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MUHARRAM 12, 1439 AH MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2017 Max 43º 32 Pages 150 Fils Established 1961 Min 24º ISSUE NO: 17344 The First Daily in the Arabian Gulf www.kuwaittimes.net Amir congratulates PM on Violence erupts as Catalans 2 women stabbed to death Barcelona win behind closed 2 Kuwait bourse’s promotion 6 vote on split from Spain 8 in Marseille knife attack 16 doors amid Catalonia clashes Gulf states say goodbye to tax-free reputation UAE doubles tobacco prices, hikes soft drink prices by 50% DUBAI: Hard hit by a drop in oil income, energy-rich Gulf balance sheets have remained in the red despite government states will next year introduce value-added tax to a region long austerity measures recommended by the International known for being tax-free. Some have hailed introducing VAT as Monetary Fund, including freezing wages, benefits and state- the start of “exciting, dramatic” change in the region, but the funded projects, cutting subsidies and raising power and fuel measure is also expected to push prices up for all residents prices. Governments across the region have also drawn hun- including citizens and low- dreds of billions of dollars from income workers. Yesterday, the their massive sovereign wealth United Arab Emirates doubled resources in an attempt to curb the price of tobacco and the deficit. increased soft drink prices by The six states are now taking 50 percent, ahead of the more Future looks austerity measures a step further general VAT on goods and with the plan to introduce VAT, services from Jan 1. daunting for ending their decades-old repu- The UAE is one of the six tation for being tax havens. Gulf Cooperation Council low-income Accounting and consultancy firm states to have agreed to intro- Deloitte has said the progressive duce VAT at five percent next workers implementation of VAT from year as they seek to revitalize next year “marks the start of their economies. The UAE and some of the most exciting, dra- Saudi Arabia have said they will matic and far-reaching socio- implement VAT from Jan 1, 2018, while the other GCC states of economic changes in the region since the discovery of oil” more Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar are expected to follow suit than half a century ago. during the year. But the move is expected to increase prices across the board Economies in the Gulf - home to the world’s biggest including for nationals, who make up roughly half of the GCC’s KUWAIT: A picture taken on Sept 29, 2017 shows a man inspecting exporters of oil and liquefied natural gas - took a major hit after overall population of 50 million. Gulf nationals have for decades water-pipes at a shop in Kuwait City. — Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat a global supply glut triggered a drop in prices in 2014. Their Continued on Page 11 identification cards to bedoons who had obtained fake against bedoons aim at forcing them to produce citizen- third-country passports. These people have been ships that do not exist. Hayef slams inhuman deprived of basic humanitarian rights and are unable to There are around 120,000 bedoons who or their send their children to schools because they do not have forefathers have been living in the country for several the required ID normally given to other bedoons. decades claiming the right to citizenship. The govern- Guterres reiterates treatment of bedoons Hayef insisted that he will not remain silent over the ment has insisted that most of them do not deserve oppression against bedoons, saying that he is prepared Kuwaiti nationality and has urged them to produce their By B Izzak to go till the end to stop the wrong and inhuman prac- original citizenships. strong support of tices against the bedoons. The lawmaker stressed that In another development, MP Omar Al-Tabtabaei said KUWAIT: Islamist opposition MP Mohammad Hayef the central agency is committing a full-fledged crime he will submit a motion to the National Assembly calling Kuwaiti mediation yesterday demanded that the central agency for stateless against the bedoons, adding that MPs are not demand- to refer the controversial issue that some MPs are being people (bedoons) should come under the purview of ing that the government grant bedoons citizenship now, paid an additional “exceptional” salary to the constitu- NEW YORK: UN Secretary General Antonio interior minister in order to hold officials politically but at least treat them fairly and not prevent them the tional court to rule whether the issue is in line with the Guterres yesterday reiterated his strong support accountable for the ill-treatment of bedoons in the coun- right to education, health, marriage and other rights. constitution. for the continuing Kuwaiti mediation efforts try. The lawmaker urged the prime minister and