SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016 SHAABAN 24, 1437 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Amir attends Chad ex-dictator Erdogan French Open Kuwait Habre gets life rejects family suffers first E-content award in ‘warning’ planning washout in ceremony2 to despots7 for Muslims8 1618 years Top court upholds death Min 30º for mosque blast convict Max 40º High Tide 07:20 & 18:52 Eidan had aided bomber, collected explosives belt Low Tide 00:35 & 13:14 40 PAGES NO: 16890 150 FILS By B Izzak KUWAIT: The court of cassation yesterday upheld a Kuwait signs KD 1.3bn airport deal death sentence against the main convict who drove a Saudi suicide bomber to the Imam Al-Sadiq Mosque KUWAIT: Kuwait’s Public Works Minister Ali Al-Omair where he blew himself up, killing 26 people and wound- yesterday signed a KD 1.3-billion ($4.4-billion) con- ing scores. The court also upheld all other sentences tract with Turkish firm Limak Construction for a new passed by the appeals court, which included sentencing airport terminal that will more than triple passenger four men and four women to jail terms between two and capacity. The new terminal, due to be completed in 15 years and acquitting 15 others. six years, will raise capacity at Kuwait International The court of appeals in December upheld the death Airport to 25 million passengers annually from penalty against Abdulrahman Sabah Eidan, a bedoon, around seven million now, the minister said. It will who drove the car that dropped the Saudi suicide accommodate all aircraft types at 51 gates, an addi- bomber to the mosque in Kuwait City in June last year. tion of 30 new gates, and will be able to serve 21 Eidan, in his mid-20s, was also charged of bringing the Airbus 380 superjumbos simultaneously, Omair said. explosives belt from where two Saudi brothers had In a press statement after signing the contract smuggled it near the Saudi-Kuwait border. He later gave with Limak, Omair said that the construction of the the belt to the bomber and provided him with shelter new terminal is part of a broad development plan after he arrived from the kingdom. aimed to propel Kuwait to regional prominence, At the criminal court, Eidan confessed to all the adding that the new terminal would help upgrade charges, including that he was a member of the Islamic Kuwait airport. “The project has long been overdue,” State group or Daesh, but later denied the charges in the Omair said, noting that the ministry will follow the appeals and cassation courts. He remains the only defen- progress of the project, while ensuring that “there dant to receive the capital punishment verdict after the would be no delays in construction”. appeals court reduced the death penalty against one of Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works the accused for being the leader of IS in Kuwait. He was Awatef Al-Ghunaim said that the new terminal later sentenced to 15 years in jail and the verdict was would be a landmark in the country, adding that confirmed by the cassation court. the building is spread over 700,000 sq m and is The case of five other men who were handed the environment-friendly. Vice Chairman of Limak death penalty in absentia was not brought before the Holding Sezai Bacaksiz said that it is a “tremendous cassation court because their sentences can be chal- honor to have been selected to construct this new lenged only when they appear. They are four Saudis, terminal”, as he thanked Kuwait for its confidence in including the two brothers who smuggled the explosives the company’s capabilities. “This is not merely a belt to Kuwait, and a stateless man. Among the supreme new terminal, but an economic link between court’s main verdicts yesterday, the court upheld the Kuwait and Turkey,” he said, adding that “the termi- commuting of the death sentence for the alleged IS nal has been designed in a way to ensure smooth KUWAIT: Minister of Public Works and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Ali Al-Omair and Vice leader in Kuwait, Fahad Farraj Muhareb, to 15 years in and convenient travel”. — Agencies (See Page 3) Chairman of Limak Holding Sezai Bacaksiz exchange documents during the signing ceremony yesterday. — KUNA prison. It also upheld the acquittal of Jarrah Nimer, owner of the car used to transport the bomber. UK FM hails Yemen talks ‘progress’ IS challenged on the ground, social media KUWAIT: UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond described the UN-brokered 3 royals jailed Yemeni peace talks, which are being held in Kuwait, as “making progress”, with cau- tious optimism prevailing over the discus- for insulting sions. This remark was made by the visiting minister at a press conference yesterday Amir, judiciary after a meeting with the UN Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. By B Izzak Hammond, who