SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2014 MUHARRAM 10, 1436 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Inheritors deny Bahrain activist Seizing its Aguero requesting Nabeel Rajab chance, Iran condemns possession of freed as trial seeks tourism Van Gaal to Dasman2 Palace adjourned8 revival38 derby20 defeat Gitmo Kuwaiti Odah to be Max 31º Min 16º freed, Kandari still held High Tide 08:01 & 21:14 Low Tide Panel approves bill to ban dealings with Israel 02:07 & 14:46 40 PAGES NO: 16331 150 FILS By B Izzak KUWAIT: Fawzi Al-Odah, one of two Kuwaiti inmates in Kuwait, Iraq keen to bolster ties: FMs the US Guantanamo prison, is expected to be released on Wednesday and will be brought back home the same day, Ghanem Al-Najjar, a senior human rights By Abdellatif Sharaa activists said yesterday. “This is the timetable that we are awaiting the US side to confirm on Monday,” Najjar KUWAIT: First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign wrote on his Twitter account. Odah has been at the US Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah detention center for over 12 years. Twelve Kuwaitis were and visiting Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari held at Guantanamo held talks yesterday on ways and means of bolster- since the US war on ing and cementing bilateral relations. During their Afghanistan in late 2001. talks, the ministers discussed how to promote and The US freed 10 of them develop cooperation and coordination on several and refused to free Odah issues of mutual interest and the latest develop- and Fayez Al-Kandari. A ments on both regional and international arenas. few months ago, US “The new developments in Kuwait-Iraq relations authorities agreed to are the spirit, mentality and understanding between reconsider the case of the two countries,” Jaafari said during a joint press Odah but declined to do conference later with Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled. He the same for Kandari. added that it is the determination, seriousness and In another develop- clear vision of both countries’ officials that it is neces- ment, the National sary to cooperate and go in the same direction and Assembly’s legal and make the necessary achievements. He said it was legislative committee agreed that undersecretaries of both foreign min- yesterday approved a Fawzi Al-Odah istries should be given the opportunity to enter the draft law calling to ban execution stage of agreements during a meeting to all forms of dealings with the “Zionist entity”, the term be held in Baghdad next month. used to describe Israel. The bill had been passed several “We want to confirm that there was a sincere wish time by committees in the past but never reached the during the past three years to turn the page of the floor to be debated and passed by the Assembly and past, and discuss all lingering issues over the years, sent to the government. Kuwait’s penal code stipulates and there will be a meeting to complete the work of jail sentences for those who deal or visit Israel. the joint committee,” Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled said. MP Abdullah Al-Turaiji was yesterday elected head of Jaafari said that the circumstances that led to the the new public funds protection committee. MP Saif Al- fall of Mosul to the Islamic State were exceptional, Azmi was elected rapporteur. Turaiji said later that the but Iraqi forces were able to prevent the expansion Assembly will closely monitor the government’s seri- of such events to other cities and governorates, and ousness in supervising the wealth of senior officials who in some areas the Iraqi forces are making advances. have provided themselves incentives much more than He said the forces are progressing well outside allowed by the law. He said that the Audit Bureau, the Anbar, but within its axis. He said it is not easy to wel- KUWAIT: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah (back) and his Iraqi counterpart state accounting watchdog, has reported a large num- come any foreign forces, but the battles are not bal- ber of financial and administrative violations at various -s Foreign Ministry yes؛anced as the international alliance was asked to Ibrahim Al-Jaafari wave as they arrive to attend a press conference at Kuwait terday. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat ministries and government departments. Continued on Page 13 Continued on Page 13 Kuwait, Saudi Arabia Gulf eyeing reform as oil slides in new energy row KUWAIT: When Kuwait’s government said last month that it planned to raise domestic prices KUWAIT: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are with the Saudis has been frozen for a of diesel fuel and kerosene, some angry Kuwaitis locked in a new energy row, this time year, according to Al-Rai. took to Twitter to denounce the move as unfair. over a jointly operated offshore natural The row comes a month after pro- A resulting increase in airline ticket prices will be gas field also shared with Iran, a news- duction at the offshore Khafji oilfield in “extracted from our hard work”, wrote one per- paper reported yesterday. Citing a neutral zone between the two Arab son who identified himself as Khalid Alenezi. Kuwaiti sources, Al-Rai newspaper said states was halted last month, with Essa Bouresly suggested Kuwaiti consumers work at the Dorra field had been halt- Kuwaiti officials saying it was due to would end up paying for merchants’ higher ed due to differences between the two technical issues. However, trade unions costs. Officials in Kuwait and some other Gulf countries over the routing of the gas and media outlets in Kuwait said that Arab states may face more public indignation in they extract. The report said Saudi Saudi Arabia stopped production uni- coming months. After pampering their citizens Arabia wants any Dorra gas to be laterally because of differences for decades with lavish cradle-to-grave welfare pumped through Khafji and then between the two countries. Khafji is systems, some countries are edging towards divided between the two countries, capable of producing 311,000 barrels cutting the benefits as the slide in global oil and that Kuwait insists it should take of oil per day. Kuwait and Iran have prices pressures state finances. its share directly from the field. been involved in unsuccessful talks for The austerity measures are small compared Kuwait shares separately with Iran more than 10 years to demarcate their to the tens of billions of dollars of oil wealth and Saudi Arabia the Dorra gas field, maritime border in the area. Kuwait is which the Gulf monarchies are spending on wel- whose recoverable reserves are esti- rich in oil but needs the Dorra field fare to buy social peace in the wake of the 2011 mated at some 220 billion cu m. because it lacks sufficient supplies of Arab Spring uprisings. In some cases, officials do Development of the part jointly owned natural gas. — AFP not appear to be economising because they are KUWAIT: Shoppers are seen in the dark after a power outage at The Avenues mall yester- Continued on Page 13 day. Firemen had to free several people stuck in elevators. Power was later restored. Suicide blast kills 55 Qatar careful to preserve on Pak-India border Islamist ties LAHORE: A suicide bomber killed at least 55 people see the display of military pageantry that accompanies DOHA: Qatar has joined the American-led coalition yesterday at the main Pakistan-India border crossing, the formal closing of the border post. It appears the to fight Islamic State, yet the emirate is a haven for the blast tearing through crowds of spectators leaving blast took place some distance from the border itself. anti-Western groups and foreign diplomats have after the colourful daily ceremony to close the fron- Tahir Javed, Punjab provincial commander of the reported seeing cars with Islamic State logos in an tier. The explosion, which wounded more than 120, Rangers paramilitary force that guards the post, said affluent bay district. Such ambiguity runs through came at Wagah border gate near the eastern Pakistani three of his men had been killed. “The suicide bomber Qatari policy. When the United States sought allies city of Lahore after the “flag-lowering” ceremony, a failed to cross the security barrier and blew himself up against Islamic State in Sept, Qatar was among the display of military pageantry that attracts thousands outside when people were coming out,” he said. There Gulf Arab states that sent its warplanes into action. of spectators every day and is popular with foreign are several security checkpoints on the road leading to But while Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates tourists. the border post, which is equipped with a ceremonial welcomed media coverage, Qatar was silent. There The attack is a rare strike in Punjab, Pakistan’s richest gate and banked seating, and spectators are frisked was talk among diplomats that Qatari planes merely and most populous province and powerbase of Prime before entering, though such searches are not always flew a reconnaissance mission on the first night of Minister Nawaz Sharif, which has been spared the worst particularly rigorous. the attacks. of the bloody wave of Islamist violence that has assailed There were several conflicting claims of responsibili- In fact, a security source close to the government the country in recent years. “It appears to have been a ty for the attack, reflecting the fragmentation the said, its planes did attack Islamic State targets in Syria suicide attack. At least 55 people have been killed and umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement later in the campaign, although that has not been more than 120 wounded.