-
es killed three mourners when
they opened fire on them.
State news agency Sana said
“armed criminals” had opened
fire on security forces, killing
a policeman and wounding 11
quoted Foreign Minister Walid
Muallem as saying.
Syria has repeatedly blamed
the unrest on foreign powers,
and the Washington Post report-
ed yesterday that the US has se-
cretly funded Syrian opposition
groups.
The State Department said
yesterday that the US was not
working to undermine the Syrian
government but is trying to sup-
port democratic goals as it does
elsewhere in the world.
“Trying to promote a trans-
formation to a more democratic
process in this society is not un-
dermining necessarily the exist-
ing government,” spokesman
Mark Toner said.
Assad “needs to address the
legitimate aspirations of his
people,” he said. “No we are not
working to undermine that gov-
ernment,” Toner said in response
to a question.
The Washington Post cited
diplomatic cables released by
WikiLeaks showing that the
State Department funnelled as
much as $6mn since 2006 to
Syrian exiles to operate a Lon-
don-based satellite TV chan-
nel and finance activities inside
Syria.
to their respects to Vittorio
Arrigoni, 36, who was found
hanged in an empty house
in northern Gaza on Fri-
day, hours after he was kid-
napped.
His body was carried from
Gaza City’s Shifa hospital in a
wooden coffin draped in a Pales-
tinian flag and strewn with rose
petals.
Mourners carrying signs
bearing his motto: “Stay hu-
man” surrounded the coffin, as
Hamas police and security of-
ficials saluted during the state
funeral ceremony given in his
honour.
A procession of mourners in
cars, waving Palestinian flags
from their vehicles, accompa-
nied Arrigoni’s body from the
hospital, south along Gaza’s
main road to Rafah.
Others lined the route, hold-
ing pictures of Arrigoni, who was
a member of the pro-Palestinian
International Solidarity Move-
ment and a well-known figure in
Gaza City.
At Rafah, pallbearers carrying
the coffin wept as Palestinians
waved banners reading “No, no
Palestinians chant slogans while carrying the coffin of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni as they transfer to militancy and terrorism, yes,
it through Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza Strip yesterday. yes to freedom.”

No compromise on Jewish state, says Netanyahu

AFP Israeli leader confirmed he was he said he will not budge—rec- He questioned whether the Netanyahu said he would we left a European force along demand of the Palestinians for
Jerusalem working on details of an initia- ognition of Israel as the nation Palestinians were serious about also insist that Israel maintain a the border with Egypt, who left returning to the negotiating table.
tive which would be outlined in state of the Jewish people, and a two-state solution if they military presence along the West shortly after Hamas took over,” “The settlements are an im-
a speech before the US Congress. Israel’s security alongside a fu- could not recognise Israel as a Bank’s border with Jordan under allowing Iran to penetrate eas- portant issue which needs to

I
srael will not compromise on
security or recognition of a
Jewish state, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu told AFP
as he prepares a peace initiative
to pre-empt a Palestinian bid for
UN recognition.
Speaking in an exclusive inter-
view conducted just before the
week-long Passover holiday, the
But he was tight-lipped about
the details of his proposal for
breaking the deadlock in talks, ac-
cusing the Palestinians of using
the settlements to notch up politi-
cal capital at Israel’s expense and
to avoid engaging in negotiations.
For Israel’s burly leader, nego-
tiating a peace settlement comes
down to two key issues on which
ture Palestinian state.
“The core of the conflict has
always been the persistent re-
fusal of the Palestinian leader-
ship to recognise the Jewish state
in any borders,” he said.
“That is why this conflict raged
for nearly 50 years before 1967, be-
fore there was a single settlement
in the West Bank,” he said.
Jewish state.
“Why don’t the Palestinians
do something so simple as rec-
ognising the Jewish state? After
all, we are prepared to recognise
a Palestinian state. Why can’t
they reciprocate if they really
want peace?” he asked.
“This explains the root cause
of why you don’t have peace.”
any peace deal, a term rejected
by the Palestinians.
“We need a long-term Israeli
presence along the Jordan bor-
der. We need a physical barrier to
prevent penetration by Iran and
its operatives,” he said, warning
that an international force would
not likely remain there for long.
“When we pulled out of Gaza,
ily through the southern border
and fill the coastal enclave with
weapons, he said.
Details of Netanyahu’s peace
plan remain elusive, with com-
mentators and political officials
suggesting it has yet to be firmed
up, but few expect it will include
any mention of a new freeze on
settlement construction—a key
be resolved in negotiations,”
Netanyahu said of ongoing Jew-
ish construction on land occu-
pied by Israel in 1967, an issue
which for the Palestinians is one
of the bitterest aspects of the
decades-old conflict.
“But the settlements are a de-
rivative issue, not the core of the
conflict,” he said.

Israeli police, army

on Passover alert
AFP town to celebrate Easter,
Jerusalem Rosenfeld said.
Police said yesterday
that they had stopped

I
srael’s police raised
the alert level nation-
wide, while the army
division deployed around
Gaza said it was “ready
for every scenario” as the
Jewish state started the
Passover holiday yester-
day.
“Thousands of po-
lice have been deployed
across the whole country,
and particularly in the
Jerusalem region,” police
spokesman Micky Rosen-
feld said.
No specific attack
threats have been made
public, but Israeli security
is usually tightened dur-
ing major Jewish holidays.
A rocket fired by Pal-
estinian militants in the
Gaza Strip fell in south-
ern Israel yesterday af-
ternoon but police said
it caused no casualties or
damage.
Surveillance of syna-
gogues, markets, stations,
commercial centres and
national parks, which
tend to attract throngs of
visitors during the Passo-
ver holiday, was being
stepped up.
Police were also
strengthening their de-
ployment inside Jerusa-
lem’s Old City to ensure
the protection of crowds
of Christian pilgrims in
three Jewish right-wing
activists carrying a young
goat near the Old City
walls, which they appar-
ently intended on sacrific-
ing in the vicinity of the Al
Aqsa mosque compound.
“Near to the Zion Gate
in Jerusalem, police de-
tained three rightist ac-
tivists, an adult and two
minors, in possession of
a kid,” a police statement
said.
Israeli media named
the adult as Noam Fe-
derman, a well known
religious-nationalist and
West Bank settler, and
said he intended to re-
enact the Passover sacri-
fice as performed in bib-
lical times.
Police said he was re-
leased after questioning.
The Israeli military an-
nounced on Sunday a
nine-day closure of the
West Bank during the hol-
iday, and the deputy com-
mander of the army divi-
sion deployed along the
Gaza Strip said his troops
were on standby.
“We are on very high
alert on the Gaza Strip,
we are ready for every
scenario and if neces-
sary we will respond with
force,” Colonel Amir
Avivi told Israeli public
radio.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 13

AMERICAS

Huckabee
on fence
for 2012
campaign
Republican Huckabee keeps paign, Huckabee has not been
supporters waiting on 2012; lining up staff or keeping his do-
claims he hasn’t made up his nors and supporters in line.
mind about running His two top Iowa operatives in
the 2008 campaign have moved
Reuters to other candidates, and his
Washington campaign manager shifted to a
congressional staff job.
Other candidates for the role

R
epublican Mike Huckabee
is riding high in the polls,
but he could be running
out of time to make up his mind
on a run for his party’s 2012 US
presidential nomination.
With the slow-starting race
for the right to challenge Presi-
dent Barack Obama gaining can-
didates and picking up steam, a
Trellises and a wrought-iron fence covered in climbing vines are used to achieve height in this garden on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. No tall trees were included because of few of Huckabee’s former ad-
building code restrictions. visers have jumped ship to other
contenders and some observers
see signs he will not run.
In the absence of a deci-
of conservative favorite have
emerged as the Tea Party move-
ment gained prominence with its
agenda of reduced spending and
limited government.
US Representative Michele
Bachmann and former Sena-
tor Rick Santorum are pushing
hard in Iowa, which kicks off
the nominating battle in Febru-
ary, for the state’s sizable base of
evangelicals, abortion rights op-
ponents and Tea Party backers.
With Republicans facing
a tough race against a sitting

New York’s gardens in the sky Amon called on friends and connections
Reuters
New York made over years in New York’s high-end
real estate business. With architectural
photographer Norman McGrath, they
on higher floors command a premium.
The authors do not name the high-
profile owners, calling them “art collec-
tors and philanthropists,” or even pin-
One sunbathes nude on her terrace.
“She’s European,” Amon said.
Others invite in the urban skyline.
“It’s individual,” said LeFrak. “Some
sion, one of Huckabee’s most
ardent supporters in Iowa has
even started a phone and e-mail
drive to contact other backers
of Huckabee’s failed 2008 bid
and urge them to “Stay Stuck on
Huck.”
“Nobody knows what he’s go-
ing to decide,” said Randy Davis
president in an improving econ-
omy, Huckabee might decide it
is smarter to stay on his lucra-
tive Fox News Channel show and
make another run in 2016 when
the White House will be vacant.
“If he entered the race and
didn’t do well he would lose all
credibility” as a conservative

E
agle-eyed Manhattan pedestri- set out to showcase the most spectacular point the buildings’ locations. Many are of them are really privacy-driven or put of Ottumwa, Iowa, who has leader, said Steffen Schmidt, a po-
ans may spy them high above the gardens. protective of their privacy but proud of up plants, like ivy and bougainvillea, to reached about 500 Huckabee litical scientist at Iowa State Uni-
street: lush, tree-lined gardens, Many of the photographs in the cof- their homes. camouflage everything. Other people supporters in the state and found versity. “He’s sending out a lot of
whose defiant greenery interrupts an ur- fee-table book highlight elaborate land- “When these people show you their will let it all hang out. They want big only “one or two” not willing to signs that he’s not going to do it.”
ban panorama of concrete and glass. scaping or show the way urban terraces apartment and they get to the terrace, open vistas.” wait. “I’ve just tried to encour-
Tourists will never see them up close. serve as a private art gallery. Sometimes they change,” LeFrak said. “There’s an Tastes change. Decades ago, terrace age everyone to be patient.” “If he entered the race and
Few New Yorkers will. Those who notice a sculpture dominates the space. In oth- aura that comes about them.” owners tended to shun any view of water Huckabee, the former gover- didn’t do well he would
these airy playgrounds, some just a few ers, the garden’s appeal lies more in its Owning a rooftop garden typically towers, an iconic feature of Manhattan’s nor of Arkansas, is in no hurry to lose all credibility”
floors above the sidewalk, may wonder interplay with the cityscape just beyond involves hiring a gardener. They require skyline, covering them up. More garden end the uncertainty. He says he
how it would feel to step out of one’s liv- a waist-high wall. complex irrigation systems to supply owners these days prefer a minimalist will wait until summer to make Two prominent Republicans,
ing room into a private green space with- “It’s really a fantasy world above New water since trees can’t draw sustenance approach. a decision and sees no reason to Romney and former Minnesota
out giving up the perks of urban living. York,” Amon said. “This is the epitome of from the earth. Furniture and art must be “Some people are very traditional and rush into an expensive national Governor Tim Pawlenty, have
A new book, Rooftop Gardens: The luxury. A lot of people work all week and bolted down, by law, lest they rain down they want a very flowery, dense French campaign. jumped in the race by forming
Terraces, Conservatories and Balconies it’s their weekend retreat.” on pedestrians below, some from as high garden (that) almost looks like Ver- In an interview last month exploratory committees to begin
of New York satisfies that curiosity with It is a retreat few can afford. An apart- as the 76th floor. sailles,” Amon said. “But people are re- with a radio talk show host, raising money.
a photographic tour of 28 such exclusive ment on the East Side of Manhattan, or Many Manhattan buildings erected in the ally into minimal today and showcasing he ridiculed pundits who were Huckabee’s decision to wait
oases. in the tony TriBeCa neighbourhood, that 1920s incorporated setbacks to afford resi- the art. They’ll keep it neat and strict quick to declare he is unlikely until summer could create prob-
Co-authors, and best friends, Den- sells for $2,000 per square foot will fetch dents some open space. Some owners prefer because they don’t want to detract from to run. “How do you know that? lems in Iowa, where organisation
ise LeFrak Calicchio and Roberta Model $3,000 a foot with a terrace. Bigger gardens a private space that blocks out the city. the art.” Because I don’t know that yet,” is crucial because of the state’s
he said, adding he is “very much” unique caucus system requir-
still considering a candidacy. ing voters to attend an evening
Fidel Castro champions cause of socialism Ambivalence can be a deadly community gathering and make
trait for a presidential contender, a public show of support.
Historic Cuban leader Fidel Castro called upon delegates at the
congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) to “correct and change
without hesitation” socialism on the island.
In a column published by Cuban state media yesterday, Castro, 84,
Cuba congress embraces, but Huckabee would bring many
advantages to a 2012 Republican
race with no dominant frontrun-
ner.
The Iowa straw poll in August
is an early test of that organis-
ing strength. It was Huckabee’s
second-place finish to Romney
described socialism as “the art of achieving the impossible: to build up
and carry out the Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the
humble, and to defend it for half-a-century from the most potent power
that ever existed.”
refines national reforms He won the first nominat-
ing contest of 2008 in Iowa and
was the last challenger stand-
ing against eventual Republican
there in 2008 that solidified his
support among social conserva-
tives and started his momentum.
“Those people who are skillful
He said that the leadership of the PCC, which is the only Reuters The 1,000 delegates met for the reforms to what is one of nominee John McCain, building at managing the Iowa caucuses
legally recognised party in Cuba, must be “able to face up Havana in five separate commissions the last one-party communist a strong support base among aren’t going to wait until mid-
to the politics of empire,” with reference to the US. on Sunday where they backed states of its kind in the world. religious and social conserva- summer to find a candidate,”
“It is the duty of the new generation of revolutionary Castro’s proposals to slash gov- State media accounts did not tives who dominate some early said Schmidt. “I don’t think he

C
men and women to be a model of modest, studious uba’s Communist
leadership and tireless fighters for socialism. It is with- Party congress sug-
out doubt a difficult challenge in this barbaric time of gested refinements to
consumer societies to beat the capitalist production President Raul Castro’s wide-
system, which promotes and boosts human beings’ ranging national reforms in
selfish instincts,” Castro said. weekend meetings, but
The four-day PCC congress, only the sixth in generally embraces
history, started on Saturday charged with the his overhaul of the
task of “updating” Cuba’s socialist economic ailing Cuban econo-
model. my, state-run media
reported on Monday.
ernment jobs, cut the universal
monthly food ration, encourage
more private initiative and take
other steps to boost productiv-
ity while maintaining central
planning.
The panels would present
their findings to the congress
yesterday afternoon, Commu-
nist Party newspaper Granma
said. Approval seemed certain
indicate any dissent to Presi-
dent Castro’s plan, but said a
number of proposed reforms
had been added to the 311 being
considered by the congress.
The congress must elect new
leadership for Cuba’s highest
political body and only legal
political party before the meet-
ing ends today. The election
will be closely watched.
Republican contests.
He leads many public opinion
polls of the Republican presi-
dential field, and holds a signifi-
cant edge over his rivals in the
Gallup Poll’s “positive intensity”
measure of depth of support.
But unlike Republican rival
Mitt Romney, another losing
candidate in 2008 who has long
been planning another cam-
can wait very long, honestly, I
think he has to make a decision
soon.”
Meanwhile, Davis is keeping
hope alive for Huckabee sup-
porters and waiting for a sign.
“We just have our fingers
crossed that he will run,” he said.
“If he doesn’t people will say
this was a waste of time, but I
think it’s worth the risk.”

Scramble
to meet tax
Many parents would A match made in crossword
deadline get gene tests for kids AFP
Washington

T
he Washington Post crossword
Reuters Reuters tions about direct-to-con- about genetic testing, Tercyak puzzle had special meaning this
Washington Chicago sumer genetic tests, which have and colleagues surveyed 219 weekend for one local couple.
already raised concerns among parents who were offered a ge- With the complicity of the news-
US lawmakers and regulators. netic test that looked for eight paper, Corey Newman, 28, of Al-

U I
S taxpayers scrambled to
meet yesterday’s deadline
for filing income tax re-
turns amid reports that the rich-
est of the rich are paying less tax.
Watchdog groups, meanwhile,
found the richest Americans are
paying a smaller share of the pot
than in years past. According
to 2008 data from the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), the US
tax collecting agency, analysed
by the Tax Foundation, the top
1% of earners paid 38% of all
federal individual income taxes,
a decline from 2007.
Citizens for Tax Justice, which
looks at all taxes paid including
federal, state and local taxes, said
that in 2010 the top 1% of earn-
ers will pay 21.5% of taxes. The
group said that top 1% earned
just over 20% of total income.
f given the chance, many
parents would test their
children to see if they are
genetically predisposed to dis-
eases like diabetes or heart dis-
ease, US researchers said yes-
terday.
And as most parents expect
a positive result, they might
not be prepared for the answers
they get.
“These tests usually don’t
offer a clean bill of health and
can be hard to interpret even
in the best scenario,” said Dr.
Kenneth Tercyak of Georget-
own University Medical Center,
whose study was published in
the journal Pediatrics.
The study is among the first
to look at parents’ perceptions
of genetic testing of their chil-
dren, and it raises new ques-
“The findings of our study
should remind clinicians and
policy-makers to consider chil-
dren when regulating genetic
tests,” Tercyak said in a state-
ment.
Several companies - in-
cluding Decode Genetics’
DeCodeME based in Iceland,
23andME in which Google has
invested, and privately held
Navigenics - sell tests online
that allow people to learn if they
have inherited risk for disease.
Unlike genetic tests ordered
by doctors, genetic tests sold
directly to consumers give
people information about po-
tential health risks online or in
the mail. Regulators are worried
people may not understand the
limitations of the tests.
To find out parents’ attitudes
common health conditions in-
cluding colon, skin and lung
cancers; heart disease; high
cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.
Parents in the study an-
swered questions about the
risks and benefits of testing for
their children and whether they
were interested in having their
child tested.
“The study showed that
there might be significant pa-
rental interest for doing this
kind of genetic testing in their
children,” Tercyak said in a tel-
ephone interview.
Even after making it clear to
parents that there is no proof
genetic testing for common
health conditions has any use,
parents were still interested in
having their child tested, the
researchers said.
exandria, Virginia, proposed to his
live-in girlfriend, Marlowe Epstein,
31, through clues buried in a special-
ly-crafted puzzle.
The clue for 37 Across, for exam-
ple, asked for the name of a role in
the movie Shakespeare in Love.
The answer - Marlowe.
39 Across asked for the name of a
Casablanca screenwriter.
The answer - Epstein.
The clincher was 51 Across:
“Words with a certain ring to them.”
As soon as Epstein came up with the
answer - “Will you marry me” - New-
man got down on one knee, whipped
out a diamond ring and repeated the
question, the Post reported.
“Yes, of course!” Epstein said.
The April 17 Sunday Washington Post crossword puzzle “I was sort of blown away,” she
had special meaning for one local couple. Corey Newman, told the newspaper. “I was so im-
28, proposed to his live-in girlfriend, Marlowe Epstein, 31, pressed that he managed to pull that
through clues buried in the specially-crafted puzzle. off !”
 Gulf Times
14 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

BRITAIN
LONDON FARE
The Earl of Sandwich yesterday opened a
sandwich shop in London, 250 years after his
ancestor invented the concept so he could eat
on the move. The shop, called Earl of Sandwich,
is in Ludgate. John Montagu, the 11th earl,
already has 15 shops across America but this is
his first here.
EDUCATION
Charity offers parents
a new school choice
An education charity is offering to set up a
primary school in one of the “black holes” of
London where extra school places are most
needed. The Constable Education Trust has
pinpointed five boroughs and is asking parents
whether they want a free school in their area.
The state-funded primary could be opened in
Camden, Hackney, Haringey, North Kensington
or Tower Hamlets by the trust, which runs an
independent school in Fulham for children with
special educational needs and dyslexia. The
new school would be mainstream but pupils
with language and literacy problems would be
identified early.
CELEBRITY REVEALED INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Actress in tears as 16-year-old girl’s killer Jobcentre Plus workers
thugs steal phone had been freed by courts go on 24-hour strike
Actress Sheridan Smith was A gangster convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Thousands of Jobcentre Plus staff went on a
reduced to tears when she Agnes Sina-Inakoju was an illegal immigrant who 24-hour strike yesterday over working conditions
was mugged at a bus stop killed after he was granted bail while awaiting and claims of a “target-driven culture”. The Public
minutes after starring with deportation. Agnes, who hoped to go to Oxford and Commercial Services union said picket lines
Sienna Miller in their hit University, was shot dead by Mohamed Smoured were mounted at more than 30 call centres and
West End show. Smith, 29, and fellow gang member Leon Dunkley, 22, as that they were receiving “massive” public support.
was targeted by thugs for she stood with friends in a takeaway in Hoxton. It Yesterday’s action follows a two-day strike in
her iPhone near Piccadilly has been revealed that Smoured was due to be January by more than 2,000 workers in the seven
Circus as she left the Theatre deported after being jailed for robbery but was newest Jobcentre Plus contact centres. Workers
Royal Haymarket where she is starring in Flare granted bail while appealing against his deportation complain of being moved from processing benefit
Path. One onlooker said: “I could see that she to Algeria. The UK Border Agency said it had claims to handling inquiries by phone. The union
was crying. Some people tried to console her.” A wanted to lock him up in an immigration centre to said it wanted to improve customer service in call
theatre source said that Smith “could have a limo await deportation after the failure of his appeal in centres and introduce proper flexible working
but she often hops on the bus to get home”. November 2009 but he was released by the courts. arrangements.

Visit to No. 10
Mayor
appoints
new chief
Vote reform
of staff
London Evening Standard
London
referendum
A
unites old
renowned cost-cutter
has been appointed chief
of staff at City Hall in the
first appointment by Boris John-
son following the death of close
aide Sir Simon Milton.
Wandsworth council leader
Edward Lister - described as

enemies
“an old Thatcherite” - will take
on the huge responsibility of
running the mayor’s team in the
lead-up to the mayoral election
in May next year.
Lister has a reputation as a safe
pair of hands who will keep City
Hall running smoothly while the AFP “I reject all of those ground- try and secure a change to the
mayor is busy campaigning for London less fears and I urge people of electoral system for practical,
his re-election. all persuasions to choose hope party advantage, by usurping
He has a long record in driving over fear,” Miliband told an au- the right of all of our citizens to

down costs - delivering the low-
est council tax in the country -
while continuing to provide key
services.
The senior Tory’s appoint-
ment comes after the death last
week of deputy mayor Sir Simon
after years of ill-health.
The Standard understands
the mayor will make at least two
more senior appointments in the
coming days as well as moving
key staff to new responsibilities.
Johnson said: “Edward has the
perfect combination of experi-
ence, character and expertise to
help me lead this city out of re-
cession and harness the unique
opportunity of the 2012 Games
to secure London for another
generation as the best big city in
the world.
“We will always mourn the
loss of Simon Milton. The great-
est tribute we can pay him is to
deliver in the areas that mattered
so much to him and improve the
lives of Londoners in the great
city that he loved. Edward Lister
shares that goal.”
Lister, who will stand down
next month from running
Wandsworth which he led for
19 years, put value for money at
the heart of his town hall regime
and will do the same at City Hall
where Transport for London
and the Met police will be in his
sights.
He will take on the role of chief
of staff - managing the mayor’s
budgets, borough relations and
delivering his priorities - and be
deputy mayor for planning.
P
rime Minister David
Cameron teamed up with
an arch enemy from the
opposition Labour party in a
bid to persuade the public to
reject a historic change to the
voting system.
The Conservative premier
shared a stage with former
Labour interior minister John
Reid, notorious during his
time in Cabinet as an anti-To-
ry “attack dog”, to campaign
against throwing out the
first-past-the-post electoral
system.
Cameron said one of the
few things he and Reid agreed
on was that opting to switch
to the alternative vote (AV)
system in a referendum on
May 5 would be “wrong for
Britain.”
“It is obscure, it’s unfair, it’s
expensive,” he said.
“The biggest danger right
now is that Britain sleepwalks
into this second-rate system,
waking up on May 6 with a vot-
ing system that damages our
democracy.”
Reid, now a lawmaker in
the upper house of parlia-
ment, said the current system
was “the fairest way and it is
the best way, and an issue like
this is far too important for
party rivalries to take prec-
edence.”
But Labour leader Ed Mili-
band, who is backing the ‘yes’
Prime Minister David Cameron shakes hands with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny outside 10 campaign, accused his oppo-
Downing Street in central London yesterday. nents of trying to scare people
off voting for change.
dience in London.
The referendum on changing
to AV has cut across traditional
party lines and divided the rul-
ing coalition.
The Conservatives agreed to
hold the referendum after last
May’s general election as part
of a deal to form a coalition
with the Liberal Democrats,
who have long campaigned to
reform the voting system.
But the Conservatives are
strongly opposed to changing
the voting system.
Labour meanwhile is gener-
ally in favour of adopting AV,
despite Reid’s outspoken op-
position.
At yesterday’s event in Lon-
don, Reid accused the LibDems
of trying to push through a
change for their own politi-
cal benefit. Commentators say
such a move would benefit the
party — the third biggest in
Britain — the most.
“It would not only be wrong
but it would be an outrage to
Cameron forced into starring role
It wasn’t meant to come to
this. Six months ago, the prime
minister only intended to play a
walk-on part in the battle over
AV. Not long ago the complaint
among Tory MPs was that their
leader was soft-pedalling to give
Nick Clegg a bit of a lift. But now
the heat is really on. Cameron
has made three speeches and
sanctioned a hard-hitting cam-
an equal vote,” Reid said.
Under first-past-the-post,
the candidate for the lower
house of parliament who gets
the most votes in their con-
stituency is elected as the law-
maker.
Critics argue that under the
current system, around two-
thirds of the members of the
lower house are elected with
less than 50% of support from
voters.
Under AV, voters rank candi-
dates in order of preference in
single constituencies.
On the first count, only first
preference votes are counted
and a candidate getting more
than 50% is elected.
But if no candidate passes
the threshold, then the can-
didate with the fewest votes is
eliminated and voters’ second
choices are shared out between
the remaining candidates in a
second round.
This process continues until
someone has 50% of the vote.
paign against AV. Such a dramatic
change of tactics is down to
several factors, including a dawn-
ing horror in Tory circles that the
referendum commitment could
all go horribly wrong for Cam-
eron if - as looks certain - there
is a paltry turnout. As one senior
Tory MP mutters, the PM will face
“a serious party management
problem” if he ends up the loser.

‘Time-eating Clock’
Probe sought into NHS recast ‘pause’
a stunt, says Labour
£100,000 exam fees London Evening Standard
London
energy and enthusiasm dem-
onstrated in pathfinders across
the country,” she said in her
London Evening Standard that in some cases exam boards the market” for text book pro- letter, which was passed to the

D
London are providing text books and vision, which are updated every octors have been told Standard.
revision courses for the exams two to three years. to press on with NHS “Therefore, although the
they are setting. He added: “The end result reforms despite David government has taken the op-

T
he cost of entering pu-
pils for external exams
has risen to more than
£100,000 a year for a medi-
um-sized secondary school, a
teachers’ conference heard.
Delegates called for an in-
vestigation into the level of en-
trance fees amid claims some
exam boards are also using
their position to make money
out of textbooks and revision
courses.
The price of entering pupils
for exams has rocketed in 20
years, partly because of the rise
in modular exams, league table
pressures and the ‘monopoly’
some exam boards have, the
Association of Teachers and
Lecturers (ATL heard in Liver-
pool.
Geoff Pye of the Essex branch
of the ATL said it is “worrying”
He said: “I can’t think of a
more serious example where
separation of powers must be
applied to eliminate the most
grotesque conflict of inter-
est.”
“Public examinations
should not be provided
by those competing for
profit”
Speaking about the cost
of exams, including GCSEs
and A-levels, he said: “It is
not uncommon for a medium
sized secondary school to pay
well in excess of £100,000 per
year simply to enter students
into external exams. In some
schools this represents a five
fold increase.”
He said exam boards have
secured the “vast majority of
is a monopoly position and an
abuse of privilege for the pur-
pose of profit, by providing re-
sources at inflated prices with
very limited shelf life.”
Hank Roberts of Copland
community school in Brent
said: “Public examinations
should not be provided by
those competing for profit.”
According to watchdog Of-
qual’s latest annual market
report, schools spent £281mn
on exam fees in 2008-09. The
report said the qualifications
market is worth £1bn annu-
ally.
Meanwhile, new figures
show girls are making up a
growing proportion of the pu-
pils excluded from schools.
Teachers yesterday called for
more research on why girls are
excluded
Cameron “pausing” legisla-
tion to bring in the changes.
Dame Barbara Hakin, the
department of health’s na-
tional managing director of
commissioning development,
has written to GPs urging
them to keep up the “momen-
tum” of the reshaping of the
NHS.
The day after Health
Secretary Andrew Lansley
was humiliated by an over-
whelming vote of “no con-
fidence” by nurses, Dame
Barbara wrote to groups of
GPs setting up “pathfinder”
Dr John Taylor poses with his Chronophage clock entitled “The consortiums to buy health
Time-eating Clock - A Story of Invention” at the Science Museum services.
in central London yesterday. The clock is designed to make the “Everyone within the de-
viewer consider the perceived flexibility of time. Taking more partment of health is very
than two years to make, the clock features a mythical creature aware of the support shown
on the top, devouring the seconds that pass. by the GP community to date
and we have been struck by the
portunity of a natural break in
the passage of the Health and
Social Care Bill, we are very
keen that the momentum we
have built to date should not
stop.”
Faced with uproar among
nurses and some doctors over
the reforms, Lansley said
there would be “substantive”
changes to the legislation
which aimed to allow GPs to
take over the £60bn budget to
commission services.
The prime minister has sig-
nalled that hospital doctors,
as well as family doctors, will
now have a greater say in the
reorganised NHS. But Labour
claimed that the letter from
Dame Barbara was more evi-
dence that the government’s
“listening exercise” was a PR
stunt.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 15

BRITAIN
TRANSPORT TRAGEDY POLICY CRIME LAW AND ORDER

Thames cable car to
link Olympic venues
London is to get a cable car across the River
Thames to link two 2012 Olympic venues, the
city’s transport authority said yesterday, with
construction to begin within the next few months.
Transport for London (TfL) said it was “striving” to
have the project finished in time for the Games,
which start on July 27 next year. The cable car
will link the Greenwich Peninsula, home of the O2
Arena, to the Royal Victoria Dock on the north
bank, where the ExCeL exhibition centre is, said
TfL. The 34 cabins will carry up to 2,500 people
per hour on a five-minute, 1.1km journey across
the Thames.
Man drowns on
Caribbean trip
A British father-of-two has drowned while snor-
kelling in the Caribbean just hours before he
was due to fly home to his family. Mark Crick,
47, was on an environmental field trip to the
Turks and Caicos Islands when he told friends
he was going snorkelling before catching a
flight home. His body was discovered float-
ing in the sea later the same day and he was
pronounced dead in hospital. A post-mortem
examination revealed he had drowned. The
experienced botanist, who lived in Stamford,
Lincolnshire, is survived by his wife, Helga, 44,
and sons Ben, 14, and Tom, nine.
Oxford Street to go
car-free at Christmas
Boris Johnson has banned traffic from the West
End for an unprecedented three days over Christ-
mas to boost flagging sales. Oxford Street and
Regent Street will be car-free for the weekend of
December 10 and 11 as well as Boxing Day, central
London1s biggest shopping day of the year. The
mayor’s announcement came as it emerged that
West End spending slumped by more than 4%
in March, one of the biggest falls ever recorded.
Retailers blamed disruption caused by building
work on the new Crossrail stations at Bond Street
and Tottenham Court Road as well as escalator
upgrades at Oxford Circus.
Boy held after tourists
shot dead in Florida
A 16-year-old gunman has been seized on
suspicion of murdering two British tourists
found dead in a pool of blood in Florida. James
Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, were found
riddled with bullets outside a housing estate in
Newtown, a notorious crime hotspot in the city
of Sarasota. Detectives suspect they were the
victims of a botched street robbery. Detectives
found their bodies 50 feet apart in the early hours
of Saturday morning after residents reported
“machine-gun fire”. Both were declared dead at
the scene and an unnamed 16-year-old boy has
been charged with two counts of murder.
£11mn initiative to
cut crime ‘failing’
A flagship Met police scheme to cut crime among
convicts freed from jail has had no impact on the
reoffending rate, an official study revealed yester-
day. The £11mn ‘Diamond Initiative’ was set up to
rehabilitate serial offenders by offering them help
with problems such as drug and alcohol misuse,
housing, debt and unemployment after their re-
lease. An official analysis of the project has found,
however, that 42.4% of participants committed
new crimes within a year of leaving jail - almost
identical to the 41.6% reoffending rate among a
similar group of convicts who received no special
help after being freed.

Abbey hopes
not to blow
fuse at royal
wedding
Reuters future George VI, followed in
London her footsteps in 1923, as did his
grandparents, the future Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip of

T
he Dean of Westminster
Abbey, John Hall, is pray-
ing it’s third-time lucky
for Prince William and Kate
Middleton during their wedding
after the power went down on
two recent Fridays.
An estimated 2bn people are
set to tune into the royal wedding
on Friday, April 29, potentially
the largest television audience
ever, with 2,000 attending the
service.
Camera crews from around the
world will be relaying images of
William, the son of heir-to-the-
throne Prince Charles and the
late Princess Diana, marrying his
long-term girlfriend.
But the dean revealed that the
electricity supply had gone down
Greece, in 1947.
The dean will welcome Kate
and her father at the Great West
Door on the morning of the wed-
ding, and will begin the service
and end it with a blessing.
Rowan Williams, the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury and spirit-
ual head of the Anglican church,
will marry the couple, while
the Bishop of London, Richard
Chartres, will give the address.
“I daresay we’ll all feel slightly
nervous, but very excited as well
and delighted that it is happen-
ing here,” Hall said.
The young couple have been to Police officers carry out security checks on drains along the Mall leading to Buckingham Palace (background) in central London.
the abbey for rehearsals appear-
ing relaxed, keen to get it right,
and are expected to “quietly” at-
tend again before the big day.

twice at the abbey and surrounding
area in the past month - only for a
short time, but both on a Friday.
“Our clerk of works has
been in touch with our
electricity suppliers and
changed various fuses, so
Cameron to break
Their “genuine warmth” had
“struck a chord” with people,
and the event would have an
“uplifting” effect, Hall said.
“It is lovely, it is wonderful,
that there are people all around
the world who are excited by
this,” he added. “I would hate

with royal tradition

we hope all that is going
to be fine”
“This is slightly alarming, if
the electricity goes at some point
on the morning of April 29th
then we shall certainly be upset
about that,” he said.
“In fact, our clerk of works
has been very closely in touch
with our electricity suppliers
to think that it was just a sort of
celebrity thing, and I think it is
deeper than that really, perhaps
partly related to the extraordi-
nary faithful service the queen
has given over such a long period,
she must be the very best known
person in the world, and so the Reuters tails — the formal black coats wearing to the wedding, which will related pictures will be taken on cause they were changing film.”
people associated with her.” London that have the front section cut be attended by foreign royal digni- digital cameras next week when Edwards picked out four top
Details of the music is still un- away to leave longer sections at taries in traditional dress as well as Prince William ties the knot with locations for budding photogra-
der wraps, and there is likely to the back — on such occasions. ordinary members of the public, a girlfriend Kate Middleton. phers wanting to capture the best

and changed various fuses, so we
hope all that is going to be fine.”
The Gothic abbey, or to use
its formal name the Collegiate
Church of St Peter, Westminster,
has a long connection with roy-
als, dating back a 1,000 years.
It had been linked mainly with
coronations and burials until
the 20th century when a grand-
daughter of Queen Victoria,
Princess Patricia, set the trend
for marriages in 1919.
William’s great grandparents,
Elizabeth Bowes Lyon and the
be “plenty there which is very fa-
miliar ... and some things which
are new”, Hall said.
However, the couple had clear
ideas about the hymns they
wanted, he added.
Just like his grandparents and
great grandparents, the wed-
ding is taking place at a time of
austerity. Kate will travel to the
service by car rather than an or-
nate coach and the royal family
and the Middletons will jointly
pay for the service, reception and
honeymoon.
T
he prime minister will be
wearing a work suit rather
than donning tails for next
week’s royal wedding in a major
break with tradition.
Guests at the wedding of
Prince William and Kate Mid-
dleton have been given the choice
of wearing uniform, lounge suits
— the kind of suit normally worn
for work — or a traditional morn-
ing suit, which includes a coat
with tails, on April 29.
Senior government figures
would have traditionally worn
However these outfits carry
associations with upper class
privilege, an image Prime Minis-
ter David Cameron, educated at
exclusive private school Eton and
then at Oxford University, has
worked hard to shed.
Cameron has been keen to cast off
the impression that he is an upper-
class “toff” since pictures emerged
of him as a member of Oxford’s elite
Bullingdon Club, a drinking club
whose wealthy members sport tails
to their annual dinner.
Asked what Cameron would be
spokesman said: “The prime min-
ister will be wearing a suit.”
Cameron has been keen
to cast off the impression
that he is an upper-class
‘toff’
Local media suggested that
Deputy Prime Minister Nick
Clegg and opposition leader
Ed Miliband would also opt for
lounge suits.
Meanwhile a survey revealed
some 327mn royal wedding-
The most coveted shot is the
first appearance of the couple
as a married couple followed by
the expected kiss on the balcony
of Buckingham Palace after the
wedding ceremony, according to
the poll for camera maker Nikon.
“The balcony kiss is the pic-
ture to get,” said Arthur Ed-
wards, the royal photographer
with mass-selling Sun tabloid.
“Half of the photographers
missed the iconic balcony kiss
in 1981 at (Prince) Charles and
(Princess) Diana’s wedding be-
pictures in central London on the
April 29.
As well as outside Buckingham
Palace and Westminster Abbey
where the service will be held,
Edwards recommended the far
end of the Mall, the grand boul-
evard leading to the palace, and
at Horse Guards Parade, an open
area used for military ceremo-
nies.
Meanwhile the poll estimated
that of the millions of photos
taken, some 65mn will be shared
on social media sites.

