MUHARRAM 26, 1439 AH MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2017 Max 38º 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 Min 21º ISSUE NO: 17356 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net 231 killed in deadliest single attack in Somalia’s history Qatar embassy ‘severely damaged’ in blast MOGADISHU: The most powerful bomb blast ever wit- Dr Mohamed Yusuf, the director of Medina hospital. nessed in Somalia’s capital killed at least 231 people with Inside, bleary-eyed nurses transported a man whose more than 275 injured, a senator said yesterday, making legs had been blown off. He waited as surgeons attend- it the deadliest single attack in this Horn of Africa nation. ed to another badly injured patient. Exhausted doctors The toll could continue to rise. Abshir Abdi Ahmed cited struggled to keep their eyes open, while screams from doctors at overwhelmed hospitals he visited in victims and newly bereaved families echoed through Mogadishu a day after a truck bomb targeted a crowded the halls. “Nearly all of the wounded victims have seri- street near key government ministries. Many of the bod- ous wounds,” said nurse Samir Abdi. “Unspeakable hor- ies in mortuaries had not yet been identified, he said. rors.” The smell of blood was strong. A teary-eyed As angry protesters gathered near the scene of the Hawo Yusuf looked at her husband’s badly burned body. attack, Somalia’s government blamed the Al-Qaeda- “He may die waiting,” she said. “We need help.” linked Al-Shabab extremist group for what it called a Ambulance sirens echoed across the city as bewil- “national disaster”. However, Africa’s deadliest Islamic dered families wandered in the rubble of buildings, extremist group, which often targets high-profile areas looking for missing relatives. “In our 10 year experience of the capital, had yet to comment. as the first responder in #Mogadishu, we haven’t seen Qatar said its embassy was “severely damaged” in anything like this,” the Aamin Ambulance service tweet- the deadly bombing. A foreign ministry statement yes- ed. Grief overwhelmed many. “There’s nothing I can say. terday said the embassy’s charge d’affaires was “slight- We have lost everything,” wept Zainab Sharif, a mother ly injured in the explosion but he is now in a good of four who lost her husband. She sat outside a hospital health, and the rest of staff are fine”. where he was pronounced dead after hours of efforts The Mogadishu bombing is one of the deadliest by doctors to save him. attacks in sub-Saharan Africa, larger than the Garissa The country’s Somali-American leader, President University attack in Kenya in 2015 and the US Embassy Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, declared three days bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Doctors at of mourning and joined thousands of people who Mogadishu hospitals struggled to assist badly wounded responded to a desperate plea by hospitals to MOGADISHU: Somali men carry the body of a victim who died in truck bomb explosion in the center of the victims, many burned beyond recognition. “This is real- donate blood. capital yesterday. — AFP ly horrendous, unlike any other time in the past,” said Continued on Page 11 News in brief Oil producers Kuwait to Iran: Regain trust may not need KUWAIT: Kuwait observed with great care the latest speech given by US President Donald Trump adopting to extend cuts a new strategy with Iran, a source at the Kuwaiti for- eign ministry said. Kuwait previously welcomed the KUWAIT: Oil producers may not need to roll over a agreement between Iran and the UN Security Council’s deal to cut production beyond March if all members five permanent member countries plus Germany- fully comply with their pledges, the Kuwaiti oil minister regarding Iran’s nuclear file, out of its commitment said yesterday. “The current reduction deal is sufficient towards security and stability of the region, and to to achieve the desired purpose,” of rebalancing the oil reach weapons of mass destruction free zone in the market, Essam Al-Marzouq told reporters after opening Middle East, it said. Kuwait also called on Iran to work an oil conference. Although “the compliance level to the on regaining the trust of regional states by adopting cuts has reached an unprecedented 116 percent”, this policies based on UN principles and international laws, was mainly due to the fact that some countries were namely respecting the countries’ sovereignty and not making higher cuts than pledged. interfering in internal affairs. “Our focus now is centered on making all member KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam Al-Marzouq attends the third Kuwaiti Oil & Gas Show and Conference states fully comply with the cuts to reach an even better yesterday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat percentage and therefore not need