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Sunday 9 December 2012 25 Muharram 1434 - Volume 17 Number 5543 Price: QR2

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Business | 17 Sport | 28

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Consumer rights UN meet wraps body plans points system against up with Doha car dealers DOHA: The consumer rights watchdog plans to introduce a points system arguably based on Climate Gateway consumer complaints so it could take action against car deal- ers who make undue delays in Kyoto Protocol extended delivering vehicles back to own- ers following after-sales service. BY SATISH KANADY & gateway to bigger ambition and to Exactly how the points sys- ISABEL OVALLE greater action — the Doha Climate tem would work is not clear Gateway. Qatar is proud to have but the Consumer Protection DOHA: The Doha Climate been able to bring governments Department (CPD) has said it talks, the longest UN Climate here to achieve this historic task. I would help “regulate” car dealer- summit to date after Durban, thank all governments and minis- ships with regard to maintenance concluded here yesterday offer- ters for their work to achieve this and after-sales service. ing a balanced “Doha Package” success. Now governments must The director of the CPD, that includes extension of Kyoto move quickly through the Doha Sheikh Jassim bin Jabor Al Thani, Protocol (KP2), setting time Climate Gateway to push for- told Al Sharq that following sev- table for the 2015 global climate ward with the solutions to climate eral complaints that dealers were change agreement and climate change”, said COP18 President taking a lot of time in servicing finance. H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al COP18 President H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah and Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention cars, action has been initiated The agreements, described as Attiyah. on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Christiana Figueres, at a press meet after the end of the Climate Conference. against several of them. “Doha Climate Gateway”, were The Executive Secretary of He said that his department has largely a political decision rather the UN Framework Convention Presidency for managing a com- money and technology to stay further commitments under the received several complaints about than a ‘climate decision’. After on Climate Change (UNFCCC), plex and challenging conference. below two degrees. After Doha, it Kyoto Protocol have agreed to technical faults in cars so in many much puffing, huffing and loss of Christiana Figueres, called Now, there is much work to do. is a matter of scale, speed, deter- review their emission reduction cases it has forced the dealers to sleep, there were only two options on countries to swiftly imple- Doha is another step in the right mination and sticking to the time commitments under the KP have replace the cars with new ones. before the Parties — either to go ment what has been agreed in direction, but we still have a long table”, she said. agreed to review their emission The CPD has received 3,000 for a weak text or risk the collapse Doha so that the world can stay road ahead....The UN Climate Governments have decided that reduction commitments at the consumer complaints so far this of the talks — , and they went for below the internationally agreed Change negotiations must now the length of the second commit- latest by 2014, with a view to year and a large number of them the latter. Thanks to the negotiat- maximum two degrees Celsius focus on the concrete ways and ment period of KP will be eight increasing their respective levels were automobiles and their local ing skills of the Presidency. temperature rise. emans to accelerate action and years. of ambition. THE PENINSULA dealers. “We have taken action “Doha has opened up a new “I congratulate the Qatar ambition. The world has the Countries that are taking on Continued on page 7 against erring dealers,” the CPD chief said. A survey has been car- ried out by the rights body which suggests that there is only one local poultry company which is Chinese visa for citizens Syria military council Bank lending patterns change Mursi revokes decree able to meet only 70 percent of the local demand for fresh and DOHA: From January 1, 2013, Qatari MANAMA: Syria’s new opposition coa- DOHA: The lending patterns of banks CAIRO: Egyptian President frozen chicken. “We have con- travellers transiting through Beijing lition will announce the creation of a here have been changing with real estate Mohammed Mursi yesterday annulled tacted the company and it has will be allowed a free-visa stay in military council before a Friends of Syria emerging as a key borrower, pushing the a decree he issued last month expand- agreed to fill in the demand and the Chinese capital city for 72 hours. meeting next week, a top official said banking industry’s all-time favourite per- ing his powers, an official told a Cairo supply gap, yet the shortages Qatar and the UAE are the only coun- yesterday. General Mustafa Sabbagh said sonal loans segment to the number two news conference. A referendum on a remain to the extent of 15 per- tries in Middle East and North Africa the group “will announce the creation spot. Consumer loans might still be easier draft constitution would however still go cent (of the overall demand for region that have been included among of a supreme military council before the to access from banks, but official figures ahead as planned on December 15, the chicken in the local market).” 45 countries whose citizens will be Friends of Syria meeting in Marrakesh.” show that real estate was the top borrower official, Islamist politician Selim Al Awa, THE PENINSULA granted the facility. See also page 10 in 2011. See also page 17 said. See also page 10 Continued on page 2 SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME

PM meets Arab QA plans to open League Chief DOHA: The Prime Minister customer contact and Foreign Minister H E Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani yesterday met the Secretary General of centre in Poland the Arab League, Dr Nabil Al Arabi, who is here to partici- pate in the ministerial meet- DOHA: Following the launch of Baker said: “With the launch of ing of the Arab Peace Initiative scheduled flights to the Polish our new flights to Warsaw and Committee and the meet- capital Warsaw last week, opening of our new customer con- ing of the Arab Ministerial Qatar Airways is planning to tact centre in Wroclaw early next Committee on Syria. QNA open a new European Customer year, Qatar Airways is extremely Contact Centre in the city of delighted to support the local Wroclaw early next year to fur- economy and give the people of ther expand its presence in the Poland an exciting opportunity to Six-year-old drowns Polish market. travel with us and work us, ini- The new multi-lingual tially creating over 100 new jobs.” in swimming pool Customer Contact Centre will Al Baker said that more des- DOHA: A six-year-old Indian handle all the airline’s European tinations were being looked at boy drowned in a swimming customer inquiries from key across Europe, but the immedi- pool in a villa compound in the European markets by phone, fax ate focus was to build up the net- city on Friday. The deceased and email. It will initially serve work in the Middle East, Asia and has been identified as Thomas Poland, UK, Germany, France, North America. Nettikkadan, who was a first Spain, Italy, Switzerland and grade student of an Indian Austria. The DOHA – WARSAW school. His father Anshu Thomas The fit-out and all technical schedules, effective Dec 5 and mother Veena hail from installations necessary for the Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays Chalakudi, in Trissur district of office located in the new Epsilon and Saturdays Kerala. THE PENINSULA Building will be completed soon QR980 departs Doha at 0920hrs for a planned February 2013 open- and arrives in Warsaw at 1320hrs ing. Speaking at a press confer- QR981 departs Warsaw at 1535 Look for alternative ence in Warsaw, Qatar Airways hrs and arrives in Doha at 2255 Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al hrs. THE PENINSULA markets to import chicken, says CPD Continued from page 1 Aljazeera to air Myanmar film again The CPD has urged outlets to DOHA: Responding to a press Rees will take questions online look for alternative markets to release issued by Myanmar’s after the programme - the import frozen chicken (since Saudi foreign ministry criticising exact time will be confirmed on Arabia has imposed a ban). These Aljazeera’s film about the vio- Aljazeera website www.aljazeera. outlets might be facing problems lence in the country this year, com. in importing stocks so the hurdles the network encouraged viewers The documentary will broad- need to be removed, Al Thani said. to watch the film this weekend cast at the following times: He added that soon a con- and make up their own mind. Aljazeera English (GMT) sumer protection association is Filmmaker Phil Rees said that Sun 9th Dec 0600 to be launched with broad-based the strong evidence in the docu- Mon 10th Dec 2000 participation of the public and it mentary was gathered despite Tue 11th Dec 1200 would look into consumer griev- the challenges in getting access Wed 12th Dec 0100 ances and help raise awareness to refugee camps and areas cut Thu 13th Dec 0600 about consumer rights and duties. off from the outside world. Aljazeera Arabic (AST) The official, however, hinted “We made this film because the Sat 8th Dec 2205 that the proposed association events that took place needed a Sun 9th Dec 0305 & 1405 would work in close coordination forensic unpicking. We made sure Mon 10th Dec 0505 with the CPD, which is a state- that we took first hand testimony Tue 11th Dec 1805 controlled agency working under from people affected rather than Wed 12th Dec 1305 the Ministry of Business and relying on hearsay,” said Rees. THE PENINSULA Trade. THE PENINSULA

SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 04 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME

Children in traditional attire sing folk songs and (RIGHT) life in the desert with camels is highlighted at the cultural extravaganza at Darb Al Saee, the special pavilion in Al Sadd yesterday. PICTURES BY KAMMUTTY VP Cultural extravaganza kicks off National Day celebrations Qatari traditional life recreated at Al Sadd pavilion