Kate thanks designers Intense secrecy

for gem of a gift
London Evening Standard
company is called La Diosa, de-
surrounds dress
Reuters
London
in the steps of her fiance’s late
mother, Princess Diana, who
chose relatively unknown de-
like two crescent moons com- signer Elizabeth Emanuel to de-

N
London cided they wanted to continue ing together and signifies eter- ot since Janet Jackson’s sign her dress for her marriage to
that connection by making a per- nal love. Blue topaz symbolises “wardrobe malfunction” Prince Charles in 1981.
sonal gift for Kate. true love and success. Kate has has an outfit sparked so Emanuel recalled this year

W
hen two young jewel-
lery designers decided
to send a wedding gift
for Kate Middleton they were
expecting the package to be sent
back. So they were delighted
when not only did they not see
the tailor-made pendant again,
but they also received a letter
thanking them for the gift.
Less than two weeks af-
ter Natasha Faith and Semhal
Zemikael, both 24, had post-
ed the blue topaz pendant to
Prince William’s bride-to-be
they were sent a letter from
Clarence House telling them
that Middleton was “touched”
by the gift and wanted person-
ally to thank them.
The duo came up with the
idea after finding a picture of
Faith’s mother, Edith Birya-
barema, with Princess Diana
in 1994 wearing the ring now
worn by Middleton.
The business partners, whose
Faith, of Forest Gate,
said: “When we approached
Clarence House they said don’t
send her a gift because it will be
sent back, so we contacted the
Prince’s Trust who said send it
at your own discretion. So we
decided to.
“It’s shaped like two
crescent moons coming
together and signifies
eternal love”
“I sent a letter with a pic-
ture of Princess Diana with my
mum saying we wanted to send
her the gift. A week later we
received a letter from Clarence
House who said thank you so
much for the gift. They said
Kate wanted to thank us and
that she truly does love it. We
were really touched.”
Called Honey-moon, the pen-
dant was made with Middleton
in mind. Faith said: “It’s shaped
a really striking but subtle style.
We chose that motif and that
style because I genuinely think it
would look lovely on her. I hope
she wears it on her honeymoon.”
This is not the first time that
Faith and Zemikael, of Waltham-
stow, have received royal recog-
nition.
After making a pendant for the
Duchess of Cornwall last year
they received a handwritten let-
ter from her thanking them for it
personally.
In 2009, the Standard reported
that Sarah Brown is also a fan of
their jewellery. The former prime
minister’s wife was pictured at
G20 with US First Lady Michelle
Obama wearing one of their
necklaces. The designers, who
have a shop in Hatton Garden af-
ter meeting in a philosophy class
at Sir George Monoux College in
Walthamstow, are launching a
limited line of Middleton’s pen-
dant, set to go on sale for £240.
much debate.
The design and designer of
Kate Middleton’s wedding dress
has been the subject of endless
speculation.
Veteran designer Bruce Old-
field, Alexander McQueen crea-
tive director Sarah Burton, Alice
Temperley and even Jasper Conran
have all been named as possible
designers of the gown. And now a
relatively unknown designer, So-
phie Cranston, is in the frame.
Huffington Post royal corre-
spondent Yvonne York reported
that Sophie Cranston of label Li-
belula has been chosen to design
what is already one of the most-
talked about dresses of the decade.
Middleton wore a Libelula coat to
a friend’s wedding earlier this year.
A spokeswoman for the label
said it had no comment. The la-
bel’s website had gone down by
Shop worker Laura Pritchard poses with a wedding dress by designer midday yesterday.
Sophie Cranston’s fashion label Libelula, retailing at £750 at the If she goes with Cranston,
Katharine Bird shop in Battersea, south London, yesterday. Middleton would be following
that the intense media interest in
the dress required strict security
measures.
She said she had to bring in
security guards and put Diana’s
dress in a safe every night to fend
off reporters who camped out on
the doorstep, gawped through the
windows and rummaged through
the rubbish bins looking for clues.
“We used to leave bits of differ-
ent coloured threads and things to
put them on the wrong track and
we had to put blinds up so that
people couldn’t peer through the
windows,” Emanuel said.
Although not a household
name, Cranston does have strong
credentials. A former Graduate
Designer of the Year — an acco-
lade she shares with the likes of
John Galliano — she worked with
McQueen and Temperley before
founding Libelula after moving
to southern Spain to learn fla-
menco and Spanish. Libelula is
Spanish for dragonfly.
 Gulf Times
16 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
EUROPE
EU: French have right
to block migrant trains
AFP
Paris
F T
rance insisted yesterday
that it would keep turn-
ing back North African
migrants trying to enter from
Italy despite valid paperwork
after the European Commission
backed the controversial move’s
legality.
Interior Minister Claude
Gueant said that France wanted
to avoid a rift with Italy after
it stopped trains crossing the
border but warned Tunisian
migrants would be sent back if
they could not show they had
enough funds to stay.
Southern Europe has been
confronted by a wave of North
African migrants in recent
months following unrest in
Medvedev backs
moves for drug
testing in schools
AFP
Irkutsk, Russia
R
ussian President Dmitry
Medvedev has called for
drug testing in schools,
warning that narcotics abuse
was now such a major problem
that it was weighing down the
economy.
Speaking at a government
meeting in the Siberian city of
Irkutsk, identified by officials
as a particular trouble spot
for abuse, Medvedev said that
no fewer than 2.5mn Russians
were drug addicts.
The president said the prob-
lem was costing Russia be-
tween 2% and 3% of the gross
domestic product and that the
country may have no option
but to resort to drug testing in
schools.
Medvedev, who is usually
regarded as one of the more
liberal of Russian leaders, said
that testing may need to be put
into law at a later stage.
“Unfortunately, the situa-
tion is such that we will have to
go along this path,” Medvedev
said.
That move is bound to cause
controversy and many officials
at the meeting tiptoed around
the issue, warning the Kremlin
chief against any hasty meas-
ures.
“We support the testing as
one of the instruments of early
detection of drug use,” Viktor
Ivanov, the Federal Drug Con-
trol Agency, said, adding how-
ever it remained to be seen
whether or how the country
could make that testing ob-
ligatory.
Following the debate,
Medvedev said officials should
develop a system of tests for
schools that could find a way
to detect addiction at an early
stage.
“In principle, I will be fine
with any option,” he said,
tasking officials with putting
together a two-tier system
starting with voluntary test-
ing which may be followed by
obligatory screening at a later
stage.
Explosives removed
from Unesco site
AFP
Skopje
M
acedonian police an-
nounced yesterday
that a clean-up oper-
ation of the Ohrid lake beauty
spot in the southwest of the
country yielded six tonnes of
explosives.
“There were unexploded
mines, bombs and different
Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, and
European Union members are
divided over how to deal with
the new arrivals.
Italy has begun handing out
temporary residence cards to
around 20,000 newly arrived
Tunisians and Paris fears that
they will take advantage of this
reprieve to move on across the
un-policed French border and
settle down.
France has close ties to Tuni-
sia, one of its former North Af-
rican colonies, and many would
be migrants have friends and
relatives in French cities.
On Sunday, in response to a
protest by activists who support
the Tunisians, French officials
blocked all trains from Italy for
the day – drawing a sharp re-
sponse from Rome, which al-
leged EU law was broken.
Medvedev said some 70% of
drug abusers were under 30,
many addicts were becoming
increasingly younger and were
now in their early teens.
“Narcotics affect the demo-
graphic situation in the coun-
try on the whole and destroy
the nation’s gene pool, peo-
ple’s health,” he told officials.
Due to its proximity to Af-
ghanistan and its porous
borders, Russia is among the
world’s top three heroin con-
sumers along with Iran and
Pakistan, according to the
drugs control agency.
Officials estimate that
around 100 people die of drug
abuse every day in Russia.
Medvedev spoke after he
met with mothers of current
and former drug addicts in the
city, saying the topic of drug
abuse still made Russian so-
ciety uncomfortable and most
preferred to sweep it under the
carpet.
“This topic used to be taboo,
which should definitely be
broken,” he told the Mothers
against Narcotics Association,
a regional advocacy group.
The association’s activists
said the problem remained
very serious partly because
society was indifferent.
“Genocide is under way, the
nation is being destroyed,” said
the association’s chairwoman
Valentina Chervichenko.
Another activist, Alla
Chernyavskaya, said Russians
still considered drug addiction
a vice rather than an illness
which discouraged addicts’
families from seeking help.
“Society’s position rests
on fear and prejudice,” said
Chernyavskaya, whose son
Dmitry, now 30, was a heroin
addict for several years.
She said she was so afraid of
telling anyone that she tried to
help him kick the habit herself.
Her methods included leav-
ing him to live in a tent in the
Siberian taiga and chaining
him.
He was able to go under
treatment and stopped using
heroin in 2006 after she finally
sought outside help.
munitions for the Balkans
wars in the 1900s and World
War I and World War II that
were found on the bottom of
Lake Ohrid and posed a poten-
tial danger to the population,”
the Macedonian interior min-
istry said in a statement.
The 358sq km lake is the
deepest in the Balkans at
288m. It is a Unesco world
heritage site and Macedonia’s
main tourist attraction.
But Gueant insisted Paris had
respected “in letter and spirit”
the Schengen Agreement, the
treaty under which core EU
members agreed to allow resi-
dents to travel without pass-
ports within their borders.
However, as the first country
of arrival, Italy was responsible
for managing the migrants, who
must show they have the finan-
cial resources to stay in the sec-
ond country.
In the absence of such re-
sources, “we will return these
people to Italy”, said Gueant.
The interior minister defend-
ed the decision to block trains
from the border town of Ven-
timiglia, citing the risk of public
disorder.
“A public order problem was
possible and the simplest way
of dealing with it was to stop the
We are six
Baby raccoons are pictured at a breeding station in Frankfurt, Germany yesterday. Police found the six two-week-old raccoons in a
fireplace in a house in Frankfurt on Sunday.
Russia bans nationalist group linked to violence
Reuters
Moscow
R
ussia has banned a neo-
nationalist group linked
to a 7,000-strong dem-
onstration near Red Square that
erupted in the worst racial vio-
lence that the country has seen
since the fall of the Soviet Union.
A Moscow city court outlawed
as “extremist” the ultra-na-
tionalist group The Movement
Against Illegal Migration, which
has lobbied for tougher immi-
gration laws and controls on
Russia’s southern border with
Central Asia and the former So-
viet republics in the Caucasus
region.
City tackles Nazi-linked street names
Reuters
Vienna
T
he Austrian city of Graz
has decided to rename a
square that bore the name
of a poet close to the Nazis and
more changes are expected after
an eight-year battle in the local
council.
Heinrich-Lersch-Platz will
now be named after anti-Nazi
activist Helene Serfecz, who was
hanged in 1943, a city spokes-
woman said yesterday.
Austria has generally been
more reluctant than neighbour
Germany to address the coun-
try’s Nazi legacy but in recent
years there has been a greater
willingness to tackle the issue.
train coming in,” he explained.
The Schengen Agreement
provides for countries to im-
plement identity checks tem-
porarily at the border if there is
a threat to public order or na-
tional security.
Asked by AFP about tensions
between the two countries,
Gueant said: “France does not
want that at all.”
Italian Foreign Minister Fran-
co Frattini said in an interview
yesterday that despite their dif-
ferent handling of the Tunisian
immigrants, the two govern-
ments would “work together”
to clear the cloud hanging over
relations.
In Brussels, European home
affairs commissioner Cecilia
Malmstroem said that as French
authorities cited “public or-
der reasons” for inspecting the
“An investigation turned up
evidence that the goals and ac-
tivities of the movement are
aimed at carrying out extremist
activity,” Russian prosecutors
said in a statement.
Neo-nationalist groups have
been gaining ground and boost-
ing their membership numbers,
shocking authorities and many
Russians.
With its combustible mix
of disenchanted ethnic Rus-
sian youth and labour migrants
from the mostly Muslim North
Caucasus and ex-Soviet Central
Asia, Moscow has become a focal
point of racial tensions.
Racial violence exploded on
December 11 when some 7,000
nationalists rallied on the Man-
Graz city councillors voted
for the name-change last week,
overcoming opposition from the
far-right Freedom Party which
defended Lersch and said he was
not a Nazi sympathiser.
Green Party officials led the
push for renaming the square
and said they would seek more
changes. In a statement they said
the new name was “in honour of
a resistance fighter”.
Some have argued that street
names should not be changed
because they serve as an impor-
tant historical reminder.
As German troops began to
cross the border, Austrian Nazis
took power in 1938 and started
purging foes.
There is a long-standing pub-
lic debate in Austria about the
trains, the move was legal.
“Apparently, they have the
right to do this,” she said, add-
ing that France explained that
the trains were stopped “very
temporarily”.
France’s President Nicolas
Sarkozy will seek re-election
next year and his centre-right
governing party is facing a
strong challenge from the far-
right, anti-immigrant National
Front.
Both Sarkozy and Gueant
have been toughening their
anti-immigrant rhetoric in the
run-up to the poll, at the risk of
finding themselves breaking EU
freedom of movement rules.
Already last year, France
found itself criticised by the
United Nations human rights
body and fellow EU members
after it began rounding up mi-
ezh square near the Kremlin,
chanting racist slogans and
attacking passers-by of non-
Slavic appearance in what Presi-
dent Dmitry Medvedev called
“pogroms”.
SOVA, a non-government
group that tracks ethnic vio-
lence, said that at least at least
two people were killed and 68
injured in hate crimes last De-
cember, compared to three killed
and 22 wounded for the same
month in 2009.
At least 37 people were killed
in hate crimes in Russia last year,
it said.
SOVA says grassroots xeno-
phobia is on the rise, encouraged
by anti-Muslim and anti-Cau-
casus sentiment.
extent to which local people
were victims or accomplices of
Nazism.
A poll in 2008 on the 70-year-
anniversary of Hitler’s takeover
showed 60% of Austrians were
weary of talk about the Nazi past
and wanted an end to it.
Graz councillor Thomas Raja-
kovics told the Austrian daily Die
Presse that some less clear-cut
street names may get alterna-
tive signs rather than a complete
change.
One example would be Kern-
stock Street, named after the
artist who composed the Peo-
ple’s Hymn that was used as the
national anthem during the Nazi
era but without Ottokar Kern-
stock’s consent as he was already
dead.
grant Roma Gypsies and expel-
ling them back to Romania and
Bulgaria.
On Sunday, Frattini directed
his embassy in Paris to lodge a
protest with France and seek
“clarifications on measures
taken which appear to be illegal
and in clear violation of Euro-
pean principles”.
EU President Herman Van
Rompuy did warn on Sunday,
however, it was important to
remain within the “spirit of
Schengen” and not just the pre-
cise legal wording.
In his Repubblica interview,
Frattini said a summit between
Sarkozy and Italian Prime Min-
ister Silvio Berlusconi on April
26 should “re-affirm the will of
Italy and France to work togeth-
er, as founders of the European
Union”.
The nationalist group’s head
Alexander Belov said that he
would appeal the ban and warned
it would only further incite radi-
cal youths to don “masks” and
take to the streets, unchecked by
an organised leadership.
“Instead of an organised
structure with which you can
negotiate, they (the Kremlin)
will get many people in masks,
who will be very radical and
won’t negotiate with anyone,”
Belov told Reuters.
“What happened on Manezh
square will be repeated on a larg-
er scale. An Egyptian scenario
awaits Russia,” he said, referring
to the recent unrest that toppled
Egypt’s former leader.
The racial violence in Decem-
Dutch court rejects
anti-Islam MP’s bid
AFP
The Hague
A
Dutch court has re-
jected anti-Islam MP
Geert Wilders’ bid for
the withdrawal of a panel of
judges chosen to try him for
hate speech.
“The request for recusal is
denied,” AJ van der Meer, the
presiding judge of an inde-
pendent panel set up to hear
Wilders’ application, said at a
hearing broadcast via the In-
ternet.
This had been Wilders’
second application for the
One in five
kids dodge
Facebook
age limit:
survey
AFP
Brussels
hree-quarters of Europe’s
children have a profile
on a social networking
website, while one in five under
13 manage to dodge Facebook’s
age restriction, a survey showed
yesterday.
Some 77% of children 13- to
16-years-old, and 38% aged be-
tween nine and 12, are plugged
into a wide range of social net-
working websites across Europe,
said the survey released by the
European Commission.
One-quarter of them have set
their accounts to “public” view,
meaning that everyone can see
their profiles, making them tar-
gets for predators, the EU’s ex-
ecutive arm cautioned.
Neelie Kroes, the commis-
sioner in charge of Internet is-
sues, called on social network-
ing firms to make the profiles
of children only accessible to
their approved contacts by de-
fault and make them invisible to
search engines.
“Growing numbers of chil-
dren are on social networking
sites but many are not taking all
necessary steps to protect them-
selves online,” she said. “These
children are placing themselves
in harm’s way, vulnerable to
stalkers and groomers.”
The rate of 13- to 16-year-olds
with social networking profiles
is high in western Europe, espe-
cially Scandinavian countries:
92% in Norway, 89% in Den-
mark, 88% in Britain and 82% in
France.
At 70%, the Netherlands is the
country with the most children
under 13 with a social network-
ing account, with France at the
bottom of the list at 25%.
The survey, conducted by
EUKidsOnline network, found
that Facebook is by far the most
popular friends-connection
website in 17 out of 25 European
countries, used by 57% of nine to
16-year-olds.
Despite an age restriction,
20% of nine- to 12-year-olds
surveyed said they have a Face-
book account.
On its private policy page, Fa-
cebook says that if it learns that
it collected personal information
from a child under 13, it will de-
lete it “as quickly as possible”.
ber was sparked by the Decem-
ber 6 killing of a Spartak Moscow
soccer fan during a fight between
a group of ethnic Russians and
migrants from the mainly Mus-
lim North Caucasus.
The violence and the frequen-
cy of racist incidents involving
Russian soccer fans have raised
concerns about security during
the 2018 World Cup, which Rus-
sia will host.
With high unemployment
and an Islamist insurgency rag-
ing across the North Caucasus,
which includes Chechnya, many
migrants from the region travel
to Moscow in search of jobs.
Many say they are treated with
suspicion by ethnic Russians and
often face racism.
withdrawal of judges on the
grounds of bias.
He had won the first round
shortly after his trial started
in October last year, when his
judges were ordered to step
down by a panel of their peers
who upheld the politician’s
bias claims.
In March, the new judges
ruled that the trial must go
ahead, dismissing Wilders’
claims that they had no juris-
diction in the case.
Wilders, 47, faces five counts
of giving offence to Muslims
and of inciting hatred against
Muslims and people of non-
Western immigrant origin.

Condition
of politician
on hunger
strike
worsens
DPA
Belgrade
T H
he condition of the Ser-
bian opposition leader on
a hunger strike to pub-
licise his call for a snap parlia-
mentary poll has deteriorated,
doctors said yesterday.
Tomislav Nikolic, the head of
the Serbian Progressive Party
(SNS), has not taken any food
or liquid since early on Saturday
morning.
President Boris Tadic visited
Nikolic on Sunday and urged him
to stop the hunger strike. But he
ruled out elections before Serbia
formally becomes a candidate
for European Union member-
ship, expected in October.
Meanwhile, Brussels said yes-
terday that it was worried by
the lack of direction in Belgrade
and called for a focus on reforms
rather than dates.
“We have followed the devel-
opments in Serbia this weekend
with growing concern,” EU for-
eign policy spokeswoman Maja
Kocijancic said in a statement.
Kocijancic called for a “sin-
gle-minded focus” on reforms
and settlement of political dis-
putes “within the established
political process”.
A decision on EU membership
will be made only when Brussels
judges that Serbia is ready, she
said.
Nikolic announced his hunger
strike at an opposition rally that
drew some 40,000 people to
central Belgrade.
He was hospitalised at a pri-
vate clinic on Sunday night as
his health began to suffer due to
dehydration.
Doctors at the clinic said that
they administered medication
to offset some of the effects of
the dehydration but that Nikolic
continues refusing to drink or
eat.
He was in stable condition and
was aware that further dehydra-
tion could cause serious harm,
they told reporters.
Health Minister Zoran Stank-
ovic said on Sunday in a TV in-
terview that doctors are bound
by law to administer liquids to
Nikolic if he loses conscious-
ness.
While a person can go without
food for many days, life-threat-
ening dehydration is possible
much more quickly, even after
just a few hours, depending on
circumstances.
Several opposition parties
lined up behind Nikolic and the
SNS, which leads all parties in
recent popularity polls, in call-
ing on Tadic’s ruling coalition to
hold early elections.
The last parliamentary elec-
tion in Serbia was in 2008. A new
poll is scheduled in about a year.
EU to pump 110mn
euros into research
on Chernobyl plant
AFP
Brussels
T
he European Commis-
sion said yesterday that it
will provide Ukraine with
110mn euros ($156mn) to help
with construction of a new sar-
cophagus isolating the Cherno-
byl nuclear plant.
“Tomorrow on behalf of the
European Commission I will an-
nounce in the pledging confer-
ence an extra EU pledge of about
110mn euros,” European Com-
mission President Jose Manuel
Barroso said.
Barroso was in Kiev for a do-
nors conference to start today
that will aim to raise 740mn eu-
ros to help Ukraine cover the cost
of replacing a concrete sarcoph-
agus that was erected to con-
fine the Chernobyl reactor that
exploded in 1986 in the world’s
worst nuclear disaster.
The original sarcophagus is
cracked and unstable and the
conference is being held as
Ukraine marks the 25th anniver-
People gather as a giant Pac Man figure in the orange colour of
the centre-right ruling Fidesz party devouring a sign
representing the rule of law in front of the Parliament in
Budapest, as Hungary’s parliament adopted yesterday a
controversial new constitution, despite criticism that it destroys
the system of checks and balances.
True Finns set for govt,
EU bailout under threat
Reuters
Helsinki
T
he True Finns, the anti-
euro party voted into a
powerful role in the Hel-
sinki parliament at the week-
end, expect the European Union
to change plans for a bailout of
Portugal, its leader said yester-
day.
The True Finns’ hostility to
the bailout is the biggest hur-
dle in talks that begin this week,
when the right-leaning National
Coalition will reach out to the
populist party and opposition
Social Democrats to form a ma-
jority government.
“Of course there will have to
be changes,” Timo Soini said of
the Portugal package, a day after
the party more than quadrupled
its share of the vote to turn Fin-
land’s pro-EU politics on their
head.
True Finns came third in Sun-
day’s election with 19% of the
vote, raising its number of seats
in the 200-strong parliament to
39 from five in the 2007 election.
Finland’s parliament, unlike
others in the euro zone, has the
right to vote on European Union
sary of the disaster this month.
“I’m confident that those
events tomorrow will bring the
desired results, notably in secur-
ing necessary funds to complete
the safety work on the Chernobyl
site,” Barroso said during a joint
press conference with Ukrainian
President Viktor Yanukovich.
“Overcoming a tragedy of
such a scale cannot be only
Ukraine’s business. The event in
Japan has again confirmed that
such events are a challenge for all
of humanity,” Yanukovich said.
A separate EU statement said
the money will help “ensure that
the Chernobyl site is made stable
and environmentally safe”.
It will be funnelled into “nu-
clear safety, but also on pro-
grammes to help the local pop-
ulation and provide affected
families with access to quality
healthcare”, the statement said.
The fourth reactor at a power
station in the Ukrainian city of
Chernobyl, around 100km north
of Kiev, exploded on April 26,
1986, contaminating a swathe
of Europe, with Ukraine, Belarus
requests for bailout funds.
Rising political populism
around Europe, driven by pub-
lic anger over the impact of the
financial crisis, may well make
deals on solving euro zone debt
woes increasingly difficult.
The National Coalition, which
won the election with 20.4%,
will launch government forma-
tion talks under its leader, out-
going Finance Minister Jyrki
Katainen.
Katainen said the new coali-
tion, expected to be formed by
mid- to late May, will likely in-
clude the three biggest parties:
the National Coalition, Social
Democrats and True Finns.
“We have to get a majority for
the parliament, and programme
issues have to be agreed upon,”
Katainen was quoted as saying
by the Finnish news agency STT.
But political commentators
said the government formation
talks could be the most difficult
in decades, because the three
parties are so far apart on the
bailout and other key economic
policies such as corporate taxes
and pension reforms.
And even if such a coalition
could be formed, analysts have
said that it would have a difficult
A woman walks past a giant picture of Russian gas masks at an outdoor exhibition by Swiss
photojournalist Guillaume Briquet entitled Tchernobyl 25 years after in Geneva. The world next week
remembers 25 years since the worst nuclear accident in history at Chernobyl, haunted by fears that the
Japan earthquake has shown again the risk of atomic power sparking apocalypse. Chernobyl has become
a byword for environmental catastrophe, with the explosion at 1.23am on April 26, 1986 showing what can
happen when a disaster occurs at a nuclear power plant.
and Russia the worst affected.
A consortium made up of
French construction compa-
nies Bouygues and Vinci won a
tender in 2007 to build the new
Hungary adopts
new constitution
AFP
Budapest
ungary’s right-leaning
parliament adopted a
new constitution yester-
day in the face of an opposition
boycott and criticism that the
text destroys the country’s sys-
tem of checks and balances.
“We are witnessing a historic
moment as parliament passed
the new constitution,” Laszlo
Kover, MP for the ruling Fidesz
party and speaker of the house,
said after 262 deputies voted
in favour of the text, with 44
against and one member ab-
staining.
“It acknowledges Christian-
ity as the basis of our civilisation
but it ensures moral freedom,” he
added before calling on deputies
to rise to sing the national an-
them.
The new basic law, drafted
solely by Prime Minister Viktor
Orban’s centre-right Fidesz, is
seen as a “coup” to cement the
party’s own power and keep it in
control even if it is voted out of
government.
time agreeing on policy.
“It would be a very heterog-
enous, very difficult coalition,”
said Sixten Korkman, managing
director at the Research Institute
of the Finnish Economy.
Katainen has stressed that
whatever the makeup of the next
government, it will remain pro-
euro and supportive of the bail-
out plans.
The European Commission
said it expected Finland to hon-
our its commitments to the euro
zone bailout fund.
Representatives of the com-
mission, European Central Bank
and International Monetary
Fund were meeting Portuguese
officials in Lisbon on Monday to
set the terms for the bloc’s third
rescue in a year after bailouts for
Greece and Ireland.
However, there is growing
speculation that Greece will
restructure its debt and there
is increasing pressure on other
so-called euro zone peripheral
countries, with Spanish 10-year
bond yields pushing towards
record highs near 5.6%.
In Finland, support for the
True Finns reflects public frus-
tration about footing the bill
for weaker economies such as
sarcophagus, financed by an in-
ternational foundation.
Work on the project began last
year and is due to be completed
by 2015.
Under the text, a host of laws
will now require a two-thirds
majority in parliament to be
adopted, almost guaranteeing
they cannot be changed in the
future.
The opposition Socialists and
left-wing green LMP party boy-
cotted both yesterday’s vote and
the preceding debate in the as-
sembly, while the far-right Job-
bik voted against the text.
With its preamble laden with
references to God, Christianity,
the Holy Crown of Hungary, the
fatherland and traditional family
values, critics have slammed the
new constitution as discrimina-
tory.
They have raised fears about
the status of those who will not
fit the mould, such as non-be-
lievers, homosexuals or single-
parent families.
Apart from its contents the
new constitution has come un-
der fire for the speed of the de-
bate – it was rushed through in
nine days – the lack of transpar-
ency in producing it and the late
availability of a public draft.
Opposition parties had re-
fused to take part in the drafting.
A picture taken yesterday shows a selection of Finland
newspapers front pages a day after Finland’s elections. Finland’s
media said the country had undergone a ‘revolution’ after the
ruling Centre Party government was toppled in polls which saw a
dramatic surge in support for right-wing nationalists.
Greece, Ireland and Portugal,
and anxiety over unemploy-
ment and pension cutbacks.
Finland’s rebound from the
global financial crisis has done
The 108m-high arched struc-
ture, weighing 20,000 tonnes,
will be assembled close to the re-
actor and then slid on rails over
the existing sarcophagus.
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 17
EUROPE
“The new basic law is going to actors, including the current
be illegitimate and temporary, premier.
and will have to be changed after This opinion was echoed last
the next elections on the basis of week by Liberal European MP
a national consensus,” Socialist Guy Verhofstadt who warned the
leader Attila Mesterhazy told a constitution could be a “Trojan
boycott event yesterday. horse for a more authoritar-
During the vote, a flash mob ian political system in Hungary
organised via the social net- based on the perpetuation of one
working site Facebook gathered party rule”.
near parliament, where a giant Orban meanwhile told Brus-
Pac Man figure in the orange sels that Hungary was prepared
colour of Fidesz devoured a sign to let legal experts examine the
representing the rule of law. new text to ensure it was in line
The Socialists meanwhile with EU treaties.
planned a “Walk for Hungarian His government already ran
Democracy” with torches in the into problems with the European
evening near parliament. Union and rights organisations
Over the weekend, thousands earlier this year over a disputed
of Hungarians had already gath- new media law, which dimmed
ered in a wave of protests tar- the beginning of its first ever EU
geting the new constitution and chairmanship.
other government measures. Orban has also been criticised
Adopting a new constitution for placing loyal figures in key
has for years been the ambition positions, including the State
of Fidesz, which sees the previ- Audit Office, and for weakening
ous text as obsolete and based on or dissolving independent insti-
a Soviet model. tutions like the Fiscal Council or
Political analysts note how- the constitutional court.
ever that the 1949 text was re- The new constitution will now
worked after the fall of com- be ratified by President Pal Sch-
munism in a collaborative effort mitt on April 25, and enter into
involving all the main political force on January 1, 2012.
ed to shed jobs soon.
“Finland has neglected many
domestic issues in all this EU
twaddle. Of course the trou-
bled countries should be helped
somehow, but the terms have to
be tight,” said a public servant,
37, who gave his name as Jari. He
voted for the True Finns.
Some voters also cited a dis-
trust of incumbent politicians.
Prime Minister Mari Kivin-
iemi’s Centre Party, hit by a po-
litical funding scandal, suffered
the biggest setback, losing 16 of
51 seats in parliament.
She said it would go into op-
position. While it remains un-
clear whether the True Finns
will grab influential posts in the
new cabinet or succeed in block-
ing the bailout, analysts say the
party is sure to gain a bigger say.
Saxo Bank chief economist
Steen Jakobsen said a coalition
with the Social Democrats and/
or True Finns would make it hard
for the government to fully sup-
port the Portugal bailout with-
out a schedule for how Greece is
to restructure.
The Social Democrats support
the EU but have criticised the
bailout, saying private investors
and banks should shoulder more
of the responsibility.
Analysts also say that the new
government will need to take
into account strong voter dis-
content and take a harder line
little to increase the number against Brussels.
of jobs. Its flagship company, “In terms of European Union
Nokia, is struggling to com- policies, Finland will become a
pete with Apple Inc and Asian more difficult partner,” said Ko-
handset makers, and is expect- rkman.
ITALY
Support for Berlusconi at new low
Support for Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has hit a record
low, an opinion poll showed yesterday.
The survey by the IPR polling institute for the left-leaning *La
Repubblica daily showed Berlusconi’s approval rating at 31% in
April, down from 40% at the start of 2011 and 56% in April 2009.
Confidence in his centre-right government fell to 23% from 26% a
month ago.
GULF CINEMA : Thank You (Hindi) 2, 5, 8 & 11pm.
DOHA CINEMA: August 15 (Malayalam) 2.30, 5.30, 8.30 &
11pm.
MALL CINEMA (1): Al Rajol Al Ghamed Besalamto
(Arabic) 2.15, 4.30, 6.45, 9 & 11.15pm.
MALL CINEMA (2): City Island 2 & 4.15pm, Source Code
6.30, 8.45 & 11.15pm.
MALL CINEMA (3): Rio (3D) 2.30, 4.30 & 6.30pm;
Tomorrow, when the War Began 8.30 & 11pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (1): Rio (3D) 2.30, 4.30
& 6.30pm; Red Riding Hood 8.30 & 10.30pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (2): Paul 2.15pm; Largo
Winch 2 4.30, 6.45, 9 & 11.15pm.
ROYAL PLAZA Cinema Palace (3): No String Attached
2 & 4pm; Big Mommas 3 6.30 & 9pm; The Roommate
11.30pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (1): Hop 3.15, 5.15 & 7.15pm; Big
Mommas 3 9.15 & 11.15pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (2): Rio (3D) 3 & 5pm; The Ward
7, 9 & 11pm.
CINEMA LANDMARK (3): Al Rajol Al Ghamed
Besalamto (Arabic) 2.30, 4.45, 6.45, 9 & 11.15pm.
 Gulf Times
18 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

WORLD
Police and
Jonathan win triggers off students
riot in
Burkina
deadly protests in Nigeria
Protests rage in towns across the forces fired in the air and used teargas to
Faso
AFP
Ouagadougou
north as politicians call for calm disperse groups of youths shouting “We
want Buhari, we want Buhari”.

A
Reuters Police said the violence was political mutiny in Burkina Faso
Kano/Abuja rather than ethnic or religious. Twelve spread yesterday as po-
years after the end of military rule, the lice joined soldiers on a
army said it stood fully behind the gov- rampage in a northern town, and

R
ioting erupted yesterday across
Nigeria’s largely Muslim north
and the Red Cross spoke of many
dead as youths torched churches and
homes in anger at President Goodluck
Jonathan’s election victory.
Jonathan won the presidential elec-
tion, final figures announced by the In-
dependent National Electoral Commis-
sion (INEC) showed yesterday.
Jonathan won 22.5mn votes, around
57% of votes cast, compared to 12.2mn
votes, around 31%, for his nearest rival
Muhammadu Buhari.
Observers have called the poll the
fairest in decades in Africa’s most pop-
ulous nation but Buhari’s supporters
accuse the ruling party of rigging and
his Congress for Progressive Change
Party rejected results announced so far.
Those results show how polarised the
country is, with Buhari sweeping the
north and Jonathan winning the largely
Christian south. Jonathan had 22.5mn
votes to just over 12mn for Buhari ac-
cording to final figures.
The Nigerian Red Cross said church-
es, mosques and homes had been
burned in rioting across the north and
many people had been killed, but it was
impossible to give a toll for now.
“In Kaduna we have seen dead bodies
4 poachers held in
Kruger park
Uganda police detain opposition leaders after protests
ernment.
Jonathan appealed to all politicians to
end violence.
“No one’s political ambition is worth
the blood of any Nigerian,” he said in a
statement.
Buhari was yet to make any pub-
lic statement. The former general’s
spokesman said he believed the vote
count had been manipulated against
him.
“We cannot accept these results as
announced until cross-checks have
been carried out by the electoral com-
mission,” said Yinka Odumakin.
Nigeria has a history of rigged and vi-
olent elections but Saturday’s vote was
deemed by many Nigerians, and foreign
observers, to have been a vast improve-
ment on the past.
“Election day showed a generally
peaceful and orderly process,” said chief
People demonstrate in Nigeria’s northern city of Kano where running battles broke out between protesters and soldiers European Union election observer Alojz
yesterday as President Goodluck Jonathan headed for an election win. Peterle. EU observers said 2007 elec-
tions were not credible.
lying by the road,” said Red Cross offi- of Vice President Namadi Sambo in the our houses. I had to run for my life and Buhari, who also lost elections in
cial Umar Mairiga. “Two thousand peo- town of Zaria and forced their way into I am now in my neighbour’s house,” said 2003 and 2007, has repeatedly said
ple have been displaced at one military the central prison, releasing inmates. Dora Ogbebor, a resident of Zaria whose Nigerians would not accept another
camp alone.” The body of a small boy shot in the origins are in the south. rigged vote.
Authorities in the northern state of chest by a stray bullet was brought to a Plumes of smoke rose into the air in He said on Saturday he would not go
Kaduna imposed a 24-hour curfew af- police station, a witness said. parts of the state capital as protesters to court to challenge the outcome but
ter protesters set fire to the residence “They have destroyed our cars and set fire to barricades of tyres. Security that his party may chose to do so.
students staged violent protests
in the west against President
Blaise Compaore’s regime.
Soldiers and paramilitary po-
lice poured into the streets of
the northern town of Kaya, firing
shots into the air, and torching
the home of an army regiment
chief and ransacking that of a re-
gional officer, residents said.
It was the first time police
had taken part in the uprising
that began in the capital Oua-
gadougou on Thursday. An of-
ficial said they were yesterday
demanding their wages be paid.
Kaya was the fourth town to be
affected in the landlocked west
African state after Ouagadougou
and the small centres of Po and
Tenkodogo in the south.
Meanwhile, protesting youths
in Koudougou in western Burki-
na Faso also turned to violence,
burning down the premises of
the ruling party and a home of
ex-prime minister Tertius Zon-
go, witnesses said.
The demonstration was initial-
ly a peaceful one by students and
school pupils, residents said, but
it degenerated. The home of the
headmaster of the town’s main
school was also burned down.
“We want to make the ruling
power... look into our concerns”
and establish “truth and justice
for Justin Zongo and all victims

F
our Mozambicans suspect-
ed of poaching in the Kruger
National Park were arrested,
South Africa’s defence ministry
said yesterday, two weeks after the
army began patrols to crack down
Reuters as he walked with other people toward
Kampala town. He is being held at Kasangati po-
lice station,” said police spokeswoman
Judith Nabakoba.
gations. The files are going to be submit-
ted to the director of public prosecution
and the DPP will go through the files
and would advise accordingly whether
Congress, according to Mathias Mpuuga, a
member of parliament elected in February
and coordinator of the protests.
One analyst said the protests were
of repression,” the students said
in a statement.
They were referring to a stu-
dent who died in a February
demonstration, killed by police
according to his relatives while

on rhino killings.
“Our national parks are our
assets, we will protect them for
the future and those who pose
any threats to our animals will
meet the full might of the law. We
have declared war with poachers
in all our parks,” said Defence
Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.
The four had a hunting rifle,
binoculars, an axe and cellphones,
added a ministry statement.
Soldiers were deployed to the
Kruger’s borders with Mozam-
bique and Zimbabwe on April 1,
after South African National Parks
asked the military to help stop the
rhino bloodbath in the giant park,
which lost 146 animals last year.
Between January and March,
poachers killed 46 rhinos in the
park, out of a national total of 71.
Home to more than 70% of the
world’s remaining rhinos, South
Africa lost 333 rhinos last year.
U
gandan opposition leader Kizza
Besigye and a number of as-
sociates were arrested as they
prepared to take part in a third round of
protests over rising food and fuel prices,
police said yesterday.
Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni’s
closest rival in February elections, was
detained by plainclothes offices outside
his house as he left to join further rallies,
which begun last week in protest against
steep price rises.
“Besigye has been arrested on the road
Slow start in Ivory Coast first government work day
AFP
Abidjan
President Yoweri Museveni, who was
re-elected in February, has warned he
would not allow Besigye to lead the pro-
tests, and blamed drought for reduced
food production and higher global oil
prices for increased transport costs.
Besigye, who right hand was heavily
bandaged following an injury sustained
in last Thursday’s protest, was forcibly
loaded on to a pick-up truck and taken to
a police station for interrogation. It was
unclear whether he faced any charges.
“We are in the final stages of investi-
trait of the disgraced Gbagbo still hung.
“The state machinery hasn’t been
running for four months. Here at the
ministry I can see that people have
to prosecute or which cases to prefer
against him,” said Vincent Ssekate, dep-
uty police spokesman.
Outside the station where Besigye
was being held, police fired tear gas at a
growing crowd of about 3,000 people.
Army officers joined regular police in
patrolling the streets of the capital Kam-
pala with guns and batons.
Police also arrested opposition leaders in
other parts of the capital, including Nor-
bert Mao, leader of the Democratic Party
and Olara Otunnu of the Uganda Peoples
Troops from Ouattara’s Republican
Forces (FRCI) set up checkpoints at some
crossroads and searched cars, firing their
guns occasionally yesterday morning as
likely to fizzle out. “This is truly the first
time we’re seeing sustained civil action
by the opposition against an issue of
substance and on a considerably large
scale,” said Bernard Tabaire.
“Ultimately Museveni will prevail
because at the end of the day Uganda is
very rural and it’s largely the few urban-
ites protesting. So unless the opposition
can galvanise the whole nation and make
the protests a daily thing and stretch se-
curity forces we’ll likely see this unrest
peter out by next week.”
“Ivory Coast is reborn,” said Nord-
Sud, while the Patriot said “With ADO,
Ivory Coast is reborn,” referring to the
new leader’s initials. “Deliverance,”
authorities said the boy was ill.
The latest wave of protests
erupted Thursday as mutineers
ran riot in the capital, demand-
ing better pay and housing and
food benefits. They “have not
received their pay for the month
of March,” said a source close to
the general staff.
“They also want their bo-
nuses to be aligned on those of
the presidential guard,” he said,
adding that “the wages will be
paid today.”
To try to control the situation,
veteran leader Compaore, who
has ruled for more than two dec-
ades, Friday dissolved his gov-
ernment and named a new head
of the armed forces.
“For several days, soldiers and
civilians... have been using fire-
arms in violation of regulations,”
the security ministry said in a
statement on Sunday. “This state

The surge - fuelled by use of
rhino horn in Asian traditional
medicine - has been blamed on
organised syndicates.
Nelson Mandela
begins ‘tweeting’
A
handful of civil servants heeded
an appeal by Ivory Coast’s new
government to resume work
yesterday, leaving state offices para-
lysed one week after strongman Laurent
Gbagbo was toppled.
Small groups of employees gathered
in front of towering office buildings in
Abidjan’s central Plateau district where
heavily-armed Ivorian and French
turned up,” added Konan before going
into his first staff meeting.
Ouattara took charge on April 11 of the
world’s top cocoa grower when his forces
stormed the presidential palace in Abid-
jan and seized Gbagbo.
By midday yesterday, more taxis and
packed buses were on the streets that
saw some of the fiercest fighting for 10
days between the rivals’ forces ahead of
they sought to scare off looters.
Streets were still littered with gar-
bage, leaves and twigs as small traders
cleaned and repaired their looted shops.
Banks and many supermarkets re-
mained closed but some residents said
they were just happy the violence had
subsided.
“We are happy about the change. Un-
der the previous government our lives
headlined Le Mandat. The three papers
are pro-Ouattara.
State-run Fraternite-Matin, which
had backed the deposed Gbagbo, was
however reconciliatory, under the head-
line “Mr Ouattara: it is together that we
will write our history.”
Gbagbo is under house arrest in the
north of the country while former rebel
fighters loyal to Ouattara patrol Abidjan
of affairs will not be tolerated in a
state with the rule of law.”
Ouagadougou, which had
been shut down since Thurs-
day because of the unrest, was
returning to normal yesterday,
with banks and public offices
opening.
But traders refused to open
their stalls at the central mar-

S
outh Africa’s Nelson Man-
dela is now on Twitter,
after his foundation con-
vinced a British man to hand
over the @NelsonMandela ac-
count, his office said yesterday.
Online consultant Richard
Millington had registered the ac-
count but agreed to give it to the
Nelson Mandela Centre of Mem-
ory, part of a foundation estab-
lished by the anti-apartheid icon.
“Mr Millington did not hesi-
tate when we contacted him last
week requesting that we take
over the page he had created,”
said Sello Hatang, spokesman
for the Mandela Foundation.
Since the Centre of Memory
took over the account on Fri-
day, it bears the Nelson Mandela
Foundation logo and has won 727
troops patrolled.
New President Alassane Ouattara’s
minister for public service was himself
late for work, saying his convoy had been
delayed.
“I came to simply assess what is to
be done, meet with all the officials and
see what urgent issues need to be put in
place so that work can begin quickly,” said
Gnamien Konan in his office, where a por-
Tsvangirai slams Zimbabwean rival Mugabe’s nationalisation plan
Gbagbo’s dramatic arrest in an operation
backed by French and UN troops.
A civil servant at the parliament said
that when he arrived at work “there was a
decomposing body” at the building’s en-
trance. “Looters have stolen all the com-
puters, they’ve turned everything upside
down,” the worker said, asking not to be
named. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to
get back to work for two or three months.”
Reuters
Harare
were restricted,” said Ouattara Djibril, a along with UN peacekeepers and a force ket, though they were present.
taxi operator in the Plateau district. from former colonial master France. On Saturday they had violently
“We have all returned, but there are His Ivorian Popular Front party said protested against the soldiers
few clients. I hope that tomorrow will be over the weekend it had noted the order who had looted and burned their
a bit better,” he added. for the state machinery to start func- businesses during the rampage.
Newspapers also appeared yesterday tioning again, and urged an “end to the Po and Tenkodogo were also
for the first time almost three weeks war” and the “increasing violence”. calm yesterday after soldiers had
since publication halted, praising Ouat- The country’s largest student union opened fire in the streets and
tara under whom they said the country also called on its members to disarm and looted shops at the weekend,
had been reborn. heed Ouattara’s reconciliation call. residents said.
ed “avaricious politicians” over later in the day at an independence Analysts say an election without
the last decade, Tsvangirai said. rally also attended by Tsvangirai. reforms, including a new consti-
“Now thirty years after inde- The president said a govern- tution, a free media and improved
pendence, we are being told by ment notice giving foreign mining voter registration, will favour

followers who receive updates
with key dates in the life of South
Africa’s first black president.
“18 April 1986 Nelson Man-
dela watches the film ‘Missing’
in Pollsmoor Prison,” read one
tweet yesterday. “On the 17th of
April 1962 Nelson Mandela at-
tends the National Assembly of
Sierra Leone and meets various
Members of Parliament,” read
Sunday’s tweet.
It was unclear why Milling-
ton had registered the account,
but yesterday he tweeted: “The
Nelson Mandela foundation just
thanked me for handing over
the @nelsonmandela twitter ac-
count. I forgot I had it.”
Z
imbabwean President
Robert Mugabe’s main ri-
val yesterday denounced
his plans to nationalise foreign-
owned firms as “looting and
plunder” by a greedy elite.
In a statement for Zimbabwe’s
31st independence anniversary,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangi-
rai dismissed as “empty rhetoric”
a drive by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party to force foreign companies
to transfer majority shareholding
to local blacks.
Mugabe’s seizures of white-
owned commercial farms about
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe (centre) greets Prime Min- a decade ago under the banner of
ister Morgan Tsvangirai upon his arrival at the 31st Independence correcting colonial injustices had
Day celebrations in Harare yesterday. ruined the economy and benefit-
multi-millionaires and multiple
farm owners that indigenisation
will set us free,” he said.
“By this, they are not referring
to broad-based empowerment
of the ordinary man and woman,
but the looting and plunder of
national resources by a small,
parasitic elite,” he added.
Mugabe, 87 and in power since
Zimbabwe’s since independence
from Britain in 1980, signed an
Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act in 2008,
which forces foreign-owned
companies worth over $500,000
to achieve at least 51% black
ownership within five years.
Mugabe defended the policy
companies until May 9 to submit
their plans on the share transfer
was part of a broad economic em-
powerment programme.
Mugabe also denounced po-
litical violence and avoided his
usual attacks on Tsvangirai in a
reconciliatory speech.
Zimbabwe, Mugabe said, had
stabilised politically after a pow-
er-sharing government brokered
by regional leaders in 2009 and
could complete constitutional
reforms ahead of elections.
Mugabe has been pushing for an
early poll this year before agreed
democratic reforms, accusing his
opponents of wasting time on petty
quarrels over state appointments.
Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.
MDC officials warned an early
election could lead to a bloodbath.
Although Mugabe called for
national unity and peaceful po-
litical co-existence, he made
no direct reference to a spate of
clashes between his support-
ers and backers of Tsvangi-
rai’s Movement for Democratic
Change or the arrest of opposi-
tion officials.
Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, a minis-
ter from a small MDC faction led
by Industry and Commerce Min-
ister Welshman Ncube, was de-
tained at the weekend on charges
of addressing an illegal meeting
and using hate speech.

DIPLOMACY
Senior US senators launch
week-long trip in Hong Kong
Top US Senator Harry Reid and nine fellow
lawmakers arrived in Hong Kong yesterday
to open a week-long visit to China focused on
economic issues and human rights, his office
said in a statement. “During meetings with
Chinese officials, the group will discuss issues
including clean energy, trade issues, currency,
foreign policy, and human rights,” according
to the statement. Reid, the Democratic senate
majority leader, and the other lawmakers was
to make site visits of US investments and clean
energy projects in Chengdu, Beijing and Xian,
his office said.
DISCLOSURE
Taiwan ex-govt ‘financed
Beijing dissidents’
A Chinese student leader from the 1989 Tianan-
men Square protests said yesterday he had
received money from a past Taiwan government
through a fund that backed democracy activism
on the mainland. Wang Dan, who is now based on
the island, said he received an unspecified amount
of money from former president Chen Shui-bian
-- who was in office from 2000-2008 -- but did not
think it had come from Chen’s own pocket. “Appar-
ently, this money was given by the government of
the Republic of China (Taiwan’s official title) rather
than by Chen Shui-bian himself,” he said in an article
printed in the Taipei-based Apple Daily.
PHILIPPINES/EAST ASIA
HEALTH
Malaysia to grade students’
weights in report cards
School report cards will begin to show student
body mass indexes as well as their academic
performance as Malaysia tries to combat child
obesity, a media report said yesterday. Health
Minister Liow Tiong Lai saying that teachers must
track the students’ BMI so that parents are aware
of their children’s weight, the New Straits Times
reported. “The BMI will indicate if the child is over-
weight or obese. If the child is overweight, the
teacher will advise the parents to get help from
the nearest clinic,” he said. Soft drinks and food
with high sugar content have also been banned
from being sold in school canteens.
CONSERVATION
Vietnam reserve brings
hope for rare animal
The establishment of a nature reserve in Vietnam
has brought new hope for the survival of a
mysterious twin-horned creature “on the brink
of extinction”, conservation group WWF said.
Authorities in the central Quang Nam province
agreed last week to set up the reserve dedicated
to the secretive saola, a relative of antelopes and
cattle and one of the world’s rarest animals, which
was only discovered in 1992. “This decision has
brought new hope for the survival of the saola,
an animal that is on the brink of extinction in the
world,” said Vu Ngoc Tram of the WWF Greater
Mekong Programme.
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 19
RESCUE
Activists save Chinese dogs
from cooking pot
Hundreds of dogs being trucked to Chinese
restaurants were spared a culinary fate after
about 200 animal lovers mobilised to stop them
ending up on dinner tables, state-run media said
yesterday. A truck crammed with the dogs was
forced to stop Friday on a highway in eastern
Beijing by a motorist who swerved his car in
front of the truck and then used his microblog
to alert animal-rights activists, reports said. The
dogs, many apparently stolen from their owners,
were being transported from the central Chinese
province of Henan to restaurants in Jilin province
in the northeast, the China Daily said.

