QATAR | Page 16 SPORT | Page 1 Qatar’s Fares Ibrahim sweeps Torba Market pitches in for sustainability 96kg class published in QATAR since 1978 SATURDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 11040 December 22, 2018 Rabia II 15, 1440 AH GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals In brief Spring Festival opens at Souq Waqif ARAB WORLD | Confl ict Erdogan: Three Palestinians killed by Israeli fi re Three Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, were killed yesterday by Israeli fire during protests and clashes along the Gaza border, health off icials said. Teenager Turkey to Mohamed al-Jahjuh was “hit in the neck by a bullet (fired) by Israeli soldiers”, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Abdelaziz Abu Sharia, 28, and Naher Yasin, 40, died from their wounds after being delay Syria shot in separate incidents along the heavily fortified frontier with Israel, Qudra and a hospital off icial said. Page 3 AMERICA | Confl ict operation US to withdraw part of troops from Afghanistan QNA/AFP “In the coming months we will see The White House administration is Istanbul an operation aimed at removing the preparing to withdraw part of the YPG and Daesh (Islamic State) ele- US troops deployed in Afghanistan. Entertainers are back in Souq Waqif Doha where the Spring Festival opened yesterday. Running until January 4, the Spring ments on the ground in Syria,” he said. According to US news reports, Festival off ers a wide variety of entertainment options for all age groups. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed Page 16 nkara will delay a possible coun- Erdogan welcomed Trump’s with- President Donald Trump ordered the ter-terrorism operation east drawal decision but said he remained withdrawal of a large part of the US Aof the Euphrates River, Syria, “cautious” because of “past negative troops from Afghanistan, pointing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdog- experiences”, referring to Ankara’s out that he is putting pressure on an said yesterday. continued disappointment over the US National Security Adviser John “The phone call we made with US administration’s failure to stop provid- Bolton to carry out these moves, President Donald Trump, as well as the ing military support to the YPG. but the latter is still resisting this Gatwick resumes fl ights contacts of our diplomatic and security Later yesterday, Turkish Foreign trend. “Other US off icials are still units, and the statements made by the Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an trying to change Trump’s mind,” American side led us to wait for a while interview with state television that the one of Trump’s advisers told The for an operation east of the Euphra- delay was to avoid “friendly fi re”. Washington Post. tes River. Of course this is not an open But, he added, “this does not mean after new drone sighting ended waiting process,” Erdogan said at we will turn back from any future op- AMERICA | Politics an award ceremony in Istanbul. erations. No one should be lulled into Exit of Mattis sparks Erdogan’s remarks came after Trump a false sense of security. We are deter- AFP they are safe to fly,” Transport Sec- been spotted at around 10pm (2200 on Wednesday ordered US forces to mined on this issue.” concern among allies London retary Chris Grayling told the BBC GMT) on Thursday. withdraw from Syria, saying IS had But two leaders of the political wing Key allies of Washington expressed yesterday. Some 10,000 passengers were af- been defeated. of the Syrian Democratic Council, the concern yesterday about the Government offi cials held an emer- fected on Wednesday night, and a The Turkish president reiterated that political arm of the US-backed and resignation of US lights resumed again yesterday gency meeting to discuss the situa- further 110,000 who had been due to Turkey has “no eyes” on Syria’s terri- Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and at London Gatwick Airport after tion. either take off or land at the airport on tory, adding: “But, our position against (SDF), warned the battle against the IS the policies of President Donald Fa new drone sighting, in a third There have been more than 50 760 fl ights Thursday. terrorist attacks targeting us from Syria could be brought to a halt if there was a Trump that prompted it, praising day of Christmas getaway misery that sightings of the device or devices The drama dominated Britain’s is clear.” Turkish attack. Mattis as a committed partner. has left tens of thousands of passen- since the fi rst at 9pm (2100 GMT) on newspapers yesterday, with specula- A mission east of the Euphrates, Trump’s move has also sparked tur- Mattis said on Thursday he would gers stranded. Wednesday and shooting down the tion that an eco-activist was respon- which Turkey’s