DOHA: Qatari traditional life was recreated yesterday at a cultural extravaganza that marked the beginning of this year’s National Day cele- brations falling on December 18. The events were held at Darb Al Saee, the special pavilion close to the Sports Roundabout in Al Sadd. The inaugural ceremony saw a performance by a group of pearl divers carrying diving gear and a box of pearls dem- onstrating Qatar’s pearl driving tradition. They visited ancient souqs selling horses and camels and bought a horse in exchange for a few pearls re-enacting the barter system in those days. They also met with bystand- ers and offered their pearls for Vintage vehicles at the cultural extravaganza yesterday. sale. Children wearing tradi- tional attire recited folk songs Women in traditional dresses away from the family, is called Saee. These outlets sell per- and a large group of youngsters were doing the day-to-day Al Azbah. Al Farij pavilion dis- fumes, fragrances, wood, wom- performed folk songs as well as household chores by using old plays the historical milestones en’s ornaments, traditional patriotic songs. The activities techniques like the millstone. in Qatar as well as folk games furniture and household items. will continue until National A place called Al Azbah has in the form of paintings. Some Artisans are there to show Day. been set up there to teach the artists were busy in the pavil- visitors how the wooden boxes, A row of traditional houses visitors, especially the young- ion painting such events. clothes and earthen pots were named Al Muqattar have been sters, on how to tie a camel Goods being sold at Souq made in the old days before the set up at the venue to show- and prepare it for riding. The Waqif are available in a big invention of the modern tech- case the old rural life of Qatar. life in the desert with camels, replica of the Souq at Darb Al niques. THE PENINSULA

Many feel private clinics, hospitals over-charging: Survey DOHA: A number of citizens and residents have called on the authorities to impose strict moni- toring on private clinics to curb their high fees. A huge majority of respondents - 98 percent - to an online survey conducted by Al Sharq felt that the prices charged by most private clinics and hospitals are very high. Only two percent said their fees are “acceptable” while not a single respondent had the view that the prices are low. In reply to another query, 96 percent of said that the fees of private clinics should be fixed by the gov- ernment. Two percent of the respondents, however, rejected this idea and the remaining two percent didn’t express any views. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents felt that there is no effective government monitoring on private clinics, while four percent expressed the opposite view. Seventeen percent didn’t give any opinion on this issue. Reacting to the findings, some citizens said that the delay in getting appointments at HMC hospi- tals was the main factor that forces many to seek treatment in private clinics, thereby causing a rise in their fees. Mohammed Sultan, who held this view called on the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) to control the fee structure of private healthcare facilities. Ahmed Al Dosari, another citizen called for establishing a special committee at SCH to moni- tor their prices. Another citizen said that private clinics continue to raise their fees despite a decline in building rents. Majority of the staff of these facilities do not benefit from the hike since they are paid very low salaries. Only the owners and a few doctors are making money at the expense of the public. THE PENINSULA SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 HOME www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 05 Katara to host photo exhibition on Ecuador Renowned photographers to shed light on country’s commitment to protecting nature, culture and diversity

BY FAZEENA SALEEM long exhibition will be held at done some changes to a regular distributed around the equator young and famed for their vast awaken great interest, particu- Gallery 1, Building 13 at Katara cannon camera. The photos take in the Pacific Ocean, 972km west number of endemic species, which larly about Shuar, an indigenous DOHA: A photography exhi- until January 5. out all distractions of the colour of Ecuador. The Galápagos Islands were studied by Charles Darwin people of Ecuador and they can bition promoting artistic and One section of the exhibi- and it’s black and white,” said and its surrounding waters during the voyage of the Beagle. not be understood outside of their cultural values of Ecuador will tion will showcase work by New Espinosa speaking at the press form an Ecuadorian province, a ‘Sons of the sacred waterfalls’ habitat, given its strong link to open today at Katara, the cul- York based Ecuadorian photog- conference. national park, and a biological by Nicolas Kingman is a result of nature that nourishes their social tural village. rapher Fernando Espinosa at The Galápago Islands are an marine reserve. more than three years of labour and spiritual life. The exhibition organised by the the Galapagos Islands over the archipelago of volcanic islands The islands are geologically by the photographer and has THE PENINSULA embassy of Ecuador in Qatar and course of more than Katara will feature work of two two years and 12 photographers who has captured visits to capture an the nature of Ecuador. environment that is “This exhibition will showcase harsh and unrelent- Ecuador’s commitment to protect ing yet beautiful. nature, culture and diversity and ‘Galapagos Surreal’ promote tourism,” said Kabalan which has also been Abisaab, Ambassador of Ecuador published in book to Qatar, addressing a pre-exhi- by Espinosa trans- bition press conference yesterday forms the land- at his embassy. scapes and wildlife The exhibition will be con- of the Galapagos tributing and promoting the dis- Islands into a sur- semination of national policy on real representa- protection of environment and tion of the world at habitat of the people of Ecuador. large. “Ecuador is the most diverse According to country in the world in propor- Espinosa, he creates tion with its size, with the larg- a different struc- est amount of flora and fauna. ture of imagery The country is home to a diverse unveiling dense assortment of people hailing form patterns of vegeta- 27 different ethic backgrounds tion and landscape, including 13 indigenous groups. seamless integra- This will be reflected in the pho- tion that would tography exhibition,” Ambassador be invisible to the Abisaab explained. The 25-day naked eye. “I have

The Ambassador of Ecuador, Kabalan Abisaab, and photographer Fernando Espinosa, at a press briefing yesterday at the Ecuador Embassy in Doha. SALIM MATRAMKOT SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 06 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME Art expo celebrates Qatar-UK friendship Katara exhibition to spark dialogue between Royal Academy members and artists in the Middle East

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA

DOHA: Over 80 contemporary artworks by 47 artists from the UK and the Middle East are featured at the ‘Encounter: The Royal Academy in the Middle East’ exhibition which launched the Qatar UK 2013 - a year-long celebration of the long-lasting friendship between Qatar and the UK. A result of a combined effort by the Royal Academy, Fortune Cookie Projects and Katara, the recently opened exhibition is aimed at sparking a dialogue between Royal Academy mem- bers and Middle Eastern art- ists, fostering cultural exchange and better understanding of one another’s artistic practices. “Royal Academy of Arts was founded in1768 to represent the leading artists in Great Britain, to hold an annual exhibition and to have an art school,” said Charles Saumarez Smith, Secretary and Chief Executive of Royal Academy of Arts. Since its establishment, the Curator Sa’id Costa gives a tour during the media preview of the ‘Encounters’ exhibition at Katara, (RIGHT) ‘The Towers of Love’ by Moataz Nasr on display and (INSET) Artist and President London-based Royal Academy of Royal Academy of Arts, Christopher Le Brun. PICTURES BY SHAIVAL DALAL of Arts has become the leading venue in Great Britain for major cultural exhibitions, “but as the President of Royal Academy of “Being here in Qatar is use of patterns and motif, built There is a wealth of themes very strong and the interac- art world becomes global we Arts, said the Academy is entirely extremely interesting for environment as symbolic of the and a great diversity in mediums tion between the artists is quite started doing exhibitions over- run by artists in its 250 years of us because there is a direct changing face of both cities and used by the artists that could sat- promising,” said Le Brun. seas jointly with artists in differ- existence. “It is one of the very encounter between the Royal suburbs and the importance of isfy every art enthusiast’s appe- ‘Encounter: The Royal ent regions. In Singapore we had few places remaining that is still Academicians and the artists media including photography and tite for art. From paintings and Academy in the Middle East’, an exhibition of 20 Asian artists entirely in the hands of artists, from this region. This cultural cinema are the common themes sculptures to photography and which also includes works of 10 along with 20 Royal Academy an establishment of artists that exchange is very important for apparent in the artworks by the video, the artworks provide a artists from Qatar, is open to the artists and this expo replicates represents artists,” said Le Brun, us,” he said. Middle Eastern artists at the glimpse into the current trends public until March 6 next year at that,” added Smith. whose paintings are on display at The shifting notions of identity, expo, according to Dr Kathy in the two regions. “The com- Katara Art Galleries Building 18 Christopher Le Brun, the exhibition. reclaiming of culture through the Battista, one of the curators. bination is very successful and and 22. THE PENINSULA

Police officers to be trained in Singapore QU students, teachers learn about on traffic and criminal investigation foreign study opportunities DOHA: Qatar University DOHA: The Ministry of criminal investigation. The proto- Interior of Qatar and Singapore (QU) students and teach- Interior (MoI) recently signed a col was signed on the sidelines of Police Force held from November ing assistants learned about protocol of cooperation with the the visit of the Director General 20 to 22. opportunities to study abroad Ministry of Internal Affairs of of Public Security of Qatar Staff On behalf of the Ministry of at an event organised by Qatar the Republic of Singapore. Major General Saad bin Jassim Interior, Brigadier Saud Abdullah University’s Scholarships According to the agreement, Al Khulaifi to the Republic of Zaid Al Mahmoud, Director Office recently. the Qatar police will dispatch Singapore to participate in the of International Cooperation The ‘Study Abroad Fair’ temporarily a number of police activities of the seventh meet- Department at the MoI signed was aimed at orienting dis- officers to Singapore police for ing of the Joint Working Group the agreement. tinguished national students training in the fields of traffic and between the Ministry of the THE PENINSULA on services and facilities pro- vided by the office for them to pursue studies at top uni- versities around the world. It also highlighted QU’s commit- ment to contributing to the Qatarisation process. The exhibition included booths in which representa- tives from the embassies of the US, Canada, Australia, France and Germany as well as from the British Council and the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in Spain, provided advice and guidance to the par- ticipating students, some of whom are on sponsorship and scholarship from QU. Also attending the event were QU President Prof Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad, Vice President and Chief President of Qatar University Prof Sheikha Abdulla Al Misnad, at one of Academic Officer Dr Mazen the booths of the ‘Study Abroad Fair’. Hasna, and Scholarships Office Director Cesar Wazen. In his opening remarks, Dr on the other pillars without capacity of well-qualified Qatari Hasna said: “As you know, the having a competent, well edu- professionals in academia and first and most important pil- cated population. other sectors who can contrib- Qatar’s police chief with Singapore officers. lar of the national vision is the “Qatar University, like other ute to the university’s progress human development pillar, sim- institutions and organisa- and that of the wider commu- ply because you cannot deliver tions in Qatar, is keen to build nity.” THE PENINSULA MoI holds seminar for firms dealing in surveillance cameras