Bracing for celebrations

Police identify A worker attaches
prayer petitions, with
names written on
cards, to lotus lanterns
in preparation for the

Indonesian upcoming birth

anniversary of Lord
Buddha at the Jogye
temple in Seoul
yesterday. Buddhists
buy the name cards

suicide bomber
Forensic tests have revealed
and irrefutably proven” that he
DNA samples from his parents
to bless their families
with happiness and
to celebrate Buddha’s
birthday, which falls on
May 10 in South Korea.

the bomber as Mohamed
Syarif, 32, and police have
seized nails and explosive
materials including
potassium nitrate,
aluminium and sulphur
from his parents’ home
AFP
Jakarta
was the bomber.
“What we do know is that
Syarif had been on the police
wanted list in similar cases, in-
cluding an attack on a minima-
rket in Cirebon,” he said.
Syarif detonated explosives
strapped to his body at a mosque
within a police station in Cire-
bon, West Java province, on Fri-
day as worshippers began their
prayers.
“matched 100%” with the dead
man.
The bomber’s heavily preg-
nant wife, Sri Maliha, told the
Jakarta Globe newspaper that her
husband was not pious.
“He was a good husband who
sometimes led the prayer as an
imam. But he was not a devout
Muslim, I guess,” she was quoted
as saying, referring to optional
fasting and praying.

I
ndonesian police yesterday
identified a suicide bomber
who blew himself up and
wounded 30 people at a Friday
prayer as a man on a police want-
ed list over previous attacks.
Forensic tests showed the
bomber was Mohamed Syarif, 32,
and police have seized nails and
explosive materials including
potassium nitrate, aluminium
and sulphur from his parents’
home, detectives told a televised
press conference.
The explosion killed him in-
stantly and injured 30 people, six
of them seriously. The wounded
-- who were mostly policemen
including the Cirebon police
chief -- were found with nails,
nuts and bolts lodged in their
bodies.
Police said Syarif was a Cire-
bon resident and had damaged
the minimarket’s property in the
previous attack because it sold
alcohol.
Similar attacks have been car-
“He was just like an ordinary
man that socialised with people,”
she added.
The attack was the first suicide
bombing inside a mosque in the
world’s largest Muslim-majority
nation of 240mn people.
Indonesia is struggling to deal
with the threat of homegrown
At least 17 dead in China hailstorm
militants who oppose the coun-
try’s secular, democratic system AFP province, state media reported ing the civil affairs ministry. government has sent a team
and want to create a caliphate Beijing yesterday. Nearly 22mn people were af- to the disaster-affected areas
across much of Southeast Asia. The Sunday storm, fected by the storm, which to direct relief work, the re-
A series of bombings in recent which hit cities including dumped more than 50 mil- port said.

Deputy chief detective Math-
eus Salempang said Syarif’s mo-
tives and any links with terror
groups are still under investiga-
tion, but it had been “concluded
ried out on stores and bars by
hardliners in Indonesia.
National police spokesman
Anton Bachrul Alam said Syarif’s
fingerprints, dental records and
years in the country have been
were blamed on regional terror
network Jemaah Islamiyah, in-
cluding the 2002 Bali bombings
which killed 202 people.
A
t least 17 people were
killed and more than 150
injured as hailstones,
lashing rain and gales pounded
southern China’s Guangdong
Guangzhou, Foshan, Dong-
guan and Zhongshan, caused
about 55mn yuan ($8.4mn) in
direct economic losses, said
China Central Television, cit-
limetres (2.2 inches) of rain
on the region where China’s
booming export manufactur-
ing base is located.
The Guangdong provincial
The local government has
initiated emergency plans to
rush the injured to hospital,
provide aid to the elderly, and
inspect endangered buildings.

Taiwan protests Philippines’ Two die in

claims over Spratlys islands attack by
DPA upset the peace and stability in the South China
suspected
Taipei Sea.”
Basilio and Perez said they would convey Tai-
wan’s stance to the Philippine government.
rebels
T
aiwan yesterday protested the Philippines’ Taiwan’s protest comes almost two weeks after
sovereign claims over the Spratlys islands, Manila filed a formal protest in the United Na- DPA
asserting that the archipelago belongs to the tions over China’s territorial claim over the en- Manila
Republic of China. tire South China Sea.
Deputy Foreign Minister Shen Ssu-tsun sum- Manila’s note was filed with the UN Commission

moned Philippine representative to Taiwan Anto-
nio Basilio and Manila’s top official in charge of Tai-
wan affairs Amadeo R Perez to the Foreign Ministry
to lodge the protest.
He gave the pair a copy of Taiwan’s statement
stating ROC sovereignty over the Spratlys and
surrounding waters. Taiwan cannot accept any
claim to sovereignty over, or occupation of, these
areas by other countries.
The statement urged the Philippines to refrain
from adopting unilateral measures “that might
Protest
T
on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLOS) wo civilians were killed
on April 5. in an attack by suspected
The protest said the Philippine-claimed section communist rebels in the
of the Spratlys, called the Kalayaan island, was an eastern Philippines, a military
integral part of the Philippines. report said yesterday.
Spratlys are claimed wholly or in part by Viet- The victims were riding a mo-
nam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and torcycle when they were shot
Brunei, and all but Brunei have a military presence Sunday in Milagros town in Mas-
on one or more of the otherwise uninhabited atolls. bate province, 390 kilometres
The waters around the islands are believed to con- Thai bomb squad policemen inspect a blast scene following a car bomb at a business area in Yala south-east of Manila.
tain substantial petroleum reserves. province, southern Thailand yesterday. The report said the guerril-
las suspected the victims had a
hand in the arrest two weeks ago
of a leftist sympathiser collect-
Blast kills one, injures 23 ing “revolutionary taxes” for the
insurgents.
Communist rebels have been
fighting the government since

in restive Thai south the late 1960s, making the move-

ment one of the longest-running
leftist insurgencies in Asia.

Reuters
Yala, Thailand
S
uspected insurgents det-
onated a bomb yester-
day killing a paramilitary
ranger and wounding 23 peo-
ple in Thailand’s restive south,
police said, the latest attack in
the Muslim-dominated region
bordering Malaysia.
A bomb hidden in a parked
trict of Yala city, about 100
metres from a food market at
8:10 am (0110 GMT), killing the
ranger instantly. Four rangers
were wounded. Nineteen civil-
ians, most of them Buddhists,
were also wounded, police said.
Yala is one of the three Mus-
lim-dominated provinces bor-
dering Malaysia where more
than 4,500 people, both Mus-
lims and Buddhists, have been
killed in a low-level insurgency
the unrest, for which no group
has claimed responsibility, is
an ethno-nationalist campaign
by ethnic Malay Muslims who Landslide
say their identity, language and
culture is neither respected nor
fully understood by the Bud-
dhist-dominated Thai state.
toll rises
Despite the deployment of
60,000 members of the se- DPA
curity forces and police in the Jakarta
rubber-rich region, authori-
ties have made little progress in

car exploded in a business dis- since 2004. Analysts believe
Criticism for bad behaviour at charity event
Festival goers at a charity cherry blossom event in
Hanoi have met criticism over their “bad behaviour,”
observers and local media reported yesterday.
Participants at the two-day weekend event picked
nearly all the blossoms from the cherry trees and
Activists wearing superhero costumes hold banners saying that the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand left behind piles of litter, the Tuoi Tre newspaper
Marcos is not a hero, protesting the proposed dictator’s hero burial in Manila yesterday. The late said.
Philippine dictator Marcos has made it into the military’s newly renovated “Hall of Heroes” museum More than 1,000 people took part in the event to
despite his fall from grace, a military spokesman said. raise money for earthquake victims in Japan, it said.
The report quoted one unnamed member of the
A
ending the revolt. landslide killed at least
10 people and injured
seven in Indonesia’s East
Java province, state-run media
said yesterday.
organising committee as saying that although the A steep cliff collapsed Sun-
large turnout proved young Vietnamese people day in the hamlet of Klangon
were interested in cultural events, it was “sad” be- in Malang district after several
cause “many people didn’t know how to behave.” days of rains and buried a group
Tuoi Tre reported that the festival was “overcrowded” of people looking for firewood,
and that people pushed and shoved to get to the 300 the state-run Antara news
cherry tree stems imported from Japan on display. Se- agency reported.
curity guards and volunteers were unable to prevent Nine people were killed on
many people from picking the blossoms and crushing the spot while another died at
the plants while posing for photographs. hospital.
 Gulf Times
20 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
EAST ASIA
Ayano Soga, a second grader schoolgirl at Shimo-Masuda Elementary School, walks through a tsunami-devastated area on the way back to her home with a backpack given by
Unicef after the start of the new school year in Natori, south of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan.
TEPCO chief under
fire from lawmakers
Repayment obligations
may put the financial
position of TEPCO and
budget of the nation under
heavy pressure, taxes look
inevitable but may not be
enough to stave of debt
AFP
Tokyo
J
apanese lawmakers yester-
day grilled the president of
the company at the centre of
the world’s worst nuclear crisis
since Chernobyl, demanding he
take responsibility for the dis-
aster.
Appearing in parliament for
the first time since a huge earth-
quake and tsunami crippled its
Fukushima Daiichi plant, the
head of the Tokyo Electric Power
Company (TEPCO) faced a bar-
rage of criticism from politi-
cians.
“What do you plan to do to
take ultimate responsibility (for
the crisis)?” one opposition law-
maker asked TEPCO President
Masataka Shimizu, 66, who has
rarely been seen in public since
the tsunami swamped the plant
on Japan’s northeast coast.
“These documents contain
very strict safety rules,” said
Shuichi Kato of the opposition
New Komeito party, brandish-
ing a copy of the company’s own
safety regulations.
“This says the president re-
gards nuclear safety as the top
priority. With this in mind, let
me ask how you feel now?”
Shimizu’s appearance came
a day after TEPCO said it
would be nine months before
the plant’s six reactors could
be put into “cold shutdown”—
a stable condition in which
temperatures drop and radia-
Most Japan voters want new PM, approve tax
Reuters
Tokyo
M
ost Japanese want a new
prime minister to lead
rebuilding after last
month’s earthquake and tsuna-
mi, newspaper polls showed yes-
terday, as the head of government
was again scolded in parliament
for his handling of the nuclear
crisis that followed.
Japan is struggling to bring the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
under control after it was crip-
pled by the March 11 natural dis-
asters, a process that could take
the rest of the year.
That timetable would only be
met if “everything goes smooth-
ly”, Chief Cabinet Secretary
A remote-controlled robot called packbot is pictured by another
packbot in Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) Co’s crippled Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant No 2 reactor building in Fukushima.
tion leaks fall dramatically.
Tens of thousands of people
living near the plant have had to
evacuate their homes since the
March 11 disaster, which sparked
a series of explosions that have
caused radiation to leak into the
air, soil and sea.
Shimizu delivered a brief
apology over the crisis on March
13, but then fell ill and was not
heard of again until nearly a
month later when he visited
Fukushima, meeting local of-
ficials but not residents made
homeless by the radiation spew-
ing from the plant.
“If you did your best, then why
did it explode?” asked Com-
munist Party lawmaker Mikishi
Daimon, accusing the company
of failing to prepare for such an
event and pressing Shimizu to
“admit TEPCO caused the ac-
cident”.
Shimizu, who has repeatedly
apologised over the crisis, de-
fended TEPCO’s performance,
saying the devastating tsunami
Yukio Edano said. The full recov-
ery could take even longer and
rebuilding the shattered north-
eastern coast has yet to begin.
The cost of material dam-
age alone from the quake and
tsunami has been estimated at
$300bn, making it the world’s
most expensive natural disaster.
More than 13,000 people have
been confirmed dead and tens of
thousands made homeless.
Nearly 70% of people surveyed
by the Nikkei business daily
said Prime Minister Naoto Kan
should be replaced, and a similar
number said the government’s
response to the nuclear crisis was
not acceptable.
Kan was criticised again in
parliament yesterday for his re-
sponse to the nuclear disaster.
was “beyond our expectations”.
“As the person who assumes
final responsibility for coordi-
nating the safety strategy for
the nuclear power plant, I ac-
knowledge the seriousness of
this incident,” he said. “I cannot
find words enough to express my
apology.”
Shares in TEPCO are down
almost 80% since the quake
and tsunami on expectations
it will face huge compensation
claims totalling around 10tn yen
($120bn) according to some esti-
mates.
The government on Friday
ordered TEPCO to offer initial
payouts to tens of thousands of
people made homeless by the
ongoing crisis, with 1mn yen
($12,000) going to each family
living around the stricken plant.
The official death toll from
the quake and tsunami stands
at 13,895, with 13,864 still listed
as missing, Kyodo News agency
reported, quoting the National
Police Agency.
An opposition lawmaker sug-
gested he had been ill-prepared
from the start, pointing to Kan’s
admission that he could not re-
call the details of a drill last year
that simulated a Fukushima-type
incident.
“Prime Minister Kan is work-
ing hard and he must be expe-
riencing difficulties. But many
people have questions about his
leadership,” opposition Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) lawmak-
er Masashi Waki told the upper
house budget committee.
Kan said he and his govern-
ment were doing their best.
“Japan has experienced many
crises in the past, but I believe
this is the biggest crisis in the 65
years since the end of World War
Two,” he told a parliamentary
The TEPCO president appeared
yesterday as a witness at the hear-
ing of the parliament’s cross-par-
ty budget committee, which also
grilled Prime Minister Naoto Kan
over his government’s handling of
the nuclear crisis.
Support for the government
has risen following the March 11
disaster, but a majority of vot-
ers criticised its response to the
atomic crisis in a poll commis-
sioned by the Nikkei business
daily and published on Monday.
The poll results came as Toy-
ota said it was resuming opera-
tions at all its domestic plants
that had been halted since March
11, though a shortage of parts
means production will be re-
stricted to 50%.
Toyota also said it had started
testing radiation levels of its ex-
port vehicles, parts for overseas
assembly and service parts and
had found no abnormalities.
On Sunday, TEPCO said it
aimed to cool reactors and start
reducing radiation from the fa-
cility within three months and
expected to achieve cold shut-
down within three to six months
of that stage being completed.
It said the initial focus would
be on preventing new hydrogen
explosions in reactors by injecting
nitrogen, and on avoiding further
releases of radioactive water.
An unknown quantity of high-
ly radioactive liquid has leaked
into the Pacific Ocean from the
plant, devastating the local fish-
ing industry.
TEPCO has also dumped more
than 10,000 tonnes of mildly
radioactive water into the sea to
free up urgently needed storage
space for highly toxic liquid.
Two robots used to investi-
gate a damaged nuclear plant in
north-eastern Japan found high
levels of radiation inside its re-
panel yesterday.
“From now on ... we must
persist with our strategy on two
fronts, and I want to make every
effort on both issues,” he said, re-
ferring to rebuilding the country
and resolving the nuclear crisis.
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency said radiation lev-
els in the reactors were making it
difficult to work there, and ex-
perts say the crisis could drag on
well beyond TEPCO’s target.
“Just soaking the fuel in wa-
ter would mean it will take a
very long time to cool down the
fuel,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama,
a deputy director general of the
agency. He said engineers were
exploring other cooling methods.
“For us to be able to disman-
tle the fuel rods and take them to
actor buildings, the government
said yesterday.
The levels inside the buildings
of reactors 1 and 3 at the six-re-
actor Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear
Power Station ranged from 10
to 57 millisieverts per hour as of
Sunday, according to data ob-
tained by the US-made, remote-
controlled robots.
The levels would make it hard
for workers to engage in the res-
toration of key cooling functions
at the earthquake- and tsunami-
damaged plant for prolonged
periods, the Kyodo News agency
reported, citing the govern-
ment’s Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency.
Exposure to 250 millisieverts
per year is the permissible level for
workers dealing with the ongo-
ing crisis while the Tokyo Electric
Power Co (TEPCO), which runs
the plant, said that usually the
radiation level inside the reactor
buildings is 0.01 millisievert per
hour, Kyodo reported.
TEPCO used the PackBots of
iRobot Corp of the United States
to check radiation, temperature,
humidity and oxygen density,
the Jiji Press agency said.
High levels of radiation have
prevented workers from enter-
ing the buildings of reactors 1 to
3 since March 11.
The operator has been inject-
ing massive amounts of wa-
ter into the reactors and their
spent-fuel pools to cool them
down, but pools of radiation-
contaminated water have been
found around the site, further
hindering work to restore the
cooling systems.
TEPCO said the amount of
polluted water in the turbine
buildings of reactors 1 to 3 and
nearby areas totalled an esti-
mated 67,500 tonnes, Kyodo re-
ported.
another location will take time
measured in years,” he added.
Besides battling to contain the
nuclear crisis, the government
must also figure out how to pay
for the biggest reconstruction
project since the aftermath of
World War Two despite public
debt already twice the size of the
$5tn economy.
The government hopes to
avoid issuing new bonds to fund
an initial emergency budget, ex-
pected to be worth about 4tn yen
($48bn), due to be compiled this
month.
But bond issuance is likely for
subsequent extra budgets and
markets are worried that post-
quake rebuilding may hamper
Japan’s efforts to rein in its debt.
Ruling party executives are
Unlike BP,
TEPCO has
few assets to
put on block
Reuters
Tokyo
L
ike oil-leaking BP plc a year
ago, disaster-whipped To-
kyo Electric Power is mull-
ing a fire sale of assets to help pay
compensation claims against its
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear pow-
er plant.
Unlike BP, which had a valu-
able bag of oil and gas fields to
hawk, Asia’s No1 utility has little
to sell.
Tokyo Electric (TEPCO) is de-
ciding which assets it can offload
to help meet compensation that
could very well exceed the $20bn
of claims BP received in the past
year.
About 60% of the 13tn yen
($156bn) worth of assets on
TEPCO’s balance sheet are
nuclear plants and other fixed
assets used in power produc-
tion.
“BP has oil-producing rev-
enue assets, but TEPCO is in
quite a different position,” said
Ben Wedmore, director of eq-
uity research at MF Global FXA
Securities. “TEPCO is genera-
tion assets, distribution assets,
power lines and so on, but these
are things they cannot sell.”
The most valuable gem in its
portfolio is a 7.9% stake in KDDI
, a telecommunications compa-
ny that owns Japan’s No 2 mobile
phone network.
That will be the first asset un-
der the hammer, according to a
local media report, but even if
TEPCO manages to sell all the
shares in one go, it will raise only
180bn yen ($2.2bn) at its current
price.
It’s top 10 stock holdings
in companies not directly in-
volved in its generating business
amount to no more than 210bn
yen combined, while TEPCO
values the stocks on its books at
310bn yen.
BP, which on Wednesday
marks the first anniversary of the
explosion aboard its Deepwater
Horizon rig near the Louisiana
coast that sparked the world’s
worst oil spill, is planning to sell
Policemen carry the body of a victim found amid the rubble in
Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, more than one month after the
earthquake and tsunami.
eyeing a tax rise but some law-
makers fear it would hurt the
economy.
“It is no doubt that a substan-
tial amount of revenue sources
will be needed for reconstruc-
tion,” Japan’s deputy finance
minister, Fumihiko Igarashi, said.
“I want to ask the people to share
burdens broadly. While we re-
view every spending and revenue
to raise funds, everyone needs to
share the pain.”
Kan’s Democratic Party of Ja-
pan (DPJ), which swept to power
for the first time in 2009, has
seen support flag ever since and
voters punished the party in local
elections earlier this month.
More than half of the people
surveyed by the Nikkei newspa-
per want the DPJ to team up with
$30bn in assets.
That includes the sale in Oc-
tober to Apache Corp of oil re-
serves in Canada for $7bn.
Costs resulting from TEPCO’s
leaking reactors will likely ex-
ceed BP’s costs.
JP Morgan has estimated TEP-
CO could face 2tn yen ($24bn)
in compensation losses in the
financial year that started this
month. Bank of America-Mer-
rill Lynch has said the bill could
reach $130bn if the crisis contin-
ues.
How much TEPCO will pay
and how much the tax payer and
other utilities may shoulder is
still unclear. Outlays are already
mounting, however, follow-
ing an agreement to 50bn yen in
initial handouts to people forced
to evacuate from a 30 kilometre
wide strip around its stricken
nuclear plant.
TEPCO, which employs
53,000 workers, is also unlikely
to make much headway paring
costs as any savings from staff
cuts will be eaten up by other
expenses, say analysts, including
the cost of adding conventional
fossil fuel-fired generating ca-
pacity to avert a power crunch
during peak demand in the sum-
mer.
“TEPCO is expected to make
drastic cost cuts like reductions
in labour costs, but the impact of
such efforts on its overall profits
is likely to be limited,” said Hiroki
Shibata, an analyst at Standard &
Poor’s Ratings in Tokyo.
“For capital expenditure, I
think it would be hard to make
large savings since the com-
pany is likely to make additional
investments to secure a stable
power supply and to improve
safety,” Shibata said.
TEPCO’s best asset, say ana-
lysts, may be its too-big-to-fail
status as the sole provider of
electricity to Japan’s capital and
surrounding prefectures, a re-
gion with an economy about the
size of Britain’s.
That means the state will ulti-
mately intervene before TEPCO
runs out of money, a luxury that
BP does not enjoy.
the LDP, and another poll in the
Mainichi newspaper showed a
similar result.
Kan has already invited the
LDP to form a national unity
government, but the LDP has
rejected the idea of a coalition
and called for Kan to resign. The
DPJ controls parliament’s lower
house but needs opposition help
to pass bills because it lacks a
majority in the upper chamber,
which can block legislation.
Analysts say that Kan, who
took office last June as Japan’s
fifth leader since 2006, is unlike-
ly to resign readily, while opposi-
tion parties could be criticised if
they try to take disaster budgets
hostage in a political battle.
“It is impossible to change
prime ministers at such a time.

UN panel says war crimes
committed in Sri Lanka
The report by the panel
appointed by UN Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon
represents the biggest
pressure brought to bear on
the Sri Lankan government
over the quarter-century
war’s end
Reuters
Colombo
A
UN-appointed panel has
found “credible allega-
tions” that tens of thou-
sands of civilians were killed
and war crimes were committed
in the final months of Sri Lan-
ka’s war with the Liberation Ti-
gers of Tamil Eelam, and urged
the investigation and prosecu-
tion of those responsible.
“The panel found credible
allegations, which if proven,
Minister
under fire
over dual
citizenship
DPA
Kathmandu
A
newly appointed Nepa-
lese minister came under
fire yesterday after media
reports said he held both Nepali
and Indian passports as well as
an identity card saying he is a
Tibetan refugee.
The Republica newspaper
reported that Minister of State
for Finance Lahrkyal Lama had
a case against him at the home
ministry over possession of
more than one passport, which
was filed six years ago. It would
be illegal for him to hold more
than one.
The complaint, filed by two
Nepalis, also accused him of
misappropriation of funds
for issuing registrations for
non-existent monasteries.
Lama served as chairman of
the Ministry of Local Devel-
opment’s monastery man-
agement committee from
2001-06.
Media reports alleged his
involvement in misusing
government letterheads and
stamps to issue fake certifi-
cates to Tibetans to help them
obtain US visas, and of steal-
ing 50,000 dollars from a US
woman. Lama denied the
allegations.
“I never misused government
documents and seal,” Lama
said. “I am ready to face any
punishment if found guilty.”
Lama’s induction into the
cabinet last week miffed some
members of the Communist
Party of Nepal-Unified Marx-
ist-Leninist who questioned
Prime Minister Jhalanath
Khanal about why a “novice”
had been given a ministerial
portfolio.
The Chinese embassy also
expressed its dissatisfaction,
saying Lama’s appointment
questioned Nepal’s one-China
policy as Lama has been closely
connected with the Free Tibet
movement.
Rajapakse
leaves for visit
to Bangladesh
S
ri Lankan President Ma-
hinda Rajapakse yesterday
left on a three-day offi-
cial visit to Bangladesh aimed at
boosting trade and bilateral rela-
tions, officials said.
Rajapakse was due to
sign agreements on export
promotion, business, ship-
ping, agriculture, fisheries,
education and culture, they
said.
He was due to meet with his
counterpart Zillur Rahman and
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
yesterday.
The External Affairs Minister
G L Peiris is accompanying the
president to Bangladesh.
indicate that a wide range of se-
rious violations of international
humanitarian law and interna-
tional human rights law were
committed both by the Govern-
ment of Sri Lanka and the LTTE,
some of which would amount to
war crimes,” an excerpt of the
report, leaked to Sri Lankan
newspapers, says.
The report by the panel ap-
pointed by UN Secretary-Gen-
eral Ban Ki-moon represents
the biggest pressure brought to
bear on the government over
the quarter-century war’s end.
Sri Lanka’s government has
consistently denied allegations
that it targeted civilians. It has
acknowledged that some were
killed as troops advanced on an
ever-shrinking patch of land on
the northeastern coast of the
Indian Ocean island.
“The report is a fraud and
Tibetans in exile on hunger strike
Tibetans in exile participate in a 24-hour hunger strike at the Tibetan Welfare Centre, Boudha in Kathmandu yesterday. Some 20 Tibetans in exile expressed
solidarity with compatriots who were victims of a Chinese crackdown in Ngaba, Sichuan Province last month. Chinese security forces last month enforced a
crackdown on Tibetans who protested following the death of a young monk who set himself on fire on the third anniversary of violent protests against Chinese rule in Tibet.
Former minister aims to scale Mt Everest
AFP
Kathmandu
A
n 82-year-old former
Nepalese minister has
set off for Mount Everest
in an attempt to set the record
as the oldest person to scale the
world’s highest peak, organis-
ers said yesterday.
Shailendra Kumar Upad-
hyaya, who served as Ne-
pal’s foreign minister and
permanent UN representa-
tive in the 1970s and 1980s,
said he aimed to raise aware-
ness about the capabilities
of elderly people by climbing
Mount Everest.
“Mountaineering is of-
ten associated with physical
Booker author in maiden visit to Nepal
IANS
Kathmandu
B
ooker prize winner and
social activist Arundhati
Roy walked with com-
rades of a different kind in Kath-
mandu yesterday on her maiden
visit to the Himalayan republic.
However, it was not the Maoist
party of Nepal with whom she
came to show solidarity though
two top Maoist leaders are her
personal friends, one of them,
former physical planning and
works minister Hisila Yami,
being her roommate during
SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL
biased and we reject it,” gov-
ernment spokesman and Media
Minister Keheliya Rambukwella
said. “We are not panicked, and
even we made our protest when
they appointed the panel with
regard to their mandate. Our
stand has not changed.”
Duis aute irure dolor in
reprehenderit in voluptate
velit esse cillum dolore eu
fugiat null laboris aliqua
lorem ipsum velit esse
cillum
President Mahinda Ra-
japakse’s government refused
to let the panel into Sri Lanka
as it prepared its report, under
a mandate to advise Ban on ac-
countability for any violations
of international law committed
at the end of the war.
strength. But you have to be
mentally strong to accomplish
this climb,” Upadhyaya said.
“When I said I would
climb Everest, people did
not believe me. But I’m
well prepared to reach the
summit”
“I want to prove that elderly
people like me are capable of
such achievements,” the silver-
haired octogenarian said in
Kathmandu ahead of his depar-
ture for the 8,848m (29,029ft)
mountain.
Upadhyaya will be accompa-
nied by five guides and sherpas
in his attempt to make the gru-
elling ascent.
“When I said I would climb
her days as a student of Delhi
School of Architecture.
The 51-year-old was attend-
ing and participating in “Count
me in”, the three-day confer-
ence hosted by the New Delhi-
headquartered feminist hu-
man rights organisation CREA
to give a voice to marginalised
people in South Asia - the dif-
ferently-abled, sex workers,
sexual minorities and people
with HIV/AIDS.
Roy, whose debut novel “The
god of small things” won the
Booker in 1997, told a mesmer-
ised audience - including people
from Indonesia, the Philippines
Though the panel blames
both sides for deaths, the elimi-
nation of the LTTE’s leadership
by the government in May 2009
means that only government
forces would be held account-
able, should any inquiry arise.
The report specifically ac-
cuses the government of wide-
spread shelling including tar-
geting field hospitals, denial of
humanitarian aid, and rights
violations against people inside
and outside the conflict zone.
“Most civilian casualties in
the final phases of the war were
caused by government shell-
ing,” the report says. “It shelled
in spite of its knowledge of the
impact.”
The panel accuses the LTTE
of using civilians as human
shields, killing fleeing civil-
ians, forcible child recruitment,
forced labour and killing civil-
Everest, people did not believe
me. But I’m well prepared to
reach the summit,” he told re-
porters at the weekend.
Upadhyaya plans to start out
from the Everest base camp on
April 28 in his bid to conquer
the peak.
His climb was organised by
the Senior Citizen Mount Ever-
est Expedition, which supports
attempts by older people to
scale the mountain that strad-
dles the Nepal-China border.
If successful, Upadhyaya
would become the oldest per-
son to ascend Mount Everest.
The record now is held by an-
other Nepalese climber, Min
Bahadur Sherchan, who scaled
the mountain at the age of 76
three years ago.
and Nigeria - she was “very,
very touched and honoured to
be counted in” though at times
exclusion was a blessing.
Roy, whose activism has in-
cluded opposing high dams,
nuclear tests and the crackdown
by the Indian government on
the burgeoning Maoist move-
ment in India, said the Indian
government and a few corporate
houses were designing massive
sets of policies designed to ex-
clude the majority of people.
The latest measure was the
unique identity card that the In-
dian government is mulling mak-
ing mandatory for all citizens.
ians via suicide attacks.
The panel urged “a serious
investigation and the prosecu-
tion of those responsible”.
“If proven, those most re-
sponsible, including Sri Lanka
Army commanders and senior
government officials, as well as
military and civilian LTTE lead-
ers, would bear criminal liabil-
ity for international crimes,” the
report says.
Most of the allegations in-
cluded in the report have been
made in the past by rights or-
ganisations and Tamil diaspora
groups that supported the LTTE
and have pushed, since the
LTTE’s defeat, for a war crimes
inquiry.
Over the weekend, Rajapakse
urged supporters to gather in
force for a May Day protest.
“The time has come to show
our strength ... to demonstrate
“Upadhyaya has undergone a
series of training exercises and
is very enthusiastic about his
ascent,” Ramjindaji Gurung,
the chairman of the Senior Cit-
izen Mount Everest Expedition,
told AFP.
Gurung said Upadhyaya has
already scaled the 6,467m Mera
Peak and the 6,160m Island
Peak, both in the Everest re-
gion, in the past few years.
Since the mountain was first
conquered in 1953 by Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay,
more than 3,000 people have
reached the peak.
Several hundred have died,
many of them falling to their
deaths or succumbing to al-
titude sickness during the
ascent.
“In India, 800mn people live
on less than Rs20 a day,” Roy
said. “... This is not due to a
natural disaster but created by
policy ... There’s a huge civil
war going on, millions of people
have been displaced.”
Roy, whose bestselling fiction
was modelled on her family life
in a conservative village in Ker-
ala, described with wry humour
how she had known exclusion
firsthand when she was a child.
“My mother belonged to the
Syrian Christian community,
who are very traditional, very
conservative and quite boring,”
she said. “She broke two taboos:
against the injustice done to the
country before the world,” Ra-
japakse told party officials at a
meeting. “I am prepared to face
any punishment on behalf of
the motherland.”
In July, a hardline cabinet
minister led a three-day siege
of the UN offices in Colombo to
protest the UN panel, drawing
Western condemnation.
Rajapakse’s government de-
feated the LTTE, which was on
more than 30 nations’ terrorism
lists, after a stop-start separa-
tist war that began in earnest in
1983.
The LTTE fought to establish
a separate state for Sri Lanka’s
minority Tamils, who have
complained of persecution by
successive governments ruled
by the Sinhalese majority since
independence from Britain in
1948.
Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya: Raising awareness
she committed the cardinal
crime of getting married out-
side the community and then
she got divorced. And of course
there was no money.”
When Mary Roy returned
to the village with her son and
daughter, the children were
“completely banished” by the
community.
“The God of Small Things” also
broke taboos about love and sex
with the depiction of a relationship
between an upper caste woman
and a Dalit and an enigmatic love
between brother and sister.
Roy chose to read out a pas-
sage from the book that dwells
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 21
4 dead in
Bangladesh
ethnic
violence
IANS
Dhaka
A
t least four people were
killed and six villages of
ethnic Buddhist minor-
ity tribals were burnt over a land
dispute in south-eastern Bang-
ladesh, officials said yesterday.
The incident took place in the
Khagrachari region of the Chit-
tagong Hill Tracts, the Daily Star
reported.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts
is home to a minority Buddhist
population. Incidents of violence
have occurred earlier in the wake
of efforts by successive govern-
ments to settle Bengali Muslims
on tribal land. An accord reached
in 1997 has not been fully imple-
mented.
Violence erupted on Sunday
afternoon when Bengali settlers
reportedly began clearing 50
acres of forest on a hillock that
belongs to the Marma tribe.
Witnesses said a group of set-
tlers went to the hillock and be-
gan planting banana saplings
after clearing the forest around
midday. Local tribals who belong
to the ethnic minority protested,
but the labourers did not pay any
heed to them.
The tribals allegedly attacked
the labourers when they were
resting after lunch.
An injured labourer died on his
way to hospital and two others
died after being admitted.
As the news spread, Bengali
labourers allegedly attacked the
villages of Shankhola, Taikar-
ma, Sica, Riyamrang and Pa-
dachhara, home to the ethnic
minorities and burnt at least 60
houses there.
A man from the Marma tribe,
Remong Marma, was reportedly
hacked to death at Shankhola,
the New Age reported quoting
villagers.
The Hafchari Union Council
said Bengali settlers burnt down
at least 100 houses in the council
area.
The Parbatya Chattagram Jana
Sanghati Samiti also condemned
the attack. Other Buddhist tribal
bodies demanded the arrest and
trial of the people responsible for
the attacks.
The government on Sunday
night formed a committee to in-
vestigate the violence and sub-
mit its report within two working
days.
It has also banned public gath-
erings, rallies and carrying of
firearms.
on a recurring theme and made
her an instant icon of the sex-
ual minorities: who is to decide
who we should love and how
and how much.
Roy said she would like to re-
serve her judgment on Nepal’s
Maoists, who had fought a 10-
year war, then signed a peace
pact, took part in elections and
joined the government.
“The Maoist movement in
Nepal is at a very crucial stage
now,” she aid.
“They face a big challenge.
“When people come to pow-
er, they (all) tend to start priva-
tisation and build dams.”
 Gulf Times
22 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
INDIA
Anti-Jaitapur
protests turn
violent, 1 dead
IANS
Jaitapur/Mumbai
O
ne person was killed and
at least seven others were
injured yesterday when
police opened fire on a mob pro-
testing the proposed 9,900 MW
Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, a
top official said.
Ratnagiri resident deputy col-
lector Makarand Deshmukh said
a youth was killed when police
attempted to control the protest-
ers who were on a rampage, at-
tacking the Nate Police Station, a
few kilometres from Jaitapur.
The victim has been identified
as Tabrez Sayekar, a 30-year old
fishermen from Nate coastal vil-
lage. Over 50 people have been
detained.
“As per information available at
the district headquarters, around
125km from the site, at least seven
persons have been injured in the
police firing. I am awaiting de-
tails,” said Deshmukh.
Home Minister R R Patil told
the state assembly yesterday
evening that police opened fire
after the mob attacked the po-
lice station, assaulted officials on
duty and later set fire to the sta-
tion premises.
He said he had sought a report
on the incident from the district
administration and would com-
ment on it later.
Deshmukh said that the situ-
ation in the affected areas was
“fully under control” and the
district administration and po-
lice prepared to tackle tomor-
row’s proposed Ratnagiri shut-
down.
A local activist Pradeep Indulkar
said there were two separate inci-
dents of police action, one near
Madhban and another in Nate,
since this morning when anti-
JNPP groups were protesting.
“In Madhban, scores of pro-
testing Shiv Sainiks were caned
by the police. In another incident
in Nate, police opened fire on a
huge crowd that had attacked the
police station and pelted stones
there,” said Indulkar.
Top civil and police officials,
including district collector M
Gaikwad and superintendent of
police Pradeep Raskar, rushed to
Nate to control the situation.
Jaipur mourns last maharaja with lavish funeral
The funeral procession of Bhawani Singh pass by the ‘Hawa Mahal’ (Palace of Winds) in Jaipur yesterday.
Haryana to acquire land for nuclear plant
The Haryana government will
go ahead with acquiring land for
a controversial nuclear power
plant in Fatehabad district despite
continued protests from farmers
and residents of the area against
the project.
A senior official said yesterday
in Chandigarh that the next noti-
fication regarding the project is
likely to be made by July end.
“The notification under Sec-
tion 4 (of the Land Acquisition
Act) was issued July 29, 2010,
and information about it was
published in various newspapers
Aug 14, 2010. There is a provision
to issue Section 6 after a year, and
it will probably be issued on July
28,” Sanjeev Kaushal, managing
director of the Haryana Power
Generation Corp Limited (HPGCL),
said here.
Tension and anxiety have been
running high among farmers in
the Gorakhpur area of Fatehabad
district, over 350km from Chan-
digarh, after the recent nuclear
crisis in Japan’s Fukushima plant.
The state government pro-
In a related development, the
Shiv Sena called for Ratnagiri
shutdown today to protest the
police firing, an official said here.
The Shiv Sena, with its local
legislator Rajan Salvi, other local
parties as well as non-govern-
ment organisations had led sev-
eral hundred villagers from Ja-
itapur, Nate and Madhban in the
protest at Jaitapur, Ratnagiri dis-
trict against the proposed JNPP.
Some Shiv Sainiks attempted
to barge into the JNPP site but
police caned them, leaving sev-
eral activists hurt. Police have
detained Salvi and more than 50
other Shiv Sainiks. Later in the
afternoon, some of the protesters
attacked the Nate Police Station,
around 10 km from Jaitapur.
The home minister told the
assembly that the police opened
fire in the air to disperse the vio-
lent mob. However, when it failed
to scare them, they fired in the
crowd, leading to the death of
Tabrez Sayekar.
However, the opposition par-
ties were not satisfied.
Demanding a statement from
poses to acquire over 1,500 acres
of land for the nuclear power
plant with four units of 700MW
capacity each, to be set up by
the Nuclear Power Corp of India
Limited (NPCIL).
Farmers in the area have been
holding protests in Fatehabad
since July last year when the
acquisition notification was issued.
“While the state government says
that the acquired land is not fertile,
farmers have been growing crops
there,” said farmer Hans Raj.
NPCIL’s executive director K B
Dixit yesterday gave a presenta-
tion at the HPGCL headquarters
in Panchkula, 15km from the state
capital, saying that all the nuclear
power plants in India were safe.
“All the nine nuclear plants in
India are fully safe and working
properly and India will never
face Japan-like situation after an
earthquake and tsunami as there
is a lot of geographical difference
between the two countries,” Dixit
said. No representative of the
agitating farmers attended the
meeting.
the government, Shiv Sena’s
Subhash Desai said the incident
was shocking and alleged that
the authorities were putting
pressure on the locals to accept
the compensation from the au-
thorities.
While the assembly was ad-
journed for 10 minutes over the
issue, later it was adjourned for
the day as the Opposition de-
manded a detailed statement on
the developments.
In the legislative council, In-
dustry Minister Narayan Rane
said the protesters attempted to
barge into the JNPP project site
but were stopped by the police.
He said that angry crowds re-
sorted to pelting stones at the
police who retaliated by resorting
to caning and later firing against
the mob in Nate.
The protesters shouted anti-
state and anti-central govern-
ment slogans and condemned
Union Minister of Environment
and Forests Jairam Ramesh’s
statements in Mumbai last week
that there was no looking back on
JNPP.
In this photograph taken on June 21, 2004, a child holds a placard during a sit-in protest against child
labour in New Delhi.
Premier Rajdhani train catches
fire, passengers evacuated safely
IANS
Mumbai/Bhopal
T
hree coaches of the Mumbai-New Delhi
Rajdhani Express caught fire near Ratlam
in Madhya Pradesh early yesterday, offi-
cials said. A passenger sustained minor injuries.
An official of Western Railway (WR) said the
fire is believed to have started in the pantry car
at around 3am yesterday near Thuriya station in
Ratlam, some 200km from Bhopal. The cause is
yet to be ascertained, “As the train was speed-
ing, the fire spread to two adjoining coaches -
B6 and B7. The pantry car was totally gutted by
the time the train stopped,” the official said.
Railway officials quickly detached the three
burning coaches to prevent the fire from
spreading. Senior railway officials and a medi-
cal team rushed to the site. A passenger was
injured while helping others evacuate from the
blazing coaches.
“Three coaches of the train caught fire and
burnt completely. However, all passengers are
safe. The train has resumed its journey to New
Delhi via Kota in Rajasthan,” said Ratlam col-
lector Rajendra Sharma. Ratlam comes under
Kota railway division.
AFP
Jaipur
H
uge crowds gathered in the city of
Jaipur yesterday to bid farewell to
one of the country’s last maha-
rajas, who was cremated with full state
honours after an elephant parade.
Bhawani Singh, the last maharaja of
Jaipur, died at the age of 79, prompting
two days of mourning in the ancient city
which is famous for its pink architecture
and imperial palaces.
Singh, who held a brigadier’s rank in
the Indian army and was feted as a war
hero, passed away on Saturday suffering
from multiple organ failure after being
hospitalised about three weeks ago, his
relatives said.
His body was cremated in the open on
a pyre of wood lit by his grandson in line
with Hindu religious traditions. The cre-
mation was broadcast live on television
during several hours of coverage.
The funeral cortege had earlier moved
through the walled city accompanied by
bejewelled elephants and horses, as at-
tendants threw holy rice into the ranks of
mourning citizens.
The maharaja’s death cut one of the
few remaining links to an era when local
royal families controlled large swathes
of India, often enjoying lives of great ex-
travagance.
Jaipur was one of many “princely
states” designated by British colonial
powers, who imposed indirect rule by
signing alliances with Indian royal fami-
lies.
After independence in 1947, the maha-
rajas gradually lost power and influence
particularly during government reforms
in the 1970s, but local people have often
continued to view them as their leaders.
Early in the day, soldiers belonging to
Bhawani Singh’s paratroopers’ regiment
carried his body, draped in military uni-
Top court
bans child
labour in
circuses
AFP
New Delhi
T
he Supreme Court yes-
terday banned travelling
circuses from employing
children and ordered the gov-
ernment to conduct raids on all
performing companies to rescue
minors.
The court edict followed a
petition lodged by a children’s
rights group that has lobbied for
full implementation of Indian
child labour laws, which are reg-
ularly flouted by circuses.
Children are often trained
to perform high-wire acro-
batic acts, juggling stunts and
other attractions for audiences
in India, where circus compa-
nies move from town to town
throughout the year.
“The court has ordered the
government to rescue all chil-
dren below 14 years of age and
also instructed them to formu-
late a rehabilitation policy for
the minors,” said Colin Gon-
salves, a lawyer for the Save the
Childhood Movement, which
brought the case.
The court order said that all chil-
dren rescued from circuses should
live with their parents and that the
government should provide care
and education if their parents are
unable to look after them.
India passed a law nearly 25
years ago banning children un-
der 14 from working in hazard-
ous industries such as fireworks
manufacture, and labour legis-
lation has since been extended to
cover most employment sectors.
The laws were amended in
2006 to tackle widespread abuse
of the rules, but activists say
courts still need to crack down
on child labour which is often
rife in restaurants, shops, farms
and on building sites.
Circus professionals criti-
cised the court ruling, saying
that training performers from a
young age is crucial to develop-
ment of specialist skills.
They point to European cir-
cuses that are allowed to sign up
children if one parent accompa-
nies them and full education is
provided.
“One can only perform acro-
batics if rigorous training is im-
parted at an early age. Children
are needed for the job and you
cannot train adults for it,” said
N V Chandran, a trainer at the
Gujarat-based Gemini Circus.
Circuses have suffered a drop
in popularity in India as televi-
sions, cinemas and video players
have spread into rural areas.
form, to the ornate Chandra Mahal city
palace.
State ministers and thousands of Jaipur
residents paid their respects at the palace
as government offices shut down and the
Indian flag flew at half-mast across the
western state of Rajasthan.
Singh’s body was then put on a gun
carriage and driven in a procession of
caparisoned elephants and horses to the
royal crematorium, where priests chant-
ed ancient Hindu scriptures as his body
was burnt.
The 40th maharaja of Jaipur took the
throne in 1970 following the death of
his father, Man Singh. A year later, India
abolished all royal titles and removed
their privileges. Many families have since
remained hugely wealthy, though some
of their numerous palaces have been con-
verted into luxury “heritage hotels”.
Jaipur was among the richest royal es-
tates, and the city remains one of India’s
biggest tourist attractions.
Singh, who belonged to the Rajput
warrior caste, was decorated with the
country’s second highest military award,
the Mahavir Chakra, for his role during
India’s second war with Pakistan in 1971.
During the fighting, Singh was said to
have duped Pakistani troops into believ-
ing that a large formation of Indian tanks
was advancing on their position while
in reality the vehicles were simply noisy
jeeps.
After his retirement from the army,
Bhawani Singh unsuccessfully contested
parliamentary elections in 1989.
Singh, who studied at Britain’s Harrow
School and also served as ambassador to
Brunei in the 1990s, is survived by wife
Padmini Devi and daughter Diya Kumari.
His glamorous step mother, Gayatri
Devi, once named as one of the most
beautiful women on Earth by fashion
magazine Vogue, was accorded a similar
royal funeral in Jaipur following her death
at the age of 90 in July 2009.

