42 Perish AS Blasts Hit Mosques in Lebanon
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SUBSCRIPTION SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 SHAWWAL 17, 1434 AH No: 15907 UK operates Years after 9/11, Anelka mulls secret station retiring FBI chief retirement in Middle8 East still14 sees threat as46 agent dies 42 perish as blasts hit Max 46º 150 Fils mosques in Lebanon Min 29º Sectarian strife intensifying amid Syria spillover Web-based apps pose problem for Saudi monitors DUBAI: Saudi Arabia is seeking to tighten control over web-based applications that offer a freedom to communi- cate that is impossible for most Saudis in the real world, and may even seek to ban such apps altogether. Saudi Arabia remains a relatively closed society; gender mixing is restricted to a tight circle of relatives and family friends, and direct criticism of the ruling family or powerful con- servative clergy is frowned upon. Morality police patrol the kingdom’s few public spaces such as shopping malls to enforce rigid social rules. Cyberspace presents considerably more complicated chal- lenges than a shopping centre, however, and Saudi authorities are alarmed by the unfettered contact that the Internet allows, including for activists who spread news and information not covered by state media. With just under half the kingdom’s nearly 27 million population younger than 25, according to the CIA Factbook, Saudis are avid users of social media of all kinds. “People use social media ... more than asking to meet in person. It’s safer,” said a Jeddah-based activist, who like others interviewed for this story asked not to be named because he feared reprisals from state authorities. “We know they are watching us, but they cannot control us on social media.” The number of Twitter users in Saudi Arabia nearly TRIPOLI: Lebanese carry the body of a victim of a powerful explosion outside Al-Salam mosque, near the house of former doubled in six months to 2.9 million in July 2012, amount- Lebanese police chief Ashraf Rifi, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli yesterday. Two powerful explosions killed sev- ing to a little over 10 percent of the population, according eral people: one rocked the city centre near the home of outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the second one struck to analysts Semiocast. By April of this year, the kingdom near the port of the restive city with a Sunni Muslim majority. — AFP was the eighth biggest user of Twitter globally, account- ing for 2.3 percent of all tweets, Semiocast estimates. TRIPOLI: Twin explosions hit two part of the capital Beirut that is con- said at least 500 people were hurt. The The kingdom now has the biggest number of viewers mosques in the northern Lebanese city trolled by the Shiite Muslim militant first explosion hit the Taqwa mosque, per capita of YouTube globally, according to the website, of Tripoli yesterday, killing at least 42 movement Hezbollah. A recent resur- frequented by hardline Sunni Islamists, which has spawned a thriving industry producing home- people and wounding hundreds, gence of sectarian violence in Lebanon and killed at least 14 people there, made videos that is pushing at the boundaries of tradi- intensifying the sectarian strife that has has been stoked by the conflagration according to accounts earlier in the day. tional Saudi programming. These production houses are spilled over from the civil war in neigh- in Syria, where President Bashar Al- Further deaths were reported from Saudi-run and alert to local sensitivities, avoiding politics boring Syria. The apparently coordinat- Assad is fighting a largely Sunni-led a second blast outside the Al-Salam and using satire to cover local news for example, and so ed blasts - the biggest and deadliest in rebellion. Both Hezbollah and radical mosque, which the Interior Ministry Saudi authorities are turning a blind eye to their activities - Tripoli since the end of Lebanon’s own Sunni groups in Lebanon have sent said was hit by a car laden with 100 for now. civil war - struck as locals were finishing fighters over the border to support kilograms of explosives. A Reuters Free and easy-to-use communication applications Friday prayers in the largely Sunni opposing sides in Syria. reporter at the scene said the crater present a more immediate social - and commercial - haz- Muslim city. Lebanese officials Medical and security sources said from the blast was about four meters ard. Tech-savvy young Saudis are increasingly moving appealed for calm. the death toll from yesterday’s blasts in wide and 2.5 meters deep and the away from traditional telephony provided by the king- The explosions in Tripoli, 70 km Tripoli had risen to 42 by late afternoon. floors of the mosque were covered in dom’s three mobile operators, Saudi Telecom Co (STC), from Beirut came a week after a huge Hundreds more were wounded, they blood. Etihad Etisalat (Mobily) and Zain Saudi - the government car bomb killed at least 24 people in a said. Earlier, the