DOHA: The Ministry of shipments with the Department Interior (MoI) organised a to avoid delays in its release at seminar for representatives of the ports. He promised that if the companies importing, selling details are provided, a shipment and installing security surveil- will not take more than three lance cameras and systems at days for release. Marriot Hotel last week. He briefed on the articles in The seminar held by the the law related with surveillance Security Systems Department at cameras, where it should be fixed, the Ministry was aimed at intro- standards of fixing points and the ducing new regulations and pro- requirements for the companies cedures for the companies. that is involved in this business. Addressing the seminar, Lt Ali Al Suwaidi from the Director of the Department Licenses and Standards section Captain Jassim Al Sayed urged at the Department elaborated on the participating companies to the regulations related with the comply with the required techni- establishments that come under cal standards for installation of the law, standards of cameras and the cameras, to avoid any loss for installation places, standards of the owner and delay in delivery. recorded pictures and surveil- He also asked the companies lance rooms as well. Representatives of companies importing, selling and installing security surveillance cameras at the seminar organised by the Ministry of Interior. to register the details of the THE PENINSULA SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 HOME www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 07

Govts urged to work hard for deal in 2015 Citizens must demand from leadership on climate change – just like the youth did in the Arab region: NGOs

BY SATISH KANADY of Climate Action Network- virtually guarantees the world will betrayal.” Wael Hmaidan, director International (CAN-I). be faced with catastrophic effects of CAN-I, said ministers needed DOHA: The UN climate talks Two weeks ago, just prior to from climate change, according to to go back to their capitals and failed to deliver increased the start of these negotiations, Greenpeace International execu- work hard to put concrete pro- Attiyah at his best cuts to carbon pollution, and numerous credible reports were tive director Kumi Naidoo. posals on the table for the next could not provide any credible published by an array of well “Two weeks of negotiations talks so that progress could be pathway to $100bn per year respected scientists, economists have not altered that path and made towards to secure a fair, in finance by 2020 to help the and climate change experts, all that politicians need to reflect the ambitious, and binding deal in in the critical hour poorest countries deal with cli- with essentially the same con- consensus around climate change 2015. mate change, according to the clusion - we are currently on through funds, targets and effec- “The path forward is actually DOHA: The local media the last two weeks. I forgot the 700 NGOs who are members an unsustainable path which tive action.” quite clear: we have the tech- saw the Chairman of the face of my family members and WWF head of delegation, nology and know-how to reduce Administrative Control and children. But we have to finish Tasneem Essop, said Doha was dangerous carbon pollution, pro- Transparency Authority the job. 16,000 delegates and 6,600 supposed to be an important ele- tect vulnerable communities, H E Abdullah bin Hamad “Believe me it is a good text, ment in setting up for a fair, ambi- and grow sustainable, resilient, Al Attiyah at his best in the we cannot find a text that make tious and binding deal in 2015 and economies.” concluding sessions of COP18/ everyone happy. I am not say- observers take part in meet therefore needed to rebuild trust “But we also need people in all CMP8 meeting yesterday. ing what is in store is a per- and instil equity. regions of the world to demand His tone was in stark con- fect package. Perfection is just DOHA: Some 70,000 hotel rooms were booked to accommodate “These talks have failed the cli- leadership from their govern- trast to that of initial days of a concept. If great minds like 16,000 delegates who attended the COP18 conference which con- mate and they have failed devel- ments on climate change – just the UN climate talk when he Plato and Socrates were in the cluded here yesterday, a senior official of the organising commit- oping nations,” Essop said. “The like the new youth movement in faced criticism in his capacity COP presidency, I assure you tee said yesterday. Doha decision has delivered no the Arab region has done.” as the Presidency of the COP. even they will not be able to Abdulaziz bin Ahmed Al Maliki, General Coordinator of the 18th real cuts in emissions; it has deliv- The Doha Decision is an However, during the critical deliver a perfect COP18 pack- session of the UN climate change conference (COP18/CMP8), said ered no concrete finance, and it extraordinarily weak outcome hours of the last two days, he age to you.” that the conference drew 16,000 participants from 194 countries, has not delivered on equity.” on climate finance which fails to struck a personal chord with On Friday, when he felt that 6,600 observers from civil society and non-governmental organisa- Governments have delivered a put any money on the table or to the attendees. the Doha meet was not going tions and more than 800 media representatives. very vague outcome that might ensure a pathway to the $100bn a Addressing the plenary ses- ahead according to the origi- Al Malki congratulated Qatar on the adoption of the General lead to increased ambition but year by 2020 target. The decision sion yesterday, Al Attiyah said: nal schedule, Al Attiyah told Secretariat to COP’s decision on the second period of the Kyoto only if the politics shift to work- asks for submissions from govern- “I just want to make all of you the Parties: “You need to really Protocol, making this conference a great success. ing for the people, our future, and ments on long term finance path- happy. Unfortunately I am not push to close on the contentious He also underlined the success of the sustainable development not the polluters. ways, calls for public funds for carrying a magic wand for that. issues. We are hours and hours exhibition organised on the sidelines of the conference, adding that In particular, countries includ- adaptation but does not mention a If you are ready to sit here for behind schedule. I do not mind more than 10,500 people visited the expo over the two weeks. ing the US, who have continually figure, and encourages developed two or more weeks, I can guar- the delay. I’m living just 10 min- He also noted the participants were impressed by the arrange- blocked progress in the talks, countries to maintain funding at antee that. utes away from this conference ments at the iconic Qatar National Convention Centre. need to fundamentally change existing levels dependent on their I love to stay with you. I have room. But you have to catch a Chairman of the Sub-Committee Fahad bin Mohammed Al their positions in line with their economies. been seeing only your faces for flight.” THE PENINSULA Attiyah said that the organisation of the conference was also a obligation to lead on the solution An eight year second commit- remarkable success in terms of logistics. to this crisis that they created. ment period of the Kyoto Protocol Qatar, he said, has proved to the world that it can deliver and can Tim Gore, International with loopholes that allow carry to 40 percent range by 2014 at the and provides opportunities for bring about great results. Climate Change Policy Adviser over, use and trading of hot air. latest. them to do so. “Today’s achievement in the adoption of the second commitment for Oxfam, said Doha had done A call – though not an official While it could have been Developed countries failed to period of the Kyoto Protocol is good example,” he said. “The Protocol nothing to guarantee that public ambition ratchet mechanism - stronger, the decision reinforces agree a way to account for their will continue over the next eight years and a journey of action and climate finance would go up next for Kyoto Protocol countries to clear moral obligation for coun- carbon in a comparable way, the implementation in this context will begin,” he said. year, not down. review their emissions reduction tries to increase their emission NGOs coordination said. He hoped that the coming period would witness great changes by “Developing countries have target inline with the 25 percent reduction targets prior to 2020 THE PENINSULA the year 2015 due to the global agreement that will come into force come here in good faith and have in 2020. THE PENINSULA been forced to accept vague words and no numbers,” Gore said. “It’s a $6bn concrete pledges made at Doha COP

Continued from page 1 for adaptation and mitigation by As expected, Civil Society said On the Climate Change 2020. Germany, the UK, France, a firm “No” to Doha. “You call the Agreement, Governments have Denmark, Sweden and the EU text Doha Gateway, it’s a gate- agreed to speedily work toward Commission announced concrete way to four degrees and climate a universal agreement covering finance pledges in Doha for the injustice, we will not be compla- all countries form 2020, to be period up to 2015, totalling an cent with this text, we reject this adopted by 2015, and to find ways estimated $6bn. text”, said the representative of to scale up efforts before 2020. In Doha, governments also suc- civil society. “We will name and Governments have also agreed cessfully concluded work under shame you, our only hope is to to submit to the UN Climate the Convention that began in Bali mobilise a powerful justice move- Change Secretariat by March1, in 2007 and ensured that remain- ment,” he said. 2013. Doha endorsed the selec- ing elements off this work will be Influential Climate Action tion of the Republic of Korea as continued under the UN Climate Network (CAN) considered the the location of the Green Climate Change process. COP had failed, by not delivering Fund. There were lot of confusions in increased cuts to carbon pollution, The Fund is expected to start the halls. No one was aware who nor providing any credible path- its work in Sondgo in the sec- was supporting whom, until the way to $100bn finance. ond half of 2013, meaning it can closing plenary. Doha summit formally launch activities in 2014. The closing plenary witnessed announced the next UN Climate On long term finance devel- strong statement by countries Change Confrence-COP19/CMP9- oped countries have reiterated like Russia. The least developed will take place in Warsaw, Poland, their commitment to deliver on countries said a number of key at the end of 2013 promises to mobilise $100bn both elements were missing in Doha. THE PENINSULA Winners drive away in ‘green cars’ at Sustainability Expo