First phase of elections
in West Bengal peaceful
IANS
Kolkata/Siliguri
T
he much-awaited battle for con-
trol of Writers’ Buildings - the seat
of power in West Bengal - got off
to a peaceful start yesterday with 74.27%
voters casting ballots in the first phase of
the assembly polls, officials said.
In one of the most incident-free
elections witnessed in the politically
volatile eastern state, there were long
queues of voters and polling was brisk
in the 54 constituencies spread over
six northern districts - Darjeeling, Jal-
paiguri, Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur,
South Dinajpur and Malda.
“Around 74.27% polling was re-
ported till 6pm, an hour after polling
officially ended,” said Chief Electoral
Officer Sunil Kumar Gupta.
The polling figure was lower than
the 82.77% recorded in the 2006 as-
sembly polls and in the 2009 elections
to the Lok Sabha when 81.84% voters
exercised their democratic rights in
the six districts.
People lined up outside poll booths
attired in their best - from the hill sta-
tion of Darjeeling in the state’s north-
ern tip to Malda, famed for its mouth-
watering mangoes.
“Polling was completely peaceful.
There were no untoward incidents,”
said Inspector General of Police Ran-
bir Kumar. Ten preventive arrests were
made and there was no demand of re- A man sits in a cycle rickshaw decorated with Trinamool Congress placards on a roadside in Kolkata yesterday.
poll from any candidate, Gutpa told
media-persons. years of rule from the Trinamool Con-
Enthusiasm was high as first time gress-Congress combine in the polls.
voters and old timers voted in strength However, there was a vote boycott
to choose their representatives from in six polling booths of Malda district
among 364 candidates in the six dis- and two other booths in South Dina-
tricts that has over 97 lakh eligible jpur district on local issues like lack of
voters. Yesterday was the first leg of development, said Gupta.
the six-phase staggered polling that Two presiding officers - one in Har-
would end May 10. irampur constituency and the other
The ruling Communist Party of in Gangarampur - in South Dinajpur
India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front constituency were removed for violat-
faces the biggest ever challenge of its 34 ing the poll code, he said.
UDF’s star cast
face ‘red wrath’
IANS
Thiruvananthapuram
M
alayalam movie actors who campaigned
for the Congress-led opposition have had
their posters torn or blackened in Kerala’s
Kollam district, allegedly by Marxist cadres.
Those who faced the ‘red wrath’ included super-
star Suresh Gopi, Jayaram, Dileep and Kavya Mad-
havan.
They had campaigned for filmstar-turned-pol-
itician K B Ganesh Kumar of the Kerala Congress
(B), a member of the Congress-led United Demo-
cratic Front (UDF).
Ganesh is seeking a hat-trick win at Pathana-
puram in Kollam district. He is pitted against Com-
munist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Kollam
district secretary K Rajagopal.
Reports from the area say that posters of latest
releases like China Town and Christian Bothers in-
volving the actors were found torn yesterday.
CPI-M MP K N Balagopal denied his party was
to blame. “We condemn it. Maybe what happened
(was) a spontaneous reaction,” he said.
Comedian and character actor Jagdeesh, who
also campaigned for the UDF, reacted differently.
“Any publicity is good for a new film!”
Kavya Madhavan, who has returned to the in-
dustry after a break, was reportedly booed by youth
wing activists of the CPI-M at Karunagapally in
Kollam district.
Oracle to open an office at
Technopark in Kerala
I
T blue chip Oracle yesterday signed an agree-
ment to open its first office in Kerala at the
Technopark campus here, officials said. Its of-
fice will be housed at the Leela Infopark building.
The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief
Minister V S Achuthanandan by Oracle official R
Jayaraman and Venu Krishnan of Leela Infotech.
Jayaraman told Achuthanandan that the com-
pany was looking forward to the commencement of
its Kerala operations.Achuthanandan said he was
happy that one of the world’s leading IT firms was
setting up a unit in the state.“The agreement starts
from today and it runs for nine years...the present
space can accommodate close to 400 profession-
als,” Krishnan told reporters.
Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California,
Oracle specialises in developing and marketing en-
terprise software products - particularly database
management systems.
As of July 2010, the firm employed more than
100,0000 professionals across the globe.
Leela Infotech has built up space at the Techn-
opark and Kochi Infopark campuses and is the larg-
est private infrastructure builder in the state with
over 1.7mn sq ft of space.
The Technopark campus houses more than 200
companies that employ over 30,000 professionals.
According to sources in the CEO’s
office, Jalpaiguri recorded 72.57%
polling, Malda 75.1, Cooch Behar 77.1,
South Dinajpur 78.17%. Polling per-
centage in Darjeeling was 71% and
North Dinajpur was around 72.43%.
Polling began at 7am and in some
places, people cast their vote in can-
dlelight due to power cuts while at a
few polling booths, electronic voting
machines (EVMs) malfunctioned but
were set right soon.
Hazare reiterates August 15
deadline for the Lokpal Bill
IANS
New Delhi
S
ocial activist Anna Hazare
has reiterated that the Au-
gust 15 deadline for passage
of the Jan Lokpal Bill was set in
stone, warning that failure to ad-
here to it will lead to mass protests.
“Even the government has admit-
ted that it is realistic for parliament
to deliberate and take a decision on
the JLB by the 15th August deadline
set by me. Thus failure of
this deadline
will invite mass
protests by
the people,”
Hazare said
in a state-
ment issued
yesterday.
Another woman killed in Assam over witchcraft
IANS
Guwahati
A
n elderly tribal woman has
been found hacked to death
and buried by a stream in
Assam, the fourth such incident
since Friday in what police sus-
pect to be linked to black magic
and witchcraft.
A police spokesperson said
yesterday that the body of Sarla
Brahma, 50, was found buried
under a mound of sand close to a
stream near Samsaibari village in
Kokrajhar district, about 220km
from here.
“Some people called out my
wife around midnight Sunday and
when I came out there was no one
The fate of 11 ministers of the Left Front
were decided during yesterday’s poll.
Authorities deployed 548 compa-
nies of central paramilitary forces in
the districts to face any eventuality, a
police officer said.
The CPI-M is contesting 32 seats,
the Communist Party of India (CPI)
two, Forward Bloc 10, Revolutionary
Socialist Party (RSP) nine, Socialist
Party one, the Trinamool Congress 26,
the Congress 27, Nationalist Congress
The statement was apparently elected representatives have used
released to clarify reports in the money, muscle power, election
media that the August 15 deadline fraud, misinformation in the me-
was flexible, and that Anna Hazare dia, etc. to win seats, undermining
was ready to accept any decision the sanctity and credibility of the
of parliament. parliamentary system. Therefore,
“There is also confusion being we the citizens have to ensure that
created in the media through gov- a strong Lokpal Bill is passed,” he
ernment sources that the civil so- said.
ciety has climbed down in the first Meanwhile, a Public Interest
Joint Drafting Committee meeting Litigation (PIL) was moved in the
held on April 16th, 2011,” he said.
He asserted that the civil so-
ciety members have not climbed
Supreme Court yesterday seek-
ing quashing of the notification by
which a joint drafting committee
down from their position to bring
the prime minister, cabinet min-
isters and judiciary under the pur-
on the Lokpal Bill was set up.
The petitioner said that the
notification is both “unconstitu-
view of Lokpal.
Hazare said that if political par-
ties vote against the Jan Lokpal
tional and ultra vires of the rules
of procedure for conducting par-
liament proceedings”.
Bill they will “eventually be hurt- The PIL said that “no politician
ing their popularity and exposing or committee or social worker
their mala-fide intentions”. have right to take the right of gen-
“In such an event, we will again eral public to make a bill”. He said
take to streets,” he added. that the existing Lokpal Bill was
The veteran Gandhian said pending before a parliamentary
that people needed to monitor committee for its consideration.
parliament’s decision in a func- The PIL seeking quashing of the
tioning democracy. notification was moved by advo-
“This is especially true as the cate Manohar Lal Sharma.
same parliament has failed to pass The petitioner has sought the
a Lokpal Bill for the past 42 years. court’s direction to the govern-
In addition, significant number of ment to publish the contents
around,” said a shocked Nipon According to Goyarai, “There
Brahma, the woman’s husband. was no personal enmity and the
“The woman was hit by some families were very poor with no
crude objects on her head and property.”
face, and then buried,” Jadav Pegu, Black magic, witchcraft and su-
magistrate investigating the inci- perstitious beliefs have been part
dent, said. of the tribal customs in parts of
Daneswar Goyarai, executive Assam, Tripura and other north-
member of the Bodoland Territorial eastern states.
Council, a local administrative body, Many tribal communities prac-
said: “This is a clear case of black tice indigenous faiths and resort to
magic and superstitious beliefs.” such rituals in treating ailments.
Three women in their 50s were At least 200 people have been
hacked to death in separate inci- killed during the past five years
dents in the same district in the for allegedly practising sorcery
past four days. Two cousins were and witchcraft, mostly in tribal-
killed Friday night and another dominated areas of western and
woman was hacked to death on northern Assam.
Saturday. Local people said the “Most of these cases are in-
killings were driven by supersti- spired by superstitions and this is
tious beliefs. indeed a big problem for us,” said
INDIA
Party (NCP) one, and the Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party 49.
Also in the fray are the Gorkha Jan-
mukti Morcha (GJM) in three constit-
uencies, Gorkha National Liberation
Front (GNLF) in three, and the Akhil
Bharatiya Gorkha League in three.
Political parties gave the thumbs up
to the Election Commission (EC) for
the peaceful conduct of the first phase
of polls in the state.
West Bengal’s ruling Left Front
chairman Biman Bose praised the EC
for the way it conducted the first phase
of polls in the 54 assembly constituen-
cies and expressed his happiness over
the overall turnout in the first phase.
“I am happy with the turnout of vot-
ers for the first phase. The election com-
mission has performed his duty. The
polling was more or less peaceful. We are
confidant of winning most of the seats
among the 54 assembly constituency,”
Bose told reporters in Kolkata.
The state Congress unit also ex-
pressed happiness over the votes being
conducted in a peaceful way, but was
felt that the voters’ turnout should have
been more. “The vote was peaceful. If
the turnout had been more then it would
have been much better,” said Manas
Bhunia, state Congress president.
The Trinamool Congress expressed
its confidence that it will form the
next government and felt that people
of Bengal will reduce the Left Front’s
strength from 235 to 30.
“The Left Front will be reduced to 30.
The people will form the next govern-
ment of Maa Mati Manush. People are
voting in favour of Maa Mati Manush,”
said Partha Chatterjee, opposition
leader and Trinamool Congress leader.
When asked whether he was happy with
the Election Commission’s perform-
ance, Chatterjee said: “Today is just the
first day, let all the phases be complete.”
The next polling dates are April 23
(50 constituencies), April 27 (75), May
3 (63), May 7 (38) and May 10 (14). The
votes will be counted May 13.
of the already pending Lokpal
Bill after incorporating recom-
mendations and suggestions by
various commissions and com-
mittees. Thereafter, the govern-
ment should invite suggestions
from the public for further im-
proving it before it is taken up
by the parliament for enactment
of the law.
The petitioner has also sought
a CBI probe into the “professional
misconduct” of the father-son
duo Shanti Bhushan and Prashant
Bhushan for their role in setting
up of the joint draft committee on
the Lokpal Bill having five mem-
bers of civil society and their in-
volvement in an alleged land scam
in Allahabad.
The petition has also sought
prosecution of the Bhushans on
the basis of the findings by the in-
vestigating agency.
Shanti Bhushan, the petitioner
said, had claimed that he had the
evidence of corruption against
eight former Chief Justices of In-
dia (CJI). But he never initiated
any action against them during
his tenure as union law minister
and “continues to misuse them for
his vested interest”.
Inspector General of Police Kula
Saikia.
The police have intensified their
special drive to curb this phenom-
enon. Codenamed Project Prahari
(Vigilant), the project includes
community policing, besides con-
ducting regular awareness cam-
paigns among tribal chiefs and
village elders.
“The battle against witch hunt-
ing is a challenging task for the
security forces. There should be
a concerted campaign by civil so-
ciety groups, legal fraternity and
the law enforcing agencies,” said
Saikia, who heads Project Prahari.
“Simply enforcing the law and
punishing the guilty are inad-
equate. There has to be an attitu-
dinal change,” he added.
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 23
Binayak Sen
walks out of
Raipur jail
IANS
Raipur
R
ights activist Binayak Sen, whose
life sentence on charges of sedi-
tion and links with Maoists trig-
gered a global outcry, walked out of his
jail cell here yesterday, three days after
the Supreme Court granted him bail say-
ing he was at best a Maoist sympathiser.
“I know in my heart that I have never
betrayed my countrymen. I never ac-
cepted that charge of traitor in my heart.
After the apex court order, the whole
question of sedition should be taken off
the panel,” Sen told reporters here.
He also welcomed Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily’s statement that he
will refer sections of the law dealing
with sedition to the Law Commission
for a relook.
Thanking the people for their sup-
port, Sen said: “Many people like me
are facing similar ordeal in the state.”
There was jubilation and enormous
relief amongst the crowd waiting out-
side the Raipur jail, where the 61-year-
old medical doctor had been undergo-
ing his life imprisonment.
As Sen walked out of the prison, his
family, including his elderly mother, wife
and daughter, hugged him. So did some
other supporters as emotions ran high.
He was sentenced by a Chhattisgarh
trial court on December 24, 2010, for
sedition. Sen was accused of acting as
a courier between Maoist ideologue
Narayan Sanyal and Kolkata-based
businessman Guha, both of whom have
been jailed for life. Sen had challenged
the February 10 order of the high court
rejecting his bail plea.
On Friday, the Supreme Court backed
him and said in a scathing observation
that a person does not become a Gan-
dhian just because he is found with a
biography of Mahatma Gandhi.
Stating categorically that there was
no case of sedition against Sen, the
apex court bench of Justices Harjit
Singh Bedi and Chandramauli Kumar
Prasad had said: “We are in a demo-
cratic country. At best he (Binayak Sen)
is a sympathiser. There are many sym-
pathisers of a cause.”
The court ridiculed the state’s sub-
mission that Sen was actively involved
in spreading disharmony and disaffec-
tion against the state.
“Distribution and circulation and
even possession of (Maoist ideol-
ogy and propaganda material) does not
amount to sedition,” the court said.
“Even in the worst case scenario,
that he (Sen) was in possession of these
documents, does not make him guilty
of sedition,” it had said.
Granting bail to Binayak Sen, the
court said, “Even if we take your (state
government’s) case at its very best, can
it amount to to sedition?”
The state government, in its reply to
Sen’s petition in the high court, said he
“has the same ideology as that of CPI-
Maoist (Communist Party of India-
Maoist) and he is addressed as comrade
by hardcore Naxalites (Maoists)”.
Arunima to
be shifted to
AIIMS
IANS
New Delhi/Lucknow
N
ational level volleyball player
Arunima Sinha, whose crushed
left leg was amputated after
robbers threw her off a running train
last week, will be shifted to the All India
Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
for treatment as the union sports and
health ministries offered her “the best
possible facilities and treatment”.
The decision to shift her to AIIMS
came after a serious infection was no-
ticed in the leg for which she under-
went a second round of surgery at the
prestigious King George’s Medical Col-
lege (KGMC), now called the Chattrap-
ati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University
in Lucknow on Sunday.
Earlier yesterday, federal Sports
Minister Ajay Maken came to meet
Arunima at the hospital and offered to
shift her to New Delhi for specialised
treatment.
Seeing her worsening condition, the
call was taken by authorities to shift
her to AIIMS, doctors said in Lucknow.
In New Delhi, the National Commis-
sion for Women also demanded that
the player should be shifted to AIIMS
for “proper care”.
Meanwhile, political parties left no
stone unturned to earn brownie points
by displaying their sudden sympathy
for Arunima.
Ahead of Maken’s visit, state Sports
Minister Ayodhya Prasad Pal visited
Arunima and offered her a job in the
sports department.
 Gulf Times
24 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN
DIPLOMACY
Pakistan, India to hold
trade talks from April 27
Just a week before the World Trade Organisation’s
General Council in Geneva decides the imple-
mentation of European Union’s trade concessions
to Pakistan, Islamabad will try to address Indian
concerns over the unilateral package when the two
commerce secretaries hold two-day bilateral talks
on April 27. An official source said Indian Commerce
Secretary Rahul Khullar was coming to discuss bilat-
eral trade issues. The implementation of EU’s trade
concessions for Pakistan remain on a halt since the
last four months as South Asian neighbours, Bangla-
desh and India, have opposed granting concessions
to Pakistan at the meeting of the WTO Council for
Trade in Goods in Geneva on March 21.
EMPLOYMENT
Nationalist parties oppose
census in Balochistan
Nationalist parties in Pakistan’s southwestern
province of Balochistan are actively opposing
the house-listing census, which they say should
be postponed because of security problems,
presence of Afghan refugees, and displacement of
people from Baloch dominated areas after the mil-
itary operation in Dera Bugti in 2005, and then last
year when the floods hit the province. Balochistan
National Party Information Secretary Agha Hassan
and senior leader of National Party said that the
government had not initiated the house-listing
census in five Baloch districts because of security
threats. They said that as many as 2.1mn Afghan
refugees are taking shelter in Balochistan.
NATURAL DISASTER
Threat of more floods
looms in Pakistan
With the breaches in many embankments
that were washed away in last year’s flood still
unrepaired, the residents of the flood-hit areas
are haunted by the threat of fresh deluge which
could prove even more disastrous.
According to the Flood Reconstruction Plan 2010-
11 of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, around
78 districts of the country covering 50,000
square kilometers were inundated last year, leav-
ing 20mn affected and rendering 1.6mn homeless.
According to the report, agriculture and road net-
works were the worst affected. Crops spreading
over 2mn hectares were destroyed in the floods
per the report.
SANITATION
44% population have no
access to safe water
Pakistan is facing water shortage, with an estimated
44% of the population without access to safe drink-
ing water and up to 90% of the population even
lacks such access in rural areas, a water research
body said yesterday. With decrease of quantity, the
quality of water is also deteriorating badly by mu-
nicipal, industrial and agricultural wastes, sources
in Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources
(PCRWR), said. The sources said that it is estimated
that about 200,000 children in Pakistan die every
year of diarrhea diseases alone. According to
sources in PCRWR, 14,000 water sources were se-
lected from 2807 villages of 24 districts of Pakistan
for drinking water quality monitoring.
CRIME
Smuggling peaks on
Pakistan-Afghan border
Though a large number of Frontier Corps (FC)
and Khassadar force personnel are posted at the
Torkham border gate at Pakistan-Afghanistan
border, smuggling of various goods from and to
Pakistan is continuing and adversely affecting
the national exchequer, reliable sources revealed
yesterday. The sources, requesting anonymity, said
different kinds of US and China-made goods are
being directly smuggled via Torkham border and
reaching the markets in Pakistan. The sources said
every truck, especially the empty containers return-
ing from Afghanistan, concealed ghee tins, grease
packs, scrap metal, used vehicles’ batteries and dif-
ferent food items of American and Chinese brands.

Taliban hits
defence HQ
in Kabul
Gunman breaches Afghan said on condition of anonymity string of serious attacks on pro-
defence ministry; Shoots that three insurgents had man- government security forces in
dead two soldiers; Defence aged to enter the building, which recent days by insurgents wear-
minister not injured in faces President Hamid Karzai’s ing military and police uniforms.
shootout palace, and all were killed. On Friday the police chief of
The ambush inside the tight- Kandahar province in southern
AFP ly-secured compound is thought Afghanistan, seen as a key bat-
Kabul to be the most high-profile secu- tleground in the war, was killed
rity breach since a failed attempt in the police headquarters by an
on Karzai’s life in 2008. attacker in police uniform.

A
gunman in Afghan army
uniform opened fire in-
side Kabul’s defence
ministry yesterday, killing two
soldiers and wounding seven in
an audacious strike at the heart
of government claimed by the
Taliban.
The attack, which the mili-
tants said was aimed at France’s
visiting defence minister Gerard
Longuet, was the third major as-
sault on Afghan security targets
in four days and one of the worst
security breaches in years.
French defence minister
Longuet is currently on a visit to
Afghanistan but was not in the
building at the time of the fire-
fight.
A French official stressed they
had seen “no evidence” that the
attack was an attempt to kill
Longuet, while his office said
he was at Bagram airfield, more
than 40km away, at the time.
“A person in Afghan army
uniform opened fire on
his comrades, killed two
And on Saturday, five in-
ternational and four Afghan
troops died when a member of An Afghan policeman is seen through bullet holes on the windshield of a car after a protest in the city of Charikar in Parwan province yesterday.
the Afghan National Army blew
himself up at an army base in
Laghman province, eastern Af-
ghanistan.
That was the deadliest sin-
gle attack against foreign forces
since December, while Saturday
was the worst day for interna-
Three dead in Afghan protests
tional troops in Afghanistan AFP three men by Nato-led Interna- shot had died and about 25 oth- Western troops in the war-torn
since June last year, with a total Kabul tional Security Assistance Force ers were injured. country.
of eight soldiers killed. (ISAF) and Afghan forces. Fifteen of the wounded were There are around 130,000 in-
Elsewhere in Afghanistan As well as the deaths, a total suffering from bullet wounds ternational troops in Afghani-

“A person in Afghan army
uniform opened fire on his com-
rades, killed two soldiers, injured
seven others, then was targeted
himself and was brought down,”
Afghan army spokesman Gen-
eral Mohamed Zahir Azimi said.
After his death, the attacker
was found to be wearing a sui-
cide vest, he said.
One of those killed was a bod-
yguard of the deputy defence
minister, while those injured
included an aide to the defence
minister and a secretary to the
army’s chief of staff, said a senior
security official speaking anony-
mously.
Defence Minister Abdul Ra-
him Wardak was not injured in
the shootout, a Western security
source said separately, but it is
thought that the suicide bomber
was shot dead close to the min-
ister’s office.
Earlier, a military source had
soldiers, injured seven
others, then was targeted
himself and was brought
down”
The incident is now over and
an investigation is under way.
Taliban spokesman Zabihul-
lah Mujahid said that Longuet
was the target.
“The reason for conduct-
ing this attack is the invasion of
Afghanistan by the French mili-
tary,” he said, adding that it was
not carried out over the contro-
versial banning of the Islamic
full-face veil in France.
There are some 4,000
French troops stationed in Af-
ghanistan as part of a roughly
130,000-strong Nato-led inter-
national force.
The Islamist militia are known
frequently to exaggerate claims
in relation to their attacks.
The incident comes amid a
T
yesterday, six police officers hree people died after of 25 people were also injured in and the others were stabbed or stan fighting a Taliban-led
were killed by a roadside bomb shooting broke out at a the rally. hurt by stones, he said. insurgency alongside Afghan
in Ghazni province, central Af- protest north of Kabul Two of those detained on Interior ministry spokesman government forces.
ghanistan, the provincial po- yesterday against the detention Sunday were later released, but Zemarai Bashary said that some Afghanistan has seen a wave
lice chief said, in an attack also of an alleged insurgent by foreign one is still being held, triggering 3,000 people took part in the of protests recently against the
claimed by the Taliban. and Afghan forces, officials said. the protests, ISAF spokesman demonstration. burning of the Koran by a US
In three months’ time, Afghan About 3,000 people rallied in Major Tim James confirmed. Charikar is in one of the safer pastor which lead to deaths in-
forces are due to start taking Charikar, the capital of Parwan Mohamed Qasim Sayed, the regions in Afghanistan, close to cluding those of seven United
control of security from foreign province about 50km north of provincial public health direc- the giant Bagram Airfield, one Nations workers in the north-
troops in eight more peaceful the capital, after the arrest of tor, said three men who were of the biggest military bases for ern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
areas of the country, allowing for
limited international withdraw-
als.
Afghan forces are due to take
full control of security in their
country in 2014, allowing a full
withdrawal of foreign combat
Taliban US cannot win war on
troops.
get ready
terror ‘without Pakistan’
The fighting season in Af-
ghanistan is starting to get under
way as spring arrives, and West-
ern officials including US Secre-
tary of State Hillary Clinton have
for army
warned it could bring some of
the bloodiest fighting yet in the
near ten-year war.
offensive Internews
Islamabad
war against terrorism, which
was being acknowledged by the
international community, add-
ing that Pakistan’s nuclear pro-

T
Intewrnews he United States will fail gramme was completely safe.
Islamabad if Pakistan does not suc- Referring to the cost paid
ceed in its war against by Pakistan in the war on ter-
Fruits of labour terrorism, Pakistani Prime ror, Gilani said that Pakistan’s

T
he Pakistani military
high command may
not have yet made a
decision about strike against
the Taliban in North Waziris-
tan, but the militant groups
based there are taking no
chances, preparing contin-
gency plans for a counter-
assault if necessary.
An interior ministry report
states that a secret meet-
ing of the Tehrik-e-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) Masjlis e
Shura, recently held in South
Waziristan was attended by
the leaders of the Haqqani
group, the Al Haq Brigade,
the Fidayi Force, the Allah
Dad group, the Lashkar-e-
Islam, the Jaish-e-Islam, and
the Mujahid Khalid group.
The militant leaders had
gathered to decide how to
respond in the event of a Pa-
kistan Army attack on North
Waziristan.
The meeting was more
akin to the board of directors
meeting of a large corpora-
tion, with a presentation of
cash flows, a review of past
operations and perceived
threats in the coming year
as well as a strategic plan for
2011.
A man sells strawberries on a road in Peshawar, Pakistan, yesterday. According to media reports, The militant leaders re-
strawberry production in the country has grown by more than 300% in the last five years, but the portedly reviewed the avail-
country still lacks the ability to export the fruit due to lack of agricultural management, said former ability of funds from donors
chairman of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetables Exporters, Importers and Merchants Association in the Arab world, and creat-
Waheed Ahmed. ed a strategic plan to conduct
large-scale attacks.
Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gi-
lani said during an interview to
a TV channel here yesterday.
Terming terrorism an inter-
national issue and highlighting
Pakistan’s status as a frontline
state, Prime Minister Gilani
said that US “has now realised
that Pakistan is not part of the
problem, but it can play an im-
portant role in efforts to solve
this problem”.
Terrorism, he said, recog-
nised no boundaries or religion
and its sole objective were to
create instability and it oper-
ated on foreign agenda. He said
that drone attacks were coun-
terproductive as they created
Pakistan grants Indian Sikh pilgrim’s wish
Pakistani Prime Minister
Yousuf Raza Gilani fulfilled the
wish of 86-year-old Indian Sikh
pilgrim Nidhan Singh to visit
his birthplace in Jhelum city
of Punjab province after about
63 years.
Singh had appealed to the
government to waive all rules
and restrictions to facilitate
him to visit his old house
which he left in 1947 and
migrated to India.
On the permission of the
prime minister, Singh along
with his daughter Surwinder
Kaur was taken by an official
US “has now realised that
Pakistan is not part of the
problem, but it can play an
important role in efforts to
solve this problem”
sympathies for the terrorists.
He said that Pakistan had
rendered great sacrifices in the
of the Evacuee Trust Property
Board to Jhelum.
He was received by civil admin-
istrator of the district Mah-
moodul Hassan Zia and taken
to his old street at Karamp
Market’s Machine Mohallah in
Jhelum, where children wel-
comed and showered rose pet-
als on Singh and his daughter.
After meeting his ex-neighbors,
Singh went to the local Gurd-
wara and offered prayers.
“I thank Guru Nanak and
the Pakistan government,
especially Prime Minister Gilani
and Chairman ETPB Syed
economy has also suffered a lot.
He said he hoped that the US
“will soon accept that Pakistan
had an important role in the so-
lution of war against terrorism”.
Replying to a question, he
said that Pakistan and the US
were in this war together and if
Pakistan fails, the US will also
fail.
Commenting on the status
of the ties between Pakistan
and Russia, Prime Minister
Gilani said both countries en-
joyed strategic relations since
1948 and both countries were
working on a common strategy
despite all kinds of fluctuations
since the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Asif Hashmi, for fulfilling my
last wish,” said Singh while
talking to this reporter on the
phone from Jhelum. He said
he couldn’t express his feelings
and sentiments after visiting
his birthplace.
Singh said though the struc-
tures of the streets and town
had been replaced with mod-
ern and high-rise buildings, his
memories remained the same.
He said he was feeling like he
had got a new life after seeing
his birthplace again which
he dreamt for the last many
decades.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 25
The Fast and the Furious —
The franchise speeds on:
Time Out Page 7 COMMENT

Alarm over nuclear plant fuel rods

The hazards of pools for
spent nuclear fuel have been
known for many years, but
little action has been taken
to alleviate the risks
By Charles D Ferguson
Washington
hotter spent fuel is cooled in pools of the risk of nuclear-weapons prolifera-
water surrounded by strong contain- tion.
ment structures. Several decades from now,
These measures cost more money, reprocessing might offer a safe
but they afford much greater protec- means of spent-fuel disposal. In the
tion against accidents, disasters, and interim, the most promising method
terrorist attacks. Is it worth it? A 2003 is to use dry storage casks, which,
study, led by Robert Alvarez, a former according to technical studies,
official at the United States Depart- provide up to 100 years of safe and
ment of Energy, estimated that a secure storage.
worse-case terrorist attack could drain But industry has expressed concern
cooling pools, resulting in spent fuel that each storage cask costs more than

T
he Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
crisis in Japan has under-
scored the dangers of storing
highly radioactive spent fuel
in pools of water that are susceptible
to breaches from natural disasters and
hydrogen explosions from accidents.
The crisis should serve as a wake-up
call for governments and industry
to take action to reduce the risks of
spent-fuel storage.
Unfortunately, spent-fuel stor-
age has been “an afterthought”, as
Ernest Moniz, director of the Energy
Initiative at MIT, puts it. In dozens of
countries, tens of thousands of tonnes
of highly radioactive material has been
kept in buildings that provide little
of the usually rigorous protection
surrounding radioactive material in
reactors’ cores.
Pools have become overcrowded in
many countries, owing to the lack of
permanent repositories for nuclear
waste. No country has opened such a
repository, although Sweden has made
significant progress in doing so.
The hazards of pools for spent nu-
clear fuel have been known for many
years, but little action has been taken
to alleviate the risks. One notable
exception has been Germany. About
25 years ago, the German govern-
ment began requiring spent fuel to be
well protected. The older spent fuel
that has cooled for about five years is
placed in hardened, dry storage casks,
and the younger, more radioactive, and
rods heating up and possibly com-
busting. That, in turn, would cause
substantial amounts of radioactive
material to be released if containment
structures are breached, potentially
resulting in an area of contamination
greater than that caused by the Cher-
nobyl accident in 1986.
Despite this alarming conclusion,
the study did not prompt the US Nu-
clear Regulatory Commission to order
utilities to remove spent fuel from
overcrowded pools at more than 100
US commercial reactors.
It did, however, spur the prepara-
tion of a US National Academy of
Sciences’ report, which concluded
that “successful terrorist attacks on
spent fuel pools, though difficult, are
possible”.
While the report did not recom-
mend placement of older spent fuel
into dry storage casks, it did advise the
less expensive method of rearranging
spent fuel in the pools so that hotter,
newly discharged fuel would be sur-
rounded by cooler, older spent fuel.
Doing so would likely prevent a fire.
The report also called for water-
spray systems to fill up draining pools,
but made this conditional on a cost-
benefit analysis conducted by each
plant.
Is reprocessing spent fuel the
answer? While China, France, India,
Japan, and Russia have favoured
reprocessing in order to recycle
plutonium for new fuel, this has not
A sampling procedure is being conducted at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant No 4 reactor’s spent fuel pool. The hazards of pools for spent nuclear fuel have been known for many years, but little
action has been taken to alleviate the risks.
solved the waste problem, because
the resulting spent fuel is usually not
further recycled. Instead, it is stored in
spent-fuel pools.
Recycling proponents want ulti-
mately to build a fleet of fast neutron
reactors that could consume the plu-
tonium and other fissionable material.
But these reactors have experienced
safety problems and are more expen-
sive to operate than current reactors.
Use of plutonium fuels also increases
$1mn, and that a typical plant’s total
costs thus could be tens of millions of
dollars. The Alvarez study estimated
a cost of $3-5bn for the entire US
reactor fleet, which is the largest in the
world.
This would be the major one-time
cost. After that, the costs would be a
few hundred million dollars annually.
For comparison, nuclear power in the
US generates annual revenues exceed-
ing $30bn, whereas the cost of a severe
accident can easily soar to billions of
dollars, as the world is witnessing at
Fukushima Daiichi.
Industry has also been concerned
about minimising workers’ expo-
sure to radiation when they transfer
spent fuel to casks. Moreover, there
is a risk of further radiation expo-
sure during the transfer of spent
fuel from the casks to permanent
storage.
To minimise this risk, casks should
be developed that can easily be
transferred to a secure interim storage
facility while permanent repositories
receive approval. We should not wait
for the next Fukushima Daiichi to act
on reducing the risks of spent fuel. —
Project Syndicate
„Charles D Ferguson, a physicist and
nuclear engineer, is the president of
the Federation of American Scientists
and the author of the forthcoming
book Nuclear Energy: What Everyone
Needs to Know.

Weather report
Letters Three-day forecast
TODAY
High:36C
Negative and I would get well if I had brushed ing their mistreatment. And that’s the National Health Strategy, I would Ar Ruways
The Gulf Low:20C
properly. But I felt there was more to it why I had to turn to your newspaper to like to suggest to those who are Al Khuwayr
treatment as the pain was intense and so I asked write so that the heads of the health- devising plans, to appoint an officer Fuwayrit Hot during the day and
slightly dusty
for an X-ray for a confirmation of his care department and the health centre in all government health centres so Gulf of
Bahrain
Dear Sir, diagnosis. may tell these two female dentists that the patients could bring to their
I’m writing this to highlight an But she refused outright, saying not to repeat such “treatment” of the attention any issues against those WEDNESDAY
important factor that is critical to there was no need for it, prescribing patients and to put emphasis on com- doctors who do not comply with the High: 33C
genuinely raise the standards of the me just mouthwash. She said if the passion. The struggling middle-class rules of the patients’ Bill of Rights Al Khawr Low: 24C
healthcare system in Qatar. Apart pain was still there even after a week, people cannot afford to go to private which is framed and hung up on Clear
Al Jamayliyah
from all the strategies being drawn up then I might get my tooth removed! hospitals or a specialised clinic for the wall in all clinics but is seldom
for the development of the healthcare After a few days, I went back to quality treatments and rely on govern- practised.
system by the National Health Strat- the health centre to request a referral ment health centres for their medical Dukhan THURSDAY
egy council, the key role in making to the Rumaillah dental clinic, but needs. A frustrated patient
QATAR Doha High: 34C
those plans a real success is in fact another doctor there refused, saying: In reference to recent reports on (Name and address supplied) Ar Rayyan Low: 25C
played by doctors and the hospital “I will not recommend an X-ray or Clear
Umm Bab
staff who are expected to serve all pa- referral; come back tomorrow to get it Al Wakrah
tients with their professional expertise through the doctor who checked you
and, most importantly, with their first.” Please send us your letters Al Kiranah Umm Said
Fishermen’s forecast
right attitude. These people are playing with a OFFSHORE DOHA
I may be just one of hundreds of patient’s dignity and honour by their By e-mail Wind: NW-NE 07-15-18 kts
patients who are ill-treated and re- inhuman and insensitive attitude Waves: 1-3 feet to 4
fused crucial diagnosis and appro- without giving the slightest consid-
editor@gulf-times.com INSHORE DOHA
Wind: NW-NE 07-15 kts
priate treatment due to the doctors’ eration of the pain being suffered by Fax 44350474 Waves: 1-2 feet
refusal to interact compassionately him/her. I was extremely upset and Or Post
with them. Many a time, the people furious and went away in tears as I Letters to the Editor Around the region
who call themselves doctors, make the had come walking a long way with Weather Weather
sick sicker with their harsh and rude my infant baby and a three-year-old
Gulf Times today Max/min tomorrow Max/min
behaviour instead of putting an end to daughter in the heat of the day to meet P O Box 2888 Abu Dhabi Clear 32/20 Clear 37/23
Baghdad M Sunny 36/21 Rain 34/22
their suffering. the dentist as my husband was at work Doha, Qatar Dubai Clear 32/25 Clear 35/26
Last month I visited a dentist in at that time. Kuwait City Clear 35/23 P Sunny 34/25
a health centre after suffering from The most frustrating part is that All letters, which are subject to editing, should have the name of Manama Clear 28/23 Clear 29/23
severe tooth ache. The doctor checked there is nobody one can complain to the writer, address and phone number. The writer’s name and ad- Muscat Clear 33/24 Clear 33/23
my aching upper tooth from her in a health centre or online or even a dress may be withheld by request. Riyadh Clear 31/22 C Rain 34/20
standing position without getting telephone number of any superior to Tehran M Sunny 27/16 M Sunny 27/17
close and said that there was no cavity whom the patients can talk to regard-
Tehran

Live issues SYRIA

Damascus
Baghdad

IRAQ IRAN

Human rights and the US as global judge Amman

JORDAN
KUWAIT

BAHRAIN
ARABIAN
GULF
Manama
Doha
Abu Dhabi
By Bernd Debusmann Canada, where “human rights prob- sarily obstacles to normal or even the document as “obvious evidence of Riyadh
QATAR
UAE
Muscat

Washington lems included harassment of religious close relations. the use of ‘double standards’ and the
minorities, violence against women, politicisation of human rights issues”. EGYPT
and trafficking in persons”. Or the tiny Russia’s foreign ministry pointed SAUDI ARABIA
US Secretary of

E
OMAN
RE

very year since 1976, The South Pacific archipelago of Van- to “odious special prisons in Guan-
DS

