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SUBSCRIPTION WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2015 RABI ALAWWAL 23, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Young Indian Pope says Sri For war-weary Messi admits publishes Lanka should Syrians, he could book of poetry seek truth opera brings leave in Kuwait5 over11 civil war welcome40 respite Barcelona20 Dashti immunity lifted Min 04º Max 17º over Bahrain remarks High Tide 05:12 & 17:44 Low Tide Ashour protests hosting Islamist activist on state TV 11:16 40 PAGES NO: 16402 150 FILS By Staff Reporter Omair warns KUWAIT: The National Assembly yesterday agreed to lift the immunity of Shiite MP Abdulhameed Dashti in a oil price fall closed debate demanded by 10 MPs so as to prevent sec- tarian exchanges in the session. Dashti was sued by the government over controversial remarks deemed offensive to continue to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member Bahrain, and the public prosecution questioned the lawmaker and KUWAIT: Kuwait said yesterday that the sharp fall in pressed charges against him. world oil prices is unjustified but that the market may The court however requested his immunity to be lifted not improve before the second half of this year. so he could be tried on charges of insulting a sisterly coun- “Nobody can justify the drop now,” Oil Minister Ali Al- try and endangering relations with Bahrain. The Omair told reporters as prices slid towards six-year Assembly’s legal and legislative affairs committee rejected lows. Omair attributed the slide to a production glut of the request and sent its report to the Assembly for a final around 1.8 million barrels per day combined with a vote. Ahead of the debate, 10 MPs requested a secret ses- slowdown in global economic growth. “We expect this sion amid strong protests by MP Hamdan Al-Azmi, who situation to continue until the surplus on the market is wanted the debate to be public. absorbed and the world economy improves. Forecasts After the debate, Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem said indicate that this will not happen before the second that following a brief discussion, the Assembly agreed to half of 2015,” he said. hold a closed debate and MPs voted to lift the immunity of World prices have been falling since June but the MPs Dashti and Nabil Al-Fadhl. He said 33 MPs voted for pace of the slide accelerated in November when the lifting Dashti’s immunity while 15 opposed it. Later, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Ghanem told reporters that the decisions on lifting the (OPEC) decided to maintain its production unchanged immunities is proof that members of this Assembly do not at 30 million barrels per day. OPEC members Algeria, hide behind their parliamentary immunities like the previ- Iran, and Venezuela have since called for action to ous lawmakers. He said Dashti has welcomed the shore up prices but Omair said he did not expect the Assembly’s decision and denied reports on social media cartel to review output again before its next regular that MPs had traded exchanges during the secret debate. meeting in June. “None of the OPEC members called He also insisted that he will not allow sectarian exchanges for an urgent meeting and we will have our next to take place in the Assembly. meeting in June,” he said. Omair said that even if the KUWAIT: (From left) Oil Minister Ali Al-Omair, Defence Minister MP Saleh Ashour meanwhile strongly protested to the cartel cut output by one million bpd, it would have lit- Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and HH the Prime Minister information minister for hosting Islamist activist Shafi Al- tle effect on prices. “It will not be more than the sur- Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah attend a parliament session at Ajmi on state-run Kuwait Television although he has been plus that already exists on the market,” he said. — AFP the National Assembly yesterday. (Inset) MP Abdulhameed Dashti branded a “terrorist”. speaks during the session. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat Continued on Page 13 OPEC will not shore up oil Gulf to curb fuel smuggling • Bahrain to raise gas prices ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates said yesterday that OPEC will no longer move to shore up crude prices, arguing that rising North American shale oil output needed to be curbed. World prices have been falling since June but the pace of the slide accelerated in November when the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided to maintain its pro- duction unchanged at 30 million barrels per day. Analysts say that richer cartel members like the UAE have been ready to accept the price fall in the hope that it will force higher-cost shale producers out of the market. “We cannot continue to be protecting a certain price,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said. “We have seen the oversupply, coming primarily from shale oil, and that needed to be corrected,” he told participants in the Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi. BOBIGNY, France: