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SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 RABI ALTHANI 20, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net New university Prince Charles ‘Commandos’ Blind leaves to be built tours Syrian helping Indian it late to with traditional, refugee camp couples escape rescue point modern5 features in Jordan7 prejudice40 for20 United Assembly discusses Kuwait Min 12º Max 24º economy with World Bank High Tide 02:27 & 15:16 MPs want KAC to remain national carrier Low Tide 09:03 & 21:29 40 PAGES NO: 16428 150 FILS By B Izzak Panel calls to KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterday discussed with a World Bank delegation a study prepared by the reject airport bank offering solutions to deal with economic imbal- ances in Kuwait, speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said. The expansion bids meeting, attended by around 20 lawmakers, discussed issues like governance, corruption, economic diversifi- KUWAIT: A committee in the public works ministry cation and reducing reliance on oil as the only source of has recommended that all bids to build a new termi- income, besides the concentration of national manpow- nal at the country’s international airport be rejected, er in government jobs, Ghanem told reporters after the state news agency KUNA reported yesterday. In meeting. November, the tender committee for the project said The speaker called on the Assembly to debate the a consortium of Kuwait’s Kharafi National and World Bank recommendations before its scheduled Turkey’s Limak Holding had submitted the lowest bid debate of the five-year development plan, to make MPs for the contract, worth KD 1.386 billion ($4.78 billion). realize the imbalances in the national economy. He But KUNA quoted Minister for Electricity, Water added that the World Bank agreed to make a presenta- and Public Works Abdulaziz Al-Ibrahim as saying yes- tion during the session about its study. Ghanem said terday that a technical committee in the ministry had that the Assembly is prepared to issue all necessary leg- recommended all bids be rejected. Ibrahim did not islation to tackle economic problems, adding that the give a reason for the recommendation, but said the World Bank provided solutions for the imbalances, committee had studied all aspects of the bidding. including those for employment. The speaker said that On Thursday, Al-Watan newspaper quoted min- MPs Youssef Al-Zalzalah and Faisal Al-Shaye have been istry sources as saying the lowest bid exceeded the assigned to coordinate with the World Bank. estimated cost of the project by 39 percent, and did Meanwhile, the financial affairs committee yesterday not meet technical specifications. Other bidders for the contract included China State Construction postponed until next week a proposal to amend the Engineering Corp and Dubai-based Arabtec. KUNA Kuwait Airways privatization law calling to increase the did not say yesterday whether the technical commit- KUWAIT: Cars drive in reduced visibility conditions during a dust storm yesterday. Kuwait Ports Authority government’s stake in the national carrier to 75 percent tee’s recommendation to reject all bids would be announced a halt of maritime traffic in the three ports of Shuwaikh, Shuaiba and Doha yesterday due to the from just 25 percent in the law. MPs want KAC to remain adopted, or whether a new round of bidding might bad weather conditions. But the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) confirmed that air traffic in the the national carrier, especially after the two huge con- be arranged. Kuwait has planned tens of billions of country was not affected. — KUNA tracts it signed with Airbus and Boeing to buy a total of dollars worth of infrastructure projects in the last 35 planes and lease 12 others at an estimated cost of several years but has struggled to implement many PAGE PAGE over $7 billion. The legal and legislative committee of them because of bureaucratic delays, political Jordan hits ‘Birdman’ gets meanwhile rejected a request to lift the immunity of tensions, and allegations of corruption and ineffi- MPs Nabeel Al-Fadhl and Abdulhameed Dashti and also ciency. -— Reuters IS positions Oscars boost rejected a proposal to set up a special agency to follow up the implementation of mega projects. Egypt trials place security first Reporter may be left languishing Retrial on Feb 12 CAIRO: With Australian Peter Greste freed and a Canadian colleague close to release, the other Al- Jazeera journalist arrested in Cairo faces languishing in jail for an indefinite period because he has only Egyptian nationality. Under global pressure to release the prisoners, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree tailored for Greste and colleague Mohamed Fahmy, allowing the deportation of foreigners but overlooking Baher Mohamed in RIYADH: Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz greets UN Secretary General Ban Ki- the process. Greste, an Moon yesterday. —AFP acclaimed reporter