DOHA: Five thousand people entered, but only five were lucky enough to win brand new elec- tric cars on the closing day of the Qatar Sustainability Expo on Friday. After entering a ballot, the for- tunate few had their names cho- sen at a celebration outside the Doha Exhibition Centre, becom- ing some of the first drivers of this innovative type of vehicle here. The MyCar electric car, pro- duced by American manufac- turer GreenTech Automotive, is 100 percent electric. Capable of recharging on simple household A child drops a raffle ticket at the Qatar Sustainability Expo. electrical outlets, it can drive for up to 185km before needing to bring attention to the benefits Sheikh, a 28-year-old hospi- be charged. The cars were part of electric cars, which have no tal technician from Sudan, was of the many environmentally emissions. ecstatic about her prized car. friendly initiatives showcased at She hoped that the visibility of Beaming and surrounded by the Expo, which was held during the car – it has bright colours and friends, she yelled, “This is my COP18/CMP8 in Doha, the annual a flashy design reminiscent of a first time to win in my life!” United Nations Climate Change sportier version of the SmartCar Al Sheikh said that the unique Conference. – would entice more buyers for design of car would make her Mona Al Sulaiti, the Director the clean technology in Qatar. feel “special”. More information of Exhibitions and Venues for “This is only the beginning,” about the car is available online COP18/CMP8 Doha, said the she said. at: www.introducingmycar.com Expo raffle was organised to One of the winners, Alaa Al THE PENINSULA SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 08 VIEWS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

Editorial ESTABLISHED IN 1996

CHAIRMAN: SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: KHALID AL SAYED Doha opens Gateway E-MAIL: [email protected] ACTING MANAGING EDITOR: HUSSAIN AHMAD The UN Climate Conference in Doha E-MAIL: [email protected] proved resilient by coming up with an EDITORIAL: TEL: 44557741 / 44557743 FAX: 44557746 / 44557758 P. O. BOX: 3488, DOHA, QATAR. agreement in the end. E-MAIL: [email protected] HE United Nations Climate Change Conference wrapped up in shifts in climate patterns signalled by change in temperature and ADVERTISING: TEL: 44557837 / 780 FAX: 44557870 Doha yesterday, bringing to an end about two weeks of hard- rainfall trends across many parts of the world. It was major floods, CLASSIFIED: E-MAIL: Tfought negotiations among developed and developing countries. super cyclones, and rising global temperatures that led experts to sit 44557857 [email protected] Hosting the climate jamboree for the first time, Doha tried to put its up and take note. SUBSCRIPTION / HOME DELIVERY best foot forward in showing that when it came to fighting climate Besides a shift in weather patterns, the construction of multipurpose change, it was in no way lagging. Qatar mustered all its resources to river valley projects to generate electricity and irrigation led to concerns TEL: 44557809 /839 FAX: 44557819 host thousands of delegates from all over the world. A giant exercise over vegetation being affected. The change in the course of rivers and E-MAIL: [email protected] in logistics, the organisation of the 18th Conference of Parties (COP the construction of dams leads to loss in the genepool reserve in the SUBSCRIPTION RATES 18) and CMP brought to the fore issues which are not very popular in area, affecting the biodiversity so very much necessary for a healthy ANNUAL this part of the world. A key benefit of holding such conferences is that environment. QR 675 the subject of the meeting enters the canon of debate in the country, Brainstorming in the field of environment management has been 6 MONTHS QR 340 soaking in itself the salient points of the discussion. immense. Right from the inclusion of environmental education in school So engaged were the 200-odd countries attending the talks that curriculums to the springing up of thousands of non-governmental the duration of the climate jamboree had to be increased by one day. organisations, pressure groups and even religio-spiritual bodies, the The deal reached at the conference gives the much-vaunted Kyoto rise in interest in environmental issues has been phenomenal. Protocol an extension. Kyoto was finally approved with the 27-member Doha surpassed many hurdles, ending with a pact that has been European Union, Australia, Switzerland and eight other industrialised described as the ‘Doha Climate Gateway’. The agreement would likely nations signing up for binding emission cuts by 2020. see forces against climate change multiplying at all levels across the PUBLICATION The subject of climate change has been acquiring centre stage in world. the global war against changing patterns of weather. It was only dur- Events like these are not only important for the environment but also ing the late twentieth century that the international community took lead to a significant sense of participation in the community which is up the issue in earnest. Earlier, scientists had been warning of major at the receiving end of climate change.

We will never recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli The other side occupation and therefore, there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it Quote of will take. Burma’s bad habits Khaled Meshaal the day Hamas leader hen US President Barack Obama spoke at a university in Burma during his brief visit to that Southeast Asian nation Won Nov. 19, U Gambira was seated in the front row. As a 28-year-old Buddhist monk, U Gambira had led nonviolent, pro-democ- racy protests in 2007. He was arrested, sentenced to 63 years in prison and tortured. His release this January was a telling step in the progress of Burma’s dictators toward democratic reform — progress that Mr. Obama has encouraged and that he was in part celebrating with his six-hour visit. Now U Gambira is back in prison. The 33-year-old’s rearrest Saturday is also a milestone — a reminder that the rule of law remains a distant prospect for the long-suffering nation. Western and Japanese officials who have been eager to claim Burma as a success story, end economic sanctions and move on should take note. Like hundreds of political prisoners set free in the recent thaw, U Gambira was conditionally released, meaning that Burma’s generals could reimpose his multi-decade sentence on a whim. His arrest was ostensibly for an offense committed in February, when he tried to reenter his former monastery, since closed by officials. At the time, Buddhist officials loyal to the regime essentially defrocked him. Today he is a “former monk.” “It is not clear why the authorities have decided to press charges against U Gambira more than nine months after the alleged offenses occurred,” Amnesty International said. The latest charges against him, according to Burma Campaign UK, include trespassing and “damaging the dignity of the country.” U Gambira’s rearrest is not the only human rights violation to occur lately. A villagers’ protest against a copper mine was violently suppressed, and monks and others seeking to show support for the protesters have been jailed. Ethnic violence continues, by the army against the Kachins and, unpunished, by ethnic Burmese against Muslim Rohingya. None of this means that the movement toward democracy is derailed. But the setbacks show how fragile and reversible the progress remains. U Gambira’s persecution is particularly appalling. In prison in 2009, he was strapped to a chair for weeks at a time, force-fed and brutally beaten on the head. Since his release he has said his health has far from recovered, but doctors in Burma were afraid to treat him and officials would not allow him to leave the country. THE WASHINGTON POST Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate Taking the guesswork out of policy BY DYLAN MATTHEWS in deciding whether to approve more and made more money to pick nits. The preschool study As Orszag said, it’s not that benefits of education keeps stu- a treatment that a few thou- as adults. In 1976, the Chicago involved only children with low researchers don’t know how to dents in class; remedial tutor- ’m a policy reporter. My job sand people would receive than Housing Authority randomly IQs, critics noted. Maybe the evaluate programmes or don’t ing doesn’t. Giving away bed is to explain to my readers Congress does in considering placed public-housing residents results would have been different want to. Indeed, researchers who nets reduces malaria infections; Iwhether smaller class sizes a bill that would affect every in apartments in the city or in with children of average or above- focus on international develop- charging even a small amount help students learn, whether tax American. the suburbs, and then tracked average intelligence. The Chicago ment have been doing so in for them is much less effective. cuts boost economic growth and Each year, hundreds of the two groups. Those in the housing study was conducted dur- recent years, with very promis- The confidence with which whether housing programmes carefully controlled, double- suburbs did better on every met- ing a time when crime was much ing results. Economists such as development researchers can help families escape poverty. blind studies are done to learn ric, from household income to worse than today. Maybe with MIT’s Esther Duflo and Abhijit make these judgments is in stark In a perfect world, what I whether a given pill is better their children’s rates of college safer inner cities, you wouldn’t Banerjee and Yale’s Dean Karlan, contrast to the Talmudic read- do would be a kind of science than a placebo or whether a new attendance. see similar gains from sending along with their research groups, ing of a handful of studies that reporting. Just as my colleagues surgery leads to quicker recov- These studies had a big families to the suburbs. the Jameel Poverty Action Lab characterises debate about social at the health desk often explain eries. Many of these studies are impact. The Chicago study, for Researchers have spent gal- (JPAL) and Innovations for policy in the United States. And which medicines are effective funded by a single agency, the example, is the main research lons of ink arguing over such Poverty Action (IPA), have run that confidence means poli- and which are a bust, I’d ideally National Institutes of Health. cited in proposals to provide caveats, trying to figure out dozens of randomised experi- cymakers pay attention. Aid be able to describe what sociolo- By contrast, in a typical year, housing vouchers to poor fami- what can and can’t be inferred ments in developing countries to organisations have heaped praise gists, economists and political no such studies are conducted to lies to break up pockets of “con- from the meagre pool of good see which forms of aid work and on Duflo and company, with scientists have discovered about evaluate social policy proposals. centrated disadvantage.” data with which they’re forced which are worthless or counter- Usaid chief Rajiv Shah declar- which policies work. That’s not because such stud- But such studies are very to work. At no point does the productive. The goal, as the JPAL ing that “the whole movement With a few exceptions, how- ies are impossible. In 1962, rare. They’re expensive, which straightforward solution present puts it, is to “reduce poverty by that Esther and her colleagues ever, I can’t really do that — at researchers in a small Michigan discourages universities and itself: run another study. ensuring that policy is based on at MIT and around the world least not with the precision my school district randomly selected school districts (such as the one “Rigorous ways to evaluate scientific evidence, and research have really spearheaded is so health colleagues often can. 58 3- and 4-year-olds to enroll in Michigan conducting the pre- whether programmes are work- is translated into action.” important in rethinking how More important, neither can in a preschool programme, school study) from doing them. ing exist,” then-White House With funding from individu- we make aid work.” The World policymakers in Congress and in then spent decades comparing And often, as in the Chicago budget director Peter Orszag als and foundations, but for the Bank has teamed up with the many regulatory agencies. The them with a control group of 65 case, they come about only said in 2009. “But too often most part not governments, they JPAL to design better poverty- Food and Drug Administration kids who didn’t go to preschool. because a court orders them. such evaluations don’t happen. have learned, for instance, that reduction programmes. has more information available Those who enrolled learned Because of this rarity, it’s easy . . . This has to change.” spreading information about the WP-BLOOMBERG SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 VIEWS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 09 A vivid illustration of daily life in Asia

Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) this The deadly floods century. Yet all the latest round of United and crippling power Nations climate talks (this time in Doha) has managed to achieve is rais- ing the carbon footprint of government outages following ministers and activists jetting in, hiring motorcades, dining at swanky eateries Hurricane Sandy and staying at five-star hotels. All the while, evidence mounts that this genera- tion’s environmental legacy will be one of made for more than gross negligence. It’s hard to persuade poorer nations to graphic television. take the lead in reducing emissions. Not with the US shirking its responsibilities, BY WILLIAM PESEK and the rising carbon emissions of Japan, home of the Kyoto Protocol. Going green, ew York’s brush with Asia says, is too costly for nations strug- developing- nation status gling with poverty. is an even bigger warning The region should be free to gener- for Asia than it is for the ate greenhouse gasses the way developed United States. nations did when they were industrialis- NThe city could be excused for wonder- ing in the 19th and 20th centuries. ing if it had suddenly been transported Our planet can’t handle more than 7 to Bangladesh in October. The deadly billion people polluting that way, so Asia floods and crippling power outages fol- must change its thinking. Economies lowing Hurricane Sandy made for more that go green fastest will be the most than graphic television. They made a prosperous 20 years from now. Nations mockery of the climate-change deniers. with the fewest energy imports, lowest Just ask residents of lower Manhattan as subsidies, most innovative renewable- they referred to neighbourhoods such as energy sources and foreign policies that pricey Tribeca as “Little North Korea.” aren’t beholden to oil suppliers will be The Asia reference is fitting, because the most attractive and have the highest that region is where the real wake-up credit ratings. call should be. Asia should announce the energy Asia’s rising importance is well known. equivalent of the Manhattan Project. Asia Pacific nations generated roughly With developed economies in tatters, a 25 percent of the world’s gross domestic pledge by rich nations to provide $100bn product between 1980 and 2009, and that in annual global-warming aid by 2020 share is rising fast. Less well known is looks unrealistic. Asia should take mat- that it endured almost 40 percent of the ters into its own hands and deploy its world’s losses from natural disasters dur- $6.6trn of currency reserves for research ing that period. Violent weather is sure to and development. If an institution is increase, compromising Asia’s economic needed, create one. Call it the Asian outlook. Green Growth Project and empower it Asia Pacific residents are four times to find alternatives to the coal and other more likely to be victims of natural dis- fossil fuels blackening the skies and asters than Africans, and 25 times more imperiling the future. likely than North Americans, according A resident carrying a bag full of relief goods walks amongst typhoon debris as she heads for her home in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Sure, that’s easier said than done. But to a new Asian Development Bank report. Asia’s biggest challenges include continu- province, in the Philippines. Asia is home to most of the megacities ing growth without choking on it, finding facing extreme vulnerability to climate ample water supplies and feeding swelling change. The increasing frequency and The first is complicated by demogra- natural disasters; today it’s 152 million being swamped? How alluring will Ho Chi populations. Status-quo policies won’t get severity of disasters will reduce growth phy. The largest urbanisation history has and increasing. That means Vietnam, Minh City, Vietnam, Karachi, Pakistan, the region where it needs to be 20 years and set back anti-poverty efforts. ever known is unfolding chaotically and Bangladesh, the Philippines, Thailand, or Manila markets be as Mother Nature from now. Nor will squabbling with North We need to stop thinking that such faster than cities can keep up with. Asia’s Indonesia, China, India, Pakistan and encroaches? Longer-term, add Shanghai America and Europe, which isn’t on the events just come and go; that stuff hap- mix of rising ocean levels, surging popula- Cambodia — all of which are on ADB’s and Tokyo to the vulnerable list as water front lines the way Asia is. Only a big, pens. Asia must embrace the idea that tions, poor urban planning and deforesta- list of the 14 most vulnerable developing levels rise. coordinated and creatively financed effort natural phenomena are a rising threat tion dwarfs New York’s challenges. nations — need to spend untold billions Complacency complicates the second will do that. to development. Steps must be taken to Swarms of people are fleeing environ- of dollars making infrastructure less sus- challenge. The World Bank foresees Hurricane Sandy showed New Yorkers brace for their impact and reduce their mentally stable but impoverished rural ceptible to disaster. “cataclysmic changes” caused by extreme they are vulnerable and must begin plan- incidence. Both challenges require far areas for coastal cities that lie in harm’s China, India, Indonesia and Thailand heat waves (ask Australia), rising seas ning for a more chaotic future. Asians more energy, planning and resources way. are among Asia’s biggest and most- (check the Maldives) and depleted food don’t have that luxury. They are already than Asian leaders have mustered to In the 1980s, roughly 24 million people watched economies. How vibrant will stocks (query the Philippines) as the cli- living in it. date. in the region were directly at risk from they be if their top cities are constantly mate heads toward warming of 4 degrees WP-BLOOMBERG Has Putin lost control of his corruption crackdown?