People carry the coffin of slain French police officer Ahmed Mazrouei said the UAE remains “concerned” about bal- Merabet during a funeral ceremony on yesterday near Paris. — AFP ance in the oil markets but “cannot under any circum- stances be the only party responsible,” in reference to ris- ing output from non-OPEC members. France fetes slain cops, Oil producers outside the cartel should be rational about their output, he said, adding that current prices are BUSHEHR, Iran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visits the control room of “not sustainable” for them. “We are telling the market and the Bushehr nuclear power plant in this Gulf port city yesterday. — AFP mag provokes Muslims other producers to be rational, to be like OPEC and look at growth in the market,” Mazrouei said. He said that if Rise in anti-Muslim attacks OPEC had opted to cut production, other producers Iran says Kuwait will would have stepped in to make up the lost output and PARIS: France’s prime minister yesterday house gave a stirring rendition of the the cartel would have lost market share without any declared “war against terrorism”, as the Marseillaise anthem, a first since the end effect on prices. Mazrouei said current prices were “not suffer from oil slide satirical magazine targeted in last week’s of World War I. sustainable”, particularly for producers outside the Gulf TEHRAN: President Hassan Rouhani said worst hit by the sliding price of crude, jihadist killing spree hit back with a defi- The special sitting came after region. yesterday that Iran would withstand the given its current budget was based on ant issue featuring a cartoon of Prophet President Francois Hollande oversaw a He said that with oil below $50 a barrel, it was uneco- economic pain of plummeting oil prices, sales at $100 per barrel. In a draft plan for Muhammad (PBUH) on the cover. A rare solemn ceremony paying tribute to three nomic for shale oil producers to keep investing in increas- with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait likely to the next financial year starting March 21, outpouring of national unity in the wake police officers killed in France’s bloodiest ing production. “Shale oil brings almost four million (bar- suffer more from the slump. Iran has Rouhani’s government cut the projected of the attacks that left 17 people dead week in decades, while four Jews shot rels per day) for the United States, and the hope is that it been among the oil exporting countries Continued on Page 13 spread to parliament where a packed Continued on Page 13 Continued on Page 13 Court ruling may free Mubarak CAIRO: An Egyptian court on yesterday over- court had convicted Mubarak and handed him a Mubarak would remain in the military hospital turned former president Hosni Mubarak’s con- three-year jail sentence last May on charges that where he currently receives treatment. viction on corruption charges and ordered a he embezzled money earmarked for the main- In 2011, there were mass protests demand- retrial, but the ex-strongman remained in deten- tenance of presidential palaces. It had also given ing Mubarak’s prosecution after he retired to a tion pending a judicial order. Supporters of the four-year jail sentences to the toppled leader’s mansion in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al- 86-year-old broke into cheers and chanted sons, Alaa and Gamal, whose convictions were Sheikh following the Arab Spring uprising that “Long Live Justice!” as the Court of Cassation in overturned as well yesterday. Four other defen- forced him from power. He was detained two Cairo announced its decision, which concerns dants in the case were acquitted. months later and ordered to stand trial. In the the last remaining of a series of charges laid The Court of Cassation did not specify yester- murder case, the court ruled that prosecutors against Mubarak following his 2011 ouster. day whether Mubarak was a free man following should not have added Mubarak’s name to the Another court in November dropped murder its judgement and did not set a date for a retrial. list of defendants, after originally charging only charges against Mubarak over the deaths of pro- State media quoted a security official saying the his security chiefs. The seven security command- testers during the uprising, which ended his ousted leader would remain in detention absent ers, including feared former interior minister three decades of autocratic rule. a judicial order for his release. His lawyer Farid Habib Al-Adly, were all eventually acquitted. The If Mubarak walks free it would spur accusa- Al-Deeb told AFP that Mubarak ought to be ruling sparked a rare protest in central Cairo, CANBERRA: Kuwait’s Fahad Al-Hajeri (left) and South Korea’s Nam Tae Hee com- tions against President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi that released as he “has already served” three years in leading to clashes with police that left two peo- pete for the ball during an AFC Asia Cup football match yesterday.

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