is on a GCC tour to pro- mote ties with Kuwait and the rest of the KUWAIT: The criminal court yesterday sentenced regional countries, expressed his apprecia- five men, including three members of the Al-Sabah tion to HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al- ruling family, to five years in jail each for allegedly Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s efforts in the Philip Hammond insulting HH the Amir and accusing judges of Yemen peace talks. Hammond said that all going and “keep everybody at the table” bribery on Twitter and WhatsApp. The court also parties involved should be “cautiously opti- and not allow the posturing of any side to Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive sentenced a sixth man to one year in jail, a seventh mistic”. Even though the talks were moving derail the talks. into Fallujah to retake the city from Islamic State militants yesterday. — AP to 10 years in absentia and acquitted six more in slowly, “progress is being made”, he added. Hammond also said the global coalition the case locally known as “Fintas Group”. He said that all sides should understand against the so-called Islamic State (IS) has The ruling family members include Sheikh Athbi there should be a political solution to the been effective in countering the terrorist Iraqi forces pushing Al-Fahd Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the former chief of the crisis because Yemen is getting dangerous- group on the ground and on social media. State Security Agency and the younger brother of ly close to an economic collapse. Speaking on the efforts to counter IS, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahd Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, the for- Hammond said that there are many Hammond told KUNA at the press confer- into Fallujah streets mer energy minister who currently holds several details that were still being disputed, yet ence that the Coalition’s Strategic Continued on Page 13 “a broad settlement of framework is Communication Working Group BAGHDAD: Iraqi forces thrust into fought some of their toughest battles emerging”. He urged to keep the talks Continued on Page 13 Fallujah yesterday, ushering a new urban since the Vietnam War. The week-old phase in the week-old operation to operation had previously focused on retake the jihadist bastion that also retaking rural areas around Fallujah, raised concerns over the fate of trapped which lies just 50 km west of Baghdad. It UAE acquits four of civilians. The drive to recapture the first had been led by the Hashed al-Shaabi city to be lost from government control paramilitary force, which is dominated in 2014 came as fighting also raged in by Tehran-backed Shiite militias. They militancy charges neighboring Syria, leaving huge num- were still in action yesterday, attempting bers of civilians exposed. Led by the elite to clear an area northwest of Fallujah US ex-CEO jailed for 15 years counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq’s called Saqlawiya, officers said. best trained and most seasoned fighting Only a few hundred families have DUBAI: Two Libyan Americans detained in the UAE in 1997. Their arrest took place unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah managed to slip out of the Fallujah area the United Arab Emirates for nearly two around the time that reports emerged before dawn, commanders said. ahead of the assault on the city, with an years were acquitted yesterday of charges of the UAE leading airstrikes against “Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped they illegally raised funds for a foreign Islamic rebel groups in Libya. They were cover from the international coalition, the inside, sparking fears the jihadists could entity and took hostile actions against a not formally charged until almost 18 Iraqi air force and army aviation, and sup- try to use them as human shields. The foreign country. The family of Kamal months after their arrest, and their trial ported by artillery and tanks,” said only families who were able to flee so far Eldarat, 59, and his son Mohammed, 34, began in January. Lieutenant General Abdelwahab Al-Saadi, lived in outlying areas and took serious said after the verdict that the cast was The four were initially charged with the commander of the operation. Yahya risks to reach camps while those in the “tainted with due process and human supporting terrorist organizations in Libya, Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint heart of Fallujah have been unable to rights violations”. The case included two but the prosecutor withdrew those Operations Command coordinating the leave. “Civilians are trapped inside the other co-defendants, Canadian dual- charges in March and they instead faced a fight against IS in Iraq, said the jihadists city of Fallujah as fighting intensifies.