Nikolai Karamzin was famously By allowing state TV to cover all asked to describe, in just a cou- ple words, what is going on in the gory details of the bureaucratic the Motherland. One word was all he needed: voruyut, which means “thieving.” At the time, bloodletting, Putin’s government many bureaucrats were only paid a nominal salary; it was assumed seems to have only reminded they would earn the rest in bribes. The tsar looked the other way. For the most part, this system Russians just how pervasive held under the Soviet Union, and the only major effort to dislodge corruption has become. it helped precipitate the empire’s collapse. In the late 1980s, Soviet BY SIMON SHUSTER just how pervasive corruption has President Mikhail Gorbachev become. In one case, police claim oversaw the so-called Cotton ver the past month, a to have found an obscure military Case, which exposed a syndicate surreal new element bureaucrat, Alexander Yelkin, in of senior Communist Party offi- has come to dominate possession of around $9m in cash cials who had pilfered millions ORussia’s nightly news. and four Breguet watches. Had he of dollars from the state. Two of At times it feels like some sort not been arrested on November them were executed and dozens of hybrid reality show, as if the 16, he was reportedly planning to jailed; but rather than restore Kremlin’s propaganda men celebrate his birthday the follow- faith in the Soviet system, the have started splicing episodes ing night with a private concert scandal helped expose to the pub- of “MTV Cribs” with episodes by Jennifer Lopez. Judging by the has grown to the levels of a third- of Russia’s chemical and nuclear Vladivostok. In another, officials lic just how rotten it truly was. of “COPS.” The entrancing new latest polls, such tales of profli- world kleptocracy , and hardly a weapons facilities.) During the in the space industry allegedly The raids now filling the genre was born from the purge gacy have begun to reflect badly month goes by without some sen- raid on Vasilieva’s apartment, stole more than $200m from the nightly news look a lot like the that President Vladimir Putin on the entire government — Putin ior official promising a crackdown. police found several valuable paint- state fund to build Russia’s satel- now-grainy images from the launched in October — the first included. But satisfying the pub- But this time it seems Putin was ings by the 19th-century masters lite navigation system, which has Cotton Case. Stacks of confiscated anti-corruption campaign he has lic’s piqued desire for justice is serious, or at least more serious Ilya Repin and Ivan Shishkin recently experienced several tech- cash, gold, and jewellery were first ever attempted — and it has made hardly an option at this point. than usual. that belonged to the ministry’s nological disasters. shown to the Soviet media dur- for excellent television. Bureaucrats at every level are The day of the Valdai Club museum. Now under house arrest In the past month, dozens of ing a news conference in Moscow Viewers have been treated to spooked by the spate of arrests, meeting, police had raided a hand- pending investigation for large- searches have been carried out; in April 1988. Millions of Soviets commando raids on posh apart- and if the lifestyle to which they ful of homes and offices linked to scale fraud, Vasilieva, 31, denies several officials are already in watched from their communal ments, seized boxes of diamonds have become accustomed becomes Defence Ministry officials accused any wrongdoing. The museum has jail, including a deputy minis- apartments, having stood in line and gold, stacks of bribe money threatened, they could start to of stealing about $100m in state gotten its paintings back. ter. Officials at every level are all day at empty grocery stores, being fed by police into counting turn on Putin. And that raises the assets. When the cops arrived But that series of raids was just starting to get panicky, says and the shock did irreparable machines that look about ready risk of a palace coup. at the apartment of Evgenia the opening act. On November 6, Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a former damage to public confidence. to burst. Perhaps most satis- “He has to strike a very delicate Vasilieva, the comely young direc- Putin shocked the nation by firing lawmaker who studies the “What’s going on now has fying of all, for the millions of balance,” says Alexander Rahr, tor of the ministry’s property Serdyukov “in order to allow for country’s elites at the Russian brought back a lot of memories workaday Russians watching at a member of the Valdai Club, department, they were surprised an objective investigation into all Academy of Sciences. “This is of the cotton scandal, and they home, has been the sight of once- a forum of Russia experts that to find Defence Minister Anatoly matters.” Never before had one a rupture in their agreement are now very afraid of repeating mighty bureaucrats groveling for meets with Putin once a year. “He Serdyukov there. (One of the of the supposed untouchables with the leader of the country,” that story,” says Nikolai Zlobin, sympathy, clemency or bail. That is too dependent on the boyars more entertaining sidebars of the from Putin’s inner circle been so says Kryshtanovskaya. “Among another member of the Valdai schadenfreude is part of the point. [feudal lords] to go chopping off scandal has involved the harem of publicly humiliated. It suddenly Russian officials, there is a tacit Club and director of Russian and Purges are meant to be popular. their heads, but that is what the beautiful women Serdyukov had dawned on Russian officialdom contract of loyalty in exchange for Asian programs at the World But six weeks into this one, people are now demanding.” placed in positions of extraordi- that this was more than just a guarantees of protection.” Security Institute in Washington. its initiator has found himself in Putin announced the new anti- nary power. The Russian press cosmetic shake-up. High-profile This silent arrangement “More and more often I’m hear- the bind of his career. By allow- corruption campaign at the most has dubbed them “the Amazons,” cases followed: officials from the was not invented under Putin, ing from the top that we can’t ing state TV to cover all the gory recent Valdai Club meeting on and before resigning last month, Ministry of Regional Development she adds, but is a hallmark of allow this kind of mistake, where details of the bureaucratic blood- October 25. At the time, no one one of them, a 31-year-old aspir- now stand accused of looting mil- Russian statehood going back to one investigation leads to a sys- letting, Putin’s government seems took it very seriously. Over the ing poet named Marina Chubkina, lions of dollars from the coffers the tsars. At the end of the 19th tematic collapse of the country.” to have only reminded Russians past decade, corruption in Russia was in charge of maintaining some of this year’s APEC summit in century, the Russian historian WP-BLOOMBERG SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 10 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com MIDDLE EAST

Bahrain crown Syria opposition prince calls for new dialogue to announce with opposition

MANAMA: Bahrain’s Crown Prince renewed calls for dia- military council logue with the country’s opposi- tion late on Friday, saying only talks could break a deadlock Move to unify military action: Official in the Gulf Arab state beset by unrest. MANAMA: Syria’s new oppo- not interested” and the council, Prince Salman bin Hamad bin sition coalition will announce for its part, did not want to be Isa Al Khalifa, who was seen as the creation of a military coun- associated with a group “accused losing influence to hardliners in cil before a Friends of Syria of terrorism.” the ruling family during mass meeting next week, to unify the The Al Nusra Front, which protests last year, said Bahrain ranks of insurgents, a top offi- has become a formidable fight- must continue political and judi- cial said yesterday. ing force, has claimed responsi- cial reforms seen as inadequate National Coalition Secretary bility for the majority of suicide by the opposition. General Mustafa Sabbagh said bombing attacks in Syria’s nearly “I soon hope to see a meeting the group “will announce the cre- 21-month-old insurgency that has between all sides — and I call for ation of a supreme military coun- cost tens of thousands of lives. a meeting between all sides — as cil before the Friends of Syria “Setting up the supreme mili- I believe that only through face meeting in Marrakesh” due to tary council is an important ini- to face dialogue will any real take place on December 12. tiative to unify military action,” progress be made,” he said in an In mid-November, opposition said Sabbagh. address to a conference organised factions met in Qatar and agreed The council will comprise “com- Kuwaiti protesters march in Kuwait City yesterday. by the International Institute for to set up the National Coalition manders of the various military Security Studies. and bring together rebel forces councils on the group and forces No opposition figures were under a supreme military council, battling the regime, namely the Kuwaitis march against new rules invited to the conference. as well as establishing a judicial (main rebel) Free Syrian Army,” Crown Prince Salman urged all commission for rebel areas. (FSA) he said on the sidelines political figures to condemn street Under the deal the opposition of a regional security forum in KUWAIT: Tens of thousands Holding Kuwaiti and orange for like-minded candidates - a way violence but also said the govern- agreed that the military council Bahrain. of Kuwaitis marched in the flags, they chanted: “The people to build informal alliances in a coun- ment needed to push harder to would take overall command of A senior leader of the new capital yesterday in peaceful want to bring down the decree!” try where parties are banned. reduce inequality. the various rebel groups on the council said that its structure protest against a parliament They sang and clapped, giving the “We — the people — should “We must do more to change ground to address US and other “brings together representatives elected last week in the Gulf march a festive feel as a police be consulted when there are laws which still can lead to, in Western concerns over the grow- of all the forces on the ground, state under voting rules deemed helicopter circled above. any big changes,” Nadja Saleh, my opinion, judgements which go ing influence of jihadist fighters. both military and civilian leaders, unfair by the opposition. Years of political turmoil have a 45-year-old bank worker said, against protections guaranteed The proliferation of jihadist to head a unified decision-making Rule changes passed by decree held up investment and economic gesturing at the crowd. Slogans in our constitution. We must do militants has stoked fears among body.” in October, which reduced the reforms in Kuwait, a U S ally and carried on large orange ban- more to stop the selective enforce- powers wary of providing weap- The composition of the coun- number of votes per citizen to Opec member state which has ners included “Justice, liberty ment of law,” he said. ons to rebels battling the regime cil “is the result of many lengthy one from four, have prompted held five parliamentary elections and equality” and “Dictatorship Meanwhile, opposition yesterday of Syrian President Bashar Al meetings held in Antalya a spate of demonstrations and since mid-2006. is destructive, democracy is welcomed a call for dialogue made Assad, lest the arms fall into (Turkey) over the last few days,” led the opposition to boycott the The protesters say they want constructive.” by the Crown Prince, saying it was extremist hands. he added. December 1 election. wider political reforms but not an Police had put up some barri- ready to talk in an effort to solve “The council will be exclusively He said hundreds of defected The government, in which mem- Arab Spring-style revolution. cades along the march route but the Gulf kingdom’s political crisis. responsible for receiving military officers and rebel leaders attended bers of the ruling family hold top “We reject the last election their presence appeared light. The opposition, led by Al Wefaq aid which we obtain” from outside and were joined by representa- posts, says the new rules bring because of the one vote system, Other recent marches, which grouping, said it “looks favoura- Syria, Sabbagh said. tives from 12 countries, including Kuwait in line with democratic because most of the people did not authorities said were unlicensed, bly upon the appeal by the crown He also stressed that the mili- the United States, France, Turkey norms elsewhere. The opposi- participate. We want the four- have been broken up using tear prince,” and urged “a serious dia- tary command will not include and Qatar. tion, which includes Islamist and vote system back and new elec- gas and smoke bombs. logue with agreement on the par- radical groups such as Al Nusra The representatives chose populist politicians, says they were tions,” said 21-year-old student The new parliament is expected ticipants, agenda and duration.” Front which, along with other General Selim Idriss, a military designed to skew elections in favour Saad Al Zobi. to be more government-friendly “The opposition is ready to take Islamist rebels, rejected the for- engineer who defected in July, as of pro-government candidates. Ruler H H Sheikh Sabah Al than its predecessor, elected in part in a dialogue whose result must mation of the opposition National head of the new command. One Crowds of men, women and chil- Ahmad Al Sabah has said his February. The opposition held a be put to the people, the source of all Coalition. high-ranking opposition leader dren wearing orange, the colour of amendments will help preserve majority in the last assembly and powers. From the very beginning, Another official confirmed that described the Homs native as “a the protest movement, marched national security and stability. Under put pressure on the cabinet, forc- the opposition has opted for peaceful Al Nusra Front would not par- charismatic moderate.” along a coast road on the edge of the the old system, politicians could urge ing two ministers out of office. means to gain democracy.” ticipate, saying that they “were AFP capital, heading for Kuwait Towers. supporters to cast additional ballots REUTERS The speech was heard by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, U S Assistant Secretary for State William Burns and the foreign ministers of other Gulf states. Crown Prince Salman singled out Britain for particular praise Egypt military warns talks must resolve crisis for its support for Bahrain during its crisis but did not mention the United States in what delegates CAIRO: Egypt’s powerful mili- best and only way to reach agree- at the president’s expanded pow- hardened from so many days of military’s ultimatum for talks was a present at the conference saw as tary put its foot down yesterday ment and achieve the interests of ers and efforts to push through a confrontation and intransigence, significant step. implied criticism of Washington. in the crisis dividing the nation the nation and its citizens,” said a new constitution. have set Egypt — the Arab world’s The army has an influen- “You have stood head and by demanding the Islamist-led statement from the armed forces But Islamist parties, includ- most populous nation — on a tial role in Egypt’s political life, shoulders above others,” he said government and political foes — the first since street protests ing the political wing of Mursi’s potentially explosive path. though it officially maintains a of the British government, which start dialogue and warning it against President Mohammed Muslim Brotherhood, rejected Yesterday afternoon, hun- neutral stance. he praised for engaging with both would not permit events to take Mursi erupted more than two opposition demands to delay a ref- dreds of anti-Mursi protesters After former president Hosni the Bahraini government and a “disastrous” turn. weeks ago. erendum in a week’s time on a new were again starting to gather in Mubarak was toppled in Egypt’s opposition and aiding reform of But there was no immediate “The opposite of that will take constitution they helped draft. front of the presidential palace uprising in early 2011, the army the police and judiciary. sign of compliance by either camp, us into a dark tunnel with disas- The National Salvation Front for what have become nightly ruled for more than a year, until Last month, Bahrain’s govern- whose two weeks of protests trous results — and that is some- opposition coalition insists that a demonstrations. Morsi’s election in June 2012. ment said it had arrested four spilled over into bloody clashes thing we will not allow.” postponement is a non-negotiable One late on Friday gathered more The military underlined it suspects in multiple bombings in Cairo that killed seven peo- The stark ultimatum under- condition for any talks. than 10,000 people, who pulled aside “stands always with the great that killed two people in the capi- ple and wounded more than 600, lined the gravity of the crisis It also demands that Mursi give army barbed-wire barricades and Egyptian people and insists on tal Manama, and it accused the prompting the army to deploy pitting Mursi and his Muslim up expanded powers he assumed clambered atop tanks to call loudly its unity” but also said it was its Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with troops and tanks. Brotherhood backers against the last month that put him beyond for Morsi to step down before they duty to protect state institutions. of being behind the attacks. “The path of dialogue is the largely secular opposition alarmed judicial review. The colliding forces, peacefully dispersed hours later. The AFP AGENCIES

