JAMADA ALAWWAL 11, 1439 AH SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2018 Max 25º 32 Pages Min 10º 150 Fils Established 1961 ISSUE NO: 17442 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Kuwait down three spots in ‘Deportados Brand’: Mexicans HSBC side-steps high-profile Wozniacki beats Halep 5 Human Freedom Index report 11 stand up to Trump with T-shirts 17 Qatar deals in Gulf gauntlet 16 to win Australian Open Saudi billionaire Alwaleed released after ‘settlement’ Top broadcaster, other tycoons also freed as anti-graft probe winds down RIYADH: Saudi Arabian billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin above. Guards cracked jokes and drank coffee. His office conspiracy theories Talal, one of the kingdom’s top international business- said the prince was out visiting family, but declined to men, was released from detention yesterday, more than give any details. Prince Alwaleed had been confined at two months after he was taken into custody in a sweep- the Ritz-Carlton since early November, along with Big Yes! ing crackdown on corruption. His release came hours dozens of other senior officials and businessmen, part of after he told Reuters in an interview at Riyadh’s opulent Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to reform oil Ritz-Carlton hotel that he expected to be cleared of any superpower Saudi Arabia and consolidate his position. wrongdoing and be freed within days. The attorney general said earlier this week that 90 A senior Saudi official said Prince Alwaleed was freed detainees had been released after their charges were after he reached a financial settlement with the attorney dropped, while others traded cash, real estate and other By Badrya Darwish general. “The attorney general has approved this morn- assets for their freedom. The authorities were still hold- ing the settlement that was reached with Prince Alwaleed ing 95 people, he said. Some are expected to be put on bin Talal, and the prince returned home at 1100 am trial. An official Saudi source said on Friday that several (0800 GMT),” the official told Reuters, without giving prominent businessmen had reached financial settle- details of the terms. ments with the authorities, including Waleed Al-Ibrahim, [email protected] The decision to free him, and the release of several owner of regional television network MBC, who was other well-known tycoons on Friday, suggested the main released. Terms of his settlement were not revealed. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal part of the corruption probe was winding down after it Ibrahim held a family gathering at his residence after sent shockwaves through Saudi Arabia’s business and his release, three MBC employees told AFP on condition ed on his case. Saudi authorities have said they expect to ately in Kuwait, the news is dominated by sto- political establishment. The Ritz-Carlton is set to reopen of anonymity. The staff also received an official email raise some $100 billion for the government through such ries of expats (wafedeen). At the top of the for business next month, sources at the hotel have said. congratulating them on his freedom. The Financial Times settlements - a huge windfall for the state, which has hour is the dispute between Kuwait and the L Its website lists rooms as available from Feb 14. reported earlier Friday that authorities had ordered seen its finances squeezed by low oil prices. Some pri- Philippine government over the treatment and rights Outside Prince Alwaleed’s Riyadh palace, dozens of Ibrahim to hand over his controlling stake in MBC to vate analysts think that target will be hard to hit, given of domestic helpers and laborers. Of course, I sec- cars lined the entrances as a huge Saudi flag flapped secure his release. Authorities have so far not comment- Continued on Page 11 ond Philippine President Duterte’s zealous defense of his citizens. I salute his courage. The man has a history of patriotism and fighting corruption, spe- cially the drug cartels, which are a massive power in the Philippines. Ambulance bomb Back in Kuwait, we’ve been hiring Filipina domes- tic workers for more than 30 years. Why, for God’s kills 95 in Kabul sake, hasn’t there been in the course of all these years a single, proper comprehensive study to KABUL: An explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a understand the problems and challenges which crowded area of Kabul yesterday, killing at least 95 peo- domestic helpers and employers face. The problems ple and wounding 158 others, officials said, in one of the go both ways, although the latter face less. biggest blasts to rock the war-torn city in recent years. There are problems, of course, but overall, The Taleban-claimed assault - the second carried out by domestic labor benefits Kuwait and its people, and the militant group in the Afghan capital in a week - trig- let’s face it, they contribute greatly to our daily lives. gered chaotic scenes as terrified survivors fled the area So let’s give them their rights and respect and digni- scattered with body parts, blood and debris, and hospi- ty. Maybe the rules in the ministry protect domestic tals were overwhelmed by the large number of wounded. workers now with the new domestic labor law, but It came as both the insurgents and the Islamic State the law is not widely implemented. Helpers are sup- group have escalated their attacks on Kabul, one of the posed to get a salary every month, a day off per deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians. An AFP week, no more than 12 hours of work per day, one reporter saw “lots of dead and wounded” civilians in the month of salary for each year worked as indemnity Jamuriate hospital, which is meters away from the blast and a decent place to live and food to eat. And it and where medical staff struggled to treat the bloodied goes without saying they deserve humane and men, women and children lying on the floor in corridors. respectful treatment as human beings who are just Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP doing their job. Continued on Page 11 KABUL: Afghan volunteers carry bodies at the scene of a car bomb in front of the old interior ministry building yesterday. —AFP How can this be accomplished? Is it too difficult for the government to set up a special organization tasked with monitoring the implementation of this law? And don’t laugh at me and say: “What? You Pressing Syrian want an organization to watch over the maids?” I say: “Yes! Big Yes!” Because every single household in Kuwait has at least one or two domestic helpers. offensive, Turkey So it is an issue - a major issue - and we cannot close our eyes to it. urges US pullback Let’s explain how this organization can work: First, every new arrival to Kuwait should be given at AZAZ, Syria: Turkey yesterday urged the United least basic information on how to contact her States to withdraw personnel from a Kurdish-held town embassy, the organization overseeing the law, what in northern Syria after Washington told Ankara it would are her basic rights and responsibilities and what she stop arming a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkey is can do if she’s unpaid, abused or in need of help. fighting. As Turkey’s offensive in Syria entered its sec- Second, there needs to be regular follow-up in ond week with new air strikes and artillery, Foreign three-month or six-month intervals with helpers - Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was “necessary for especially those who are new arrivals - to ensure them (US) to immediately withdraw from Manbij”, that they are being treated fairly. We have so many where Washington has a military presence. qualified young men and women who can be trained Turkey launched operation “Olive Branch” on Jan 20 to act as social workers to follow up and ensure the against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units health and wellbeing of all domestic workers. (YPG) militia in its western enclave of Afrin, supporting The municipality sends inspectors to restaurants Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air to ensure food is safe for consumption. Can’t we strikes. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threat- send inspectors at least to look after the welfare of ened to expand the offensive against the YPG to the people who are working inside our homes, serv- Manbij, east of Afrin. Relations between NATO allies ing our food and taking care of our children? Ankara and Washington have worsened since Turkey Doesn’t that seem like an important thing to do? launched an operation, with the United States urging Continued on Page 11 ered the core of the problem, especially since their Govt grapples with numbers are over 1.8 million. The source said all recommendations and results related to correcting the structure that were reached 1.8m loose laborers by the higher committee to study the population KUWAIT: A government source has admitted that structure or other committees will face the obstacle of the correction of the population structure in Kuwait is marginal and loose laborers who are in the country for not possible, according to a report in Al-Rai daily yes- years, adding that the great majority of these residents terday. He said the solutions proposed by a higher are not known and cannot be located. committee that was formed in 2014 to remedy the He said inspection campaigns against residency demographic imbalance remain only on paper, violators remain the only possible solution currently to describing the process as “very difficult”. The source eradicate the problem, adding that chasing hundreds said it is not possible to rectify the defect the country of thousands of violators is not easy and needs large is suffering from due to the inability of the state to manpower and a long period.