SUBSCRIPTION MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 RAJAB 13, 1438 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Defense minister 6 people killed, Cockfighting Ibra sparks applauds more than 100 in Kabul: Man Utd, Eagle Resolve injured during Bloodsport Lukaku ends maneuver3 Kashmir11 protests takes40 wing Leicester20 run Palm Sunday IS bombings Min 20º Max 34º at Egypt churches kill 44 High Tide 12:03 Low Tide Kuwait condemns blasts • Amir sends condolences • Sisi deploys troops 05:57 & 18:08 40 PAGES NO: 17194 150 FILS (Left) People look at the aftermath following a bomb blast which struck worshippers gathering to celebrate Palm Sunday at the Mar Girgis Coptic Church in the Nile Delta City of Tanta yesterday. (Right) Egyptians load a body onto an ambulance near the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Alexandria after a bomb blast struck worshippers gathering to celebrate Palm Sunday yesterday. — AFP (See Page 8) TANTA, Egypt: The Islamic State group claimed respon- been leading a Palm Sunday service. deployments to guard “vital and important infrastruc- port to Egypt and whatever measures Cairo might sibility for bombing two Egyptian churches as worship- Seventeen people including four police officers were tures”, his office said. “The attack...will only harden the take to counter such acts of terrorism that target the pers gathered to mark Palm Sunday, killing at least 44 killed in that attack, which the interior ministry said determination (of the Egyptian people) to move for- country’s security and stability. people in the deadliest attacks on the Coptic Christian was caused by a suicide bomber who blew himself up ward on their trajectory to realize security, stability and HH the Amir reaffirmed Kuwait’s unwavering stance minority in recent memory. The attacks followed a Cairo when prevented from entering the church. The min- comprehensive development,” Sisi said in a statement. rejecting all forms of terrorism, renewing the country’s church bombing in December and came weeks before a istry said Tawadros was unharmed, and a church official State television reported that the interior minister support to the international community to fight terror planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis intended to show said he left before the explosion. The private CBC Extra sacked the provincial head of security and replaced and dry up its financing resources. Offering condo- support for Egypt’s Christian minority. channel aired footage of the Alexandria blast, with him after the attack. lences to families of the blast victims, The Amir wished The first bombing at the Mar Girgis church in Tanta CCTV showing what appeared to be the church HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- those wounded in the attack speedy recovery. HH city north of Cairo killed 27 people, the health ministry entrance engulfed in a ball of flame and flying concrete Jaber Al-Sabah yesterday sent a cable to Sisi express- Sheikh Sabah also sent a cable to Coptic Pope Tawadros said. “I just felt fire grabbing my face. I pushed my broth- moments after a security guard turned away a man. ing condolences and sympathy over the victims of II expressing condolences and sympathy over the vic- er who was sitting next to me and then I heard people Eyewitnesses said a police officer detected the bomber the “terrorist attack”. The Amir voiced Kuwait’s strong tims of the “terrorist attacks”. HH the Crown Prince saying: ‘explosion’,” a wounded witness in hospital told before he blew himself up. condemnation of the heinous criminal act that tar- Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and HH the state television. Emergency services had scrambled to At least 78 people were wounded in Tanta and 40 in geted innocents, and the unity of the Egyptian peo- Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al- the scene when another blast rocked Saint Mark’s Alexandria, the health ministry said. After the bomb- ple, running contrary to all heavenly faiths and Sabah sent similar cables. church in Alexandria where Coptic Pope Tawadros II had ings, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered military human values. HH the Amir reaffirmed Kuwait’s sup- Continued on Page 13 US envoy says Assad must go BEIRUT: Washington’s UN ambassador said that Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad cannot stay in power after a suspected chemical attack that prompted the first direct US military action against his government. Nikki Haley’s comments in an interview that aired yesterday came as part of an apparent shift in US policy towards Assad’s government after the alleged chemical attack last week on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed 87 people, including many children. Images of civilians