US Department of State has uatu, where American human rights State Hillary Clinton tanamo and Bagram, still function-
EA

published an extraordinarily checkers found “police violence, poor ing despite promises to shut them
detailed report on the state of prison conditions, arrests without describes the annual down” as part of the reasons why the Around the world
human rights in the world. The latest, warrants, an extremely slow judicial US should clean its own house before Weather
out this month, runs to more than process, government corruption, and report as “the most criticising others. today Max/min
Weather
tomorrow Max/min
C Rain Rain 14/09
2mn words. Printed out from State’s
website, it would run to more than
violence and discrimination against
women”.
comprehensive China, another target of American re-
buke, has been so angered by the human
Athens
Bangkok Rain
14/09
33/27 Rain 32/26
Beirut C Rain 22/13 M Sunny 20/13
7,000 pages. The report covers 194
countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton describes the annual report
record available of the rights reports that it began publishing
an annual counter-report in 2000, fo-
Berlin Clear
P Cloudy
20/07 Clear 23/08
24/16
Cairo 26/16 P Cloudy
That’s every country in the world, as “the most comprehensive record condition of human cused solely on the US. The latest came Cape Town
Colombo
Clear
Rain
26/14 Rain
Rain
18/15
31/25
except one: the US. available of the condition of human out just two days after the US report 32/24
Which gives rise to a few questions. rights around the world” and its atten- rights around the world” which highlighted China’s intensifying Dhaka
Hong Kong
M Sunny
Clear
39/26
27/21
Rain
M Sunny
34/25
27/21
Is the US the one and only country tion to detail is indeed impressive. The crackdown on dissidents, human rights Istanbul C Rain 11/06 Rain 11/07
on the planet with a perfect record Vanuatu chapter, for example, runs to “It’s easy to see the whole exercise activists, journalists, and lawyers. Jakarta Rain 32/26 C Rain 32/26
of observing human rights, at home almost 5,000 words, a lot considering as holier-than-thou preening that China’s response: “The US ignores Karachi M Sunny 36/20 Clear 37/21
London C Rain 22/11 Clear 23/11
or in the countries where it wages there are only 220,000 inhabitants. alienates even countries sympathetic its own severe human rights problems, C Rain M Sunny 29/24
Manila 33/25
war? If not, why does the government Given the effort that goes into the to the cause,” wrote David Bosco, a ardently promoting its so-called ‘hu- Moscow Std Showers 08/01 P Cloudy 09/01
feel entitled to scrutinise the human report, the only global assessment professor at American University’s man rights diplomacy’, treating human New Delhi Clear 33/22 Clear 32/21
rights practices of others? The report of human rights by a government (as School of International Service, in a rights as a political tool to vilify other New York Shower 12/08 I T Storms 17/11
Paris M Sunny 22/09 M Sunny 24/10
discovers blemishes even in countries opposed to private advocacy groups), comment in Foreign Policy magazine. countries and advance its own strate- C Rain C Rain 28/16
Sao Paulo 29/18
that rarely come to mind in the context one might assume that its findings Among some countries, American gic interests.” Seoul P Cloudy 16/04 P Cloudy 18/04
of human rights violations. play a major role in shaping US foreign criticism produces not alienation but The Russo-Chinese-American Singapore Rain 33/25 Rain 32/25
Switzerland, say, where in 2010 policy. But that is not the case. Where red-hot fury. sniping brought to mind the old adage Sydney M Sunny 26/16 Clear 27/15
“police at times used excessive force, US national interests are at stake, Russia, heavily criticised in the lat- that people in glass houses are well Tokyo Cloudy 18/10 Clear 18/07
occasionally with impunity”. Or human rights violations are not neces- est US report, shot back by describing advised not to throw stones. — Reuters
26 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah
Editor-in-Chief: Dr Marzook Basher Binmarzook
Managing Editor: Neil Cook
Production Editor: C. P. Ravindran
P.O.Box 2888
Doha, Qatar
editor@gulf-times.com
Telephone 44350478 (news),
44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery)
Fax 44350474
GULF TIMES
A revival in Spain
remains distant
as bad loans soar
Since Portugal was forced to bow to the inevitable and
ask the European Union and International Monetary Fund
for a bail-out Spain has remained resilient during its
neighbour’s travails.
Yields on recent government bond sales have not been
too onerous despite sovereign credit rating downgrades
and warnings of more to come if the government fails to
meet its austerity targets.
Madrid has stepped in to allay fears that its banking
system is at breaking point by strengthening balance
sheets and insisting that listed lenders increase core
capital requirements to 8% of total assets. The smaller
regional savings banks, which account for about half of all
lending in Spain, are now required to hold 10%.
However, quite why the financial markets have
maintained their confidence in a country devastated by
the collapse of the property sector appears to have been
underpinned by a collective sentiment that is contrarian
to say the least.
After all there is little or no good news to report.
Unemployment is officially above 20%, which is the
highest of any industrialised country, and will continue
to drain government resources as the budgets cuts
programme begins to bite.
Adding to the fiscal headache for Madrid are those
Spaniards who have for too long operated within a
burgeoning black economy. With tax receipts dwindling
there is little room to manoeuvre.
And then – perhaps the elephant in the room – there is
the unsustainable level of bad consumer debt. Yesterday
the Bank of Spain announced that the ratio of non-
performing loans among domestic institutions had
reached the highest level
since 1995.
In the current Another more rigorous
climate of financial health check
uncertainty in the banking sector
appears to be a priority
nothing should if Spain can survive the
be ruled out crisis and avoid joining
Greece, Ireland and
Portugal in the bottom league of EU pauper states. With
total bad debts soaring to 112.5bn euros in February – or
6.19% of the total – the upward trend has been alarming.
There are bound to be curious glances across the border
into Portugal over the next week when the EU and IMF
demand their pound of flesh to justify a bailout package
expected to be worth 80bn euros. Both will insist on
more bloodletting in the public sector, tax rises and a
controversial privatisation programme because the clock
is ticking with 5bn euros of government debt scheduled to
be repaid on June 15.
Over in Greece the central bank yesterday refuted
reports that the country is seeking to restructure its bail-
out terms that were imposed barely a year ago. It said
such a move would be a “catastrophe”.
In the current climate of uncertainty nothing should be
ruled out. An anti-euro party in Finland gained a strong
foothold in the country’s parliament over the weekend,
pledging to change Helsinki’s plans to participate in
Portugal’s bail-out.
A summer of more dissent over the Eurozone model is
looming it seems.
To Advertise
adverts@gulf-times.com
Display
Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811
Classified
Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811
Subscription
circulation@gulf-times.com
Let a new-model Japan
rise from the wreckage
It took a year for
consumption to recover after
the Kobe earthquake in 1995,
but the widespread damage
did create widespread
demand back then, and
should do so again
By Yuriko Koike
Tokyo
I
n Japan, memorial services for the
dead are normally held 49 days
after their passing. The bereaved
mourn throughout this period.
The number of victims of the earth-
quake and tsunami that assaulted the
Tohoku region of northeast Japan has
now reached around 30,000, if those
who are still missing are included.
This was the largest natural disaster
to strike Japan in its history, and the
entire nation has been in mourning.
Throughout this period, televi-
sion stations, in response to viewers’
feelings, have refrained from showing
frivolous programmes and gaudy com-
mercials. Many of the hanami events,
for celebrating the annual eruption
of cherry blossoms, a much-loved
activity for us Japanese, have been
cancelled.
Music and sporting events, along
with town gatherings, have also been
cancelled or postponed. Bizarrely, the
American rock singer Cyndi Lauper’s
concerts were just about the only
events that weren’t called off.
The strong bonds (kizuna) of the
Justice for dictators may backfire
By David E Miller
The Media Line
E
gyptians and Tunisians alike
have hailed the decision of
their new governments to file
criminal charges against their
former presidents, Hosni Mubarak
and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. But the
pursuit of justice may well make it
tougher for the opposition elsewhere
in the Middle East to push unwanted
leaders out of office.
Mubarak and his two sons, Gamal
and Alaa, were detained last Wednes-
day for 15 days pending questioning on
charges of corruption and the murder
of protesters during the popular
uprising that led to the president’s
ouster two months ago. The same
day Tunisian authorities presented 18
legal cases against Ben Ali, including
“voluntary manslaughter” and “drug
trafficking”, the state news agency TAP
reported.
Libyan strongman Muammar Gadd-
afi faces legal action even as he battles
rebels for control of the country after
the International Criminal Court
(ICC) announced on March 3 it had
started a formal investigation into
possible crimes against humanity.
Several of his sons and members of his
inner circle are being probed as well.
The indictments raise the ques-
tion whether it is better to bring
former despots through the courts to
trial or to forgive and forget. The first
Japanese people create great solidarity
during dark times such as these. One
virtue of kizuna can be seen in people’s
inability to enjoy themselves in their
usual ways in the face of the loss of so
many countrymen and the knowledge
that 200,000 more are enduring harsh
conditions in evacuation centres.
But there are concerns that these
bonds of kizuna may also bind the Jap-
anese economy, which must recover
as soon as possible – not only for the
benefit of the Japanese, but also be-
cause disruptions in Japan’s economy
are hitting the rest of Asia, owing to
the production chains of which Japan
is an integral part.
But today’s strong kizuna and
mentality of mourning have led to
sharply diminished consumption. The
tourism industry has been directly
hit by people refraining from travel,
and the abundant hot springs in the
Tohoku region, normally popular with
tourists and totally unaffected by the
earthquake or tsunami, have become
a victim of the disaster. Similarly, the
baseless rumour that all of Japan is
soaked in radiation has caused tourism
from abroad to plummet.
Meetings and parties in Tokyo have
been cancelled, and this has directly
affected not only hotels and inns, but
also the food and beverage industry.
The restaurant industry, too, is being
pushed to the wall. It is now no prob-
lem to get reservations at restaurants
with three Michelin stars. Despite
the great efforts made to manage
refrigeration amid blackouts caused
by power shortages, customers are not
turning out.
Likewise, customers who formed
increases the incentive for those still
clinging to power to hold on, at cost
of prolonged conflicts. The second
potentially saves lives, but sets aside
justice and the sense of closure for
people who suffered under the old
regime.
“I am all for justice being done,”
Max Boot of the Council on Foreign
Relations wrote in a recent commen-
tary, “but I think the prime imperative
in this case is to oust a brutal dictator;
he will be held to account in any case
by his Maker.” Boot suggested a system
whereby the United Nations Security
Council grants immunity to dictators
as part of a deal to leave power.
In Libya, fighting between the
strongman’s loyalists and opposi-
tion forces has gone on since mid-
February, with no end in sight. British
Prime Minister David Cameron,
whose country’s troops are also at risk
in their role as part of the no-fly zone
imposed over Libya, is among those
who have suggested immunity for
Gaddafi.
Of the two leaders facing charges,
Mubarak is in the more dangerous
position. After he was forced out
of office on February 11, he took up
residence at his vacation home in
the Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh,
keeping him within reach of Egyptian
law. The Egyptian daily Al-Masri
Al-Youm reported last week that the
83-year-old Mubarak, who was recov-
ering from a heart attack in a Sharm
El-Sheikh hospital, was “emotionally
Migrating to
Office 2010:
Time Out Page 12
lines to buy up water and toilet paper
immediately after the disaster are now
slow to return to supermarkets. And this
tendency to shun all purchases except
disaster-related goods, is not limited to
east Japan. It is a nationwide trend.
This curtailed consumption, how-
ever, comes at a time when Japan’s
economy is already weak. Indeed, the
Japanese economy, which has endured
two decades of sluggishness, has been
falling behind in the global economy
even more since the shockwaves
caused by Lehman Brothers’ collapse
in 2008. Now it has been struck by a
combination of prolonged deflation
and the shocks caused by the recent
natural disasters.
The end of April will mark 49 days
since the earthquake and tsunami hit
on March 11. The profound disrup-
tion of the economy will continue at
least until that time. It took a year for
consumption to recover after the Kobe
earthquake in 1995, but the wide-
spread damage did create widespread
demand back then, and should do so
again.
Enormous demand will be created
for construction of temporary housing
and, later, for the reconstruction of
lost towns. The estimated damage of
¥25tn is also the size of the potential
reconstruction demand.
But Japan’s government needs to
think big and creatively. If towns
suffering from depopulation before
they were destroyed are transformed
in their reconstruction, they could
mark the emergence of a new model
for regional development that can
decentralise Japan’s Tokyo-centric
economy.
devastated” and not eating following
the arrest warrant.
Tunisia faces serious obstacles to
bringing Ben Ali to court. After 23
years in power, he fled the country on
January 14. Justice Minister Lazhar
Karoui Chebbi, who announced the
indictments, said Tunisian authori-
ties were exploring the legal options of
extraditing Ben Ali.
“Supporters of
Mubarak’s indictment
say that it sends a
strong message to
current leaders that
they will be held
accountable if they act
improperly”
But Masoud Ramadani, a member
of the Tunisian Human Rights Union,
said the idea of Ben Ali facing justice
was adequate. “Most would prefer if
Ben Ali stood trial in Tunisia. But even
if he is tried in absentia, that would be
good too,” he told The Media Line.
Jane Kinninmont, a Middle East
researcher at Chatham House, a Lon-
don-based think tank, acknowledged
that rulers may hold on to power at all
costs for fear of being indicted. “The
International Criminal Court was
Farmland that had been worked by
an ageing population with no suc-
cessors, and that was subdivided into
blocs that were too small, has now
become vacant, opening the way for
much larger-scale farming. Similarly,
individually-operated fishing busi-
nesses whose potential heirs ended
up choosing other careers can now be
reorganised and consolidated, thereby
taking advantage of greater economies
of scale.
Perhaps most importantly, the
nuclear accident has shed a stark light
on the need for safe, renewable energy,
which had been shunned in the past.
The current government has plans to
generate power using large-scale solar
and wind power plants in the disaster-
affected areas.
But Japan’s economy has for too
long been stuck in a ditch as a result
of its being bound by over-regulation
and a rigid adherence to precedent. So,
if there is a ray of light to come from
the horrors suffered by the people of
the Tohoku region, it is that the Japa-
nese understand that what they need
most of all nowadays is clear leader-
ship with a coherent and bold plan for
rebuilding and renewing their country.
Indeed, the only way truly to honour
those who lost their lives is to create a
new-model Japan from the tsunami’s
wreckage, rather than simply restoring
towns and their economies to their
previous decadent conditions. —
Project Syndicate
„Yuriko Koike, Japan’s former defence
minister and national security adviser,
is chairman of the Executive Council of
the Liberal Democratic Party.
criticised for pursuing the indictment
of Muammar Gaddafi,” she said.
But, she stressed, those pushing for
Mubarak’s indictment believe there
are pragmatic reasons to press charges
against him. “It’s not justice versus prag-
matism,” Kinninmont told The Media
Line. “Supporters of Mubarak’s indict-
ment say that it sends a strong message
to current leaders that they will be held
accountable if they act improperly.”
For leaders looking for an exit that
doesn’t segue into a prison cell, the al-
ternatives are asylum or the formation
of a truth-and-reconciliation com-
mission, of the kind that was set up
in South Africa in the post-Apartheid
years, conducting an investigation
without an indictment.
Christopher Stephen, author of
Judgment Day: The Trial of Slobodan
Milosevic, which recounts the trial of
the former Serbian leader, said in an
opinion piece in The Financial Times
that the world shouldn’t trade justice
for peace but pursue the justice route.
“The crimes are fresh – in the case
of Libya, they are still taking place.
Investigators have uncontaminated
crime scenes, access to witnesses and
evidence” Stephen wrote. “Events
in Libya have shown that the West
cannot be the world’s policeman. It
cannot stop every abuse and outrage.
But it can, through the ICC, call those
committing abuses to account. In so
doing, it can encourage other tyrants
across the world to think twice before
committing abuses of their own.”
 Gulf Times
28 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

QATAR

Last night’s panel (left to right): the proposition, Mohamed Ali Abdalla and Paul Salem, debates chairman, Tim Sebastian and the Audience members who yesterday rejected the motion that the Arabs should be leading efforts to deal with the crisis in Libya.
opposition, Omar Ashour and Fadel Lamen.

Debates backs Nato role in Libya

By Peter Townson was deputy secretary general of arguing that Arab leaders should the people of Libya is not just for nitaries led the calls for action, mocracy in Libya would best be in the debate, discussions were
Staff Reporter the National Front for the Sal- have embraced the changes to as- the Arab people,” he said, arguing they failed to “put their money achieved by democratic nations passionate and highly relevant.
vation of Libya, Mohamed Ali sume a leading role in the inter- that the burden should fall upon where their mouths were”, ac- as opposed to “incompetent” un- However, the result may have
Abdalla, who argued that the vention. all the people of the world to pro- cording to Salem, who said that democratic regimes. surprised some, with the audi-

A
n audience at the Doha
Debates yesterday gave
a vote of confidence to
Nato’s efforts to protect the Liby-
an people by rejecting the motion
‘This House believes that Arabs,
not Nato, should be dealing with
Libya,’ with a vote of 55% to 45%.
The debate, the first to be held
in Doha following recent specials
on Tunis and Cairo, saw panel
and audience members discuss-
ing the most pressing event in
world politics, disagreeing over
whether the Arab states should
have taken a leading role in the
intervention in Libya.
First to speak for the motion
revolutionary tendencies appar-
ent in the Arab world at the cur-
rent time should have served as
a platform for a regional revolu-
tion.
Accepting that the humanitar-
ian crisis in Libya necessitated
intervention by the international
community, he argued that the
close proximity and cultural un-
derstanding possessed by the
Arab world should have led to
them uniting to “shift the para-
digm” of the Middle East being
regarded as a conflict-afflicted
region, only good for providing
natural resources.
“This is a new era,” he said,
His arguments were coun-
tered by the president of the
American-Libyan Council, Fadel
Lamen, who said that the Arab
world was simply incapable of
assuming a leading role in the
crisis.
Instead, he proposed that
through participation in the
combined efforts, the region’s
countries will gain the experi-
ence critical to them taking on
leadership in the future.
And he pointed out that the
atrocities being committed in
Libya required an international
reaction.
“The responsibility to protect
tect the basic rights of fellow hu-
man beings.
Paul Salem, founder of the
Lebanese Centre for Policy
Studies and director of the
Carnegie Middle East Centre,
was next to speak for the mo-
tion, and he suggested that while
the international community
has a role to play in the conflict,
it should be Arab states leading
the efforts.
Praising the initial call for ac-
tion that emanated from the re-
gion, Salem said that this was not
followed up with anything re-
sembling a satisfactory response.
Whilst Arab leaders and dig-
with billions of dollars having
been spent on strengthening the
region’s weaponry, there could
be no better opportunity to see
the arms put to good use than the
protection of endangered Libyan
civilians.
The final speaker opposing the
motion was Omar Ashour, who
lectures on the politics of the
modern Arab world at the Uni-
versity of Exeter in the UK.
Ashour reiterated the opinion
that the Arab world does not have
the capability to play a leading
role in the intervention, arguing
that even if it did, the eventual
objective of creating a stable de-
“If you deny democracy and
human rights to your own peo-
ple, then you cannot teach it to
others,” he argued.
Both sides of the debate
seemed to agree on the necessity
of international intervention,
differing only on the role that
the Arab world should play in the
current situation.
But the suggestion that Nato
are trustworthy, and signifi-
cantly, more capable of providing
effective assistance to the people
of Libya seemed to swing a very
close vote.
With a number of Libyan au-
dience members participating
ence reaction apparently indi-
cating a sense of injustice and
the ever present conspiracy
theories regarding the Western
world, which Lamen referred to
throughout the evening.
“We must be careful not to
demonise ‘the West,’” he said,
gaining a round of applause from
large sections of the audience.
And the suggestion from last
night’s debate is that perhaps
western governments are in a
better position to support de-
mocracy and human rights than
a number of Arab nations who
refuse to do so for the good of
their own people.

QLG aims to bring Record thank-you letter

a new level of addressed to the Emir
luxury to Qatar By Nour Abuzant
Staff Reporter

M
aimona Primary
By Peter Townson School for Girls yes-
Staff Reporter terday launched “the
longest thank-you letter” ad-
dressed to HH the Emir Sheikh

Q
atar is set to establish a
strong presence in the
international luxury
fashion and hospitality markets,
according to Qatar Luxury Group
(QLG) officials, who explained
that the organisation is currently
developing its brand identity
ahead of future announcements
over the coming year.
The QLG, wholly owned by
Qatar Foundation, came about
as a result of HH Sheikha Moza
bint Nasser’s vision of creating a
luxury brand embracing educa-
tion and providing an opportu-
nity to foster local and interna-
tional talent.
Group CEO, Gregory Couil-
lard explained that the venture
has been in development since
2008, with the company being
officially registered last year.
“I would say from day one, a
very strong accent has been put
on the educational side,” he said,
adding “we have people coming
out of universities, but where
can they apply for a job in Qatar?
We have been brought in to cre-
ate these kinds of industries.”
With three strands to the
group, including fashion, hos-
pitality (food and beverage) and
development, the organisation
aims to bring a new level of luxu-
ry to the country.
The fashion and hospital-
ity branches are already ac-
tive, explained Couillard, who
said that consumers will begin
to notice the presence of the
group and its brands from the
end of this year.
Set to open a restaurant with
a Michelin three-starred chef
by the end of 2011, the food and
beverage branch of the company
is expected to open at least two
more restaurants in 2012, he
said.
Remaining tight-lipped about
the identity of the chef, Couil-
lard promised that the chef in
questions is “a very famous one.”
On the other hand, the fashion
division, dealing with four areas,
including shoes, leather goods,
jewellery and ready to wear
items, is situated in what Couil-
Qatar Luxury Group CEO Gregory Couillard: looking forward to creating
high-end fashion items and hospitality destinations aimed at developing
the luxury market in Qatar.
lard described as their “unique”
facility in Qatar.
Housing highly advanced
technology being operated by
some of the most experienced
experts in their respective fields,
the current location is producing
prototypes which will eventually
be created at a production facility
elsewhere.
The development branch will
be looking into the possibilities
of acquiring both brands and
production facilities in the future
to nurture the QLG’s growth, ex-
plained Couillard, saying: “It will
help us to acquire the brands if
we feel they fit in with our phi-
losophy.”
“This is quite unique,” he said,
adding “I don’t not know of
any other place in the region or
worldwide which is dealing in all
four areas, transforming dreams
into reality all in one place.”
Artistic director for the QLG
fashion is Stephane Rolland,
a renowned designer and the
youngest member of the 12 hous-
es of haute couture in Paris.
With his expertise on board,
the QLG is hoping to create a
brand that will be unique and
recognisable throughout the
world, explained Couillard.
And the CEO said that he ex-
pects the “Qatari-ness” of the
brands to be intrinsic.
The fact that the process of de-
sign and creation is taking place
in Qatar means that the brand
will inevitably be influenced by
the local culture, whether cater-
ing for the international or re-
gional markets, he explained.
“Basically, my dream would
be the creation of very strong
brands, with each of them pos-
sessing such strong DNA that
this question is not relevant any-
more,” he said.
Couillard explained that the
QLG currently employs two Qa-
taris as workshop technicians,
and will be starting its Qatarisa-
tion project next month, helping
to foster local talent.
“We have people who are very
entrepreneurial – this is some-
thing very important that we want
to keep in the future,” he said.
Although nothing has yet to
be finalised in terms of brand
identity, or even the number of
brands the group’s fashion de-
partment will eventually create,
one thing is for sure; each divi-
sion of the company will place
luxury, craftsmanship, expertise
and know how at the very top of
their agenda whatever they do or
wherever they go.
Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
The citizens and residents
of Qatar are invited to sign on
a giant banner (60m x 2.5m)
as a gesture of appreciation for
HH the Emir’s role in support-
ing education and teachers, es-
tablishing noble values in the
society and enhancing national
sentiments among the citizens,
organisers said.
Qatar residents are wel-
come to sign the banner as per
a schedule set by the school
management. The mornings
are reserved for teachers and A dignitary writing a message thanking HH the Emir. Below: Women writing thank-you messages.
students while the public of
all ages can sign in the evening.
The messages could be in both
Arabic and English.
The inaugural function was
held at the school premises in
Mansoura under the auspices
of the Minister of Education
and Higher Education and the
Supreme Education Council
Secretary General, HE Saad
bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud, and
a number of leading figures in
the state.
The banner is expected to
be recognised by the Guinness
World Records, as the long-
est ever thank-you letter to a
ruler . Deliberations with the
relevant officials of the records
book have already started to
explain the goals of the initia-
tive.
The banner is made of a
material that will last at least
30 years. The budget of the
project was initially estimated
at QR200,000. The school’s
management is considering to
exhibit the banner at a pub-
lic place during the weekends.
The first day of recording the
thank-you messages was ex-
clusively for ministers and dig-
nitaries.
The initiative, the first of
its kind in the world, was
launched in co-operation with
the Al Rayan Preparatory Inde-
pendent School for Girls.
The inauguration pro-
gramme featured poetry recit-
als authored by Faisal al-Tami-
mi and other cultural shows. Children performing a cultural show at the launch of the project. PICTURES: Jayan Orma

GULF TIMES
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Jumada-I 15, 1432 AH
BUSINESS
Gold hits record high,
oil drops on S&P move
Gold prices rallied toward record
highs near $1,500 an ounce
yesterday after Standard & Poor’s
downgraded its credit outlook for
the US and as investors worried
about debt in the eurozone and
inflation in China.
Spot gold rose as high as
$1,497.20 an ounce and was later
up 0.5% at $1,491.67 an ounce by
1514 GMT.
US gold futures for June delivery
rose $6.60 an ounce to $1,492.60,
with volume already topping a
busy 150,000 lots, preliminary Reu-
ters data showed.
Gold rose as the Reuters/Jeffer-
ies CRB index fell more than 1%,
led by a near 3% drop in US crude
futures. Global equity markets also
tumbled 2%.
Meanwhile, oil fell nearly $3 a
barrel yesterday on the S&P move
after Saudi Arabia said an oversup-
plied crude market had forced it to
reduce output.
Brent crude for June fell $2.37 to
$121.08 a barrel, clawing back from
losses of $3.
US crude for May fell $2.93 to
$106.73, having slipped as low as
$106.54. The US May crude con-
tract expires today.
COMPANY RESULTS | Page 32
Philips switches
off TV in search
for profits
Optimism in Qatar Inc slips
The fall in the hydrocarbon sector
was “little surprising”, given the
fact that fears owing to Middle East
tension is driving the oil price so
strongly upwards
By Santhosh V Perumal
Business Reporter
P
olitical tensions in the Arab
world, the recent earthquake and
the resultant tsunami in Japan
besides concerns over European sover-
eign debt have weakened the optimism
in the Qatar Inc in the second quarter,
according to the Business Optimism
Index (BOI).
The composite index for the hydro-
carbon sector retreated due to the ex-
pected fall in net profits and employ-
ment and that for the non-hydrocarbon
segment declined mainly due to a pull-
down by uncertainty in the region, said
the BOI, a joint product of Qatar Finan-
cial Centre Authority (QFCA) and Dun
and Bradstreet (D&B).
The report was released yesterday by
Car makers go
local to tap
China growth
Yousef al-Jaida, head of asset manage-
ment and banking, QFCA.
“It comes as no surprise to see the
optimism level of businesses in Qatar
decline in this Q2,” Phil Strange, chief
financial officer of D&B South Asia
Middle East said, referring to the po-
litical unrest in several Middle Eastern
countries, the unfolding of the terrible
events in Japan and continued to Euro-
zone sovereign debt worries.
He said the fall in the hydrocarbon
sector was “little surprising”, given
the fact that fears owing to Middle
East tension is driving the oil price so
strongly upwards.
Although the non-hydrocarbon sec-
tor index dropped, he said, it was still
showing strong optimism and remains
more optimistic than any of the 2010
readings; demonstrating resilience in
the face of negative regional and global
factors.
In the non-hydrocarbon sector, op-
timism has been declining in terms
of sales volume, net profits, new or-
ders, number of employees and level of
stocks; even as it marginally improved
SHANGHAI AUTOSHOW | Page 35
Al-Jaida and Strange at the release of the BOI Q2 report.
in the case of selling prices because of
inflationary pressures on the economy,
the report noted.
Inflation in Qatar, according to BOI,
is showing an upward trend as rents
stabilise due to a gradual narrowing of
GULF MARKETS MIXED | Page 34
QE extends losses to 3rd
day on selling pressure
the current excess capacity in real es-
tate and non-rent inflation has been
inching up due to the rise in food prices
and the recovery in international com-
modity prices.
In the hydrocarbon segment, the
survey found 60% of the respondents
have predicted that prices would re-
main at current levels in Q2 2011, while
25% expect prices to go up and 15% ex-
pect a fall. The BOI for Level of Selling
Prices stands at 10, which is 15 points
lower than the score in the previous
quarter.
“This is because prices are expected
to remain at current levels with a possi-
ble increase if the situation in the Mid-
dle East worsens,” it said.
In so far as the non-hydrocarbon
segment is concerned, the outlook for
Qatar’s manufacturing sector dropped
but higher than 2010 levels; while the
outlook for the construction sector
is still strong but lower than the first
quarter of this year.
Weakened optimism was visible in
trade and the hospitality sector as well
as in transport and communications
sectors with air freight being impacted
by Japan disaster and rising fuel costs
as well as Middle Eastern uncertainty.
Similarly, declining optimism was seen
in Qatar’s finance, real estate and busi-
ness services sector.
 Gulf Times
30 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
BUSINESS
S&P cuts US credit
outlook on fears it
cannot slash deficit
Rating agency cites lack
of plan to address fiscal
challenges, says one-in-three
chance of rating cut in two
years; Bonds, stocks fall but
dollar holds firm for now
Reuters. AFP
New York
S
tandard & Poor’s yester-
day downgraded its credit
outlook for the US, citing
a risk that policymakers may
not reach agreement on a plan
to slash the huge federal budget
deficit.
While the credit rating agency
maintained the country’s top
AAA credit rating, it said au-
thorities have not made clear
how they will tackle long-term
fiscal pressures.
S&P said the move signals
at least a one-in-three chance
that it could cut its long-term
rating on the US within two
years.
“The path to addressing
these (problems) is not clear
to us, (so) we have revised our
outlook on the long-term rat-
ing to negative from stable,”
S&P said in a statement an-
nouncing its first ever down-
grade of the US outlook.
“We believe S&P’s negative
outlook underestimates the
ability of America’s leaders to
come together to address the
difficult fiscal challenges fac-
ing the nation,” the Treasury
Department said in a state-
ment.
“Because the US has, relative
to its AAA peers, what we con-
sider to be very large budget
deficits and rising government
indebtedness, and the path to
addressing these is not clear
to us, we have revised our out-
look on the long-term rating
to negative from stable,” S&P
said.
The move will ratchet up the
pressure on the Obama admin-
istration and Congress to come
up with an aggressive long-term
plan to chop a nearly $1.5tn defi-
cit, equal to about 9.8% of out-
put. It could push up US bor-
rowing costs and put further
pressure on the dollar and the
government’s ability to finance
the budget shortfall.
The White House, which
needs to continue increasing
borrowing to finance immedi-
ate fiscal shortfalls, has warned
of financial ‘Armageddon’ if
Congress refuses to raise the
$14.29tn cap.
The limit will be reached by
mid-May and lawmakers must
take action or see the US de-
fault on interest payments on
its debt.
A downgrade to the US AAA
credit rating would also cause
a spike in mortgage rates and
tighten credit conditions across
the economy. That would likely
derail the economy’s recovery
from the worst recession since
World War Two.
“The US debt situation got a
reality check this morning from
the move by S&P,” said John
Kilduff, partner at Again Capi-
tal in New York. “Only precious
metals will be seen as attractive
in the aftermath of the outlook
downgrade.”
Despite the potential im-
plications of the S&P an-
nouncement, longer-dated US
government bond prices fell
modestly, while major US stock
indexes showed a sharper reac-
tion, shedding more than 1% in
early trade.
“... it’s enough to spook
investors from holding or
buying US dollars”
Outstanding public US debt
has swelled to more than 60%
of total output in the aftermath
of the 2007-2009 financial
crisis. With a budget deficit
running at nearly 10% of out-
put and expected to grow, the
total is expected to swell fur-
ther.
The Obama administration
last week announced plans to
trim $4tn from the budget defi-
cit over the next 12 years, mostly
through spending cuts and tax
hikes on the rich.
A top administration of-
ficial reiterated US commit-
ment to act yesterday and
said S&P underestimated that
resolve.
“We believe S&P’s negative
outlook underestimates the
ability of America’s leaders
to come together to address
the difficult fiscal challenges
facing the nation,” said Mary
Miller, assistant Treasury
secretary for financial mar-
kets.
The US dollar managed to
hold gains against the euro
yesterday, and traders said
debt problems in some Euro-
pean countries were lending
some support to the US cur-
rency.
Even so, the greenback fell
about 5% against major cur-
rencies this year, and record low
interest rates together with the
S&P move will do little to make
it more attractive, said Kathy
Lien, director of research at GFT
Forex.
“Even though I don’t think an
actual downgrade would occur,
in this very sensitive or vulner-
able time for the US dollar, it’s
enough to spook investors from
holding or buying US dollars,”
she said.
Last week the International
Monetary Fund urged the US
to “urgently” address it prob-
lems, saying the US stands
out as the only large advanced
economy where its fiscal defi-
cit will increase in 2011 from
2010, despite the ongoing eco-
nomic recovery.
With a federal budget gap
estimated at 10.8% this year, it
said Washington will find it dif-
ficult to achieve its goal of halv-
ing the deficit by 2013. PAGE 37
Tata ‘plans
up to $27bn
investment
over 5yrs’
AFP
Mumbai
I
ndia’s giant Tata Group has
said it will invest almost
$30bn mainly in the domes-
tic market over the next five
years as it seeks to double rev-
enues to $150bn.
The group, which has nearly
100 companies under its wing,
said it plans to invest the money
in sectors such as power, steel,
automobiles, telecoms and
chemicals.
“We have become a signifi-
cant player globally in each of
the sectors that we are present
in,” Tata Industries managing
director Kishor A Chaukar told
the Press Trust of India.
He told the news agency that
the group would invest as much as
$27bn in the next five years, most
of it in its home Indian market.
When asked about the expect-
ed revenues of the group after the
investment, Chaukar said: “It will
be more than double in less than
five years. I think it’ll be around
$140bn to $150bn.”
Tata Industries is one of the in-
vestment arms of the Tata group.
The commitment comes as
India’s largest conglomerate
seeks a successor to its chair-
man, Ratan Tata, 73, who plans
to step down in December 2012.
Ratan, one of India’s most
respected corporate chiefs, has
overseen a 40-fold increase in
the group’s revenues from 1991
when he took the reins of the
family company.
The deadline for finding a re-
placement for Ratan has been ex-
tended to the end of May from an
initial deadline of March after the
search committee said it was hav-
ing trouble finding a successor.
Greek officials deny
reports of ‘imminent’
debt restructuring
Reuters
Athens
G
reek officials denied
again yesterday that
some form of debt re-
scheduling was imminent as
sources within the German
government said Athens was
likely to do so before the end of
the summer.
Financial markets are in-
creasingly convinced Greece
will have to renegotiate the
terms of its public debt, rec-
ognising that its economy can-
not grow fast enough to service
a burden that is set to swell to
160% of national output.
German government sources
said yesterday that Athens,
which is struggling to impose
national belt-tightening aimed
at regaining creditors’ faith,
would not avoid opting for a
restructuring before the end of
the summer.
But officials have repeat-
edly insisted that such a move
would prove costlier in the long
run and Bank of Greece Gov-
ernor George Provopoulos told
shareholders on Thursday it
would hurt banks and pension
funds, and shut access to capi-
tal markets.
“The Bank of Greece has ex-
plained with clarity since last
October that such a (restruc-
turing) option is not neces-
sary, nor desirable,” he said. “It
would have catastrophic con-
sequences.”
The government denied a
Greek newspaper report that it
wants to extend maturities on
its outstanding debt, echoing
dismissals from EU and IMF
officials.
But both that report and the
signals from Germany served
to convince investors some-
thing is in the pipeline, hit-
ting debt markets and the euro
on Monday and keeping yield
spreads of Greek government
paper over German bunds near
record highs.
“Decisive voices within the
federal government expect that
Greece will not make it through
the summer without a restruc-
turing,” one high-ranking Ger-
man coalition source told Reu-
ters.
The 10-year market inter-
est rate on Greek debt rose to a
record 1,135 basis points, higher
than peaks last year when Greece
asked its EU and IMF partners
for a 110bn euro bailout.
To return the country to a
sustainable path, most econo-
mists agree that it needs to
wipe away roughly half the
value of its outstanding debt,
hitting private creditors with
significant “haircuts” on their
holdings.
But EU leaders have prom-
ised not to make private debt
holders pay before 2013. Do-
ing so in the near-term could
set off a wave of contagion that
engulfs Greek, German and
French banks, raises pressure
on Portugal and Ireland to re-
structure, and infects bigger
eurozone members like Spain.
Greek sovereign debt holdings
of Greek lenders are estimated at
around €49bn, with the coun-
try’s two largest banks alone
holding about 20bn. Haircuts
would hit banks’ equity capital.
Greek pension funds, already
straining from an ageing popu-
lation, also face a major poten-
tial hit as they hold about €8bn
worth of Greek bonds.
Worries over the prospect of
a restructuring sent the cost of
insuring Greek debt against de-
fault higher yesterday, with Por-
tuguese, Spanish and other low-
er-rated eurozone government
debt coming under pressure.
 Gulf Times
32 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
BUSINESS
CORPORATE RESULTS
Philips switches off TV in profit search
Philips is hiving off its once leading
television business, the first step by new
chief executive Frans van Houten to
boost flagging profit at Europe’s biggest
consumer electronics maker.
Philips is moving its loss-making TV
business to a 30/70 joint venture with
Hong-Kong based monitor maker TPV
and has the option to sell out. The Dutch
group has struggled to compete with
lower-cost Asian rivals Samsung and LG
Electronics.
Van Houten, a restructuring expert
who took over as CEO this month, said
yesterday he is assessing the profitabil-
ity of Philips’ 400 or so business areas
and “taking the blanket off” its laggards,
a hint that further divestments could be
on the cards.
Philips did not give a value for the
deal, saying it would receive a deferred
payment from TVP. All 3,600 employees
at the TV business will transfer to the
Hong Kong company.
Net income declined to €138mn
($198mn), which was lower than forecast
by analysts who spoke earlier to Dow
Jones Newswires.
Television sets produced can bear the
Philips brand name for at least five years,
and the company will receive royalties.
Philips, a manufacturer of medical
equipment, televisions and lighting
systems, employs about 119,000 people
in more than 60 countries. In January
the electronics giant reported a more
than three-fold rise in net overall income
for 2010 due to increased emerging
market sales.
Net profit for the year was €1.45bn
($1.96bn), up from €410mn in 2009.
However Philips warned then that
consumer sentiment in mature markets
remains subdued, pointing in particular
to the television market.
Citigroup
Citigroup’s first-quarter profit fell 32%,
slightly beating expectations, as the
bank lost less money on bad loans but
struggled to grow its business.
The third-largest US bank said net
revenue fell 22%, more than expected, to
$19.7bn, due to a slump in its securities
and trading unit and tepid consumer
banking results, especially in North
America.
“The numbers look OK relative to
expectations, but it’s a tough slog. I think
Van Houten: ‘taking the blanket off’ laggards
the tepid loan growth is just confirma-
tion of the expectations people have,”
said Michael Holland, chairman of
money-manager Holland & Co.
Citigroup said it earned $3bn, or 10¢
per share, down from $4.4bn, or 15¢ per
share, a year earlier. Analysts on average
had expected 9¢ per share, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
It is the fifth consecutive quar-
terly profit for Citigroup, which is slowly
recovering after taking $45bn in US
bailouts during the financial crisis.
By the end of 2010, the govern-
ment had shed its common shares in
Citigroup, and the bank reported its first
annual profit since 2007. Like other big
US banks JP Morgan Chase and Bank of
America, Citigroup is struggling to grow
its revenues in a volatile trading environ-
ment and amid weak consumer demand
for new loans.
Halliburton
Halliburton, the world’s second-largest
oilfield services company, posted better-
than-expected quarterly earnings, lifted
by a three-fold jump in profits at its key
North American operations.
Halliburton’s net profit rose to $511mn,
or 56¢ per share, from $206mn, or 23¢
per share, a year earlier. Excluding the
charge from its operations in Libya, the
company earned 61¢ per share, topping
the 58¢ per share that analysts had fore-
cast on average, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue rose to $5.3bn, also better
than than analysts’ forecasts for $4.89bn.
Operating profit at its North American
operations jumped to $732mn from
$230mn a year earlier. Latin America
also rose to $76mn, from $46mn,
although profits fell in the rest of the
world.
“We expect our Eastern Hemisphere
margins to improve in the second quar-
ter but they will continue to be impacted
by the situation in Libya and by competi-
tive pricing,” CEO Dave Lesar said.
Larger rival Schlumberger will post its
results on Thursday along with Weath-
erford International, while Baker Hughes
reports on April 27.
Gannett
Gannett Co reported a decline in quar-
terly profit and revenue, suggesting that
advertisers are shunning newspapers in
favour of other media, especially digital.
First-quarter net income fell to
$90.5mn, or 37¢ per share, compared
with $117.2mn, or 49¢ per share, a year
earlier, the company said yesterday. Gan-
nett, which owns the largest newspaper
chain in the US, reported that revenue
fell 3.7% to $1.25bn in the first quarter.
Analysts on average had expected
revenue of $1.26bn for the period, ac-
cording to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Revenue at both its publishing division,
home to 82 newspapers including USA
Today, and its broadcasting division de-
clined in the quarter, due largely to drops
in advertising. Only its digital business
saw an improvement from a year before.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 33

ADDITIONAL HOMES
Abu Dhabi awards $5.7bn
housing contracts
Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council (UPC) has
awarded contracts worth 21bn dirhams ($5.7bn),
a government official said yesterday, as the
oil-rich emirate seeks to address a housing
shortage. The contracts, awarded to four
developers including Sorouh Real Estate Co, will
deliver an additional 7,500 homes for Emirati
families, taking the total number of homes to
13,000, the official said. “All the projects were
tendered and evaluated. Deliveries will be
starting from 2012 up to 2014,” Falah al-Ahbabi,
general manager of Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning
Council, told reporters.
DEMAND OUTLOOK
Emal to ramp up output
to 800,000 tonnes a year
Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Aluminium (Emal)
plans to ramp up production at its Taweelah
smelter by 50,000 tonnes over the next year
to 800,000 tonnes of aluminum annually amid
a strong demand outlook, its chief executive
officer said. Emal, a $5.7bn joint venture between
Mubadala Development Co and Dubai Aluminum
Co (Dubal) started phase one production at
the smelter in December 2009 and reached
full production capacity of 750,000 tonnes in
January this year. “In 2012, we will finish the
improvement of the technology,” Saeed al-
Mazrooei said in Abu Dhabi.
REAL CONCERN
Iran oil minister says
investment vital
Iran’s ability to export crude would be at risk
if investment dries up, Iran’s oil minister was
quoted as saying yesterday, in a rare display of
concern for the finances of the crucial energy
sector. The world’s fifth largest oil exporter
usually downplays the impact on international
sanctions, which have pushed several western
oil companies to pull out of investing in Iran. Oil
Minister Massoud Mirkazmi’s remarks, reported
by the semi-official Mehr news agency, therefore
imply there is real concern about where the
country will find the $8bn per year it says it
needs to invest to maintain production levels.
BUSINESS
CRISIS SECTOR
Saudi developer planning
$7bn Egypt housing project
A Saudi developer offered to invest up to $7bn
to build some 200,000 residential units for low
and middle income Egyptian buyers, Egypt’s
state news agency reported yesterday. The
agency said Egypt’s Prime Minister Essam Sharaf
met yesterday with one of the “biggest Saudi
businessmen from Alsharif group who offered
to do a huge housing project in Egypt... and the
prime minister has expressed his approval for
the project”. The report did not give a timeframe
for the project or name the Saudi businessman.
Egypt’s real estate sector is in crisis after mass
protests ejected the country’s president.
MIDEAST TURMOIL
Abraaj plans offices
in UK, Indonesia
Dubai-based private equity firm Abraaj Capital
will open new offices this year in Asia and the
UK as it seeks to tap new markets away from the
Middle East’s sluggish private equity industry.
“We just opened an office in Singapore and will
soon be in Jakarta. That’s happening in like six
months,” Omar Lodhi, senior partner at Abraaj
and chief executive officer of Abraaj Asia, said.
“An office will also be opened in the UK once we
get the FSA license. This will ease and facilitate
the fund raising process,” he said. Lodhi added
that the Middle East and North Africa would
remain Abraaj’s core market.

