Kuwait Prosecution Ends Audio-Video Controversy
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THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015 JAMADA ALAWWAL 28, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net ‘Chicken feet’ Sabah, Kharafi Ukraine peace Barca ease protesters families plan creaks past City to resume celebrate as Ukraine, despite work today3 wedding6 Russia10 spar Hart20 heroics Kuwait Prosecution ends Min 18º Max 23º audio-video controversy High Tide 10:40 & 22:15 Constitutional court says demos need permission Low Tide 03:55 & 16:00 40 PAGES NO: 16464 150 FILS By B Izzak 21 die in Tunisia museum attack KUWAIT: The public prosecutor yesterday said it will not press charges against former prime minister Sheikh TUNIS: Kalashnikov-wielding gunmen killed at least Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and former 21 foreign tourists in a brazen attack yesterday on assembly speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi in the coup plot Tunisia’s national museum before being killed in a and corruption case. police assault, officials said. Polish, Italian, German The case, brought forward by Sheikh Ahmad Al- and Spanish tourists were among the dead, Prime Fahad Al-Sabah, a year ago alleges that Sheikh Nasser Minister Habib Essid said, adding that two gunmen and Khorafi had plotted to overthrow the government, had been killed. A Tunisian national and a policeman were involved in contacts with a foreign intelligence service, money laundering and stealing public funds. were also reported dead. Sheikh Ahmad had presented videotapes allegedly Essid said the gunmen, dressed in military uni- showing the two former senior officials plotting against forms, opened fire on the tourists as they were disem- the government and conducting a huge corruption barking from a bus and chased them inside the muse- scam. um. Health Minister Said Aidi told reporters that 38 But public prosecutor Dherar Al-Assoussi said that others had been wounded in the attack, including cit- after almost a year of investigations and examination, it izens of France, South Africa, Poland, Italy and Japan. was found that the allegations were not supported by The attack appeared to be the worst on foreigners in evidence. He said in a statement that the criminal evi- Tunisia since an Al-Qaeda suicide bombing on a syna- dence department of the interior ministry said after gogue killed 14 Germans, two French and five examining the videotapes that they were not authentic Tunisians on the island of Djerba in 2002. and had been tampered with. Accordingly, the public Some officials, including French Prime Minister prosecutor decided to shelve the case and not press any Manuel Valls, had said hostages were taken at the charges against the former officials. museum but this was not confirmed by Tunisian During investigations, the public prosecutor ques- authorities. There was no immediate claim of respon- tioned Sheikh Nasser and Khorafi, who categorically sibility for the attack but Tunisia the birthplace of the denied the charges. The prosecutor also heard the testi- Arab Spring revolutionary movement-has struggled mony of former foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Al- to tackle a rise in attacks from Islamist extremists. TUNIS: Tourists are evacuated from the site of an attack carried out by two gunmen at Tunis’ famed Bardo Sabah, editor of Al-Watan newspaper Sheikh Khalifa Ali Continued from Page 13 Museum yesterday.— AFP Al-Athbi Al-Sabah and Sheikh Ahmad himself. Continued on Page 13 Al-Jassar appointed Kuwait arrests electricity minister opposition figure KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received yesterday in KUWAIT: Kuwaiti secret police arrested the leader of an opposi- Bayan Palace, His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh tion youth group early yesterday following a complaint from the Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Saudi embassy, the interior ministry and activists said. Al-Sabah and His Highness Civil Democratic Movement leader Tareq al-Mutairi was the Prime Minister Sheikh detained after he ignored a summons by the public prosecutor’s Jaber Al-Mubarak Al- office over a complaint by the Saudi embassy, the interior min- istry said on its Twitter account. It gave no details of the Saudi Hamad Al-Sabah who pre- complaint. sented Ahmad Khaled The CDM accused the authorities of kidnapping its leader and Ahmad Al-Jassar, who said it would hold them responsible for his safety. It said on swore in as the new Twitter that Mutairi was detained by armed men in civilian dress Minister of Public Works, as he was returning from a meeting of opposition groups. Minister of Electricity and The CDM has campaigned for wide-ranging reform in the Gulf Ahmad Al-Jassar Water. emirate with governments drawn from the elected parliament The swearing-in cere- rather than the ruling family. mony was attended by Deputy Minister of Amiri On Friday, Kuwait