con- He said that what is being done by the central agency Tabtabaei, who is one of around 20 lawmakers bene- aimed at ending the crisis in the Arabian Gulf cerned ministers to take necessary measures to grant is rejected from a legal, religious and logical point of fiting from the salary, said he will return what he has region. Guterres, in a statement to Kuwait News bedoons their humanitarian and civil rights in order to view that is not in any constitution of the world, urging received if the court rules that the pay is illegal. The issue Agency (KUNA), praised the efforts exerted by end their sufferings that have continued for half a century. the prime minister and the government to resolve this was raised after a newspaper said the exceptional salary HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- He said the call to place the bedoon agency under issue. Hayef said bedoons must be given identification could have been part of a deal with the government. MPs Sabah on finding a solution to the crisis. The the interior ministry comes after the agency backed cards even if the central agency believes they do not benefiting from the salary said they get it because they Secretary General called on all parties to resolve down on pledges to the National Assembly to issue qualify for citizenship, adding that the illegal practices had not been given any pension benefits in the past. their differences by sitting at the negotiating table and showing a spirit of good-neighborliness and respect. He stressed that the United Nations is ready to support these efforts and mediation led been expected to be freed no earlier by HH the Amir. OJ Simpson than today. Why the early release? “To Guterres visited Kuwait late last August where ensure public safety and avoid possible incident,” Keast said, commenting on he praised Kuwait’s role in hosting the Yemeni freed from jail Simpson’s release at eight minutes past negotiations and its position on the reconstruc- midnight (0708 GMT yesterday). tion conference of the destroyed areas in Iraq, on parole Simpson plans to relocate to Florida fol- which was under the control of the so-called lowing his release from the medium- Islamic State (IS) and the terrorist organizations. LOS ANGELES: Disgraced American security prison where he has been serv- The UN Secretary General expressed his deep football star OJ Simpson, whose racially ing his sentence, Malcolm LaVergne, his thanks and appreciation for the outstanding lead- charged 1995 murder trial riveted the lawyer, said. ership role of HH the Amir in the field of humani- nation, was released from jail on parole Simpson was famously found not tarian work and expressed his sincere gratitude early yesterday after nine years behind guilty in 1995 of the grisly murders of his for the efforts of Kuwait in all political and bars for armed robbery. Simpson, 70, left ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a humanitarian issues. Guterres also expressed his the Lovelock Correctional Center in the male friend, Ron Goldman, in a case that pride over the status of Kuwait among the coun- western state of Nevada just after mid- transfixed the country and became tries of the world as a center for humanitarian night local time, prison spokesperson known as the “Trial of the Century”. But action as well as its constant efforts to host Brooke Keast said. “I don’t know where the former National Football League humanitarian and relief conferences. he was headed,” Keast told AFP. running back and actor was sent to HH the Amir also received a letter from Simpson was granted parole at a prison in 2008 for his role in an armed Guterres yesterday, appreciating Sheikh Sabah’s hearing in July and his earliest release robbery the previous year of two sports LOVELOCK, Nevada: OJ Simpson signs documents before leav- ing Lovelock Correctional Centre early yesterday. — AFP kind words on the opening of the 72nd session of date was set for Oct 1, but he had widely Continued on Page 11 the UN’s General Assembly. In his letter, Guteress said: “I refer to your letter of 25 September 2017 and would like to express my profound gratitude for the kind words about the opening and the work of the United Nations staff in preparing the Saudi university to open session. The challenges in front of us are enor- mous, but not insurmountable if we work together towards common goals and for the benefit of the driving school for women people of the region and the world.” He noted that “your letter wisely noted the RIYADH: A university in Saudi Arabia dom was the only country in the world to importance of connecting humanitarian, political has said it will open a driving school for ban women from taking the wheel, and it and development issues to achieve sustainable women, in a first for the ultra-conservative was seen globally as a symbol of repres- peace”.