‘Asia home for 80% of

Qatar energy exports’

Doha Bank Q1 profit jumps Qatar’s Minister of Energy and

Industry HE Dr Mohamed Saleh
al-Sada yesterday said Asia took
80% of the country’s crude and
product exports last year, a sign
of the region’s strong demand

on solid revenue streams

for energy.
“Our records show that in 2010
Asia was home for 80% of our
crude and products exports,
95% of the LPG and 100% of
condensate. As for LNG exports
to Asia which was 10.825mn
The lender’s return on average equity stands tonnes in 2000, this grew to
at 25.6%, “one of the best in the industry” 28.859mn tonnes last year,”
al-Sada said in a speech in the
By Santhosh V Perumal Kuwaiti capital.
Business Reporter

B
uoyant core revenue streams helped Doha
Bank to report a 15% jump in its first-quar-
ter (January-March) net profit to QR363mn.
Net interest income rose by 33.4% to QR393mn,
said Doha Bank chairman Sheikh Fahad bin Mo-
Producers
hamad bin Jabor al-Thani after the board meeting
yesterday.
Loans and advances stood at QR26.10bn and
move to
total assets increased by about 5% to QR46.40bn,
while customer deposits and unrestricted invest-
ment depositor accounts rose 3% to QR28bn, re-
reassure
flecting the strong liquidity position of the bank,
he said.
“The bank’s core revenue streams, like inter-
over oil
est income, foreign exchange earnings etc, have
shown remarkable growth reflecting on the bank’s
intrinsic strength towards recurring earning ca-
supplies
pacity and also on the bank’s productive opera- Sheikh Fahad, Sheikh Abdul Rehman and Seetharaman: Remarkable growth with intrinsic strength.
tional performance,” Doha Bank managing direc- AFP
tor Sheikh Abdul Rehman bin Mohamad bin Jabor timum asset allocation strategies, he said. come “extremely strong” over the years with shareholders and the region, he added. Kuwait city
al-Thani, said. “Continuing with our significant achievements shareholders’ funds registering 17% increase Doha Bank had recently entered into a memo-
The return on average equity stood at 25.6%, in 2010, the first quarter of 2011 was successful in in the last 12 months to QR6.20bn at the end of randum of understanding with Qatar Develop-

one of the best in the industry, he said, adding the
bank - given the scale of operations - has achieved
a very high return on the average assets of 3.1% as
on March 31. It is a clear demonstration of the ef-
fective utilisation of shareholder’s funds and op-
CORPORATE RESULTS
meeting and exceeding customer expectations,
and maintaining our leadership in terms of per-
formance, innovation, security and quality,” said
Doha Bank group CEO R Seetharaman.
Sheikh Abdul Rehman said the bank has be-
March 31, 2011.
The paid-up share capital of Doha Bank has
“organically” increased over the years and stood
at QR2.07bn at the end of first quarter of this year
reflecting the strong confidence it enjoy from
G
ment Bank to augment its drive to strengthen the ulf oil producers yester-
small and medium enterprises in Qatar. It had also day assured consum-
reached an agreement with National Bank, the ers of sufficient crude
largest private sector bank in Bangladesh, for re- supplies to help stem rises in
mittance of funds from Qatar to Bangladesh. oil prices fuelled by sweeping
unrest in the Middle East and
speculations.
“Certainly, Saudi Arabia’s
position in the world oil mar-
ket is based on its commitment

Nakilat profit rises 15% to QR188.49mn in Q1 to maintaining spare capacity

for the sake of price and market
stability,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali
al-Naimi said.
Nakilat (Qatar Gas Transport) has registered a 15% rise in its first-quarter Revenue from aviation and drilling fell 18% to QR220.45mn and gross income by 52% to QR1.11mn but dividend income more than doubled Al-Naimi told a roundtable
net profit to QR188.49mn despite a flat operational performance. insurance revenue fell 7% to QR108.76mn. to QR6.46mn and rental income from investment properties rose meeting for Asian energy min-
The company has reported gains on derivative instruments from joint With revenues falling faster than costs, the company’s gross profit 78% to QR1.44mn. Thus, investment and other income gained 43% to isters that the kingdom had a
venture against a huge loss incurred in January-March of 2010, which registered 44% decline to QR91.72mn. QR10.46mn. spare capacity of more than
lifted the net profitability, according to its financial statement. Although other income jumped about six-fold to QR17.56mn; operat- Total assets were worth QR1.67bn, including reinsurance contract 3.5mn barrels per day which Ri-
Revenue from wholly-owned vessels rose 17% to QR723.95mn, income ing income plunged 41% to QR85.08mn as there was also a 17% jump in assets of QR1.10bn; financial investments of QR259.64mn; cash and yadh can use whenever the need
from marine and agency services by 4% to QR7.95mn, interest and general and administrative costs to QR25.22mn. bank balances of QR107.85mn and insurance and other receivables of arises.
dividend income by 49% to QR10.98mn and other income by 69% to Net finance income plummeted 73% to QR1.26mn. QR107.82mn. On Sunday, al-Naimi said
QR6.83mn. But share of operating profits from joint ventures fell 2% to Total assets were valued at QR4.14bn comprising current assets of Total shareholders’ equity stood at QR400.89mn on a capital base Saudi Arabia was ready to sup-
QR58.43mn and profit from Islamic banks by 62% to QR4.53mn. QR1.98bn and non-current assets of QR2.16bn. of QR180mn and earnings-per-share was QR1.07 at the end of March 31, ply crude as demanded by cus-
Thus, total income reported a 15% growth to QR812.66mn. Total equity stood at QR2.15bn on a capital base of QR1.35bn and 2011. tomers, but he had acknowl-
Operating costs of the wholly-owned vessels soared by 44% to earnings-per-share was QR0.64 at the end of first quarter of this year. Islamic Holdings edged that the kingdom’s oil
QR114.66mn, general and administrative expenses by 11% to QR20.58mn Doha Insurance Company output fell to 8.29mn bpd in
and finance charges by 15% to QR345.71mn. Thus, total expenses grew Islamic Holdings has more than doubled its net profit to QR2.03mn in March from as high as 9.1mn
20% to QR626.84mn. Doha Insurance Company (DIC) has reported a 4% rise in its first- January-March this year mainly helped by robust growth in core earn- bpd in February.
Total assets were valued at QR32.61bn, comprising current assets of quarter net profit to QR19.20mn. ings. Net brokerage and commission income surged 72% to QR3.80mn Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh
QR3.06bn and non-current assets of QR29.55bn. Net premiums however fell 10% to QR24.64mn, according to its finan- even as income from savings accounts with Islamic banks fell 5% to Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said
Total equity (before hedge reserve and non-controlling interests) cial statement. QR0.58mn. the situation now is different
stood at QR7.10bn on a capital base of QR5.54bn and earnings-per-share After factoring in the positive change in unexpired risk reserve, DIC The brokerage company’s net operating profit reported a 45% growth from 2008, when oil prices shot
was QR0.34 at the end of March 31, 2011. limited its earned insurance premiums fall to 1% to QR25.73mn. to QR4.57mn as there was also a fresh QR0.18mn profit from sale of to an all-time high of $147 a bar-
Gulf International Services Total underwriting income was rather flat as it grew 0.45% to ‘available-for-sale’ investments. Other income plunged 92% to QR0.01mn. rel, because of abundant spare
QR31.30mn although there was a 26% jump in commission received to General and administrative expenses were up 13% to QR2.27mn and capacity.
Slippages in operational earnings resulted in Gulf International Serv- QR5.90mn. finance and bank charges by 49% to QR0.06mn. “The situation in 2011 is quite
ices (GIS) to report a 42% fall in net profit to QR86.33mn in the first three However, claims paid more than doubled to QR27.63mn, even as rein- Total assets were valued at QR966.24mn including current assets of different from 2008 due to the
months of this year. surer’s share of claims almost quadrupled to QR16.96mn, thus helping QR959.89mn and non-current assets of QR6.35mn. availability of surplus capac-
Total revenues were down 15% to QR329.21mn due to lower earnings the insurance company to report an 11% jump in net underwriting results Total shareholders’ equity stood at QR40.33mn on a capital base of ity in crude oil production and
from both aviation and drilling as well as insurance subsidiaries, accord- to QR19.80mn. QR30mn (of which 75% is paid up) and earnings-per-share was QR0.51 at refining capacity as well as the
ing to its financial statement. Income from sale of investments plunged 49% to QR0.65mn, interest the end of March 31, 2011. high inventories,” Sheikh Ah-
mad told the meeting.

PM stresses need for economic reforms

‘Private sector vital to job creation’
By Pratap John a combined net profit of $3.6bn this year, up
Chief Business Reporter 8% on 2010.
Yousif called for efforts at the Arab League
level to discuss all financial issues relating to

A
prominent Arab banker has called for
a ‘solid framework’ for the private
sector’s active participation in the re-
gional economies, which he said is ‘vital’ to
creating more jobs.
Addressing the opening session of the
‘Arab Banking Conference 2011’ yesterday,
Union of Arab Banks (UAB) chairman Adnan
Ahmed Yousif said the economic planning in
the region must reflect the aspirations of its
people.
The spotlight must be made on human de-
velopment while carrying out new economic
reforms.
“We have to have proper financial man-
agement in the Arab region. If systems of
taxation require modifications, they must be
Qatar Central Bank governor HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Saud al-Thani (right) arrives for the ‘Arab Bank- carried out. We must also put an end to cor-
ing Conference 2011’ at the Sharq Village yesterday with Qatari Businessmen Association chairman ruption is many countries in the MENA re-
Sheikh Faisal bin Qassem al-Thani. Sheikh Abdullah read the speech of HE the Prime Minister and gion,” Yousif said.
Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani in his absence. The Prime Minister in While economic reforms are required, the
his speech stressed the need for economic reforms to “effectively combat corruption, offer good banking sector in the region must also at-
governance and provide transparency.” tach top priority to transparency and issues
of disclosure. Better methods of monitor-
Adnan Ahmed Yousif addressing the ‘Arab
Banking Conference 2011’ yesterday.
ing financing and governance are required
to achieve economic stability in the Arab re-
gion, he said.
UAB has estimated that the combined bal-
ance sheet of the 490 Arab banks would grow
10% this year and exceed $3.5tn, Yousif said.
The combined net profit of the Arab banks
is projected to grow 15% and reach $37bn.
Of this, the Islamic banks may account for
countries in the region. A new ‘Arab vision’
for economic reforms is required.
Yousif said the two-day conference would
be an ideal platform for Arab financial insti-
tutions to resort to ‘open dialogue’. However,
it is a fact the Arab banks are in a ‘much bet-
ter shape’ when compared to their counter-
parts in the US or in Europe, he said.
Arab banks had not suffered to the extent
the financial institutions did in these conti-
nents following the global economic crisis.
This is because the Arab banks did not di-
rectly invest in the real estate or its deriva-
tives in the US or Europe.
The two-day conference focuses on “Arab
Economic Reforms: A New Vision”.
Organised by UAB, the event is being held
under the patronage of HE the Prime Minis-
ter and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani.
QNB is the ‘lead sponsor’ of the ‘Arab
Banking Conference 2011’, which is also
supported by many major banks across the
region.
 Gulf Times
34 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

BUSINESS

Dubai hits
14-week high;
Gulf bourses
end mixed
Reuters UAE markets edged to a high-
Dubai er close, as investor sentiment
is upbeat on a combination of
quarterly earnings and the coun-

S
audi Arabia’s index edged
to a higher close yester-
day, with banks and Etihad
Etisalat (Mobily) supporting on
first-quarter earnings.
The benchmark rose 0.02%,
gaining in four of seven sessions.
Mobily rose 0.5% after re-
porting a 40% growth in first-
quarter net profit late Sunday,
coming in just below the average
forecast by analysts polled by
Reuters.
Al-Rajhi Bank and Banque
Saudi Fransi rose 0.3 and 0.9%
respectively.
“Investors need to keep in mind
Led down by QNB, Nakilat, Barwa and Industries Qatar, the QE’s 20-stock benchmark yesterday lost 0.96% or 84 points to a two-week low of 8,645.17 points. going forward that there is already
a lot of positive news priced into
the market at these levels,” said
Amro Halwani, a senior trader at
try’s perceived safe haven status.
Investors however are doubt-
ing UAE’s likelihood of inclusion
in MSCI emerging market index.
“It is hard to argue that a mar-
ket that trades $100mn a day
and really has only 10 to 15 liquid
investable names should be in-
cluded in the MSCI,” said Robert
McKinnon, ASAS Capital chief
investment officer.
Dubai’s index rose 0.3% and
sits on a 14-week high and Abu
Dhabi’s benchmark climbed
0.4% to a nine-week high.
Kuwait’s index rose as inves-
tor fears settled after the death
of Kharafi Group’s chairman on
Sunday that triggered a sell-
off. The benchmark ended 0.5%
higher.

QE extends losses to 3rd

Shuaa Capital in Riyadh.
After market close, Saudi Ba-
sic Industries Corp (Sabic) re-
ported first-quarter results with
net profit rising 42% to 7.7bn
riyals, widely beating forecasts.
Analysts polled by Reuters ex-
Until first-quarter earnings
season ends, Kuwait’s will be
“a volatile within reason mar-
ket,” said Jasem Al Zeraei, head
of sales at National Bank of Ku-
wait.
Oman’s index slipped 0.1% to

day on selling pressure

pected an average of 6.2bn in net 6,397 points. Bahrain’s measure
profit. shed 0.06% to 1,403 points.

Dubai Group restructuring about $10bn

By Santhosh V Perumal small and large cap equities losing 1.58%,
Business Reporter 1.28% and 0.85% respectively; even as
micro caps rose 0.25%.
Of the 42 stocks, only 11gained, while
into offloading compared to 13.54%.
Foreign institutions continued to be
bullish but with lesser intensity as their
net buying sunk to 0.98% from 4.93% in
surged 69% to 5.34mn shares, value by
39% to QR136.25mn and transactions by
20% to 2,503.
The insurance sector’s trading volume
Dubai Group, part of a
conglomerate owned by the
emirate’s ruler, is restructuring
about $10bn in debts with
creditors, a source close to
the discussions said, but an
transactions such as direct
shareholder loans to the
company, and cash moved
around the wider group to
subsidiaries, the source said.
When asked about the terms

T
he Qatar Exchange fell 0.96%
yesterday, extending losses to the
third day, mainly on hurried sell-
ing by local retail investors.
Led down by QNB, Nakilat, Barwa and
Industries Qatar, the 20-stock bench-
mark lost 84 points to a two-week low of
8,645.17 points.
The market is down 0.42% year-to-
date.
Maximum selling was seen in services,
whose index plunged 1.89%, followed
by insurance (1.61%), banks and finan-
cial institutions (0.57%) and industry
(0.34%).
Market capitalisation shrank 1.03% or
about QR5bn to QR441.03bn with mid,
23 declined and four were unchanged.
Four others were not traded.
Qatari individual investors were in-
creasingly profit-takers as their net sell-
ing surged to 12.63% from 9.52% in the
previous day.
A higher 38.20% of them purchased
equities compared to 33.88% on Sun-
day but a higher 50.83% sold against
43.40%.
Non-Qatari retail investors however
turned bullish as they were net buyers
to the tune of 4.13% compared with net
sellers of 0.18% in the previous day.
A higher 18.34% of them were into
buying against 13.36% on Sunday al-
though a marginally higher 14.21% were
the previous day.
A lower 21.01% of them were into buy-
ing compared to 27.86% on Sunday and
a lower 20.03% were into selling against
22.93%.
Domestic institutions’ bullish grip
strengthened as their net buying rose to
7.51% from 4.76% in the previous day.
A lower 22.45% of them bought eq-
uities against 24.89% on Sunday and a
much lower 14.94% of them sold com-
pared to 20.13%.
Total trading volume rose 21%
to 7.87mn equities, value by 1% to
QR257.44mn and deals by less than 1%
to 4,492.
The services sector’s trading volume
shot up 50% to 0.09mn shares, value by
75% to QR4.79mn deals more than dou-
bled to 118.
The industrial sector witnessed a 2%
jump in trading volume to 0.52mn shares
whereas value fell 3% to QR35.08mn.
Transactions gained 3% to 508.
However, banks and financial in-
stitutions’ trading volume shrank
30% to 1.92mn equities, value by 31%
to QR81.32mn and deals by 26% to
1,363.
Actively traded stocks (in terms of vol-
ume) were Nakilat (2.91mn shares); Mas-
raf Al Rayan (791,981); Barwa (632,489);
Gulf International Services (613,598) and
Mawashi (416,021).
agreement is far from close.
Two sources familiar with the
company’s restructuring with
banks said talks are still at a
very early stage, contrary to a
senior regional banker who said
last week that a deal could be
signed in the second quarter.
The source close to the
discussions, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said
the company was restructuring
$10bn, comprised of about $6bn
in bank debt already disclosed.
The remaining $4bn relates
to other inter-company
of the restructuring, the source
said talks were “barely out of the
starting blocks”, but added that
banks will try to ensure that the
additional $4bn is subordinated
to the $6bn in bank claims.
Banks would predictably want
to be priority creditors in any
restructuring scenario which
is likely to include repayment
after a set time period and
asset sales.
A Gulf-based banker also
familiar with the matter said
an agreement could be several
months away.

Unrest-led outflows Libya rebel oil firm plays

from Gulf markets down export prospects
not material: HSBC Reuters
Benghazi
Bugaighis said rebels were se-
curing the fields under their con-
trol but were not working on get-
ting any of the fields apart from

L
ibyan rebels are unlikely Agoco’s pumping again for now.
Improved settlement systems could to export any more oil un- “They are secured, but, you
attract index funds; UK lender eyeing local til they are able to resume know, look at a map and look at
institutions to boost business; new accounts production but are keeping in the enormity of the desert and
being opened by conservative investors touch with potential buyers, an the tiny spots of oil fields. You
oil official in the opposition- really would need almost an
Reuters held east said yesterday. army to fully secure them,” he
Dubai The rebels control fields said.
owned by the Arabian Gulf Oil “But we are satisfied with the
Company (Agoco), including security we have right now, at

F
oreign investor outflows from Gulf Arab
markets during recent political unrest have
been significantly lower than those seen
during the financial crisis, the regional head of
custody at HSBC said.
Stock markets in the region have been pretty
resilient to political turmoil, signalling a positive
tone among investors, said Arindam Das, who is
also deputy head of the UK lender’s securities
services for the Middle East and North Africa
(Mena) region.
“I have seen far less money going out of mar-
kets here than what I saw during the financial cri-
sis. Maybe the reason that money is not flowing
out is in anticipation of something good that will
happen,” Das said in an interview last week.
Most Gulf Arab markets have shrugged off ini-
tial losses when unprecedented political unrest
in countries like Egypt and Bahrain led to stock
market sell-offs.
Dubai’s flagship index, for instance, has risen
over 12% in the last month.
“The regional unrest could have had a far big-
ger impact on the markets than it actually has
had,” Das said.
Improved settlement systems in countries like
the UAE and Qatar will result in more interest
from institutional investors, the executive added.
Gulf markets have been traditionally domi-
nated by retail investors who tend to follow a herd
mentality, resulting in panic-driven selling when
negative events unfold.
Bourses in Qatar and UAE have announced
plans to implement the global standard Delivery
Versus Payment (DvP) settlement system, seek-
Nafoora, Misla and Sarir, which
have a combined potential
production capacity of about
400,000 bpd, Wahid Bugaighis
told Reuters in an interview.
“We still have contacts with
Arindam Das: Resilient markets. potential buyers, but naturally
nothing materialises right now
ing upgrades from index compiler MSCI which until we know what the situ-
could attract index funds. ation is and when we will be
“The fundamental infrastructural changes back on stream,” said Bugaighis,
that are happening now, like the DvP, will address who was appointed head of the
some of the risk concerns conservative institu- National Oil Company, set up
tions will have,” Das said in the interview. by the Benghazi-based rebel
The executive said HSBC, which handles about national council to sell oil pro-
25% to 30% of all the institutional money flow in duced in rebel-held areas.
the region, was now turning towards local insti- Qatar, which is marketing the
tutions in the region to boost its business. rebels’ crude, said last week it
Among the local institutions, the bank is had facilitated the sale of 1mn
mainly focusing on mutual funds and family of- barrels of oil this month as well
fices, Das said. as arranged the shipment of four
At present about 80% of clients are foreign in- cargoes of fuel to Benghazi and
stitutions and the remaining are local firms, Das was ready to support further
said, adding some long-term conservative insti- transactions.
tutions have opened custody accounts recently Rebels had to shut down oil
without naming them. production after forces loyal
“I have seen some big names who hadn’t to Muammar Gaddafi attacked
opened accounts earlier, opening accounts now. Agoco’s Misla field in early April,
It’s a positive sign but it’s not enough to conclude damaging its power generation
that money will start pouring in,” he said. system, an oil tank, some small-
A bank offering custodian services usually er diesel tanks and other equip-
holds and manages a client’s securities or other ment, Bugaighis said.
assets on their behalf for a fee. The main objec- He said he hoped production
tive is to reduce the risk of a client losing assets or would resume in “a few weeks”,
having them stolen. but this depended on security,
the extent of the damage and
other factors.
Mixed signals on who is in
charge of east Libya’s energy
industry has made it harder to
form a clear picture on rebel oil
policy.
An Agoco official contacted
by Reuters said the firm was not
giving a timeline on resuming
production and was still operat-
ing independently of Bugaighis
by dealing directly with the na-
tional council.
least in terms of protecting es-
sential infrastructure and our
people,” he added.
Bugaighis said rebels were still
in contact with potential buyers,
both those who had purchased
oil from Libya before and possi-
ble first-time customers.
“Some people are keeping
their options open,” he said, de-
clining to name any specific pos-
sible buyers.
The Libyan opposition is ea-
ger to resume oil production so it
can pay salaries and meet other
expenses as it tries to oust Gadd-
afi, who is fielding better-armed
and trained troops against rebels
on the road between Ajdabiyah
and Brega.
If they do manage to oust
Gaddafi, Bugaighis said Libya’s
new leadership would try to root
out corruption in the oil indus-
try and might reconsider some
of the Gaddafi government’s
production policies.
“The policy from the incep-
tion of the Gaddafi regime, or
say about three or four years into
it ... their objective was always
produce, produce the maximum,
regardless of whether it was sus-
tainable or not. This is what we
want to reconsider,” he said.

Car makers go local
to tap China growth
Chinese vehicle sales seen
rising 27% to 23mn by
2015; GM plans 60 new or
upgraded models over five
years; Changan, Ford, Mazda
JV considering indigenous
brand; Peugeot, Changan
joint venture also eyeing
China-dedicated brand
Reuters
Shanghai
G
lobal auto makers and
their Chinese partners
are rolling out dedicated
local brands and targeting buy-
ers in smaller towns and cities
as growth in the world’s larg-
est auto market slows from its
breakneck pace.
Vehicle sales are anticipated
to rise to 23mn units by 2015, up
27% from their level in 2010, a
senior Chinese government of-
ficial said yesterday in Shanghai,
ahead of the official opening of
the Shanghai Auto Show.
That figure suggests a slowing
growth rate because it is lower
than the 32.4% rate in 2010,
in which China’s sales totalled
18.1mn units. Car sales alone
rose a third last year to 13.8mn
units.
Those sales secured the coun-
try’s position as the world’s big-
gest auto market for the second
consecutive year.
Su Bo, vice minister of the
Ministry of Industry and Infor-
mation Technology, disclosed
the forecast at a seminar being
held ahead of the Shanghai Auto
Show, which opens to the press
today.
Factory employees work on a near-complete Mi-35 helicopter at the Rosvertol factory in Rostov-on-Don. Russia is breathing new life into a helicopter industry left in ruins by
the Soviet collapse.
Russia revives helicopter industry
Reuters
Rostov-on-Don, Russia
R
ussia is breathing new life
into a helicopter industry
left in ruins by the Soviet
collapse, part of a modernisa-
tion programme aimed at diver-
sifying the economy away from
oil and gas.
State-run Russian Helicop-
ters, a holding company set up
last year to bring together 11
regional manufacturers, is win-
ning new contracts both inside
and outside Russia and has
unveiled plans for a ground-
breaking $500mn market float.
Russian Helicopters builds a
series of Mi-branded vehicles
such as were used in the Soviet
Union invasion of Afghanistan
in the 1980s. Today’s fam-
ily includes the 24-hour Mi-28
Nighthunter and the heavy lift-
ing Mi-26.
The company as a whole
plans to deliver 262 helicopters
this year, up from 214 in 2010,
a financial market source told
Reuters, while orders from the
state are seen at 1,200-1,300
But while the official growth
rate may slow, the outlook is
positive enough for Chinese car
makers and their overseas part-
ners to make substantial invest-
ments on the mainland.
General Motors said it plans
to more than double its sales
in China to around 5mn units
by 2015, up from 2.35mn units
in 2010, its China head said on
Monday.
GM China chief Kevin Wale
said GM planned to introduce
around 60 new and upgraded
models in China over the next
five years, around 12 of them be-
ing Buicks and 15 Chevrolets.
“Smaller towns are getting
into the market and car
makers are starting to be
able to set up there”
“We have set some aggressive
goals with our five-year plan,”
Wale said in statement. “We are
confident that we will achieve
every one of our goals.”
Susan Docherty, GM’s inter-
national operations vice presi-
dent of sales, said GM’s Chev-
rolet brands sold 1.1mn vehicles
globally in the first quarter, up
15% from a year earlier.
“We expect the Chevrolet
sales to more than double over
the next five years,” Docherty
said of Chevrolet international
vehicle sales, which include
China.
GM said late last year it ex-
pects exports of its China-made
Chevrolet Sail to more than
quadruple this year due to rising
demand for low-cost quality ve-
hicles in emerging markets.
machines within the next 10
years.
That translates into at least
half of the future production
pipeline, said Anna Kupriyano-
va, analyst at Moscow’s Uralsib.
“Regarding future orders – as
of now we estimate roughly half
are coming from the domestic
market and half from export
orders ... Demand from export
markets is strong as Mi-heli-
copters do not face high levels
of competition in their segment
and are relatively cheap,” she
added.
Russian Helicopters’ Mi-35
has orders from the Brazil-
ian airforce for use in the war
against drugs trafficking, ac-
cording to industry sources.
Meanwhile, Kazan Helicop-
ters, also part of the holding
company, will supply 21 mili-
tary Mi-17 machines to the US
for use in its military operation
in Afghanistan, Russia’s Kom-
mersant newspaper wrote this
month.
Russia is one of the few major
economies increasing defence
spending in the wake of the
global economic crisis, pledg-
GM is also showing its Bao-
jun 630 sedan, a mid-size vehi-
cle developed locally using GM
technology. The car is the first of
GM’s Baojun brand that will be
available nationwide.
Officials at PSA Peugeot Cit-
roen say they too are convinced
China’s car market will continue
to grow by about 10% a year for
several years.
In a move that illustrates the
importance of China, Citroen
unveiled its new DS5 premium
five-seater car yesterday.
“Ten percent growth will last
for several years,” said Philippe
Varin, Peugeot’s CEO.
Gregoire Olivier, chief execu-
tive of PSA’s Asia operations,
said that about 5% of Chinese
people own a car compared with
about 55% of Europeans, a dis-
parity he said showed how much
room there is for the Chinese
market to grow.
Car ownership is not evenly
spread throughout the country,
with Beijing and Shanghai hav-
ing to impose limits on car reg-
istrations even as smaller towns
and cities with lower car own-
ership numbers emerge and car
makers rush in to scoop up sales.
“Smaller towns are getting
into the market and car makers
are starting to be able to set up
there,” said Varin.
PSA will produce DS5s, the
latest model in its DS range,
in China with its new partner
Changan Automobile, China’s
No4 auto maker.
One way auto makers, foreign
and domestic, plan to increase
sales in China is by teaming up to
build “indigenous brands”, and
ing more than $651bn over the
next decade. The country spent
$61bn last year.
Investment in helicopter
manufacturing in particu-
lar is part of President Dmitry
Medvedev’s ambitious plans to
reduce Russia’s reliance on de-
mand for its natural resources,
which is still the lifeblood of
the economy but leaves it highly
vulnerable to global economic
slumps.
“There was no budget
money, no demand for
helicopters ...”
A key part of that goal is
privatisation – loosening the
government’s control over
hundreds of corporations and
bringing in new investment and
foreign expertise.
Russian Helicopters is high
up on that privatisation list,
with its IPO in London and
Moscow set to give investors
access to Russia’s defence sec-
tor for the first time.
Russian Helicopters’ opera-
tional units include Rostvertol
in the southwestern Russian
Chinese car makers themselves
are trying to grow their own
brands both at home and abroad.
Chongqing Changan Automo-
bile Co, which has a three-way
partnership with Ford Motor and
Mazda Motor in China, said the
joint venture is considering roll-
ing out its own brand.
Changan makes and sells Ford
models including the Focus, Fi-
esta and Mondeo in China under
its partnership with Ford and
Mazda. It also sells the Mazda 2
and Mazda 3.
Ford itself is planning to in-
crease its presence in China. The
US car maker said last week that
it would introduce 15 new vehi-
cles, double its dealerships from
340 and add 1,200 new jobs in
China by 2015 as it seeks to catch
up with rivals.
The step is the latest round of
initiatives that the US auto giant
has taken in China since Asia and
Africa chief Joe Hinrichs took
the China chief executive role
last October.
The first of the 15 new models,
the Focus, will go into produc-
tion in 2012 at a planned $490mn
factory in Chongqing with an
initial capacity of 150,000 units.
Peugeot too will launch what
it calls a dedicated brand. As
required by Chinese legislation,
PSA and Changan will launch
the brand starting with com-
mercial vehicles and passenger
vehicles following two to three
years later.
Olivier said the new brand
could be launched within a year.
“China is objective No1 for the
brand, but we can’t rule out ex-
porting it,” he added.
city of Rostov-on-Don, which
employs around 8,000 people
in the region and builds models
including heavy lifter Mi-26T –
at 50 tonnes one of the world’s
largest helicopters in service –
and the smaller Mi-35 fighter.
The company’s CEO Boris
Slusar, born in 1942, has been in
the top job for 10 years and has
seen much change since he be-
gan working on the plant’s shop
floor was in his late teens.
A keen hunter, with an 8ft
bear skin proudly displayed on
his office floor, he tells how the
plant was reduced to a glorified
repair and maintenance out-
let when Soviet Union funding
dried up in the early 1990s.
“There was no budget mon-
ey, no demand for helicopters.
The main task was keeping our
workforce – the lowest we had
was 5,500 – but we managed to
keep the facilities running while
others were forced to sell their
properties,” he said.
Igor Semerov, a first deputy
director general responsible for
production, joined as an engi-
neer in 1973 and also worked
through boom and bust.
An handout combo picture released yesterday by Daimler showing the concept for the new A-Class as
presented by Mercedes Benz at the Motor Show in Shanghai, China. The biennial auto fair will open today
with the Media Day.
“After Perestroika (a series of
political reforms that preceded
the fall of the Soviet Union)
there was a huge drop in pro-
duction ... We just did repairs
and maintenance and tried to
hold onto qualified people ... It
was not stagnation, it was dis-
integration,” he said.
Now the Russian government
is not only ordering helicopters
to boost its own army, it is piling
both national and regional state
funding into manufacturing fa-
cilities as an incentive for the
plant to invest in new technolo-
gies and models.
“This plant was historically
mostly self-sufficient, but in the
past few years a lot has changed;
if you invest in new production,
you can apply for state support,”
Boris Slusar said, adding that
tax exemptions were also avail-
able.
Upgrading and redesigning
existing models has become a
major activity at the plant in re-
cent years, a task it is hoped will
help lower the risk of crashes
such as the one that killed seven
occupants of an Mi-8 helicopter
last November.
BUSINESS
Japan needs more
LNG; buys to push
up long-term price
Qatar to supply 4mn tonnes
LNG; Spot prices to rise, says
Japanese industry head
Reuters
Tokyo
J
apan needs to buy more liq-
uefied natural gas (LNG) even
after securing 4mn tonnes of
additional fuel from top pro-
ducer Qatar, which is likely to
push long-term prices higher
and reduce cargoes available for
Europe.
Top LNG importer Japan is
battling to minimise power
shortages in the aftermath of a
devastating earthquake and sub-
sequent tsunami in March that
knocked out more than 9 giga-
watts of nuclear power supply.
“Additional purchases from
the utilities will tighten the sup-
ply and demand balance, but the
market was originally oversup-
plied, with about 40 to 50mn
tonnes said to be in surplus
globally,” Mitsunori Torihara,
chairman of the Japan Gas Asso-
ciation, told a news conference.
“A rise in LNG prices will be
unavoidable from now on, but
in terms of volume, there is no
need to worry,” said Torihara,
who also serves as Chairman of
Tokyo Gas Co Ltd.
Qatar’s state-run energy firm
Qatargas will supply more than
60 extra cargoes of LNG, or 4mn
tonnes, to Japan over the next 12
months, the company said on
Saturday.
Japan may need to buy as much
as 10mn tonnes of additional
LNG, so the Qatar purchase would
likely be followed by more, one
industry source said on Monday.
Industry estimates of the volume
of additional LNG it needs range
from the 4mn tonnes per year its
has bought from Qatar to 10mn
tonnes per year.
Global gas supply is ahead of
demand. The International Ener-
gy Agency estimates it could take
years to work off the extra supply.
Japan is eating into that spare
capacity as it looks to plug its
power supply shortage after the
quake, although analysts say it is
unlikely to be enough to remove
the global gas glut.
Still, traders expect LNG pric-
es in the region to strengthen on
the Japan purchases.
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 35
“If Qatar diverts to Japan more
than 60 cargoes that it had con-
tractually committed to others,
that would have a big impact on
spot and long-term prices,” said
a source in LNG trading at a Jap-
anese trading house.
“The more (extra supplies) the
better. Many Japanese trading
houses, electric power compa-
nies and gas firms invest in Qa-
tar, so I think Qatar decided to
support Japan considering those
partnerships,” the source said.
The extra cargoes from Qatar
would be shipped to a number of
Japanese utilities and not limited
to Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco)
and Tohoku Electric Power , the
worse affected by the quake, in-
dustry sources said.
“A rise in LNG prices will
be unavoidable from now
on, but in terms of volume,
there is no need to worry”
Other utilities in Japan will
need to boost runs at thermal
plants to supply power to the
two firms.
Japanese gas and power firms
would also continue to divert LNG
cargoes to Tepco, Torihara said.
Tepco is using gas turbines to
increase power supply and plans
to bring more gas-fired power
capacity online to help it meet
the supply shortage caused by
the shutdown of nuclear and
other power plants after the
quake.
Japan has negotiated extra
supplies from a variety of pro-
ducers as well as Qatar, including
Russia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
It has also arranged additional
supplies through time swaps
with Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) and
Taiwan’s CPC.
Last year, Japan imported a
record 70mn tonnes of LNG and
Qatar was its fourth-biggest sup-
plier, shipping 7.63mn tonnes.
The nation’s 10 main electric
power firms imported 43.92mn
tonnes of LNG, a record, in the fi-
nancial year ended in March, using
95% of that for power generation.
Qatargas has long been a sup-
plier of LNG to Japan. Qatar’s
other state-run LNG supplier,
Rasgas, holds no long-term con-
tracts with Japan but has supplied
cargoes to Japan via Qatargas since
the quake, a company executive
said earlier this month.
 Gulf Times
36 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

