ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Tuesday 23 October 2012 7 Dhul-Hijja 1433 - Volume 17 Number 5496 Price: QR2 Apicorp’s Armstrong profit jumps to loses all Tour $12.67m de France titles Business | 17 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Emir meets British envoy Darfur rebel Schoolboy to group joins peace efforts DOHA: The Justice and Equality be tried in Movement of Sudan has agreed to join the Darfur peace process, following a declaration signed with the Sudan government affirming their commitment to juvenile court an immediate cessation of hos- tilities in the war-torn region. The two parties decided to Student spent four days in custody resume negotiations to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the DOHA: A schoolboy accused of he went to the school the next conflict on the basis of the DDPD slapping a female teacher and morning in a school bus he was and agreed on a time frame to stabbing her hand with a sharp asked to return home and the start talks after Eid Al-Adha. pencil had been remanded in same bus dropped him back. The declaration was issued after judicial custody and spent four According to the father, his a meeting between a delegation days in the juvenile prison. son was told by the school that from the Sudan government led by The boy, who is less than 12, he was barred for three days from Dr Amin Hassan Omer, Minster of was released last Sunday and the that very day—a Tuesday—and State in the Presidency and Head prosecution which had taken him that he should come back only of the Darfur Follow-up Office and under remand has filed charges on Sunday (Friday and Saturday a delegation from the Justice and against him after questioning. A being weekly holidays). Equality Movement of Sudan led juvenile court will hear the case. The case had gone viral on by Mohammad Bashar Ahmed, The boy, a sixth-grader, had hit social media in Qatar. president of the Interim Military the expatriate teacher on October On Tuesday the father said he Council which concluded yester- 15 in the presence of supervi- got a call from the police at home day. The Mediation called upon sors and several students during and took his son along. The next the other non-signatory move- school hours. This is arguably the morning, that is, on Wednesday, ments to follow suit and join the first time in the country that a he said he received a call from the peace process. THE PENINSULA schoolboy has been booked on Public Prosecution saying that his The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani with British Ambassador to Qatar, Michael O’Neill, at the See also page 2 charges of assaulting a teacher. son would be taken into custody. Emiri Diwan yesterday. The British envoy called on the Emir to greet him on assuming office in Doha. The incident took place after The father said he took his the teacher tried to stop the boy son to the Prosecution and they from misbehaving when she saw remanded him in judicial cus- her making obscene gestures in tody and he was released only on the classroom. The boy refused Sunday, October 21. NU-Q project to aid digital literacy scholars to listen after which she called a The father produced a copy school supervisor. of a medical report of his son to The supervisor was busy, so the the Arabic daily which published DOHA: A group of programme, will analyse the level identify gaps in the digital media digital literacy is crucial for coun- teacher grabbed the boy’s arm and it and which shows that there Northwestern University stu- of digital literacy by measuring industry and ways to bridge those tries like Qatar that have spent asked him to go with her to the indeed were nail marks under dents and teachers presented a both the ability of searchers to gaps using innovation, technology a great deal of effort to expand former. It was then that the boy one of his armpits. The case is research project at the Annual successfully complete their tasks as well as policy making.” Dun, access to the Internet and to attacked her hand with a sharp in a juvenile court, he later told Research Forum that will help as well their efficiency in doing so. who hopes her research will pro- create a knowledge-based online pencil and slapped her. the daily. The father said fil- institutions bridge the digital Dun’s work is an example of duce more accurate tools to assess society.” The father of the boy told local ing a court case against his son divide and provide a ground- NU-Q’s effort to “advance under- digital literacy, is optimistic that “Knowing what levels of dig- Arabic daily Al Watan that he got reflected badly on the school and breaking source of information standing and development of dig- the results will be particularly ital literacy exist in the Arabic a call from the school on the day its disciplinary mechanism, for if for scholars of digital literacy. ital media in Qatar,” according to useful to ictQATAR — Qatar’s subpopulations in Doha, especially of the incident following which he it had a tough disciplinary com- ‘Effective use of the web: dig- NU-Q Dean and CEO Everette Supreme Council of Information Qataris, will help them design rushed to the school. mittee it could have handled his ital literacy in Qatar’ is being pre- Dennis. “We have a mandate to and Communication — in their effective Web-based tools,” she The school administration nar- son’s matter. Contacted for com- sented at the Qatar Foundation produce media professionals with policy decision-making. added. Dun has been training rated the incident to him, but he ment, prominent lawyer Mohsin Annual Research Forum as the world class capabilities here in “The digital divide, which three Communication students said that when he asked his son Al Suwaidi told The Peninsula yes- first study to evaluate Arabic Doha, and part of that work is to separates those with and with- — senior Mo’tasem Kalaji, senior what had happened, he said he terday that Qatari laws have no users’ and bilinguals’ web search- contribute to the development of out access to Web resources, is Dina Mutassem, and junior Hazar had acted in self-defence as the place for emotions and in their ing strategies using observational the media industry and the knowl- a significant concern, given the Eskandar — for almost a year in teacher had hurt one of his shoul- eyes a crime is a crime whether methods. edge economy of Qatar,” he said. explosion of resources available preparation for the data collec- ders with her nails. it is committed by an adult or a The research project, led by “NU-Q and its faculty are work- via the Web,” explained Dun. “The tion, to begin in November. The father said that he brought minor. THE PENINSULA Susan Dun, Senior Lecturer ing independently as well as with need to understand, measure, and THE PENINSULA his son home that day but when Continued on page 3 in NU-Q’s Communication organisations such as ictQatar to potentially improve local levels of Continued on page 4 Pilgrims in Makkah Fresh sectarian ‘Slim’ chance of truce clashes break out in Beirut during Eid in Syria DAMASCUS: Hopes of a truce “Unfortunately, hope for imple- BEIRUT: Lebanese troops being implemented in war-torn menting the truce during Eid deployed in Sunni areas of Syria during this week’s Eid Al Al Adha is slim so far,” he said on the Lebanese capital yester- Adha holidays are “slim,” the the sidelines of the World Energy day as fresh sectarian violence Arab League said yesterday, as Forum in Dubai. erupted, stoking stability fears rebels and troops engaged in “The signs, both on the ground after a top security official was fierce clashes in Damascus and and by the government... do not killed in a bombing blamed on on northern battlefields. point to the presence of any real neighbouring Syria. But the United Nations held on will” to implement a truce. The army said it was deter- to the hope that the two warring In Damascus, two bombs mined to restore order, with the sides will observe a truce during exploded last evening after a day northern port of Tripoli also the four-day holiday which begins of pitched battles between troops shaken by fighting between par- on Friday, saying it had plans to and rebels on the edge of the capi- tisans and opponents of Syrian assemble a peacekeeping force if tal, in the northern city of Aleppo President Bashar Al Assad that a ceasefire takes hold. and in the northwestern rebel- killed seven people. “We are getting ourselves ready held town of Maaret Al Numan. In the afternoon, personnel to act if it is necessary and a man- The Syrian Observatory for carriers entered Beirut’s Sunni Muslim pilgrims circle the Kaaba and pray at the Grand Mosque during the annual Haj pilgrimage in the holy date is approved,” UN peacekeep- Human Rights said at least 84 district of Tariq Jdideh, which city of Makkah yesterday. On Thursday, the day of Arafat, millions of pilgrims will stand in prayer on Mount ing chief Herve Ladsous said in people, including 22 civilians, were had been a hotspot all day, and Arafat near Makkah at the peak of the pilgrimage.