Islamic State Beheads US Journalist, Holds Another
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SUBSCRIPTION THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 SHAWWAL 25, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Movenpick At least 39 Young Indian Real Madrid Hotel launches dead as Japan shakes up draws 1-1 ‘Indian Wedding landslides fashion with with Atletico Festival’5 engulf 7homes prints38 and pret in20 Super Cup Islamic State beheads US Max 45º Min 32º journalist, holds another High Tide 07:35 & 22:25 Outrage over killing Obama warns of ‘cancer’ Killer likely British Low Tide • • 01:53 & 16:03 40 PAGES NO: 16261 150 FILS WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama yesterday News demanded the world take action against the “cancer” of in brief jihadist extremism in Iraq, after an American reporter was murdered by militants. As US jets continued to strike jihadist targets despite a threat to kill a second Suspected Qaeda financier arrested reporter, Obama said: “When people harm Americans KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti, Hajjaj bin Fahd Al-Ajmi, considered a anywhere, we do what’s necessary to see that justice is financier of Al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group linked to done.” Obama was speaking after the so-called “Islamic Al-Qaeda, was arrested yesterday on his return from a visit State”, which has seized much of eastern Syria and to Qatar, activists said. They northern Iraq, released a video showing a masked mili- said on Twitter that Ajmi, 26, tant beheading US reporter James Foley. was arrested at Kuwait airport. The black-clad man said the 40-year-old freelance The UN Security Council last journalist, who was kidnapped in northern Syria in Friday placed Ajmi and five oth- November 2012, had been killed to avenge American er Islamists on an Al-Qaeda air strikes against his movement. He paraded a second sanctions list, imposing a travel US reporter, Steven Sotloff, before the camera and said ban and assets freeze. They are he too would die unless Obama changes course. accused of providing money, Obama did not directly refer to Sotloff in his brief fighters and weapons to extremist groups. In early August, address - and the Pentagon confirmed that airstrikes the United States also imposed sanctions on Ajmi and two would continue - but he paid tribute to Foley and said other Kuwaitis for allegedly raising money for Al-Nusra the Islamic State must be defeated. Front. “Jim Foley’s life stands in stark contrast to his killers,” he said, branding the militants genocidal murderers $5m donation to fight Ebola who target civilians and subject women and children to GENEVA: Kuwait will donate $5 million to World Health “torture and rape and slavery”. “Their victims are over- Organization (WHO) and to the United Nations Office for whelmingly Muslim and no faith teaches people to mas- the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to com- sacre innocents,” he said, dismissing the IS claim to rep- bat the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa. Kuwait’s resent the aspirations of a global Muslim caliphate. “No Permanent Delegate to the United Nations Jamal Al- just God would stand for what they did yesterday and Ghunaim told KUNA yesterday that this donation was what they do every single day,” he declared. “We will be ordered by HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber vigilant and we will be relentless ... From governments Al-Sabah to aid in this humanitarian crisis, especially since and peoples across the Middle East, there has to be a Kuwait, the current president of the Africa-Arab summit, is common effort to extract this cancer so it does not concerned with supporting sustainable development pro- This undated image shows a frame from a video released by Islamic State militants on Tuesday that purports to show the killing of journalist James Foley by the militant group. — AP spread.” grams on the African continent. Continued on Page 13 UAE approves lengthy counter-terrorism law Emiratis told to avoid London areas DUBAI: The ruler of the United Arab Emirates approved a which identified potential death-penalty cases as attempts new counter-terrorism law that strengthens existing laws to attack any royal family members or members of the against money laundering, while also expanding penalties Cabinet’s Supreme Council, and acts that lead to the death to include the death penalty, life imprisonment and fines of a person such as recruiting people to join or joining a of up to $27 million, state media reported yesterday. The terrorist organization and attacking security forces. law, according to the state-backed The National newspa- The newspaper said the law defines a terrorist offense per, calls for establishing Saudi-style counseling and reha- as “any action or inaction made a crime by this law and bilitation centers for people found “to be terrorism prone.” every action or inaction made a crime by any other law if Impersonating a public