suf- fering the apparent effects of a gas attack, including convulsions, vomiting and foaming at the mouth, pro- voked international outrage and prompted US President Donald Trump to order a strike on a Syrian airbase. In the interview with CNN, Haley said peace in Syria was impossible with Assad in power. “There’s not any sort of option where a political solution is going to hap- pen with Assad at the head of the regime,” she told the “State of the Union” program. “If you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it’s going to be hard to see a MEROE, Sudan: A member of the Sudanese forces walks on the tarmac during a government that’s peaceful and stable with Assad. joint Sudan and Saudi Arabia air force drill at the Marwa air base yesterday. — AFP Regime change is something that we think is going to happen,” she said, adding that Washington was also Sudan, Saudis boost ties focused on fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and ending Iranian influence. with joint air force drill US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted ahead of Moscow talks tomorrow that defeating IS in Syria MEROE, Sudan: Sudanese President Sudan took part in the exercise with remained Washington’s top priority. “It’s important that Omar Al-Bashir said a joint Saudi- more than two dozen fighter planes we keep our priorities straight. And we believe that the Sudanese air force drill that ended yes- including MiG-29s and Sukhoi jets, first priority is the defeat of ISIS,” he told CBS television’s terday had boosted relations between defense officials said. Saudi Arabia sent “Face the Nation” broadcast later yesterday. Tillerson will the countries, two years after Khartoum F-15 fighter jets and Eurofighter also press Russia on its failure to prevent Syria using broke ties with Iran. For years, Typhoons. Bashir said the Sudanese mil- chemical weapons, he said in interviews aired yesterday. Khartoum’s Islamist regime maintained itary was playing a “key role” in improv- “I don’t draw conclusions of complicity at all, but clearly close relations with Riyadh’s arch-rivals ing Khartoum’s ties with Saudi Arabia they’ve been incompetent and perhaps they’ve just sim- in Tehran. But as sectarian divisions in and other Gulf countries. ply been out-maneuvered by the Syrians,” he told ABC’s the region escalated with the conflict in “As Sudanese security is connected “This Week”. Syria, Khartoum allied with Riyadh. with that of countries across the region, After years of calling for Assad’s removal during for- In 2015 it said it would take part in a we are building military and security mer president Barack Obama’s tenure, Washington Saudi-led military intervention in nearby cooperation with our neighboring appeared to be stepping back from seeking regime Yemen against Iran-backed rebels. “The countries,” said Bashir, who wore a mili- change in Syria in recent weeks. Before the Khan air force drill showed that relations tary uniform for the ceremony. Analysts Sheikhoun attack, Tillerson said Assad’s fate should be between Sudan and Saudi Arabia are pro- say warmer ties between Riyadh and decided by the Syrian people, suggesting Washington gressing,” Bashir said during a ceremony Khartoum serve both countries. Sudan would not oppose him standing for reelection. at the Meroe air base, 350 km north of is keen to ease its international isolation But in the aftermath of the attack, Trump ordered the Khartoum, to mark the end of 12-day drill. and Saudi Arabia is looking for avenues strike targeting the Shayrat air base in central Syria’s Officials said the first ever joint Saudi- for investment to reduce its depend- Homs province with 59 Tomahawk missiles. And his Sudanese air exercise was intended to ence on oil. Saudi fighter pilots are set administration informed Congress that it could “take boost the two air forces’ operational to stage an air show in Khartoum from additional action, as necessary and appropriate, to fur- capacities and promote cooperation. April 10 to 12. — AFP ther its important national interests”. Continued on Page 13 LOCAL MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 KUWAIT: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister meets with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al- Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah and the Interior Ministry’s Undersecretary Lt Gen Mahmoud Al-Dosari. —KUNA photos Sabah and the Interior Ministry’s Undersecretary Lt Gen Mahmoud Al-Dosari. His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah meets with the Chairman of Kuwait Chamber of Commerce meets with Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al- and Industry (KCCI) Ali Al-Ghanem and other KCCI officials. Sabah and the Interior Ministry’s Undersecretary Lt Gen Mahmoud Al-Dosari.