a new extension,” Marzouq said. Marzouq, who heads a joint ministerial Vienna on Nov 30. OPEC and non-OPEC producers inventory levels. Meanwhile, Kuwait will import 50 mil- Riyadh fire kills 10 committee monitoring compliance, said it was too early struck a historic deal a year ago to cut crude output by lion cubic feet of gas from Iraq, Marzouq said, indicat- to say if a new extension was needed and that “OPEC 1.8 million barrels per day for six months. The deal was ing this quantity was equal to five percent of Kuwait’s RIYADH: A fire at a carpentry workshop in the Saudi will take a decision next month”. extended by nine months until March. It has boosted oil summer consumption. capital has left 10 people dead and three others The oil cartel is holding a key ministerial meeting in prices to above $55 a barrel and reduced record high Continued on Page 11 injured, the kingdom’s civil defense said yesterday. “The Riyadh civil defense put out a fire that broke out at a carpentry workshop in the Badr district of Riyadh,” the Saudi civil defense wrote on its official Military draft WWE signs first Twitter account. It said the victims’ identities had not yet been determined. No information was given on the cause of the overnight fire. The civil defense posted dodgers will woman wrestler photos of what appeared to be an enormous lumber yard engulfed in flames, with firefighters working be penalized from Arab world through the night to douse the blaze. KUWAIT: Chairman of the National DUBAI: World Wrestling Entertainment Military Service Authority Maj Gen Inc signed its first female performer from Ibrahim Al-Amiri said yesterday eligible Maj Gen Ibrahim Al-Amiri the Arab world yesterday, smashing cul- Shadia Bseiso Saudi Arabia cancels gig conscripts in the military will receive noti- tural taboos as the US-based pageant fications to start their service. Those who examination and other check-ups to seeks to piledrive its way into lucrative them to docile roles, big companies such RIYADH: Saudi authorities yesterday cancelled a fail to present for conscription or seek to determine their preparedness and fitness foreign markets. Shadia Bseiso, a as Nike have stepped up advertising charity concert by Egyptian pop sensation Sherine delay their service as scheduled will face for the service. Legal advisor at the Jordanian versed in jiu-jitsu, dreams of geared towards female athletes. Still, the Abdel Wahab, which had been hailed as a boon for the penalties of up to five years behind bars, authority Ret Col Falah Al-Enezi said encouraging more Arab women to take up high octane physicality and outrageous entertainment industry in the ultraconservative king- he warned. Amiri said in a news confer- most cases of absconding from military sports - and of one day maybe even storylines of professional wrestling dom. The General Entertainment Authority said it can- ence that the military was preparing the service are classified as misdemeanors, crashing a metal chair over WWE mega- remain a novelty in the region. celled the charity concert, slated for the end of call-up notifications. “The number of eli- while they become felonies when failing star John Cena. “Female athletes are finally Speaking to Reuters in the WWE’s October, after organizers failed to apply for the neces- gible citizens has reached 2,541, with 800 to show up for service in emergencies getting the credit they deserve. The world Dubai office, Bseiso said she made sure sary license for the public event. Saudi Arabia has cre- dodgers,” he said, noting that lawsuits and wars. Such a crime is punishable by is more open to that, and in terms of how to tell her parents about her colorful ated a government agency to support private firms were filed against many of them at the five years in prison or fines reaching KD the region will react to it, I’m hoping its career choice in person. After announc- organizing entertainment events under the wide-rang- Investigation General Directorate. 10,000 ($33,000). going to be very positive,” said Bseiso. ing she would join the ranks of the WWE, ing Vision 2030 plan, an economic strategy that aims The authority has started preparing However, the law exempts some cases While women exercising in public is they paused in disbelief for a moment, to reduce the kingdom’s reliance on oil revenue. for the first batch on Jan 6, 2018, where for health, social, educational or humani- rare in the Arab world and the local she said, worried for her safety in the conscripts will be subject to medical tarian reasons. (See Page 2) entertainment industry often relegates often bruising shows. (See Page 13) 2 Established 1961 Local Monday, October 16, 2017 Boot camp ready to accept conscription new recruits 5,609 recruits registered as of Saturday By Nawara Fattahova files are complete, while around 800 citizens haven’t registered at all.