BUSINESS
SAUDI ARABIA KUWAIT OMAN
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume
Saudi Cooperative Iaic Insur 32.00 0.63 282,247 Kuwait International Bank 320.00 -1.54 5,420,000 Voltamp Energy Saog 0.61 1.33 53,159
Samba Financial Group 55.00 -0.90 326,629 Kuwait Insurance Co 300.00 0.00 10,000 United Finance Co 0.07 -2.99 42,325
Sanad Cooperative Insurance 19.55 -1.01 856,383 Kuwait Investment Co 100.00 0.00 360,000 United Power Co 1.05 2.45 568
Saudi Public Transport Co 7.45 0.00 880,002 Kuwait & Middle East Fin Inv 0.00 0.00 - United Power/Energy Co- Pref 1.00 0.00 -
Saudi Arabian Refinery Co 32.90 0.61 157,165 Kuwait National Airways Co 51.00 0.00 320,000 Transgulf Investment Hldg Co 0.07 -1.47 470,887
Saudi Re For Cooperative Rei 10.90 9.55 20,523,669 Kout Food Group 380.00 0.00 10,000 Taageer Finance 0.15 3.55 10,000
Savola 27.10 1.12 401,061 Kuwait Packing Materials Mfg 0.00 0.00 - Salalah Port Services 0.48 0.00 -
Saudi Cable Co 14.05 -1.06 3,248,721 Privatization Holding Compan 38.50 -6.10 720,000 A’saffa Foods Saog 0.43 -0.93 29,370
Saudi Chemical Company 45.20 2.03 1,618,194 Kuwait Projects Co Holdings 405.00 -1.22 650,000 Sohar Poultry 0.21 0.00 -
Saudi Ceramic 139.50 0.18 21,480 Kuwait Real Estate Co 51.00 -1.92 2,760,000 Shell Oman Marketing 2.30 0.00 800
QATAR Saudi Electricity Co 13.10 -0.38 3,464,554 Kuwait Slaughter House Co 0.00 0.00 - Shell Oman Marketing - Pref 1.05 0.00 -
Saudi Fisheries 47.50 -0.84 295,016 Kuwaiti Syrian Holding Co 45.00 0.00 80,000 Al Shurooq Inv Ser 1.10 0.00 -
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Al-Hassan G.I. Shaker Co 57.50 2.68 288,935 Kuwait Invest Co Holding 0.00 0.00 - Al Sharqiya Invest Holding 0.11 0.00 -
Saudi Hotels & Resort 27.50 0.00 9,635 Kuwait Reinsurance Co Ksc 0.00 0.00 - Sohar Power Co 1.55 -0.64 919
Ezdan Real Estate Co 24.22 2.63 51,556 Arabian Shield Cooperative 20.45 -0.73 456,817 Kgl Logistics Company Kscc 300.00 0.00 390,000 Salalah Beach Resort Saog 1.43 0.00 -
Industries Qatar 147.50 -0.14 309,867 Saudi Investment Bank 19.90 -0.50 143,972 Mabanee Co Sakc 720.00 2.86 1,695,000 Salalah Mills Co 0.85 0.00 20,581
Qatar National Bank 149.80 0.27 206,547 Saudi Industrial Development 12.85 2.39 2,009,516 Al-Madar Finance & Invt Co 0.00 0.00 - Sahara Hospitality 2.35 0.00 -
Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C 151.30 0.87 78,725 Saudi Industrial Export Co 25.50 2.20 3,191,621 Manafae Investment Co 57.00 0.00 480,000 Renaissance Services Saog 1.09 1.58 1,327,815
Commercial Bank Of Qatar 71.50 -1.38 400,165 Saudi Ind Investment Group 24.55 -1.80 1,937,747 Manazel Holding 19.50 0.00 720,000 Raysut Cement Co 1.10 0.74 22,324
Qatar Islamic Bank 81.20 -2.87 636,775 Saudi Indian Co 30.70 -0.97 587,431 Markaz Real Estate Fund 0.00 0.00 - Port Service Corporation 0.52 0.00 1,000
Barwa Real Estate Co 34.65 -1.14 576,444 Saudi International Petroche 23.00 0.00 3,218,100 Marine Services Co 248.00 0.00 20,000 Packaging Co Ltd 0.38 0.00 -
Masraf Al Rayan 24.12 -0.70 975,042 Saudi Industrial Services Co 13.85 1.09 2,331,201 Kuwait Financial Centre 130.00 1.56 1,280,000 Oman United Insurance Co 0.14 0.00 91,800
Qatar Electricity & Water Co 153.50 0.39 324,803 Saudi Transport And Investme 14.15 -0.35 827,246 Al Masaken Intl Real Estate 45.50 0.00 80,000 Oman Textile Holding Co Saog 0.60 -0.17 739
Qatar Gas Transport(Nakilat) 19.56 -0.10 3,124,352 Southern Province Cement Co 62.50 1.63 80,642 Al-Masar Leasing And Investm 0.00 0.00 - Oman Telecommunications Co 1.11 -0.45 16,650
Doha Bank Qsc 52.30 -1.69 646,781 Solidarity Saudi Takaful Co 18.50 2.78 18,006,610 Mashaer Holdings 126.00 0.00 380,000 Sweets Of Oman 0.80 0.00 -
Qatar Navigation 83.70 -0.36 62,369 Sahara Petrochemical Co 23.10 0.22 1,188,747 Al-Massaleh Real Estate Co 108.00 5.88 20,000 Oman Orix Leasing Co. 0.09 0.00 -
Aamal Co 19.50 -1.52 14,870 Saudi Pharmaceutical Industr 40.80 0.00 69,311 National Ranges Company 20.00 2.56 12,320,000 Oman Refreshment Co 0.94 70.00 5,500
Vodafone Qatar 8.03 -0.50 321,575 Saudi Paper Manufacturing Co 47.00 0.43 167,843 Al-Mazaya Holding Co 85.00 0.00 1,240,000 Oman Packaging 0.14 0.00 -
Qatar Fuel Co 259.50 -0.19 10,786 Saudi Printing & Packaging C 12.20 1.67 1,389,241 Mena Real Estate Co 45.50 0.00 80,000 Oman Oil Marketing Company 1.32 0.15 15,000
Qatar International Islamic 46.50 -0.11 196,200 Mena Holding Group 32.50 0.00 2,080,000 Oman Oil Marketing Co-Pref 0.25 0.00 -
Qatar Insurance Co 82.00 1.36 28,595 Al Mowasat Health Care Co 120.00 0.00 20,000 Oman National Investment Co 0.30 -0.66 56,155
Al Khaliji Bank 18.70 -0.53 163,141 Al Maidan Dental Clinic Co K 580.00 0.00 25,000 Oman National Engineering An 0.49 0.00 -
Al Ahli Bank 66.00 -2.80 11,801 KUWAIT Metal & Recycling Co 116.00 1.75 40,000 Oman National Dairy Products 0.00 0.00 -
Qatar National Cement Co 116.00 4.98 70,256 Mushrif Trading & Contractin 130.00 1.56 40,000 Ominvest 0.48 0.84 180,597
Gulf International Services 29.00 -0.68 637,185 Mubarrad Transport Co 83.00 1.22 120,000 Oman Medical Projects 0.08 0.00 -
Mannai Corporation 107.50 0.00 731
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume
Munshaat Real Estate Project 34.50 0.00 80,000 Oman Natl Livestock Dev-Pref 0.00 0.00 -
United Development Co 22.60 -1.48 62,904 Aayan Leasing & Investment 0.00 0.00 - Kuwait Resorts Co Kscc 37.00 0.00 160,000 Oman Ceramic Com 0.75 0.00 -
Qatar General Insurance & Re 41.05 -2.96 24,000 A’ayan Real Estate Co 69.00 -1.43 160,000 Nafais Holding 46.50 0.00 160,000 Oman Intl Marketing 0.55 0.00 -
Qatar Industrial Manufactur 53.00 -0.38 36,803 Burgan Co For Well Drilling 0.00 0.00 - National Petroleum Services 325.00 0.00 10,000 Oman Investment & Finance 0.21 0.00 134,206
Al-Khalij Holding Co 18.30 -1.08 174,871 Al Ahli Bank Of Kuwait 620.00 -1.59 20,000 National Bank Of Kuwait 1,200.00 1.69 5,152,500 Oman International Bank Saog 0.28 1.84 458,462
National Leasing 38.00 0.53 61,294 Al Abraj Holding Co 0.00 0.00 - National Co For Consumer In 0.00 0.00 - Oman Hotels & Tourism Co 3.10 0.00 -
First Finance Co 19.80 0.00 - Abyaar Real Eastate Developm 33.50 -1.47 20,000,000 Network Holding Co K.S.C.C 0.00 0.00 - Oman Holding International 0.32 -3.96 210,550
Salam International Investme 11.92 -0.33 74,535 Acico Industries Co Kscc 310.00 -1.59 220,000 National Industries Co 330.00 0.00 10,000 Oman Fiber Optics 3.30 0.00 -
Mazaya Qatar Real Estate Dev 9.30 -1.69 144,889 Al-Dar National Real Estate 0.00 0.00 - National International Co 45.00 0.00 80,000 Oman Flour Mills 0.59 0.51 100,000
Qatar Islamic Insurance 50.10 -2.53 15,236 Afaq Educational Services 0.00 0.00 - National Industries Grp Hold 270.00 0.00 3,060,000 Oman Filters Industry 0.02 0.00 -
Al Khaleej Takaful Group 44.20 0.45 14,289 Al Arabi Group Holding Co 124.00 -1.59 200,000 National Investments Co 295.00 1.72 3,830,000 Oman Fisheries Co 0.13 0.79 2,047,933
Zad Holding Co 48.60 -2.80 1,608 Agility 380.00 0.00 500,000 National Mobile Telecommuni 1,880.00 3.30 185,000 Oman Education & Training In 0.54 0.00 -
Al Meera Consumer Goods Co 91.20 -0.33 11,566 Aref Investment Group Co 52.00 0.00 440,000 Noor Financial Investment K. 29.00 0.00 80,000 Oman & Emirates Inv(Om)50% 0.16 0.00 100
Gulf Warehousing Company 31.00 -7.32 378,863 Al-Ahleia Insurance Co 510.00 0.00 5,000 National Real Estate Co 104.00 1.96 700,000 Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50% 0.59 0.00 -
Doha Insurance Co 28.15 -0.18 2,747 Al-Ahlia Holding Co 15.00 7.14 6,240,000 National Slaughter House 0.00 0.00 - Oman Europe Foods Industries 0.20 0.00 -
Medicare Group 24.00 0.42 121,708 Ajwan Gulf Real Estate Co 0.00 0.00 - Osoul Investment Kscc 47.50 0.00 80,000 Oman Cement Co 0.59 3.89 68,000
Dlala Holding 16.75 -0.77 51,667 Aviation Lease And Finance C 375.00 -1.32 820,000 Oula Fuel Marketing Co 345.00 6.15 60,000 Oman Chlorine 0.38 3.85 55,250
Qatar Meat & Livestock Co 19.99 -10.00 2,166,141 Al Aman Investment Company 37.00 -2.63 160,000 Palms Agro Production Co 110.00 -5.17 160,000 Oman Chemical Industrial Co 0.00 0.00 -
Qatar & Oman Investment Co 8.41 0.12 52,710 Kuwait Real Estate Holding C 35.00 0.00 160,000 Shuaiba Industrial Co 210.00 0.00 20,000 Oman Chromite 3.75 0.00 -
Qatar Cinema & Film Distrib 40.00 0.00 - Al-Deera Holding Co 32.00 0.00 3,600,000 Kuwait Portland Cement Co 1,520.00 -1.30 72,500 Oman Cables Industry 1.14 0.62 56,500
Islamic Holding Group 26.60 -0.56 6,885 Al-Eid Food Co 0.00 0.00 - Pearl Of Kuwait Real Estate 25.00 0.00 80,000 Oman Agricultural Dev 1.45 0.00 -
Qatar German Co For Medical 9.10 0.00 28,482 Alkout Industrial Projects C 0.00 0.00 - Kuwait Pipes Indus & Oil Ser 196.00 5.38 1,640,000 Omani Qatari Telecommunicati 0.76 -0.13 334,954
Al Madina For Finance And In 38.00 1.33 1,520,000 Kuwait United Poultry Co 0.00 0.00 - National Securities 0.12 0.00 -
Al Mal Investment Company 85.00 3.66 7,760,000 Umm Al Qaiwain Cement Indust 52.00 6.12 120,000 Oman Foods International Soa 0.13 0.00 -
Al Mudon Intl Real Estate Co 0.00 0.00 - National Pharmaceutical-Rts 0.00 0.00 -
SAUDI ARABIA Ahli United Bank (Almutahed) 740.00 -1.33 110,000 National Pharmaceutical 0.10 0.00 -
Al-Nawadi Holding Co K.S.C 81.00 0.00 240,000 National Packaging Fac 3.50 0.00 -
First Investment Co Kscc 122.00 5.17 6,760,000 UAE National Mineral Water 0.08 1.25 163,800
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume
Al-Qurain Petrochemicals Co 192.00 2.13 2,880,000 National Industrial Inv-Pfd 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi Hollandi Bank 31.00 0.00 76,860 Alrai Media Group Co 0.00 0.00 - National Hospitality Institu 2.05 0.00 -
Al-Ahsa Development Co. 11.15 -0.45 2,337,891 Al Safat Investment Co 60.00 0.00 7,240,000
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume
National Gas Co 0.45 0.00 13,930
Al-Baha Development & Invest 13.95 -0.36 1,135,608 Al Safwa Group Co 17.00 -2.86 3,600,000 Waha Capital Pjsc 0.74 1.37 2,777,774 National Finance Co 0.12 0.00 2,000
Ace Arabia Cooperative Insur 36.00 -2.44 1,392,368 Al Salam Group Holding Co 36.00 -1.37 2,640,000 Union Insurance Co 0.00 0.00 - National Detergents/The 0.90 0.00 -
Allied Cooperative Insurance 31.80 -0.63 352,414 Alshamel International Hold 0.00 0.00 - Union National Bank/Abu Dhab 3.12 -0.32 142,000 National Carpet Factory 0.00 0.00 -
Arriyadh Development Company 16.00 0.00 685,424 Commercial Real Estate Co 72.00 -1.37 360,000 United Insurance Company 0.00 0.00 - National Bank Of Oman 0.31 0.00 1,120,796
Fitaihi Holding Group 11.90 -1.65 2,712,106 Amar Finance & Leasing Co 54.00 0.00 40,000 Union Cement Co 1.21 0.00 8,847 National Biscuit Industries 4.20 0.00 -
Arabia Insurance Cooperative 20.80 -0.48 302,044 Amwal International Investme 64.00 0.00 80,000 United Arab Bank 5.30 0.00 5,000 National Beverages Co Ltd 5.00 0.00 -
Al Abdullatif Industrial Inv 27.10 0.00 191,499 Aqar Real Estate Investments 0.00 0.00 - Abu Dhabi National Takaful 2.60 5.26 1,973 Natl Aluminium Products 0.49 -1.80 149,165
Al-Ahlia Cooperative Insuran 34.30 -1.44 219,519 Arab Real Estate Co 33.50 -1.47 80,000 Abu Dhabi National Energy Co 1.55 0.65 15,743 Muscat Thread Mills Co 0.13 0.00 915
Al Alamiya Cooperative Insur 31.40 3.97 1,356,291 Ajial Real Estate Entmt 118.00 0.00 100,000 Sudan Telecommunications Co$ 2.10 -2.33 16,000 Muscat Insurance Company 0.00 0.00 -
Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Dev 9.50 1.06 4,147,498 Aref Energy Holding Co Kscc 122.00 0.00 660,000 Sorouh Real Estate Company 1.42 2.16 12,492,343 Modern Poultry Farms 0.00 0.00 -
Al Babtain Power & Telecommu 27.10 -0.73 180,795 Alargan International Real 0.00 0.00 - Sharjah Insurance Company 0.00 0.00 - Muscat National Holding 1.58 0.00 -
Bank Albilad 19.20 -1.29 321,436 Arab Insurance Group 0.00 0.00 - Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel 0.88 7.32 32,700 Musandam Marketing & Invest 0.00 0.00 -
Alujain Corporation (Alco) 21.45 -0.46 1,455,126 Arkan Al Kuwait Real Estate 67.00 -4.29 40,000 Ras Al Khaima Poultry 1.59 0.00 20,000 Al Maha Petroleum Products M 11.60 0.00 -
Aldrees Petroleum Operates G 46.50 2.42 118,970 Automated Systems Co 285.00 5.56 10,000 Ras Al Khaimah Co 1.40 0.00 100,000 Muscat Gases Company Saog 0.79 0.00 8,878
Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair & C 44.10 -1.34 76,494 Advanced Technology Co 800.00 -4.76 25,000 Rak Properties 0.40 0.00 23,473,306 Majan Glass Company 0.68 0.00 -
Alinma Bank 10.15 1.00 43,302,023 Ahli United Bank B.S.C 202.00 0.00 280,000 Ras Al-Khaimah National Insu 0.00 0.00 - Muscat Finance 0.20 0.00 -
Al Khaleej Training And Educ 46.70 1.97 129,715 Al Bareeq Holding Co Kscc 0.00 0.00 - Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics 2.08 8.43 26,000 Al Kamil Power Co 1.73 0.00 -
Abdullah A.M. Al-Khodari Son 64.00 0.39 45,945 Bayan Investment Co Kscc 36.50 -5.19 1,920,000 Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co 0.97 6.59 45,792,288 Interior Hotels 3.75 0.00 -
Allianz Saudi Fransi Coopera 22.75 -1.30 834,216 Bahrain Kuwait Insurance 0.00 0.00 - National Bank Of Ras Al-Khai 4.10 -1.20 10,000 Hotels Management Co Interna 1.25 0.00 -
Almarai Co Ltd 93.50 0.54 274,187 Boubyan Bank K.S.C 590.00 0.00 415,000 Qatar Telecom (Qtel) Q.S.C 149.00 0.00 20,000 Al-Hassan Engineering Co 0.48 0.00 -
Alsorayai Group 24.55 0.20 361,195 Boubyan Petrochemicals Co 550.00 1.85 2,565,000 Umm Al Qaiwain Cement Indust 0.69 0.00 50,000 Gulf Stone 0.09 0.00 -
Amana Cooperative Insurance 30.20 0.00 2,238,964 Burgan Bank 510.00 -1.92 2,550,000 Palestine Telecommunications 0.00 0.00 - Gulf Mushroom Company 0.45 6.21 10,315
Anaam International Holding 44.20 -1.56 546,137 Gulf Cable & Electrical Ind 1,680.00 0.00 2,500 Oman & Emirates Inv(Emir)50% 0.90 0.00 35,000 Gulf Invest. Serv. Pref-Shar 0.41 0.00 -
Abdullah Al Othaim Markets 100.00 -0.74 53,958 Kuwait Cable Vision Sak 64.00 0.00 80,000 National Marine Dredging Co 11.00 -7.56 107,852 Gulf Investments Services 0.07 0.00 6,258
Arabian Pipes Co 33.00 -1.20 203,265 Livestock Transport & Tradng 300.00 0.00 10,000 National Corp Tourism & Hote 7.10 0.00 190,000 Gulf International Chemicals 0.23 -0.43 55,134
Advanced Petrochemicals Co 32.70 0.31 1,389,970 Commercial Bank Of Kuwait 930.00 0.00 40,000 Sharjah Islamic Bank 0.88 0.00 455,303 Gulf Hotels (Oman) Co Ltd 11.00 0.00 -
Al Rajhi Co For Co-Operative 44.40 0.45 1,720,148 Combined Group Contracting 2,000.00 1.01 22,500 National Bank Of Umm Al Qaiw 2.39 0.00 50,050 Global Fin Investment 0.06 0.00 105,533
Arabian Cement 33.40 1.83 662,773 City Group 580.00 0.00 10,000 National Bank Of Fujairah 3.52 10.00 500 Galfar Engineering&Contract 0.48 -0.42 654,516
Arab National Bank 33.50 -0.89 50,887 National Cleaning Company 170.00 2.41 1,420,000 National Bank Of Abu Dhabi 11.30 2.26 1,365,854 Galfar Engineering -Prefer 0.45 0.00 -
Ash-Sharqiyah Development Co 38.00 0.53 353,391 Coast Investment Development 89.00 1.14 4,960,000 Methaq Takaful Insurance 2.82 0.36 5,849,784 Financial Services Co. 0.10 0.00 -
Astra Industrial Group 35.10 -0.28 280,436 Dulaqan Real Estate Co 0.00 0.00 - Manasek 0.00 0.00 - Flexible Ind Packages 0.14 0.00 -
Alahli Takaful Co 74.50 -1.65 310,792 Damac Kuwaiti Holding Co 0.00 0.00 - Gulf Pharmaceutical Ind-Julp 2.03 0.00 24,389 Financial Corp/The 1.26 0.00 -
Aseer 13.80 0.73 761,117 Danah Alsafat Foodstuff Co 85.00 0.00 560,000 Investbank 1.60 0.00 1,770 Dhofar Tourism 1.00 0.00 -
Axa Cooperative Insurance 34.10 -1.45 630,740 Educational Holding Group 152.00 -6.17 620,000 Gulf Medical Projects 1.57 0.00 4,000 Dhofar Poultry 1.26 0.00 -
Basic Chemical Industries 27.20 -0.73 29,582 Egyptian Kuwaiti Holding Co 365.00 0.00 30,000 Gulf Livestock Co 0.00 0.00 - Aloula Co 0.00 0.00 -
Bishah Agriculture 0.00 0.00 - Ekttitab Holding Co S.A.K.C 32.00 -1.54 320,000 Green Crescent Insurance Co 0.79 1.28 2,533,407 Dhofar Intl Development 0.54 0.00 1,200
Bank Al-Jazira 19.65 -1.26 253,002 Equipment Holding Co K.S.C.C 61.00 -1.61 80,000 Gulf Cement Co 1.45 1.40 70,263 Dhofar Insurance 0.19 0.00 -
Banque Saudi Fransi 47.70 -1.85 40,977 Al-Enma’a Real Estate Co 116.00 1.75 3,480,000 Foodco Holding 0.00 0.00 - Dhofar University 1.20 0.00 -
United International Transpo 50.75 0.50 97,127 Kuwait Bahrain International 0.00 0.00 - Finance House 3.87 0.00 27,034 Dhofar Power Co 2.00 0.00 6,681
Bupa Arabia For Cooperative 22.65 -0.88 1,936,870 Eyas For High & Technical Ed 0.00 0.00 - First Gulf Bank 17.65 0.86 300,052 Dhofar Power Co-Pfd 2.00 0.00 -
Buruj Cooperative Insurance 30.60 2.34 1,372,646 Commercial Facilities Co 395.00 2.60 200,000 Fujairah Cement Industries 1.03 0.00 19,775 Dhofar Fish Industries Co 1.28 0.00 -
Methanol Chemicals Co 14.00 0.36 1,399,208 Fujairah Cement Industries 67.00 6.35 1,560,000 Fujairah Building Industries 0.00 0.00 - Dhofar Cattlefeed 0.15 -1.32 129,729
Eastern Cement 45.80 -0.22 95,453 First Dubai Real Estate Deve 27.00 0.00 80,000 Emirates Telecom Corporation 10.40 0.48 1,624,028 Al Batinah Dev & Inv-50% 0.06 -1.79 6,500
Etihad Atheeb Telecommunicat 7.05 0.71 6,850,123 Flex Resorts & Real Estate 0.00 0.00 - Emirates Insurance Co. (Psc) 6.20 0.00 6,242 Dhofar Beverages Co 0.27 0.00 -
Etihad Etisalat Co 52.00 -0.48 676,148 Kuwait Foods (Americana) 1,480.00 0.00 92,500 Emirates Driving Company 3.62 0.00 33,000 Computer Stationery Inds 0.33 0.00 -
Emaar Economic City 6.85 0.00 2,613,467 First Takaful Insurance Co 75.00 0.00 40,000 Al Dhafra Insurance Co. P.S. 4.60 0.00 3,000 Construction Materials Ind 0.06 0.00 19,330
Falcom Saudi Equity Etf 21.00 -0.94 14,238 Future Communications Co 310.00 0.00 100,000 Dana Gas 0.67 1.52 28,781,446 Cement & Gypsum Pro 1.00 0.00 -
Filing & Packing Materials M 27.20 -0.73 375,301 Future Kid Entertainment And 0.00 0.00 - Commercial Bank Internationa 0.00 0.00 - Marine Bander Al-Rowdha 0.00 0.00 -
Food Products Company 17.10 1.18 1,794,444 Gulf Bank 540.00 0.00 3,645,000 Bank Of Sharjah 1.84 0.00 12,000 Bank Sohar 0.17 -1.78 1,896,486
Falcom Petrochemical Etf 26.40 0.00 19,800 Gulf Cement Co 110.00 1.85 3,840,000 Abu Dhabi Natl Co For Buildi 1.50 7.14 7,000 Bank Muscat Saog 0.78 -0.26 3,486,461
Gulf General Cooperative Ins 45.20 1.35 1,571,182 Gulf Franchising Kscc 25.00 0.00 80,000 Al Wathba National Insurance 0.00 0.00 - Bank Dhofar Saog 0.65 0.00 5,799
Jazan Development Co 20.95 5.28 2,309,468 Gulf Finance House Ec 0.00 0.00 - Intl Fish Farming Co-Asmak 9.95 0.00 10,000 Al Batinah Hotels 1.36 0.00 -
Gulf Union Cooperative Insur 18.35 0.27 1,622,227 Gulf Glass Manuf Co -Kscc 0.00 0.00 - Arkan Building Materials Co 1.62 -0.61 1,484,618 Majan College 0.28 0.00 -
Halwani Bros Co 33.10 -0.30 342,278 Gulf Investment House 0.00 0.00 - Aldar Properties Pjsc 1.63 1.88 32,839,654 Areej Vegetable Oils 2.50 0.00 -
Herfy Food Services Co 82.00 0.61 89,484 Gulf Insurance Co 650.00 0.00 10,000 Al Ain Ahlia Ins. Co. 47.00 0.00 523 Al Jazeera Steel Products Co 0.28 -1.43 633,801
Al Jouf Agriculture Developm 26.20 -2.24 850,969 Global Investment House Kscc 33.50 3.08 15,680,000 Al Khazna Insurance Co 0.63 0.00 92,000 Al Sallan Food Industry 0.00 0.00 -
Jarir Marketing Co 151.75 -0.65 11,276 Gulf North Africa Holding Co 55.00 0.00 80,000 Agthia Group Pjsc 2.02 0.00 295,294 Al-Omaniya Financial Service 0.29 0.00 -
Jabal Omar Development Co 15.50 0.00 396,063 Gulf Petroleum Investment 31.00 0.00 240,000 Al Fujairah National Insuran 0.00 0.00 - Taghleef Industries Llc 2.21 0.00 -
Al Jouf Cement 12.35 1.65 12,483,802 Grand Real Estate Project 13.50 0.00 1,280,000 Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co 2.25 0.00 2,000 Gulf Plastic Industries Co 0.39 0.00 -
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co 18.10 0.56 10,999,772 Gulfinvest International Ksc 0.00 0.00 - Abu Dhabi National Insurance 5.50 0.00 6,476 Al Jazeira Services 0.20 0.00 755,232
Knowledge Economic City 7.50 0.67 773,146 Kuwait Gypsum Manufacturing 0.00 0.00 - Abu Dhabi National Hotels 2.80 0.00 41,034 Al Jazerah Services -Pfd 0.55 0.00 -
Kingdom Holding Co 9.10 0.00 773,127 Hayat Communications 142.00 2.90 220,000 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank 3.04 -0.98 105,310 Al-Fajar Al-Alamia Co 0.72 0.00 -
Saudi Arabian Mining Co 24.95 0.60 1,060,988 Hilal Cement Co 0.00 0.00 - Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank 2.61 0.00 2,965,761 Acwa Power Barka Saog 0.00 0.00 -
Malath Insurance 17.80 2.30 4,082,481 Hits Telecom Holding 61.00 1.67 2,520,000 Abu Dhabi Aviation 3.00 0.00 25,000 Ahli Bank 0.29 0.00 80,225
Makkah Construction & Devepl 30.60 -0.33 39,968 Human Soft Holding Co 0.00 0.00 - Al Buhaira National Insuranc 0.00 0.00 -
Mediterranean & Gulf Insuran 31.40 1.95 630,192 Intl Financial Advisors 45.50 0.00 10,400,000 Abu-Dhabi Co-Op Society 0.00 0.00 -
Middle East Specialized Cabl 16.85 -0.59 1,064,175 Ifa Hotels & Resorts Co. K.S 455.00 0.00 40,000 Nbad Oneshare Dj Uae 25 Etf 4.34 0.00 17,848 BAHRAIN
Mohammad Al-Mojil Group 21.90 0.46 2,858,615 International Finance Co 255.00 0.00 50,000 Ras Al Khaimah Cement Co 0.97 6.59 45,792,288
Al Mouwasat Medical Services 72.25 0.35 67,409 Industrial & Financial Inves 0.00 0.00 - Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics 2.08 8.43 26,000
National Agriculture Develop 25.20 -1.18 182,595 Intl Investment Group-Kuwait 0.00 0.00 -
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume
Rak Properties 0.40 0.00 23,473,306
Nama Chemicals Co 11.40 1.33 4,063,226 Ikarus Petroleum Industries 142.00 1.43 20,000 Ras Al Khaimah Co 1.40 0.00 100,000 United Paper Industries Bsc 0.00 0.00 -
National Gypsum 31.00 0.00 110,961 Int’l Leasing & Investment 0.00 0.00 - Ras Al Khaima Poultry 1.59 0.00 20,000 United Gulf Investment Corp 0.11 0.00 19,602
National Gas & Industrializa 18.50 0.00 23,572 Injazzat Real State Company 96.00 5.49 200,000 Al-Salam Bank 0.62 0.32 85,630 United Gulf Bank 0.41 0.00 23,364
National Industrialization C 35.30 1.44 1,801,846 Inovest Co Bsc 81.00 6.58 160,000 Sharjah Cement & Indus Devel 0.88 7.32 32,700 United Finance Co 0.00 0.00 -
Maadaniyah 26.20 0.00 575,795 Investors Holding Group Co.K 16.00 6.67 7,520,000 Shuaa Capital 1.19 0.00 569,210 General Trading & Food 0.26 0.00 10,000
National Shipping Co Of/The 14.90 -1.32 1,380,638 Independent Petroleum Group 450.00 3.45 10,000 Sorouh Real Estate Company 1.42 2.16 12,492,343 Takaful International Co 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi National Petrochemical 22.00 -2.44 4,487,441 International Resorts Co 32.50 1.56 160,000 Sudan Telecommunications Co$ 2.10 -2.33 16,000 Taib Bank -$Us 0.00 0.00 -
Rabigh Refining And Petroche 24.05 2.12 3,251,708 Housing Finance Co S.A.K.C 75.00 0.00 80,000 Tabreed 1.23 4.24 2,083,176 Securities & Investment Co 0.00 0.00 -
Al Qassim Agricultural Co 9.65 0.00 2,611,707 Ithmaar Bank Bsc 25.00 0.00 80,000 Takaful Emarat Insurance 0.69 1.03 631,288 Seef Properties 0.10 0.00 21,000
Qassim Cement/The 61.50 1.23 105,980 Jazeera Airways 120.00 0.00 40,000 Abu Dhabi National Energy Co 1.55 0.65 15,743 Sudan Telecommunications Co$ 0.00 0.00 -
Red Sea Housing Services Co 57.75 1.32 156,350 Jeeran Holdings 104.00 0.00 40,000 Abu Dhabi National Takaful 2.60 5.26 1,973 Al-Salam Bank 0.07 -1.52 495,000
Saudi Research And Marketing 19.15 1.59 75,897 Jeezan Holdings Co Kscc 50.00 0.00 2,240,000 United Arab Bank 5.30 0.00 5,000 Delmon Poultry Co 0.00 0.00 -
Riyad Bank 26.00 0.00 155,339 Kipco Asset Management Co 270.00 1.89 50,000 Union Cement Co 1.21 0.00 8,847 National Hotels Co 0.00 0.00 -
Al Rajhi Bank 76.25 0.33 920,770 Kuwait Building Materials 232.00 0.00 20,000 Union National Bank/Abu Dhab 3.12 -0.32 142,000 National Bank Of Bahrain 0.60 0.00 10,000
Saudi Arabian Amiantit Co 17.45 1.16 1,381,413 Kuwait Business Town Real Es 41.00 0.00 160,000 Union Insurance Co 0.00 0.00 - Nass Corp Bsc 0.18 -0.55 473,200
Saudi British Bank 44.90 -1.54 88,863 Kuwait Cement Co 630.00 -1.56 5,000 Union Properties Pjsc 0.38 14.89 31,105,186 Khaleeji Commercial Bank 0.05 0.00 25,000
Sabb Takaful 20.25 -2.17 1,875,930 Kuwait China Investment Co 68.00 0.00 120,000 Waha Capital Pjsc 0.74 1.37 2,777,774 Ithmaar Bank Bsc 0.11 0.00 90,000
Saudi Basic Industries Corp 108.75 1.64 7,042,504 Kuwait National Cinema Co 0.00 0.00 - Investcorp Bank -$Us 1,138.50 0.00 5
Saudi Cement 53.75 0.94 197,526 Kuwait Medical Services Co 80.00 0.00 40,000 Inovest Co Bsc 0.00 0.00 -
Sasco 13.95 1.82 2,006,257 Kuwait Co For Process Plant 380.00 0.00 50,000 Intl Investment Group-Kuwait 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi Dairy & Foodstuff Co 42.10 0.24 54,856 Kuwait Finance & Investment 26.00 0.00 160,000 Gulf Monetary Group 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co 173.25 -3.48 598,699 Kuwait Finance House 1,080.00 -1.82 3,120,000 Global Investment House Kscc 0.00 0.00 -
Al Sagr Co-Operative Insuran 22.60 -1.95 1,746,874 Kuwait Foundry Co 660.00 0.00 1,500,000 Gulf Finance House Ec 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi Advanced Industries 15.95 1.27 1,971,284 Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport 136.00 3.03 1,100,000 Bahrain Family Leisure Co 0.00 0.00 -
Saudi Arabian Coop Ins Co 32.70 0.00 342,939 Kuwait Hotels Co 0.00 0.00 - Esterad Investment Co B.S.C. 0.22 0.00 6,000
LATEST MARKET CLOSING FIGURES
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 37

BUSINESS
Asia markets mixed
Sensex extends losses on
US downgrade weighs
Chinese stocks posted modest
gains yesterday as investors
shrugged off a well-anticipated
increase in banks’ reserve
requirement ratio over the
software shares outlook
weekend, while Japanese

on Europe stocks, euro

shares were pressured by Bloomberg 5,729.10, and its April futures set-
a stronger yen and caution Mumbai tled at 5,739. The BSE 200 Index
ahead of corporate results. declined 1.4% to 2,363.46.
“The hike in banks’ reserve re- The Nifty future’s premium over

quirement ratio has been well-
flagged, and isn’t having a great
AFP impact on the market,” said
London Hong Yuan Securities analyst
Tang Yonggang in Shanghai.
The Shanghai Composite
I
ndian stocks fell yesterday on
concern that lower-than-ex-
pected earnings from Infosys
Technologies may presage smaller
margins for its domestic peers.
Infosys, the nation’s second-
the underlying contract narrowed
to 5.95, the lowest level for the April
series, data compiled by Bloomb-
erg show.
“The decline in premium be-
tween the cash and near-month

E
uropean stock markets
fell sharply yesterday as a
Standard & Poor’s down-
grade on the US debt outlook
spooked investors already wor-
ried by signs of fresh tensions
over eurozone public finances.
The S&P downgrade on the
US debt outlook to ‘negative’
from ‘stable’ set off a chain
reaction across all markets—
stocks, bonds, commodities,
forex—on fears Washington
might not be able to resolve its
financial problems.
S&P said it did not see how
the US government could re-
duce the massive public defi-
cit—estimated at $1.6tn this
year, drawing an immediate
Treasury riposte that the rat-
ings agency underestimated
what could be done.
S&P gave the US until 2013 to
come up with a credible plan for
addressing its financial prob-
lems or risk loosing its coveted
‘AAA’ credit rating which allows
it to borrow at low interest rates.
News of another Chinese in-
terest rate hike over the week-
end as Beijing seeks to rein in its
booming economy added to the
negative tone, dampening sen-
timent in the miners and others
supplying China’s key raw ma-
terials.
In London, the FTSE 100
index of leading shares closed
down 2.10% to 5,870.08 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 lost
2.35% to 3,881.24 points and in
Frankfurt the DAX fell 2.11% to
7,026.85 points.
There were similar losses
for other European markets,
additionally hit by concerns
Greece may have to restructure
its debt and as Portugal negoti-
ated what is expected to be very
tough bailout package with the
EU and IMF.
In London, the FTSE 100
index of leading shares
closed down 2.10% to
5,870.08 points. In Paris,
the CAC 40 lost 2.35% to
3,881.24 points and in
Frankfurt the DAX fell
2.11% to 7,026.85 points
New York was also down
sharply as the banks took a bat-
tering, with the blue-chip Dow
Jones Industrial Average fall-
ing 1.63% at around 1600 GMT
while the tech-heavy Nasdaq
Composite was off 1.74%.
The euro slumped yesterday
on growing concerns that the
eurozone debt crisis will get
worse before it gets better while
a US debt outlook downgrade
roiled the markets badly.
Dealers said Standard &
Poor’s downgrade of the US
debt outlook to ‘negative’ from
‘stable’ startled investors al-
ready anxious over a possible
Greek debt restructuring just
as Portugal negotiates a tough
bailout with the EU and IMF.
One analyst in Paris, who
asked not to be named, said
the S&P action was a timely
reminder that there was a debt
crisis in all the Western coun-
tries, not just in the eurozone.
Greek bond yields soared to
record levels too, reflecting in-
creasing speculation Athens
will have to restructure its debt,
threatening investors with di-
rect losses or longer repayment
times.
“The real risk of restructur-
ing is that it could open a can of
worms in the balance sheets of
banks that hold the debt. Ger-
man and French banks have a
high
In late London trade, the euro
fell sharply to $1.4216 from
$1.4431 in New York on late
Friday, with the dollar down to
¥82.45 from ¥83.09.
The pound was at $1.6225
from $1.6318 on Friday.
Index finished 0.2% higher at
3,057.33 despite the People’s
Bank of China’s decision
Sunday to raise lenders’ RRR
by 0.5 percentage points to
drain excess money from the
banking system. The move,
the PBOC’s fourth such hike
in 2011, led one analyst to say
that the end of China’s policy
tightening was in sight.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index
fell 0.7% to 23,830.31, Japan’s
Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.4%
to 9,556.65, South Korea’s Kospi
gave up 0.1% to 2,137.72 and Tai-
wan’s Taiex ended little changed
at 8,714.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX
200 climbed 0.2% to 4,861.9.
Prakash Sakpal, a Singapore-
based economist at ING Finan-
cial Markets Research, said he
expected the PBOC to raise its
policy interest rates once and
the RRR twice more during the
current quarter, and then to
end its tightening cycle.
“As inflation starts to recede
in (the second half of 2011), it
will be difficult for the PBOC to
justify incremental tightening,”
Sakpal wrote in a note, adding
that the Shanghai Composite
index will likely remain Asia’s
top-performing market all
through this year.
Most banks ended lower after
a roller-coaster ride, with
Industrial & Commercial Bank
of China Ltd sliding 0.6% and
Bank of Communications Co
falling 0.7%. In Hong Kong, Ag-
ricultural Bank of China Ltd fell
2.2% and China Construction
Bank Corp gave up 0.8%.
biggest software exporter, dropped
for a second day, losing 2.9%, after
it was cut to “neutral” from “out-
perform” by Credit Suisse Group
AG on “disappointing” results and
“poor margin guidance.”
State Bank of India, the largest
lender, slid the most in two weeks
on expectation the central may
boost rates to curb inflation.
Infosys Technologies,
India’s second-biggest
software exporter,
dropped for a second
day, losing 2.9%, after it
was cut to “neutral” from
“outperform” by Credit
Suisse Group
“Infosys results have weakened
sentiments and the fear is it can
spread to other companies or sec-
tors,” DK Aggarwal, chairman of
SMC Wealth Management Serv-
ices Ltd, said from New Delhi. “A
25-basis point increase in rates is
a given. With inflation being stub-
born, 50 basis points cannot be
ruled out.”
The Bombay Stock Exchange
Sensitive Index, or Sensex, lost
295.65, or 1.5%, to 19,091.17 at
the 3.30pm close in Mumbai. The
S&P CNX Nifty Index on the Na-
tional Stock Exchange fell 1.6% to
contract indicates a huge build up
of short positions,” or bets prices
may drop, said Vineet Sood, de-
rivatives strategist at SMC Global
Securities Ltd “Nifty may fall to
5,680 in the current series if traders
continue to initiate bearish bets.”
Infosys slid 2.8% to Rs2,906.1.
Credit Suisse lowered its price tar-
get to Rs3,400 from Rs4,050. The
company slumped 9.6% on April
15, the most in almost two years.
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, the
largest, dropped 3.9% to Rs1,144.6.
The two companies have a com-
bined 14% weighting in the Sensex.
State Bank decreased 2% to
Rs2,751.55. HDFC Bank Ltd, the
third-biggest lender, dropped
2.2% to Rs2,311.8. ICICI Bank,
the second-biggest, lost 1.6% to
Rs1,084.1. Housing Development
Finance Corp, the biggest mort-
gage lender, slid 2% to Rs692.1
The rupee fell, extending last
week’s losses, as a decline in the
benchmark stock index raised
concerns foreign funds will reduce
holdings of the nation’s assets.
The rupee dropped 0.3% to
44.45 per dollar at the 5pm close
in Mumbai, according to data
compiled by Bloomberg. The local
currency opened higher today on
speculation the central bank will
raise borrowing costs after infla-
tion gathered pace in March.
The rupee reversed earlier gains
as data from the stock market reg-
ulator showed overseas funds sold
Indian shares worth $20.3mn more
than they bought last week. They
purchased a net $1.6bn of equi-
ties the previous week, according
to data provided by Securities and
Exchange Board of India.

FTSE 100 FTSE 100 HONG KONG WORLD INDICES

Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Indices Lt Price Change
Dow Jones Indus. Avg 12,111.00 - 230.83
Xstrata Plc 1,439.50 -2.34 6,159,023 British American Tobacco Plc 565.50 -0.62 4,258,378 China Mobile Ltd 72.40 -0.48 11,206,292 S&P 500 Index 1,296.09 - 23.59
Whitbread Plc 1,649.00 -1.55 326,401 Barclays Plc 1,470.00 -1.87 2,819,662 Hsbc Holdings Plc 82.30 -0.96 17,677,556 Nasdaq Composite Index 2,708.26 - 56.39
Wpp Plc 719.00 -0.28 2,969,370 Bae Systems Plc 2,523.50 -1.69 1,650,055 China Construction Bank-H 7.34 -0.81 216,268,409 S&P/Tsx Composite Index 13,635.76 - 163.36
Wolseley Plc 2,039.00 -2.77 566,956 Astrazeneca Plc 290.00 -3.86 43,316,630 China Life Insurance Co-H 29.25 -0.85 35,752,097 Mexico Bolsa Index 36,553.65 - 434.73
Weir Group Plc/The 657.50 -1.79 1,698,198 Aviva Plc 328.70 -1.59 6,017,016 Ind & Comm Bk Of China - H 6.56 0.31 240,044,841 Brazil Bovespa Stock Idx 65,317.26 - 1,366.95
Vodafone Group Plc 1,712.00 -1.83 337,799 Autonomy Corp Plc 2,964.00 -1.71 1,663,068 Petrochina Co Ltd-H 11.56 -2.03 103,785,380 Ftse 100 Index 5,872.16 - 123.85
Vedanta Resources Plc 174.35 -2.19 59,116,476 Alliance Trust Plc 417.30 -4.05 8,484,302 Hong Kong Exchanges & Clear 181.40 -0.22 3,653,086 Cac 40 Index 3,873.38 - 101.10
United Utilities Group Plc 2,238.00 -3.03 695,430 Arm Holdings Plc 1,551.00 -1.65 262,983 Ping An Insurance Group Co-H 85.95 -0.58 8,875,985 Dax Index 7,010.82 - 167.47
Unilever Plc 606.00 -1.38 995,924 Antofagasta Plc 575.00 -3.44 2,200,141 Li & Fung Ltd 39.45 -0.75 7,207,909 Ibex 35 Tr 10,333.60 - 225.00
Tui Travel Plc 1,917.00 -2.69 2,153,815 Amec Plc 1,318.00 -3.94 1,448,506 Bank Of Communications Co-H 8.35 -0.24 22,908,258
Nikkei 225 9,556.65 - 34.87
Tesco Plc 225.00 -2.00 2,065,273 Aggreko Plc 1,134.00 -1.39 698,874 China Shenhua Energy Co - H 35.70 -2.46 18,129,358
Japan Topix 836.34 - 4.95
Tullow Oil Plc 402.10 -1.26 9,679,218 Admiral Group Plc 1,585.00 -2.52 238,758 China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd 15.10 0.67 29,036,761
Hang Seng Index 23,830.31 - 177.76
Severn Trent Plc 1,362.00 -2.85 887,015 African Barrick Gold Ltd 1,607.00 -1.95 310,347 Bank Of China Ltd-H 4.36 -0.46 204,837,242
All Ordinaries Indx 4,945.40 + 6.10
Standard Chartered Plc 1,424.00 -2.53 282,600 Associated British Foods Plc 1,025.00 -2.10 498,872 China Petroleum & Chemical-H 7.93 -0.88 84,743,270
Nzx All Index 782.45 + 2.68
Scottish & Southern Energy 1,608.50 -2.37 2,747,047 Anglo American Plc 2,993.50 -4.62 2,626,562 Sun Hung Kai Properties 123.20 -1.68 7,704,851
Bse Sensex 30 Index 19,091.17 - 295.65
Serco Group Plc 1,309.00 -0.46 1,021,414 Cnooc Ltd 19.30 -1.43 59,459,375
Nse S&P Cnx Nifty Index 5,729.10 - 95.45
Smith & Nephew Plc 555.00 0.00 819,462 China Overseas Land & Invest 16.14 -2.06 25,601,201
Straits Times Index 3,144.38 - 8.92
Smiths Group Plc 675.50 -3.02 7,961,151 DJIA Hang Lung Properties Ltd 35.20 -1.40 4,291,538
Karachi All Share Index 8,139.74 - 3.26
Standard Life Plc 1,290.00 -0.77 578,670 Esprit Holdings Ltd 34.30 -0.44 4,642,554
Jakarta Composite Index 3,727.07 - 3.44
Shire Plc 205.90 -3.15 3,537,168 Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume Tencent Holdings Ltd 200.00 -0.40 3,650,981
Sage Group Plc/The 1,839.00 -2.65 1,457,159 Wharf Holdings Ltd 57.70 -1.03 1,884,121
Schroders Plc-Non Voting 274.60 -1.22 1,873,706 Exxon Mobil Corp 82.79 -1.78 3,740,160 New World Development 14.02 -0.57 3,635,468
Schroders Plc
Sainsbury (J) Plc
1,450.00
1,781.00
-2.49
-2.62
121,817
247,540
Microsoft Corp
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
103.86
24.82
-2.24
-2.17
2,416,216
22,517,925
Clp Holdings Ltd
Aluminum Corp Of China Ltd-H
63.90
7.35
0.16
-2.13
1,296,672
26,789,380
GCC INDICES
Sabmiller Plc 339.30 -0.76 2,725,937 Jpmorgan Chase & Co 19.62 -2.08 19,065,479 Henderson Land Development 54.55 -2.24 6,123,622 Indices Lt Price Change
Resolution Ltd 2,182.50 -3.02 1,375,580 Johnson & Johnson 163.48 -1.64 2,002,195 China Merchants Hldgs Intl 35.80 -1.24 4,750,266 Doha Securities Market 8,645.17 - 83.82
Rsa Insurance Group Plc 297.20 -3.94 4,506,647 Bank Of America Corp 53.59 0.07 2,950,847 Sino Land Co 14.02 -0.28 11,769,825 Saudi Tadawul 6,533.34 + 1.47
Randgold Resources Ltd 130.10 -2.69 8,086,508 Procter & Gamble Co/The 30.32 -1.09 6,290,986 Yue Yuen Industrial Hldg 26.45 -0.94 978,248 Kuwait Stocks Exchange 6,375.10 + 32.20
Rolls-Royce Group Plc 5,195.00 -2.26 208,791 Intl Business Machines Corp 63.88 -0.47 3,382,824 Foxconn International Hldgs 4.72 -1.67 5,386,328 Bahrain Stock Exchage 1,403.22 - 0.85
Rio Tinto Plc 625.50 -1.96 1,591,769 At&T Inc 44.01 -1.96 15,968,160 Hongkong Electric Holdings 54.30 2.36 3,877,121 Oman Stock Market 6,396.60 - 9.00
Rexam Plc 4,205.50 -2.56 3,152,297 General Electric Co 60.75 0.32 8,014,501 Hong Kong & China Gas 19.22 0.84 5,492,308 Abudhabi Stock Market 2,709.33 + 11.18
Reed Elsevier Plc 374.40 -0.93 1,277,510 Chevron Corp 20.35 -0.88 12,033,947 Citic Pacific Ltd 23.35 -3.11 4,873,296 Dubai Financial Market 1,652.76 + 4.32
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-B Shs 535.50 -0.37 2,565,494 Cisco Systems Inc 66.92 -1.60 2,227,780 China Resources Enterprise 33.40 1.21 4,715,225
Royal Dutch Shell Plc-A Shs 2,160.50 -2.68 1,958,770 Coca-Cola Co/The 12.38 -3.43 99,972,331 Cosco Pacific Ltd 16.42 3.01 10,332,876
Royal Bank Of Scotland Group 2,180.00 -2.48 1,092,551 Pfizer Inc 19.51 -1.22 13,015,068 Hang Seng Bank Ltd 122.30 0.00 1,276,450
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc 41.60 -2.51 43,841,209 Intel Corp 37.35 -1.32 3,863,349 Hutchison Whampoa Ltd 90.10 -0.77 9,455,688
Pearson Plc 3,225.00 0.78 2,852,080 Hewlett-Packard Co 34.03 -1.38 5,378,699 Bank Of East Asia 33.00 0.15 1,533,741
Prudential Plc
Petrofac Ltd
1,092.00
716.00
-0.55
-3.63
1,121,955
3,826,846
Verizon Communications Inc
Merck & Co. Inc.
16.65
39.38
-2.22
-2.19
32,057,786
6,646,015
Mtr Corp
Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd
28.75
126.50
0.35
-0.94
1,463,690
3,012,497
LATEST MARKET
Mcdonald’s Corp 76.70 -0.88 1,350,927
Old Mutual Plc
Next Plc
1,485.00
132.10
-1.72
-3.29
433,288
7,144,189 United Technologies Corp 40.85 -1.61 2,708,166
Boc Hong Kong Holdings Ltd
Cathay Pacific Airways
24.75
19.30
-0.40
-1.53
8,018,173
4,920,721
CLOSING FIGURES
National Grid Plc 2,180.00 -1.13 1,171,026 3M Co 81.66 -2.14 1,425,425 Swire Pacific Ltd ‘A’ 119.40 -1.00 1,352,640
Wm Morrison Supermarkets 590.00 -2.24 3,077,839 Walt Disney Co/The 102.90 -4.02 4,664,087
Marks & Spencer Group Plc 284.90 -1.18 2,225,958 Home Depot Inc 90.83 -2.14 1,297,293
Lonmin Plc 370.00 -1.20 3,097,362 Kraft Foods Inc-Class A 37.55 -1.62 2,665,441
Lloyds Banking Group Plc 1,570.00 -3.86 221,770 American Express Co 33.22 -0.42 5,198,147
Legal & General Group Plc 58.90 -2.01 76,355,166 Boeing Co 45.50 -1.62 2,133,759 “Information contained herein is believed to be reliable and had been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. The
Land Securities Group Plc 116.70 -2.91 9,461,369 Du Pont (E.I.) De Nemours 72.26 -0.47 2,076,380 accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. This publication is for providing information only and is not intended
Kingfisher Plc 743.00 -1.39 1,233,035 Caterpillar Inc 53.46 -2.61 1,516,222 as an offer or solicitation for a purchase or sale of any of the financial instruments mentioned. Gulf Times and Doha Bank
Kazakhmys Plc 263.70 -0.64 5,054,251 Travelers Cos Inc/The 58.87 -1.56 932,533 or any of their employees shall not be held accountable and will not accept any losses or liabilities for actions based on
Johnson Matthey Plc 1,310.00 -3.61 1,392,998 Alcoa Inc 16.09 -2.60 12,159,470
this data.”
Intertek Group Plc 1,832.00 -2.24 164,204
Invensys Plc 73.55 -0.27 14,919,798
Inmarsat Plc 2,005.00 -2.05 117,275 SENSEX
International Power Plc 314.10 -2.15 1,724,794
Investec Plc
Imperial Tobacco Group Plc
609.00
318.00
-1.22
-0.63
1,116,276
3,782,717
Company Name Lt Price % Chg Volume CURRENCIES
3I Group Plc 456.30 -4.06 1,097,015 Wipro Ltd 445.40 -0.98 1,339,387 DOLLAR QATAR RIYAL SAUDI RIYAL UAE DIRHAMS BAHRAINI KUWAITI
DINAR DINAR
Intercontinental Hotels Grou 2,010.00 -1.57 1,339,184 Tata Motors Ltd 1,205.85 -2.43 2,063,804
Icap Plc 959.00 -3.52 656,330 Tata Power Co Ltd 1,303.15 -0.25 321,904
Hsbc Holdings Plc 262.20 -2.16 2,025,699 Tata Consultancy Svcs Ltd 1,144.60 -3.93 4,376,049
Hammerson Plc 1,251.00 -2.27 601,381 Tata Steel Ltd 612.10 -2.93 4,134,980
Glaxosmithkline Plc 497.50 -2.45 895,358 Sun Pharmaceutical Indus 434.65 -1.16 821,151
Gkn Plc 216.60 -3.78 5,838,729 Suzlon Energy Ltd 170.40 -0.61 5,340,676
G4s Plc 642.20 -1.71 16,625,854 Sterlite Industries India Lt 835.40 -2.22 300,154
Fresnillo Plc 445.50 -1.39 2,820,476 Siemens India Ltd 305.15 -3.46 2,877,360
Experian Plc 607.50 -1.14 167,297 Sesa Goa Ltd 2,751.55 -2.02 1,341,477
Essar Energy Plc 1,242.50 -1.27 4,801,673 State Bank Of India 167.80 -1.18 1,359,977
Eurasian Natural Resources 194.80 -2.06 6,849,282 Steel Authority Of India 127.20 -3.12 2,609,774
Man Group Plc 273.30 -0.73 9,045,860 Reliance Power Ltd 1,009.15 -1.16 3,864,769
Diageo Plc 1,525.00 -3.17 421,116 Reliance Industries Ltd 672.00 -2.48 2,124,868
Capital Shopping Centres Gro 772.00 -1.47 869,508 Reliance Infrastructure Ltd 105.55 -1.81 4,791,946
Capita Group Plc 435.60 -2.88 750,139 Reliance Communications Ltd 592.10 -2.67 1,329,340
Compass Group Plc 890.00 -2.63 2,268,774 Reliance Capital Ltd 456.95 -1.30 465,811
Cobham Plc 240.50 -4.03 4,084,205 Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd 104.20 -0.81 2,494,482
Cairn Energy Plc 1,182.00 -2.23 2,201,245 Power Grid Corp Of India Ltd 1,188.85 -0.23 252,966
Centrica Plc 383.80 -1.34 651,237 Punjab National Bank 287.40 0.47 3,154,867
Carnival Plc 725.50 0.07 1,167,866 Oil & Natural Gas Corp Ltd 185.30 -0.05 2,532,825
Bt Group Plc 563.00 -0.44 1,899,829 Ntpc Ltd 1,262.35 0.41 521,289
British Sky Broadcasting Gro 431.30 -2.35 1,441,413 Maruti Suzuki India Ltd 722.15 -0.32 1,447,674
Burberry Group Plc 320.30 -2.73 5,705,163 Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd 1,678.15 -2.87 2,898,118
Bp Plc 2,392.00 -0.99 642,163 Larsen & Toubro Ltd 449.75 -0.49 1,604,195
Bunzl Plc 188.80 -1.67 12,130,457 Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd 666.25 -0.86 1,189,560
Bhp Billiton Plc 831.00 -0.54 754,780 Jindal Steel & Power Ltd 96.00 -3.52 16,875,649
British Land Co Plc 1,139.00 -1.39 545,511 Jaiprakash Associates Ltd 190.20 -0.68 9,406,463
Bg Group Plc 451.65 -0.90 22,026,168 Itc Ltd 2,906.10 -2.79 6,064,291
British Airways Plc 2,460.00 -2.21 7,848,825 Infosys Technologies Ltd 154.25 -1.81 5,244,767
 Gulf Times
44 Tuesday, April 19, 2011

SPORT
NBA BASEBALL

Sizemore
Grizzlies stun Spurs, shines in
Indians
Hornets sting Lakers
‘I think we were late on everything. They were the aggressors, and they stayed aggressive’
victory
Reuters
Cleveland

G
rady Sizemore sparked
Cleveland with his long
awaited return to the
AFP Zach Randolph scored nine of Elsehere, Ray Allen hit the field and the Indians
Los angeles his 25 points in the fourth quar- decisive three-pointer with 12 handed the Baltimore Orioles
ter for the eighth-seeded Griz- seconds remaining Sunday as their seventh straight defeat in a
zlies, who were making their Boston rallied to beat New York 4-2 victory on Sunday.