for Al- Jazeera English, was deported last week. Ban: Reinstate Hadi Fahmy, a dual national, had to renounce his Egyptian citi- ALEXANDRIA: In this May 19, 2014 file photo, supporters of the Muslim zenship and his release and Brotherhood and other Islamists gesture from the defendants’ cage as they deportation to Canada is immi- receive sentences in a mass trial. — AP as Yemen president nent, a government official said. But in the face of delays, promi- Jihan Rashid CAIRO: If you’re branded an enemy of week - of 183 suspected Islamist radicals nent lawyer Amal Clooney, who the state in Egypt, you may never get the sentenced to death and 230 secular anti- UN chief meets Saudi king married Hollywood star George Clooney last year, has chance to defend yourself in a justice sys- government activists sentenced to life in requested a meeting with Sisi to press Fahmy’s case, a RIYADH: UN Secretary General Ban Ki- Houthis and... former president Saleh have tem racking up convictions in lopsided prison - featured an openly pro-govern- letter obtained by AFP on Saturday showed, leaving moon called yesterday for the restoration to been undermining the transition process,” mass trials. That’s the united view of legal ment judge defending his blanket Mohamed in the cold. Yesterday, a judicial official said power in Yemen of Western-backed said Ban, who arrived in the kingdom to observers and human rights groups, who approach to convictions, and defense a court will retry the two journalists from Feb 12. President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after pay his respects after the Jan 23 death of look with dismay on the growing use of lawyers complaining that individual “We’re paying the price for being Egyptian,” his Houthi militia seized power. “The situation King Salman’s predecessor, Abdullah. Ban mass sentencing of opponents of the clients had never received a fair hearing. embittered wife Jihan Rashid told AFP. “It’s the peak of is very, very seriously deteriorating, with the also met other officials including Oil military-backed government of President Critics of the crisis-driven measures injustice for my husband to remain in prison and be Houthis taking power and making this gov- Minister Ali Al-Naimi and GCC Secretary Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. The former army accuse the government of undermining tried while his foreign colleagues are freed,” Rashid ernment vacuum,” Ban said, referring to the General Abdullatif Al-Zayani. chief is unrepentant, arguing that human faith in the rule of law and radicalizing its said. The three, all employees of the Qatari-owned Al- Shiite militia which dissolved the Sanaa “This situation in Yemen has been the rights sometimes must come second to citizens against the state, exactly the fate Jazeera English broadcaster, were arrested in Dec government and parliament on Friday. major topic which we addressed,” Ban said, economic and security needs in a coun- el-Sissi is striving to avoid. 2013 and tried for allegedly supporting the blacklist- “There must be restoration of legitimacy of adding that it must be dealt with through try where many thousands face prosecu- Egypt’s government “always repeats ed Muslim Brotherhood in their coverage. President Hadi,” the UN chief told reporters UN Security Council and GCC initiatives. tion after years of unrest. how important it is to maintain state Continued on Page 13 after talks with King Salman in neighboring Ban said UN envoy Jamal Benomar has Two mass convictions in the past Continued on Page 13 Saudi Arabia. been “working very hard in Yemen, facilitat- The Houthi militia on Friday created a ing a way out of the current political crisis “presidential council” in a move it said was and a return to the path of the peaceful designed to fill a power vacuum and would political transition”. Security Council presi- Jenner involved in fatal LA car crash head off the threat from Al-Qaeda, which dent Liu Jieyi has said its 15 members were has a strong presence in east and south ready to “take further steps” if UN-brokered Yemen. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation negotiations to resolve Yemen’s political cri- LOS ANGELES: Reality TV star and now, there is no indication that Bruce then swerved into oncoming traffic, TMZ Council (GCC), led by Sunni-dominated sis were not resumed “immediately”. Kardashian family patriarch Bruce Jenner Jenner was being chased by paparazzi at reported. The driver of the visibly damaged Saudi Arabia, on Saturday described the The Houthis said they would set up a was involved in a car crash on Saturday that the time of the crash,” LA County Sheriff’s white car died. Jenner was pictured at the Houthi action as a coup. The militia overran national council of 551 members to replace killed one woman, but police said there was Department Lieutenant John Lecrivain told scene in sunglasses and a baseball cap Sanaa in September, then seized the presi- parliament in the violence-wracked nation, no evidence he was being chased by CNN.