Yemen army official killed in Gazans tell Meshaal ambush, army to stay as leader battles tribesmen GAZA: Braving rain, wind and an eight-day conflict with Israel, SANA’A/ADEN: A senior winter chill, thousands upon has been holding a secret bal- Yemeni army official was killed thousands of Gazans joined lot for months to determine yesterday in an ambush by a 25th anniversary rally for who should head the group. suspected Al Qaeda members, Hamas yesterday, making clear Expectations that a result would while the army battled tribes- they want Khaled Meshaal to emerge during Meshaal’s visit men who blew up the country’s remain leader of the Islamist appeared unfounded. main oil export pipeline. group. “Hamas has not yet concluded The chief-of-staff for Yemen’s Meshaal, paying his first ever its internal election and there is central military region in turbulent visit to Hamas’s Gaza fiefdom, has nothing new in this regard,” a sen- Maarib province, home to a large said repeatedly that he wants to ior Hamas source said yesterday. portion of the impoverished coun- step down after eight years at the Meshaal emerged through the try’s oil, died when gunmen fired on helm of the group, which is locked doors of a huge model missile his vehicle, a security official said. in seemingly perennial conflict onto the rally stage, waving his The attackers were probably with a much more powerful Israel. arms and flashing victory signs, as militants linked to Al Qaeda, said He made no mention of his the crowds, catching their first- the official, who did not want to future in an hour-long speech, ever glimpse of their long-exiled be identified. but the crowds of supporters, leader, roared in approval. Yemeni troops also launched many holding aloft the green flag “We all want Meshaal to remain an offensive in Maarib after an of Hamas, were adamant that the in his post,” said Ahmed Shaheen, attack on the principal oil pipeline bearded Meshaal should continue 60, wearing long Arab robes, who there on Friday. Two officers were to guide the group at a time when was sitting with his young children killed and four soldiers injured in they see its star rising. near the front of the audience. clashes with tribesmen, according “Meshaal is the natural leader Dressed in a suit and a woollen to another security official. of Hamas and must stay so if jacket, Meshaal looked more like Repairs had begun on the Palestine is going to be liberated,” the school teacher he once was Maarib oil pipeline and power lines said Salah Suheil, a 44-year-old than the head of a movement that just last week after the government man standing on waterlogged is viewed as a terrorist group by reached a deal with tribesmen to wasteground that served as the Israel, the United States and stop attacking infrastructure. Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal gives a speech during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, arena for Saturday’s celebrations. many Western governments. REUTERS in Gaza City, yesterday. Hamas, which has just fought REUTERS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 INTERNATIONAL www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 11 Eight policemen hurt as Mandela in hospital for tests JOHANNESBURG: Nelson abdominal pain. He was flown from Mandela has been admitted to a his rural home village of Qunu to the hospital for tests “consistent with capital Pretoria, around 900 kilome- his old age” and is doing well, the tres (560 miles) away. Belfast flag riots spread office of South Africa’s president Mandela, once a spry boxer who announced yesterday. stayed fit during his 27 years in “Former President Nelson prison by doing calisthenics in his Mandela has today, 8 December cell, has grown increasingly frail. Pro-British loyalists demand return of British flag on city hall roof 2012, been admitted in hospital in AFP Pretoria to undergo BELFAST: Around 2,000 pro-British tests,” Jacob Zuma’s loyalists rallied in central Belfast yes- office announced. He terday for the return of the British flag “is doing well and there to the roof of city hall after a vote by is no cause for alarm,” Irish nationalist councillors to remove it it added. sparked a week of rioting. “Mandela will receive Twenty-eight police officers, eight of medical attention from them yesterday, have been injured in the time to time which is most widespread pro-British street violence consistent with his age,” for years in the province as the flag became said the statement. a rallying point for people who feel there Zuma himself wished have been too many concessions to Irish Mandela the best, nationalists. assuring his medical Rioters fired bricks and petrol bombs at team of “our support police and burned out cars overnight, hours as they look after and after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ensure the comfort called for calm during a visit to the city of our beloved found- and warned the peace process was not yet ing President of a free complete. and democratic South Loyalist political parties, who share the Africa.” protesters’ desire to remain part of the But officials refused United Kingdom, condemned the rioting as to say which hospital did the Irish nationalist parties who they he was at, appealing for share power with. privacy. Around 2,000 people gathered outside the The revered states- imposing 19th century Baroque city hall, man, who turned 94 in most waving British flags and many hid- July, has not appeared ing their faces with balaclavas or scarves, in public since South prompting some local businesses in the area Africa’s Football World to close. Cup final in 2010. The crowd cheered when one protester Rumours of his fail- burned an Irish tricolour flag and sang the ing health or even death British national anthem before dispersing. Loyalists march waving British flags in Belfast, Northern Ireland, yesterday. flare up periodically, Banners declared “Proud to be British” and forcing the government “No Surrender.” seeking union with Ireland fought British domination. to issue assurances that “This goes on until the flag is back above security forces and mainly Protestant loyal- Its removal has turned the tables, spark- all is well. city hall,” said protester William Arthur. ists determined to remain part of the United ing fears of growing nationalist power. His last hospitalisa- “Ulster is British and we will not stand for Kingdom. “It’s not just that the flag has come down, tion was in February this”. A 1998 peace accord has mostly held, loyalists really sense that everything is when he spent a night Hundreds of riot police stood by, but did although militant nationalists have stepped about concessions,” said Peter Shirlow, pro- in hospital for a minor not intervene. up attacks in recent years and community fessor of conflict transformation at Queen’s exploratory procedure One police officer was injured during relations remain fragile, with riots erupting University. “Rightly or wrongly they sense to investigate persistent trouble in East Belfast as some of the crowd every few months. that this is a one way process.” returned home, police said. Monday’s council decision means the The violence, he said, was a sign that Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr British flag will be flown over city hall while loyalist paramilitaries have not in the of the Senior Police Service of Northern on 17 designated days including public past reacted violently to killings by dissident Ireland said the disorder orchestrated by holidays each year, as is the case at the Irish nationalists, they may in future. loyalist paramilitary groups was putting provincial assembly at Stormont in the “It’s a sign that it’s getting harder to lives at risk. British-controlled province. maintain the peace process within loyal- “I am urging everyone to be calm, take a Until then, it had flown above the pro- ism,” he said. “Whether that breaks down step back,” he said. vincial capital’s city hall every day since is a different matter, but I think it’s harder At least 3,600 people were killed over it opened a century ago, a symbol for to hold the line.” three decades as Catholic nationalists many Catholic nationalists of Protestant AGENCIES