T
he New Orleans Hor-
nets shocked the two-
time defending NBA
champion Lakers and
upstart Memphis edged top-
seeded San Antonio Sunday in
a pair of Western Conference
playoff upsets.
Seventh-seeded New Orleans
beat the Lakers 109-100 and
Memphis defeated the Spurs
101-98 as both best-of-seven
first-round series got underway.
Oklahoma City wrapped up
the day’s action in the West with
a 107-103 victory over Denver.
New Orleans’ Chris Paul had
33 points, 14 assists and seven
rebounds for the Hornets as
they seized the initiative over
the Lakers on the champions’
home floor in Los Angeles.
“Our defence, I thought, was
late,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson
said. “I think we were late on
everything. They were the ag-
gressors, and they stayed ag-
gressive.”
He said he didn’t think his
players overlooked the under-
dog Hornets.
“I just don’t think they were
keyed in on what they have to
do,” Jackson said.
Hours earlier, the Memphis
Grizzlies notched their first-
ever NBA post-season win by
stunning the top-seeded Spurs
in San Antonio.
first playoff appearance since
the 2005-06 NBA season.
Marc Gasol finished with 24
points and Mike Conley had 15
points and 10 assists for Mem-
phis, which finished with a 46-
36 record in the regular season.
The Grizzlies earned their
first playoff win since coming
into the league as an expansion
team in Vancouver, Canada, 16
years ago.
“It’s nice from an annoyance
perspective to have it out of the
way, because I don’t have to an-
swer questions about being 0
and 13,” Grizzlies coach Lionel
Hollins said.
They were swept by San An-
tonio in four games in the 2004
playoffs.
Memphis trailed when Shane
Battier nailed a three-pointer
with 23 seconds left, giving the
Grizzlies a 99-98 lead.
San Antonio tried to force
overtime, but Richard Jefferson
missed a long range shot as the
clock ticked down.
Memphis players raced onto
the court as the buzzer sounded
to celebrate their first playoff
win in 13 attempts.
Battier was with Memphis
when they were swept by San
Antonio seven years ago.
“It was awesome. I’m really
happy for the city,” Battier said.
“Beale Street will be a fun place
Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (left) passes the ball around New York Knicks center Ronny Turiaf
during the second quarter of Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series in Boston,
Massachusetts on Sunday. (Reuters)
tonight. Most of these guys
don’t know the history or the
heartache that the city has gone
through. I’m happy for the city.”
France’s Tony Parker led San
Antonio with 20 points. Tim Dun-
can had 16 points and 10 rebounds
for the Spurs, who lost their sixth
straight playoff series opener.
The Spurs were without all-star
guard Manu Ginobili of Argentina,
87-85 in the first game of their The three-time All Star Size-
NBA Eastern Conference first- more, who had not played since
round playoff series. last May after knee surgery, went
New York led 85-84 before 2-for-4 at the plate and blasted a
the Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony solo home run in the third inning
was called for an offensive foul to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
for pushing Paul Pierce with 21 It was Sizemore’s first homer
seconds to play. since August of 2009.
Allen, who led the Celtics “The last couple of months,
with 24 points, then sank the I’ve come a long way,” Sizemore
key shot from behind the three- told reporters after batting in his
point arc. usual leadoff spot. “We didn’t
After Anthony’s foul, Rajon know what to expect going into
Rondo lined up to in-bound the that surgery. It was a tough re-
ball for Boston but called timeout. hab, but the time away was
Then Allen instead in- probably the toughest part.”
bounded from just in front Travis Hafner went 2-for-3
of the half-court line. He and added a home run in the
tossed the ball to Pierce, sixth.
moved to the opposite side of
the court and caught a pass Results
from Pierce and put up his
three-pointer. Cleveland 4 Baltimore 2
Pittsburgh 7 Cincinnati 6
Results Washington 5 Milwaukee 1
Boston 8 Toronto 1
Boston 87 Ny Knicks 85 NY Mets 3 Atlanta 2
Boston Lead The Best-Of-Seven Washington 8 Milwaukee 4
who sat out with a sprained right long, trying to figure out where Series By 1-0) Philadelphia 3 Florida 2
elbow. He could be back in time to pick my spots,” Paul said. Memphis 101 San Antonio 98 Minnesota 4 Tampa Bay 2
for Wednesday’s game two. “It’s the playoffs. It’s a whole Memphis Lead The Best-Of-Seven San Diego 8 Houston 6
In Los Angeles, Paul scored other energy.” Series By 1-0) LA Angels 4 Chicago WSox 2
17 of his 33 points in the fourth Kobe Bryant had 34 points for New Orleans 109 La Lakers 100 Seattle 3 Kansas City 2
quarter, Carl Landry chipped in the Lakers, who swept all four New Orleans Lead The Best-Of- Colorado 9 Chicago Cubs 5
with 17 and Jarrett Jack had 15 games against the Hornets dur- Seven Series By 1-0) Oakland 5 Detroit 1
for the Hornets, who tied a NBA ing the regular season. Oklahoma City 107 Denver 103 LA Dodgers 2 St. Louis 1
playoff record with just three This time, the Hornets effec- Oklahoma City Lead The Best-Of- Arizona 6 San Francisco 5
turnovers. tively shut down Lakers big men Seven Series By 1-0) Ny Yankees 6 Texas 5
“I’ve struggled all season Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

NHL

Canucks push Hawks

to brink of elimination
Reuters saves, as the Western Con-
Chicago ference top seeds took a 3-0
lead in the series.
“It wasn’t a perfect
home team a 1-0 lead in the tra attacker on the ice in the
first period before Vancou- final minutes but could not
ver struck back in the sec- force overtime.
ond with goals from Chris- “It’s a tough position,

T
he Vancouver Ca-
nucks pushed de-
fending Stanley
Cup champions
Chicago to the brink of
elimination from the NHL
playoffs on Sunday with a
3-2 victory in Game Three
of their first-round series.
The win handed the Ca-
nucks a 3-0 lead in their
best-of-seven series, and
Vancouver will look to
complete the clean sweep
in Game Four on Tuesday.
Mikael Samuelsson
scored the game-winner
at 6:48 in the third period,
while goaltender Roberto
Luongo finished with 30
game, it wasn’t pretty, but
sometimes on the road in
the playoffs you need to win
the ugly ones,” Canucks de-
fenseman Kevin Bieksa told
reporters. “The main thing
is we were resilient.”
The Blackhawks only
scraped through to the
playoffs on the final day of
the regular season but they
are in danger of making an
early exit.
After being shut out in
the opener on Wednes-
day, Chicago have suffered
consecutive one-goal de-
feats despite getting off to a
promising start on Sunday.
Duncan Keith gave the
tian Ehrhoff and Daniel
Sedin, who netted his third
score of the post-season.
Vancouver’s Raffi Torres,
playing for the first time
since serving a four-game
suspension for an elbow
to the head of Edmonton’s
Jordan Eberle, then hit
Brent Seabrook behind the
net in the second period
and received an interfer-
ence penalty.
Chicago’s Patrick Sharp
capitalised on the power-
play to tie the score at 2-2
at 12:40.
Trailing 3-2 in the third
after Samuelsson’s goal,
the Blackhawks put an ex-
but we can’t hang our
heads,” Sharp said. “No one
is going to feel sorry for us.”
Only three teams have
come back from losing the
first three games of a se-
ries.
Results
Washington 2 Ny Rangers 3
(Washington Leads Best-Of-
Seven Series 2-1)
Nashville 4 Anaheim 3
(Nashville Leads Best-Of-
Seven Series 2-1)
Vancouver 3 Chicago 2
(Vancouver Leads Best-Of-
Seven Series 3-0)

Cricket tour

The under-17 boys cricket team of MES Indian School will leave for Greece to participate in the International
Interschool Cricket Tournament organised by the Greek Cricket Federation in the last week of April. The MES team
comprises of Aditya Mhatre, Mohit, Abdullah Mukaddam, Ainsley, Ashwin, Anand James, Sujit, Abdul Rauf, Irfan
Jeesan, Salman Jamal, Gokul, Osman Amoodi, Abdullah Zahid and Arun Raghavan. They will be accompanied by
their coach Ezekiel Balraj and umpire Akbar Ali K.T.
 Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 45

SPORT
ATHLETICS
Ding into second
round at World

Hooker Championship
China’s Ding Junhui swept
into the second round of
snooker’s World Champion-

headlines ship yesterday completing a

one-sided 10-2 win over Scot-
land’s Jamie Burnett.
Leading 8-1 overnight, the
24-year-old Sheffield-based

Australia player gave his opponent

no chance of hitting back as
he coasted into the second
round where he will play ei-
ther Peter Ebdon or Stuart

worlds team Bingham.

Ding had two centuries in
the match and completed his
success with a break of 71.
“It feels all right, I’m playing
AFP High performance manager quite well,” he said.
Sydney Eric Hollingsworth said they “I’m just concentrating on my
were targeting at least five med- game and trying to play my
als, one more than Berlin, which best.”

P
ole vault superstar Ste-
ve Hooker headlines a
strong Australian team
announced yesterday
for the world athletics cham-
pionships in South Korea, with
expectations of at least five
medals.
Hooker will defend the title
he won in 2009 in Berlin, as will
discus thrower Dani Samuels.
Nathan Deakes, meanwhile,
returns from a long spell out
with injury in the 50km walk,
the event he won in 2007 in
was Australia’s best perform-
ance ever.
“I am confident that with the
team we have announced today,
and those that we will add in
the months to come, that this is
achievable,” he said.
The world championships will
be held in Daegu, South Korea
from August 27-September 4.
Men
5000m: Ben St Lawrence
Pole vault: Steve Hooker
Long jump: Mitchell Watt, Fab-
Ranked fourth in the world
after his win in the Masters,
Ding was knocked out in
the first round on his World
Championship debut in 2007,
and has reached round two in
the three subsequent years.
He knows his second-round
Brendan Steele follows through on a tee shot during the final round of the Valero Texas Open at the AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San match this year will be not be
Antonio in San Antonio, Texas on Sunday. (AFP) easy.
“Everybody tries hard here
GOLF so it will be quite a difficult
match to get through,” he
said. Hopefully I can win this
(one day).

Osaka.
The number of world champi-
ons will swell to four if two-time
400m hurdles gold medallist
Jana Pittman can prove her fit-
ness.
While 24 selections were
named, the team is expected to
Steele captures
rice Lapierre
Discus: Benn Harradine
20km walk: Jared Tallent, Luke New skirt rules
Adams, Adam Rutter in badminton
50km walk: Jared Tallent, Luke
Adams, Nathan Deakes cause unease
4x100m relay: Aaron Rouge-
Serret, Anthony Alozie, Isaac A new ruling that requires

first US PGA title

number about 40 by the dead-
line of July 31.
“We’re happy with the 24
quality athletes we currently
have selected and look forward
to the selection process con-
tinuing in the coming months,”
said Athletics Australia chair-
man of selectors Dion Russell.
“The team is a combination
of proven performers and new
Ntiamoah, Matt Davies
4x400m relay: Steve Solomon,
Ben Offereins, John Steffensen,
Sean Wroe
Women
100m: Sally Pearson
100m hurdles: Sally Pearson
Pole vault: Alana Boyd
Discus: Dani Samuels
Javelin: Kim Mickle
Reuters could still win with a good
San Antonio, Texas round, without you even doing
anything wrong, that I didn’t
feel as much pressure.”
lead at the ninth but missed a
17-footer.
He made 12 straight pars
coming in, which proved
back on the US circuit since
2002.
Players in their 20s have won
three of the last four US PGA
female badminton play-
ers to wear skirts on court
is causing unease among
players as they prepare to
adopt the new compulsory
dress code.
The Indian Open, which
begins next Tuesday, will
be the last tournament in
which women can wear
shorts on court before the

blood looking to grow, and with
our sights firmly set on London
(Olympics) in the long term that
is a positive result.”
R
20km walk: Claire Tallent ookie Brendan Steele
4x400m relay: Tamsyn Lewis, battled strong winds
Caitlin Sargent and tenacious rival
Kevin Chappell to
win the Texas Open Sunday,
firing a final-round 71 to seize
his first US PGA Tour title.
Steele, who led by one stroke
going into the round, delivered
a one-under final round for an
eight-under total of 280.
He finished one stroke in
front of fellow rookie Chap-
pell, who carded a 70, and
Charley Hoffman, who made a
push up the leader board with
a 68 for 281.
It was a further stroke back
to Brandt Snedeker, who shot
a 71 for 282.
“I was a lot more calm today,”
Steele said. “When you’ve got
the one shot lead it’s not even
your tournament.
“There’s so many guys that
TRIATHLON
The wind-whipped tourna-
ment at the TPC San Antonio
featured the US tour’s highest
scoring average so far this year
of 73.665.
Steele’s 280 was the high-
est winning score at the Texas
Open since a 283 in 1934.
Steele birdied the par-five
second hole, blasting out of a
bunker to within 10 feet of the
hole.
He immediately bogeyed
the par-four fifth, where he
missed a 12-footer from the
fringe.
He got back to eight-under
with a birdie at the par-three
seventh, where he stuck his
tee shot three feet from the
hole.
Steele, whose previous
best-finish was tied for 17th
at Torrey Pines in January,
had a chance to stretch his
enough to hold off Chappell.
Chappell had two birdies in
his outward run, and took a
share of the lead with a birdie
at the 10th.
Chappell, 24, then stayed
tied with Steele through seven
holes, until he hit his second
shot right of the hole on 17 and
missed a 10-footer to save par.
“I’ll be honest, I think I just
fell asleep,” Chappell said. “I
felt the wind was dead into me
... I should have known it was
a little left to right.”
It was the first time since the
2006 Phoenix Open that two
rookies finished one-two at a
tournament.
US tour rookie Charl
Schwartzel of South Africa
won the first major title of the
year at last week’s Masters,
making it the first time new-
comers have won back-to-
Tour events and four of the
last six.
“The guys who are house-
hold names now weren’t
household names when they
started,” Steele noted. “You’ve
got to make yourself a house-
hold name and you’ve got to
start somewhere.”
Hoffman, 34, started the day
three shots adrift but holed
out from the fairway for an ea-
gle at the par-five eighth.
A birdie at nine had him right
in the hunt. He dropped back
with a bogey at 14, but closed
with a birdie for a share of sec-
ond.
Defending champion Adam
Scott of Australia, who arrived
in Texas after a runner-up fin-
ish at the Masters, endured a
difficult day with five bogeys
in his four-over effort leaving
him tied for 23rd.
skirt requirement comes
into force on May 1.
The Badminton World Fed-
eration (BWF) announced
the change in 2009 in a bid
to boost the sport’s profile
among viewers and spon-
sors.
Doubles specialist and Indi-
an glamour girl Jwala Gutta,
who has always played in
skirts, said the new dress
code might help to raise
interest but players should
not be forced to conform.
“You cannot make it com-
pulsory for everyone to
wear skirts. It depends on
each individual and their
comfortable level. I am not
sure people will like being
told what to wear and what
not to,” she said.
World number three Saina
Nehwal, the top seed at the
April 26-May 1 Indian Open,
is one of the many players
in India who prefers to wear
shorts on court.
Gutta, who won the Com-

Nuclear crisis fails to bump Japan race monwealth Games gold

Reuters top priority,” said ITU media manager Masa
Tokyo Takaya, when asked about possibly having
to pull the plug on the May 14 race.
“The ITU executive board and senior
last year with her partner
Ashwini Ponnapa, endorsed
efforts to make the sport
meltdown have been forced to pump radio- more glamorous.
active water into the sea. She said that interest in ten-
The ITU race requires its athletes to swim nis was greater partly be-
1.5 km in Yokohama’s sea, and Takaya in- cause of the attraction of

J
apan’s nuclear crisis has failed to
force the International Triathlon
Union (ITU) to cancel next month’s
world championship race in Yoko-
hama—for now at least.
The ITU told Reuters yesterday they were
still collecting data to determine if the sea
at Yokohama harbour, around 300 km
south of the stricken Fukushima plant, was
contaminated.
Steve Hooker...leading Australian charge at the worlds “The safety of our athletes is always our
leaders discussed the situation at length
and took many aspects into consideration.
“Reports and information from interna-
tional bodies like the World Health Organi-
sation (WHO) and the United Nations were
considered.”
Olympic champion Jan Frodeno has blast-
ed the decision to race following the disaster,
triggered by the last month’s 9.0 magnitude
earthquake and massive tsunami wave.
Workers battling to avoid a catastrophic
sisted a U-turn was possible if data showed female stars such as Maria
they faced any risk from the sea water. Sharapova or the Williams
“(There are) very strict ... water qual- sisters, whose on-court out-
ity tests that must meet ITU standards,” fits are often as remarked
he said. “The ITU will continue to monitor about as their game.
the situation and any associated health and India’s top female tennis
safety issues. player Sania Mirza came un-
“At this moment (the race) is going ahead der fire from Muslim clerics
as planned but we are continually monitor- four years back for wearing
ing the situation and will take appropriate short skirts on court.
action if necessary.”

TABLE TENNIS

Valiant Knight smiles on life’s struggles

Reuters from his lowly ranking of 236 and gain a some food’. They’ve saved me an hour got a young child. When I go back so much, so for us to have nothing ... it’s “Their budget is unlimited, their
London berth on the team for the 2012 London by not having to cook and then clean home, they’ve been jealous of me for not like we’re not winning. coaches know a lot more and they have
Olympics. the kitchen,” said the Londoner, who years because I’ve been doing some- “We (compatriot Paul Drinkhall and nothing to worry about. They’ve got
“Winning as usual,” he said after dis- quit the capital for Sheffield in north- thing in the family, so I’ve got to be Knight) were youth Olympic gold med- their own private cooks. It’s an uneven

D
arius Knight does not give the
impression of a young sports-
man with a very, very large
mountain to climb.
The 21-year-old made waves in his
South London community with a silver
medal as part of England’s Common-
wealth Games table tennis team last
year in New Delhi.
It was a rare ray of sunlight on a fledg-
ling career in which lack of financial
support, the best coaches and even the
backing of his closest family threaten
to scupper his aspirations in a sport
almost entirely dominated by Chinese.
Yet the jaunty, almost cocky Knight
plays the part of a young man on the
cusp of conquering the world rather
than someone struggling to rise up
patching another wicked forehand past
his opponent in a game of “virtual” ta-
ble tennis at the Kinect Sports Super-
stars event in a restored London power
station last week.
Real life, though, has always been
hard for Knight, who discovered that
sport could be a way out of the tough
London estate he was raised in rather
than the route of crime many of his
friends took.
“Most of them are in jail, some of
them are dead. You don’t want to get
caught in the mix-up,” he told Reuters.
Knight’s packed training schedule
and lack of support have made life even
tougher. He said his neighbours are
probably his biggest help.
“When I get in they say ‘come and get
ern England where elite training is
more easily accessible.
“I do have some people, who win or
lose, always text me to say ‘Come on’ or
‘well done.’ My mum doesn’t say any-
thing to me.
“These friends, I wouldn’t say they’re
more important than my mum, but
they’re the ones who let me know they
care and that they’re there for me.
“Every time another team plays their
mums and dads are there. When I play
it’s just me. That has an effect on you
mentally.”
Having very little or no family sup-
port at competitions is tough for
Knight, as is returning to his home in
South London.
“My mum’s struggling herself, she’s
quiet and normal because I don’t want
her to get more upset.
‘If you compete against 200 of
them every week and you get
to number one in China, you’re
laughing. You’re going to feel like
god aren’t you?’
“This is the typical South London
way of life. People don’t strive to be
great and do things with their life.”
UK Sport’s decision in 2008 to cut
funding to table tennis after a medal-
less Beijing Olympics still rankles with
Knight, though he is aware how far the
sport has come.
“We train so hard and we’ve achieved
allists in 2006, we won a Common-
wealth silver medal in 2010, we’re in the
top 20/30 for our age. That’s good for a
sport that 10 years ago had nothing.”
Drinkhall is England’s top ranked
player at 129, and though both are
young they are a long way off the
standards set by the Chinese who have
six men in the top 10.
“In China there are 50-100 Dariuses
and Paul Drinkhalls. They’re ma-
chines. In England there’s only two of
us,” said Knight.
“If you compete against 200 of them
every week and you get to number one
in China, you’re laughing. You’re going
to feel like god aren’t you?”
Knight envies the set-up for the players
in the world’s most populous country.
playing field.” England’s best talents
will travel to the sport’s leading na-
tion later this year to hone their games
for two to three weeks, but this limited
timeframe hinders how much they can
achieve, said Knight.
“We go there but it costs a lot of mon-
ey and we don’t have any funding. It’s a
Catch 22. Just as you leave you start to
feel good,” he said.
Knight’s mood, possibly thinking of
comparisons with schooldays friends
now behind bars, suddenly brightens.
“I’m still a kid. I’ve got another 15-20
years to play.
“I just want to be a table tennis player, I
don’t want to be rich. Of course you want
money to be comfortable but when I was
15 I just wanted to play table tennis.”
 Gulf Times
46 Tuesday, April 19, 2011
FOOTBALL
HONOURS
Bale,
Wilshere
honoured
at PFA
awards
AFP
London
T
ottenham winger Ga-
reth Bale capped a
memorable season on
Sunday evening when
he was named the Professional
Footballers’ Association (PFA)
Player of the Year.
The 21-year-old Wales inter-
national has scored 11 goals in
36 club games this season and
becomes the first non-Man-
chester United player to win the
award since Liverpool’s Steven
Gerrard in 2006.
He is also the fourth Welsh-
man to be honoured, after Ian
Rush, Mark Hughes and his
former international colleague,
Ryan Giggs.
Bale leapt to global promi-
nence by scoring a hat-trick in
Spurs’ 4-3 Champions League
defeat at Inter Milan in October,
before producing a man-of-
the-match performance in Tot-
tenham’s 3-1 win in the return
game.
Bale beat off competition from
Arsenal’s Samir Nasri, Man-
chester City’s Carlos Tevez,
Blackpool’s Charlie Adam,
Tottenham team-mate Rafael
van der Vaart and Manchester
United’s Nemanja Vidic to win
the award.
Arsenal midfielder Jack
Wilshere, 19, was named PFA
Young Player of the Year, de-
spite Bale also being nominated
in the category.
Bale and Wilshere, both left-
footers, were also named in the
PFA Team of the Year.
AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Sadd eye last 16 berth,
Rayyan fight to stay on
Sports Reporter
Doha
Q
atar’s Al Sadd will be looking
to secure a berth in the last 16
when they meet Group B ri-
vals Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia
in the AFC Champions League match
today.
A victory today will take Al Sadd, who
currently lead the group with seven
points from Esteghlal of Iran and Al
Nassr - both have four, into the knock-
out stage. Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor, who
host today’s return leg match against
Esteghlal, are at the bottom on one
point.
Jorge Fossati will be without We-
sam Rizik and Nadir Belhadj, who
were both suspended for the match
after collecting their second yellow
cards in the last match that Al Sadd
won 1-0 at home. The Saudi side will
also be missing the services of Ahmed
al-Dosari and Mohammed al-Bishi
through suspension.
Also in action today are Al Rayyan,
who will be away to Zobahan in Group
D.
Reeling at the bottom of the piles on
one point, Al Rayyan desperately need a
win tomorrow to stay alive in the com-
petition. Al Gharafa had lost 2-0 away
to Foolad Mobarekeh Sepahan in the
first leg and Al Rayyan even worse going
down 3-1 to their rivals at home.
Al Rayyan boss Paulo Autuori did not
attempt to play down the importance of
the encounter to his side.
“It’s obvious we will be knocked out of
the tournament if we lose. That’s why
we are only focusing on getting maxi-
mum points from the game tomorrow,”
he told AFC’s official website yesterday.
“My team’s age average is only 20
which means we have young and pow-
erful lads who can run much more than
This file picture shows Al Sadd player Abdulkader Keita (2L) being challenged by Umm Salal defenders during their recent
Qatar Stars League match. Al Sadd are playing Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia in the AFC Champions League Group B match at the
King Fahad stadium in Riyadh today. The match starts at 8:05pm.
Zob Ahan’s players and that’s an advan-
tage for us.
“What we want from Tuesday’s clash
is merely a win and fortunately, we have
got enough motivation for that.”
Al Rayyan go into the clash having fin-
ished the Qatar Stars League season on
a high note with victory over champions
Lekhwiya.
Autuori, though, insisted that would
have no bearing against Zobahan.
“A victory in Qatar’s domestic league has
nothing to do with the game tomorrow,
because on Tuesday the competition and
opponents will be different,” he added.
“Anyway, our recent win at home can
boost our morale to play Zobahan. I
can’t make any evaluations about our
group, I’d rather make predictions only
after tomorrow’s match.”
But Zobahan boss Mansour Ebrahim-
zadeh is not counting Al Rayyan out yet,
urging his men to keep their feet on the
ground.
“The AFC Champions League has
its own special circumstances and we
should do our best to reach the goal we
are aiming at,” he told AFC’s official
ITALIAN LEAGUE
AC Milan close
in on title
Reuters
Milan
A
C Milan were within touch-
ing distance of their first
Serie A title for seven years
after nearest challengers
Napoli lost 2-1 at home to Udinese on
Sunday.
Second-half goals from Gokhan
Inler and German Denis left second-
placed Napoli, chasing their first scu-
detto since Diego Maradona’s days in
1990, six points adrift of leaders Mi-
lan with five matches to play.
Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, the
championship’s second top scorer
with 25 goals, missed a penalty in a
bad-tempered game featuring several
flare-ups, although only Udinese’s
Maurizio Domizzi was sent off.
Milan, 3-0 winners over Sampdoria
on Saturday, have 71 points from 33
CROWD PULLER
Barclays Premier League
Trophy Tour big hit in Qatar
Agencies
Doha
A
round 5,500 people vis-
ited the Barclays Premier
League Trophy Tour this
weekend at Souq Waqif,
supported by Qtel, making the Qatar
leg of the Tour the most successful to
date.
A huge crowd gathered on Saturday
to watch the Premier League match
between title-chasing Chelsea and
West Bromwich Albion that was
shown exclusively on Qtel’s Mozaic
TV, which provides the best coverage
of football in Qatar.
Reflecting the sense of passion for
football across Qatar, Friday was the
busiest day of the entire tour so far,
beating the records set in Dubai and
Abu Dhabi. The Tour will continue
on to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
website. “Since we were runners-up
in the previous edition all teams play
against us with extra incentive.
“We should be cautious not to under-
estimate the Qataris. Winning the first
leg match away in Qatar is no reason to
think that we can defeat them again at
home, unless we play at our full capacity
and strength. I hope we can follow the
same path as we did in Qatar.
“This is the very last chance for Al
Rayyan to survive in the continental
tournament, so they’ll be doing their
best to get some points from this match.”
games with Napoli stuck on 65 and
Inter Milan, champions for the last
five seasons, on 63 after their 2-0 de-
feat at Parma on Saturday.
Juventus were left facing a second
successive season without Champi-
ons League football after they were
held 0-0 by Fiorentina in a dour affair
while rivals Lazio thrashed Catania
4-1.
Those results left Juventus eight
points adrift of Lazio who are in
fourth place, the Champions League
qualifying round berth, with 60
points.
Seventh-placed Juve will have to
concentrate on finishing fifth or sixth
to qualify at least for the Europa
League.
Cesena moved out of the relegation
places with a 1-0 win over bottom
club Bari thanks to a second-half goal
from 34-year-old Albania striker Er-
jon Bogdani.
later in April, before moving on to
Hong Kong, China, Southeast Asia,
the USA, India and South Africa.
The Barclays Premier League Tro-
TRAGEDY
Nigeria’s Adefemi
killed in Greek car
crash
ATHENS: Nigeria international de-
fender Olubayo Adefemi was killed
in a car crash yesterday, police in
the northern Greek city of Kavala
reported.
The 25-year-old Xanthi right back
was driving to Thessaloniki Airport
to return to Nigeria to finalise
plans for his upcoming wedding.
“The Super League and the entire
Greek football family would like to
express its deepest condolences
and sympathy for the family of
Olubayo Adefemi, who died tragi-
cally in a car accident,” a state-
ment by the Super League said.
Kavala traffic police said Adefemi,
who has five international caps,
lost control of his car on a curve
on the wet Engatia Highway, just
outside Kavala.
His vehicle struck the dividing bar
on the highway and flipped over,
landing on the opposite lane.
The exact causes of the accident
are being investigated by police.
Football officials in Nigeria spoke
of their devastation at the news.
PLAYER SHORTAGE
Japan face Copa
crisis as clubs play
hardball
TOKYO: Japan face an embar-
rassing player shortage in their
off-again, on-again involvement at
this year’s Copa America with Eu-
ropean clubs refusing to play ball.
Germany’s Borussia Dortmund
said they were against midfielder
Shinji Kagawa travelling to Argenti-
na for the July 1-24 Copa America,
at which Japan are a guest team.
Schalke 04 full-back Atsuto Uchida
and VfB Stuttgart striker Shinji
Okazaki have also been told they
will not be able to go to South
America.
Japan’s domestic J-League clubs
are also unable to release players
with the season postponed follow-
ing last month’s deadly earth-
quake and tsunami.
“The agreement we reached with
the Japan Football Association
(JFA) is that the J-League would
release seven or eight young play-
ers,” the J-League’s Hisao Shuto
told Reuters yesterday.
HOPEFUL
Alves urges
Guardiola to stay
at Barcelona
BARCELONA: Barcelona defender
Dani Alves said yesterday he
hopes Pep Guardiola will stay on
as coach of the Spanish cham-
pions after his contract with the
club expires at the end of next
season.
Guardiola, 40, hinted he may
leave the club in an interview with
Italian television channel Rai this
month, saying: “I think my time is
ending here in Barcelona.”
“Next year will be my fourth
consecutive as Barca coach. A
club like this must have a lot of
courage to keep a coach for all
this time because players tire
of coaches and vice versa,” he
added.
But in an interview published
yesterday in daily newspaper El
Mundo, Alves said he and the rest
of the squad want him to stay on.
“We follow him with our eyes shut.
He is very intelligent, he always
knows what he is doing. To not
follow Guardiola would be foolish.
Since we are not foolish we will
follow him until he gets tired of
us,” he said.
phy Tour, which was brought to
Qatar by Barclays and the Premier
League in association with AD Sports
and Qtel, provided four interactive
experience domes that displayed the
full excitement of Barclays Premier
League football.
Also on display was a special show-
case for Qtel’s “Super Ability” Exhi-
bition, the first photo collection of its
kind to provide a social history of the
major achievements of the disabled
in Qatar. Among the Qatari nationals
profiled in the display are a number
of people who have made significant
achievements in the field of athletics
and sport, in spite of physical dis-
abilities.
Organised by Qtel’s Community
Relations team, the “Super Ability”
Exhibition was complemented by
a range of children’s games, face-
painting, and a series of special give-
aways for visitors.

FORMULA ONE
Hamilton heads home
plotting title bid
‘It was very enjoyable, great fun and we never really knew what was going on out there’
AFP
London
A
delighted Lewis Ham-
ilton headed home
after winning the Chi-
nese Grand Prix confi-
dent he can build a convincing
title challenge and give defend-
ing champion Sebastian Vettel a
run for his money.
Britain’s Hamilton and his
McLaren team-mate and com-
patriot Jenson Button finished
first and fourth in the third race
of the 2011 season in Shanghai
on Sunday as Vettel’s run of two
season-opening wins came to
an end.
Vettel was second for Red
Bull ahead of his team-mate
Australian Mark Webber, who
produced the drive of the day to
finish on the podium after start-
ing 18th on the grid.
Victory for Hamilton, 26, was
his 15th career win and his first
since last year’s Belgian Grand
Prix.
As most close observers of
the sport have noted, Hamilton
has made a near-flawless start
to the season, driving with great
speed, confidence and efficien-
cy. His passing of his rivals in
Sunday’s race was sublime.
“I feel I am driving as well as I
can, maybe as well as I have ever
done,” he said. “And the car is
improving all the time. We now
have a decent gap before the next
race in Turkey so I am hoping for
some more new parts and a bit of
time to pull it all together.
“I definitely feel we are in
there now with a chance. Our
race pace is good, as everyone
Britain’s Andy Murray touches his injured elbow during a news conference
at the Barcelona Open tennis tournament, yesterday. (Reuters)
SPOTLIGHT
I must keep improving, says
world number one Nadal
Reuters
Madrid
R
afa Nadal said he must
try to keep improving
his game after secur-
ing a seventh straight
Monte Carlo Masters title at
the weekend.
The world number one beat
fellow Spaniard David Ferrer
6-4 7-5 in Sunday’s final but
explained he was still a little
rusty on clay, his favourite sur-
face.
“I’m pleased with how the
first week (on clay) has gone,”
Nadal told a news conference at
the Barcelona Open yesterday.
“I need to use the confi-
dence from the first week to
keep improving. I have to be
more aggressive, to serve bet-
ter and to finish off points
more emphatically and with
more authority.”
could see today, and now we just
have to work on getting things
going a bit better in qualifying,”
said the 2008 world champion.
A delighted Webber joked
that he should start down the
grid in future after his heroics
at the Shanghai International
Circuit.
“Maybe that’s where I should
always start,” he said. “Just give
up on qualifying, save the tyres
and get out there and go for it. It
would certainly give the crowd
value for money and I think
we’d all enjoy it, too.
“But, being serious, I have to
say thanks to the team for the
great effort put in for this result
by everyone. It has been a tough
time for me and I may have said
that the way things were go-
ing I thought I might get hit by
a truck, but this was just a great
day for me.
“To finish on the podium af-
ter starting 18th is pretty amaz-
ing and I am glad, too, that
Lewis has ended Seb’s run even
though he drives for McLaren. It
is good for racing.”
After two wins and a second,
Vettel leads the title standings
with 68 points, ahead of Ham-
ilton on 47, with Button third on
38 and Webber fourth on 37.
Of that foursome, only Web-
ber has never been crowned
champion, but he kept that am-
bition alive with Sunday’s awe-
some demonstration of com-
mitment, skill and courage in an
incident-packed race that was
a near-perfect advertisement
for the new rules and the fast-
wearing Pirelli tyres.
“It was very enjoyable, great
fun and we never really knew
Nadal...not invincible on clay
After Barcelona, Nadal will
compete in Madrid, Rome and
then at the French Open in
Paris, giving him three possible
chances of a clash with in-form
Serb Novak Djokovic.
The world number two has
won 24 successive matches in
McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain celebrates on
the podium after winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix in
Shanghai on Sunday. A delighted Lewis Hamilton headed home
after winning the Chinese Grand Prix confident he can build a
convincing title challenge and give defending champion Sebastian
Vettel a run for his money. (AFP)
what was going on out there,”
said Button, world champion
in 2009. “I think that’s the way
things are going to be this year.”
Button also supported Ham-
ilton’s claim that McLaren were
now in a position to build up a
challenge to Red Bull. “This is
a big, experienced team that
knows what it takes to win a
TENNIS
Murray awaiting scan
results in Barcelona
AFP
Barcelona
A
ndy Murray was on
Monday anxiously
awaiting the results
of a scan on the elbow
injury that has the potential to
keep him from his place in this
week’s Barcelona Open.
The Monte Carlo Masters
semi-finalist, who played
through the pain in a three-
hour marathon against Rafael
Nadal on Saturday, had his right
elbow analysed by doctors in
the Catalan capital after driving
the 600km from Monaco.
2011, including final victories
over Nadal at Indian Wells and
Miami, and a claycourt show-
down between the two is ea-
gerly anticipated.
It was put to Nadal that
Djokovic rather than Roger Fe-
derer was now his main rival for
the number one spot.
“He (Djokovic) has started
very well and I congratu-
late him,” said the five-times
French Open champion.
“Roger and I have played
many important matches, with
great moments for each of us.
The year is very long and he
(Djokovic) is in a privileged po-
sition but unfortunately I have
to worry about many others as
well.
“I’m not invincible on clay.
I have lost before and unfor-
tunately I have plenty more
games I will lose in the future.
It has gone well for me in recent
years but no one is perfect.”
championship and there are a
lot of very good people working
to do just that this time,” he said.
Vettel, philosophical in de-
feat, said he was not surprised.
“We made some mistakes and a
few things went wrong. It hap-
pens. Now we have to regroup,
stay cool and work hard to get
back on top.”
“I’m hopeful that it will be
OK for tomorrow (Tuesday),”
said the world number four,
who is due to start play on
Wednesday at the Real Club de
Tenis against either Belgium’s
Xavier Malisse or Spain’s Juan
Carlos Ferrero.
“I haven’t trained since Mon-
te Carlo but hopefully it will be
OK to do so tomorrow. Depend-
ing on how I feel, I’ll then de-
cide whether I play or not.”
Murray will hope to make his
fourth appearance at the tour-
nament after winning just one
match so far at the venue, in
2006.
The Scot, who turned his
National Endurance Championship
The winners of the National Endurance Championship pose with their trophies after the presentation ceremony. This event was
organised by the Qatar Enurance Committee. PICTURE: Juhaim
F1 must do more
to sell itself, says
McLaren boss
Formula One served up
a thriller in China at the
weekend but the lack of fans
indicated the sport must do
more to sell itself to new audi-
ences, according to McLaren
boss Martin Whitmarsh.
While few could fault the rac-
ing on display, with McLaren’s
Lewis Hamilton hunting down
Red Bull’s world champion Se-
bastian Vettel to end the Ger-
man’s winning streak, empty
seats in the grandstands
throughout the weekend
caused concern.
The monumental Shanghai
circuit has now hosted eight
grands prix but, in a thriving
economy with a vast potential
audience, the race has yet
to pull in the big crowds that
might be expected.
“Formula One is used to
going to venues that know
and understand Formula One
and want us,” Whitmarsh told
reporters. “I’m not blaming
anyone because we’re all part
of it, but we’re not good at
promoting our sport in new
territories and I think you’ve
got evidence of that not just
in China.”
The next race is at Turkey’s
Istanbul Park circuit on May
8. Now promoted by F1’s
commercial supremo Bernie
season on its head last week af-
ter losing four straight matches
and not winning a set since Jan-
uary, suddenly came into form
on his least favoured surface
with a run to the Monte Carlo
final four.
But the elbow problem that
started during his quarter-final
with Portugal’s Frederico Gil
came back to haunt him shortly
before his semi, requiring what
Murray said was the first major
pain-killing injection of his ca-
reer. “I’ve never had an injury
like this before, it seems like an
inflammation,” he said.
“It’s nothing serious, but I
don’t want it to become some-
SPORT
Ecclestone, it is on the Asian
side of the city away from the
main tourist areas and has
had pitiful attendances in the
past.
“We’ve got to work harder at
it,” said Whitmarsh, who is
also chairman of the Formula
One Teams Association (FOTA)
and has been involved in
various initiatives to bring the
sport closer to the fans.
“Fortunately we still have a
fantastic worldwide television
audience but we need to work
harder at circuits that are in
new territories to promote the
sport.”
“If you go to downtown
Shanghai and look for all the
promotions going on for this
event, I suspect you would
struggle to find very much,”
added Whitmarsh.
“I’m not a sports promoter,
I’m just someone who works
for a Formula One team but
it strikes me that we’ve got to
do much more to promote our
sport, develop it, invest in its
promotion than we do.”
Hamilton said he was doing
his bit. “While the grandstands
aren’t as full as we would like
perhaps, every time I arrive at
the airport I’ve got fans stand-
ing there waiting,” he said
after winning.
thing more. I’ll wait to hear
from the doctors and see how I
am tomorrow.”
With the top eight seeds ben-
efitting from byes, the support-
ing cast took to the court on a
sunny spring day on Monday.
Spanish players Albert Ra-
mos and Reuben Ramirez
Hidalgo—two of 15 Spaniards
in the draw—faced off, with the
former prevailing 7-6 (7/5), 7-5.
Colombian Santiago Giraldo
upset 13th-seeded Thomaz
Bellucci of Brazil 7-5, 6-3,
while Dutchman Robin Haase
reached the second round by
beating Italy’s Flavio Cipolla
6-4, 6-3.
Gulf Times
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 47
Gebrselassie
hopes to
secure
place for
London 2012
LONDON: World marathon
record holder Haile Gebrselas-
sie hopes to secure a place
in the Ethiopian team for the
2012 London Olympics with
a fast time in the Berlin mara-
thon on Sept. 25.
Gebrselassie, who turned 38
on Monday, clocked 60:18 in
a half marathon in Vienna on
Sunday.
“From now on it will be all
about preparing for the
Olympics in 2012,” Gebrselas-
sie told the RaceNewsService
agency.
“Of course Berlin is the best
place to go for a fast time. If
it would be possible I would
say right now: ‘Yes, I will run
in Berlin’.
“But my manager has to
speak with the Berlin organis-
ers first. I do however expect
that an announcement will be
made very soon.”
Gebrselassie, who set his
world mark of two hours three
minutes 59 seconds in Berlin
three years ago, stunned the
sporting world when he an-
nounced his retirement after
dropping of the New York
marathon last November. He
subsequently rescinded his
decision and said he would
like to end his running career
in London next year.
“When I came back to
Ethiopia people said, what is
the matter? You cannot end
your career like this. You
have to finish on a high,”
he said.
Gebrselassie said he did not
think a time of two hours six
minutes would be enough
to ensure selection for the
Ethiopian team.
“There are a number of
very strong runners in
Ethiopia and it is obvious
that the Olympic places
will go to the three fastest,
2:06 will not be enough. I
know how strong the others
are so I think I will have to
run 2:05 or 2:04 to get to
London,” he said.
Kenyan Mary Keitany, who
moved into equal fourth
place on the women’s all-time
individual list when she won
the London marathon on
Sunday in only her second
race over 42.195 kms, said on
Monday she would like to at-
tempt Paula Radcliffe’s world
record.
Briton Radcliffe, who set her
world mark of 2:15:25 in 2003,
is the only woman to clock
a faster time in London than
Keitany’s 2:19:19 .
“I will try my best to at least
attempt it,” Keitany told
reporters on Monday.
Keitany, 29, the world half-
marathon record holder,
grew up in a classic Kenyan
tradition, running 10 kms
to and from primary school
every day.
She took up running seriously
in secondary school at the
age of 18 and made her first
appearance in Europe when
she competed in a half-mar-
athon and road race in Spain
in 2006.
Keitany won the silver medal
in the 2007 world half-mara-
thon championships before
interrupting her career to give
birth to her son Jared.