arrested the leader of the Islamist Ummah Diwan Affairs Sheikh Ali Jarrah Al-Sabah, Director of Party, Hakem Al-Mutairi, for allegedly insulting neighboring His Highness the Amir’s Bureau Ahmad Fahad Al- Saudi Arabia on television. He was released on Sunday after Fahad and Head of Amiri Protocol Sheikh Khaled Al- questioning by prosecutors. In recent months, the government Abdullah Al-Sabah Al-Nasser Al-Sabah. His Highness has cracked down on online criticism of its Gulf Arab and the Amir had issued an Amiri Decree appointing Al- Egyptian allies. Authorities have detained several activists and Jassar to the senior post. — KUNA former lawmakers for alleged insults to Egyptian, Saudi or United Arab Emirates leaders. — AFP India bans recruitment of nurses by private agents By Sajeev K Peter KUWAIT: The India government has issued an order yesterday Blast kills three banning overseas recruitment of nurses by private agencies stating that only an authorized government agency can con- duct nursing recruitments. The order becomes effective from Iraqis near April 30, 2015. According to the government order, nursing recruitments to Kuwait border a foreign country from India can be done only through a gov- BASRA: Three Iraqis were killed yesterday when a ernment agency from respective states. From Kerala, NORKA Roots and Overseas Development and Employment Promotion booby-trapped truck exploded in Iraq near the bor- Council (ODEPC) will be entrusted with the job. Currently, der with Kuwait, Kuwaiti news agency KUNA recruitments to Saudi Arabia are done through ODEPC. reported. The new decision by the India government is expected to The agency quoted Talib Al-Hosuna, a local Iraqi put an end to large-scale corruption and cheating by private official saying that five other people were wounded recruiting agents who recruit nurses from India to various for- in the explosion at a garage near the main road eign countries including Kuwait after taking huge sums as about 12 km (7.5 miles) north of the Safwan border bribes and commission. Several reports had appeared in local crossing with Kuwait. Police sources in Iraq said the and Indian media recently that agents in Kuwait in collusion with their counterparts in India allegedly take huge sums from victims were civilians who died in an explosion candidates ranging from KD 5,000 to KD 12,000 for nursing jobs from a truck trailer parked in a rest area some 10 in Kuwait. Many of the nurses reportedly lost their job after km north of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr. working in Kuwait for a few months. Iraqi authorities have been enforcing height- “Ever since the issue surfaced, we were trying to persuade ened security measures at the port, where no large the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry in India so that these illegal vehicles are allowed in or out, the police sources recruitments would come to an end,” Indian Ambassador Sunil said. A witness said the explosion occurred in the Jain told Kuwait Times yesterday. morning aboard a trailer truck with license plates The Indian embassy in Kuwait had pressured the Indian gov- ernment to put an end to this malpractice while the Kerala gov- from Anbar province in western Iraq, where mili- ernment requested the center to appoint a nodal government tants from the Islamic State operate. agency to conduct overseas recruitment of nurses from India in The witness, who identified himself as Abu Ziad, order to avoid large-scale corruption and cheating. said he was eating breakfast with other drivers at the “It is a very good decision by the India government. It will rest area when a driver pulled in, disconnected the benefit both sides in Kuwait and India. We hope that from now trailer and drove away. “We heard a loud explosion, on these women don’t pay a single penny to get a job in Kuwait thought it was a tanker that exploded, then saw it and recruitments will become transparent and corruption-free,” was a trailer that blew up,” Abu Ziad said. —Reuters Jain added. THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2015 LOCAL KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday HH the KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace yesterday their Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Royal Highness Princess Chimi Yangzom Wangchuck, Princess Sonam Dechan Wangchuck, Princess Dechen Yangzom Al-Sabah. HH the Prime Minister presented Ahmad Khaled Ahmad Al-Jassar, who swore in as the new Minister of Public Wangchuck and Princess Kesang Choden Wangchuck of the Kingdom of Bhutan, on the occasion of their visit to country. Works, Minister of Electricity and Water. — KUNA photos Al Tamimi & Company, Crown Prince urges KU graduates KDIPA host joint seminar in Dubai to double effort in Kuwait’s service DUBAI: Well-received Presentation on Kuwait’s New KUWAIT: His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al- New programs tific researches aimed at utilizing available resources.