figure could lead to life imprison- they are carried out for a terrorist cause”. The Emirates, a ment, the paper said. Western-allied federation of seven sheikdoms that The official Emirates News Agency reported that Abu includes Dubai, is concerned about the rise of extremist Dhabi ruler and UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al- groups like the Islamic State group that’s surging in Syria Nahyan endorsed the law, but provided no further details. and Iraq, as well as Al-Qaeda. A draft of the law was approved in July by the country’s More immediately, though, UAE rulers have been con- Federal National Council, which acts largely as an advisory cerned about the possible threat to their rule from the body. The draft law was not released to the wider public to Muslim Brotherhood-linked Al-Islah group in the wake of discuss, though parts of the law have been publicized in Arab Spring uprisings. local media. Dubai-based Gulf News also obtained a copy, Continued on Page 13 Gaza war rages on, truce dead Hamas military chief escapes attack GAZA CITY: The armed wing of days of calm exploded into blood- killed since Palestinian militants Hamas warned foreign airlines yes- shed. Mohammed Deif, who has launched a barrage of rockets on terday against flying into Tel Aviv, topped Israel’s most wanted list for southern Israel on Tuesday and F16 threatening to step up its six-week more than a decade, escaped the fighter jets carried out retaliatory air conflict with Israel and declaring assassination attempt, Hamas said. strikes, Palestinian medics say. “We truce talks in Cairo over. The warning Israel, which had carried out five are warning international airlines came after Israeli warplanes pound- previous attempts on Deif’s life, said and press them to stop flying into ed Gaza again yesterday as furious it would have no qualms about try- Ben Gurion airport from 6 am (0300 mourners buried the wife and infant ing again, describing him as an “arch GMT) Thursday,” the spokesman of son of Hamas’s top military com- murderer.” the Hamas armed wing, Abu mander, baying for revenge as nine So far, 20 Gazans have been Obeida, said in a televised speech. Last month, many international airlines briefly suspended flights into Tel Aviv after a Hamas rocket struck close to the airport. Dressed in military fatigues with his face wrapped in a red-and-white che- quered headscarf, Abu Obeida said Hamas was abandoning efforts to negotiate a durable ceasefire with Israel at Egyptian-brokered talks. “We are calling on the Palestinian delegation to withdraw immediately from Cairo and not to return,” he said in a speech broadcast on Hamas’s Al- Aqsa TV channel. “There will be no return to talks after today and any move in this direction will never achieve any result,” he added. “The GAZA: A Palestinian paramedic holds the body of seven-month-old Ali enemy lost a golden chance to reach Deif, the son of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, after he sus- a ceasefire with limited demands, for tained fatal injuries during an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on which it will pay after today.” Tuesday. The Israeli strike also killed the boy’s 27-year-old mother. — AFP Continued on Page 13 THURSDAY, AUGUST 21, 2014 LOCAL EU lauds Kuwait’s humanitarian aid role BRUSSELS: A European Union official responsible for humanitarian aid praised yesterday Kuwait’s humanitarian activi- ties around the globe and said that the EU’s executive body looks forward for further engagement with Kuwait. “The European Commission recog- nizes the increasingly prominent role, which Kuwait has been playing in global humanitarian assistance over recent years, especially in addressing the tremendous humanitarian needs caused by the Syria conflict,” said EU Commissioner for international coopera- tion humanitarian aid and crisis Kristalina Georgieva response, Kristalina Georgieva, in an exclusive statement to (KUNA). “As the “The Commission therefore looks for- world is facing an unprecedented num- ward to further engaging with Kuwait on ber of large humanitarian crises, the common endeavors aimed at addressing international community must mobilize humanitarian needs and promoting at full and coordinate efforts to effective- humanitarian principles,” Georgeiva ly assist those in need,” she indicated. added. — KUNA NBK celebrates World Humanitarian Day KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) cele- Mattar, NBK Public Relations Executive brated the “World Humanitarian Day” by Manager. “World Humanitarian Day is an launching a special initiative among its annual global initiative, that takes place on employees that comes in line with the United August 19th and we are proud to be the lead- Nation’s initiative titled “The World Needs ers in such worldwide initiatives”. More”. Al Mattar added: “NBK has been at the fore- The initiative aims at raising awareness front of supporting Kuwait’s community among employees to the various humanitari- through a range of social programs.