leadership has been moil in his own administration. quit after falling out with Trump Flights were briefl y halted yester- drone is now an option, said Jason sible. suggesting for months, would follow US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis re- over the latter’s foreign policies, day evening following what a Gatwick Tingley of Sussex Police. Gatwick, around 30 miles (50km) two successful cross-border Turkish signed on Thursday, refl ecting his disa- including the surprise decision to spokeswoman said was a “confi rmed “We will do what we can to take south of the British capital, is the operations into Syria since 2016 — Op- greement with the White House’s new pull troops out of Syria and plans for sighting of a drone” — but resumed that drone out of the sky and remove eighth-busiest airport in Europe and erations Euphrates Shield and Olive strategy in Syria. a drawdown in Afghanistan. Page 5 quickly afterwards. that disruption,” he said. sits behind Mumbai as the world’s Branch — both meant to eradicate the The co-chairs of the Syrian Demo- “While we investigated, airfi eld Justin Burtenshaw, head of armed busiest single runway air hub. presence of YPG/PKK and IS militants cratic Council were in Paris yesterday EUROPE | Accident movements were suspended. This policing for Sussex and Surrey said Inbound fl ights were diverted to near Turkey’s borders. for talks about the planned US military was a precautionary measure as safety on Thursday: “Each time we believe other airports, including Paris, while “The regional security is vital for us. pullout. Five killed as Serbian remains our main priority,” the air- we get close to the operator, the drone passengers waiting to take off faced The steps that we have taken in the re- Ilham Ahmad, one of the co-chairs, train and bus collide port said in a statement. disappears. When we look to reopen gruelling delays. gion together with Russia and Iran aim said they would be “forced to withdraw Five people have been killed and “The military measures we have in the airfi eld the drone reappears”. Under a new British law, drones to ensure regional security,” Erdogan from the frontlines in Deir Ezzor to take more than two dozen injured after place at the airport have provided us Sussex Police Assistant Chief Con- cannot be fl own near aircraft or with- said. up positions on the border with Turkey a train ploughed through a bus with the reassurance necessary that it stable Steve Barry said offi cers were in a kilometre of an airport, or at an The president said that Turkey was to counter any attack” by Ankara. in southern Serbia, police said is safe to reopen our airfi eld.” working on the theory there was more altitude of over 400ft (122m). obliged to take over the peacemaker Ahmad said the forces feared they yesterday. The bus, which was Drones were fi rst sighted hovering than one drone. Violators face up to fi ve years in role in Syria. could “lose control” over detained for- carrying passengers including around Britain’s second-busiest air Before yesterday’s sighting at prison for endangering an aircraft. Erdogan also asserted that Turkey eign jihadists if IS used the US pullout school pupils, was cut in half after hub on Wednesday, grinding the run- 5:10pm (1710 GMT), a drone had last Page 8 will continue its actions in the upcom- to regroup, or if Turkey pushed ahead being hit on a railroad crossing. way to a standstill and causing chaos ing months to remove both PKK/PYD with an attack. for more than 120,000 people. and IS elements from Syria. Riad Darar, the council’s other co- QATAR | Weather Police are still hunting for the mys- He suggested Turkey could launch an chair, said the forces would not release tery drone operator or operators. operation against the Kurdish People’s hundreds of foreign IS fi ghters held in Scattered light rain At the start of the day, a Gatwick Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Syrian Kurdish prisons. forecast for today spokesman said that 91 of yesterday’s Ankara says is a “terrorist off shoot” of Turkey conducted an operation A chance of scattered light rain 412 scheduled arrivals had been can- the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party against IS in 2016 which also aimed at places inshore at first has been celled, while 64 of 371 scheduled de- (PKK) which has been waging an insur- to block the YPG from joining up the forecast for today in Qatar. The partures had also been scrapped. gency against the Turkish state since territory it held in northern Syria and off shore forecast is thundery rain, Passengers, many trying to get 1984. staged an off ensive against the militia strong wind and high sea, according home for Christmas or to start their The PKK is blacklisted as a terror in its northwestern enclave of Afrin in to the Met off ice.