Lebanese Red Cross Continued on Page 14 has stakes in STC and Mobily - and toward apps such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber. PAGE PAGE The telephone and messaging applications allow users Bruised Brotherhood to circumvent strict state controls with a degree of Anger grows over anonymity. showing street power gang-rape in India Continued on Page 14 local SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013 Kuwait to put bedoon teachers on equal grounds with locals Problem of traffic congestion to be discussed News KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Ministry of teachers’ community in level with Separately, the minister said that in brief Education is discussing plans with the Kuwaiti nationals. the issue of the unavailability of pri- Civil Service Commission to coordi- Of his tour, which was being car- vate Arabic language schools in Al- nate the salaries of illegal resident ried out in Kuwait’s western Jahra Ahmadi Governorate was due to the Khaldiya, Adeliya, Faiha in darkness KUWAIT: teachers in the country with their Governorate, the minister said that difficulty of obtaining vacant lands. Darkness fell on some areas in Khaldiya, Adeliya and Kuwaiti national counterparts. the region contains 130 schools - of On the names of accepted appli- Faiha due to a technical malfunction of a main transformer in Khaldiya causing power cuts in the said areas. The power The ministry awaits the CSC’s various grades - accommodating the cants for diploma studies at the local interruption began at 10 pm Wednesday night and emer- response to their proposal, and hopes needs of some 68,000 pupils. The min- Public Authority for Applied gency crews restored it within two hours. Electricity and Water the issue is dealt with accordingly ister noted to a number of obstacles Education and Training, he said these Undersecretary Engr Ahmad Al-Jassar, who was with the min- before the start of the academic year, these schools could be faced with, but were to be announced next, adding istry’s technical team said power was restored to Khaldiya, Education Minister and Minister of stopped short of explaining what that numbers mentioned across social Adeliya and Faiha area after the malfunction was dealt with. Higher Education Nayef Al-Hajraf told these difficulties were. networking websites were inaccurate. The team was able to load the feeding network on two trans- reporters during a tour of schools Despite this, he said there were He also said he would be dis- formers instead of three, and did not meet the use of diesel generators. Al-Jassar said MEW and all its employees are spar- ahead of the upcoming new educa- many advantages they could look for- cussing with Interior Ministry officials ing no effort to serve consumers with best services available. tional year. ward to, including the completion of the problem of traffic congestion, and He said emergency and maintenance teams dealt instantly The plans aim to bring the salaries, construction amendments on classes would listen to solutions - providing with the problem and power was restored in less than two work leave, benefits and work-related and the linking of electricity to several these do not affect his own ministry’s hours. The cuts included some main streets like Second Ring assessment of the illegal resident supplementary school facilities. academic plans. —KUNA Road and Press Road causing interruption of traffic signals, but the quick intervention of the traffic department prevented accidents as traffic patrols manned the cross roads and organ- ized traffic flow. MoC to discuss future projects Public Relations Director at the Communications Ministry Dr Ahmad Al-Huseini said Minister Essa Al-Kandari will meet min- istry’s top officials to discuss the ministry’s strategy and future projects. He added the minister concentrated on issues of lib- erating communications activities and its services, besides the privatization of postal services through the establishment of Post Office Company. He said communications and informa- tion technology will also be established. He said that Al- Kandary asked for speeding up the establishment of the roads and transportation authority, the underground metro, rail roads and linking Kuwait with the rest of GCC counties. He said that the minister stressed on speeding up the expansion of Kuwait International Airport. As for the development of land telephone lines, exchanges and Internet, Al-Kandary spoke about importing and installing the necessary systems, and speeding the second stage of the major fiber optics net- work (FTTH), and prepare for the third stage of the fiber optics project, which is among the vital projects of the state. Al- Kandari said the air transportation market must be regulated, and Kuwait International Airport infrastructure must be improved through the expansion project of the airport (termi- nal 2) which will handle 25 million passengers a year, develop- ing the airport’s eastern runway and constructing a third one.