Berlusconi announces Prank call appalling: London hospital fresh run for LONDON/PERTH: The firms suspended their advertising. call had been pre-recorded and London hospital that treated The hoax, in which the radio the decision to transmit approved premiership Prince William’s pregnant hosts — posing as Britain’s Queen by your station’s management, wife Kate condemned yester- Elizabeth and Prince Charles was truly appalling.” ROME: Silvio Berlusconi day an Australian radio station despite Australian accents — The immediate consequence yesterday ended weeks of that made a prank call seeking successfully inquired after Kate’s had been the humiliation of two speculation by announc- information about the duchess, medical condition, has made “dedicated and caring” nurses, ing he would run again after the apparent suicide of a worldwide headlines. The hospi- he said. “The longer term conse- for the job of prime min- nurse who answered the phone. tal’s chairman Lord Glenarthur quence has been reported around ister, which he was forced There has been renewed soul- urged the station’s owners to the world and is, frankly, tragic out of last year. searching over media ethics after ensure that such an incident beyond words,” Glenarthur added. “I am running to win,” Jacintha Saldanha, 46, the nurse could never happen again. Australians from Prime Minister the leader of the right-wing who was duped by the station’s “It was extremely foolish of Julia Gillard to people in the street populist People of Freedom call to the King Edward VII hos- your presenters even to consider expressed their sorrow and cringed (PDL) party told journal- pital, was found dead in staff trying to lie their way through to at how the hoax had crossed the line ists in Milanello, near the accommodation nearby on Friday. one of our patients, let alone actu- of acceptability. Two large companies northern city of Milan. The owners of Sydney’s ally make the call,” he said in a suspended their advertising from the “When I did sport, when 2DayFM said it had done noth- letter to Southern Cross Austereo popular Sydney-based station and a I worked and studied, I ing wrong and no one could have Chairman Max Moore-Wilton. media watchdog said it would speak never entered into a com- foreseen the tragic outcome of the “Then to discover that, not only with 2DayFM’s owners. petition to be well-placed stunt, but two leading Australian had this happened, but that the REUTERS but always to win,” he said. “I hope to be in a posi- tion to be able to explain to Italians that there is a need for a force that enjoys a majority to change the rules of the constitution,” he added. He had called a meeting of the PDL for today and had opened talks with his former coalition allies the Northern League to try to agree on a joint campaign, he said. A general election is expected to be held in March or April of next year but the precise date has not been set, nor is there any agreement on a reform of an election law widely seen as unsatisfactory. Berlusconi’s announce- ment confirmed comments by leading members of his party over the past few days and strong hints that he had himself made. In October, he had said that he would not run again for the premiership. On Wednesday evening however, the 76-year-old media tycoon said he had been assailed by requests to return to the field as soon as possible.” AFP SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 12 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com ASIA / PHILIPPINES Philippines braces for return of killer typhoon After destroying communities in the south, Bopha unexpectedly turned and will hit north

NEW BATAAN: A powerful Wall, spokeswoman for the UN bathing at a nearby spring, which typhoon that has killed hun- Office for the Coordination of is also their only source of water. dreds of people and wreaked Humanitarian Affairs. Dodres said church workers devastation in the Philippines “This is a very poor area where with two big pots of porridge was set to smash into the coun- everyone is dependent on agricul- arrived yesterday, the first and try again today, forecasters ture. If people can’t earn money only relief aid yet to the hamlet, warned. from crops they won’t be able to which is near the devastated town Typhoon Bopha had looked to put food on the table for their of New Bataan. The food was gob- be heading away after destroying families,” she told a reporter by bled up within minutes. whole communities in the south, telephone. Officials said Mindanao’s east but the official weather agency “They’ll need a lot of help in the coast and the banana plantations said it had unexpectedly turned coming months. This is going to and illegal gold mines around New and would hit again in the early take a long time.” Bataan accounted for all but 42 of hours, this time in the north. Bopha smashed into Mindanao the 548 known deaths from the The agency urged people yes- from the Pacific Ocean with gusts strongest typhoon to hit the coun- terday to prepare for fierce winds of up to 210 kilometres an hour on try this year. of up to 160 kilometres (about 100 Tuesday. At least 548 people have Twenty-six corpses were put miles) an hour and heavy rains been killed and about 500 others into donated white wooden coffins when the storm slams into the missing. and laid on a muddy open space northern tip of the main island Some 212,000 other people have where the New Bataan public of Luzon. also been left homeless, according market used to stand. A few rela- The surprise development piles to the civil defence office. tives, and flies attended to them. more pressure on a country that No substantial aid had reached Jing Maniqued, an unmar- has called for international aid for the isolated hamlet of Marapat ried 37-year-old who previously the south, where floods and land- yesterday, where about 4,000 sur- worked as a maid abroad, did slides sparked by Bopha have flat- vivors had only coconuts to eat, not know where to bury her two tened whole villages and left tens said nursing mother Virginia sisters since the cemetery had of thousands of people homeless. Dodres, 38. itself been covered by debris. Her A United Nations aid assess- All the houses had been carried parents and a mother are still ment team flew to the southern off by floods, and survivors were missing. island of Mindanao, which bore sleeping 80 to a room on the bare “There’s nothing left for us the brunt of the destruction, concrete floor of the local school. here. We will probably leave,” she A member of a church group distributes food to displaced victims of Typhoon Bopha at an evacuation centre in yesterday and was met with “100 They share its two toilets and told a reporter. the town of Maparat in Compostela Valley province yesterday. percent destruction”, said Imogen are doing their washing and AFP

Top Lanka judge found guilty on three charges Myanmar apologises for

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s chief Nimal Siripala de Silva, minis- them from the ruling party, to The chief justice withdrew justice has been found guilty on ter of irrigation and a member investigate 14 charges against from the impeachment process police attacks on monks three impeachment charges by of the impeachment panel, told Bandaranayake ranging from not on Thursday after appearing at a parliamentary panel, a gov- reporters. disclosing her wealth to profes- three sittings, saying she had lost YANGON: Myanmar’s govern- the move failed to calm the public ernment official said yesterday, He said the charges include sional misconduct. faith in the panel. ment has apologised to senior mood. in a case that has sparked oppo- financial irregularities, conflict There was no immediate public Bandaranayake recently came Buddhist clerics over injuries Around 150 people and 40 sition protests and raised inter- of interest, and failure to declare comment from Bandaranayake. under criticism from government sustained by monks in a police monks marched through Yangon national concerns. her assets. The four opposition members supporters for ruling against a crackdown on a rally at a yesterday to protest the Monywa Parliament is expected to Tension has risen between on the impeachment committee bid by the central government Chinese-backed copper mine, violence, the latest in a string vote on the finding when it sits the judiciary and government withdrew from it on Friday citing to take control of an 80bn rupees state media said yesterday. of street demonstrations in the in January. President Mahinda since Rajapaksa’s ruling party injustice and the entire opposi- ($614.20m)development budget, Religious Affairs Minister country’s commercial hub and in Rajapaksa needs 113 votes in filed a motion against Shirani tion party left the parliamentary saying it had to be approved by Myint Maung said the incident the second largest city Mandalay the 225-member legislature to Bandaranayake, Sri Lanka’s chamber en masse. nine provincial councils. at the mine in Monywa, north- in recent days. remove the chief justice from first female head of the Supreme The United States, the United The ruling angered the govern- ern Myanmar, in which at least “The monks are denouncing her post. Rajapaksa’s party has Court, in parliament last month. Nations and the Commonwealth ment and its supporters, some of 99 monks and 11 others suffered the brutal crackdown,” Ye Min a more than two-thirds majority. Parliament Speaker Chamal have raised concerns about the whom accused the judiciary of wounds including severe burns, Oo, an activist at the rally said. “We have found her guilty Rajapaksa, the president’s elder process and have called on the overstepping its authority before was a “great grief” to the gov- “Many monks welcome the of three charges out of the brother, appointed an 11-mem- government to ensure the inde- moving the impeachment motion. ernment, amid efforts to dampen officials’ apologies. But they also first five we have investigated,” ber select committee, seven of pendence of the judiciary. REUTERS public anger over the injuries. want them to say sorry in person At a ceremony with some of the to the injured monks,” he said. country’s top clerics, he “begged Opposition leader Aung San Cambodia market fire the pardon of wounded monks and Suu Kyi has been appointed by novices”, blaming the “incompe- the government to lead a probe Japan minister’s tency” of the authorities, accord- into the incident, as well as claims ing to a report in state newspaper of evictions and pollution at the New Light of Myanmar. mine. N Korea rocket But he stopped short of apolo- Earlier this week she said it gising for the crackdown itself, was not yet clear what had caused gaffe spurs outcry saying the demonstration had the demonstrators’ injuries, but TOKYO: A Japanese govern- a “political” element and that suggested tear gas could be to ment minister has come under the government was treat- blame. fire from the opposition for say- ing the wounded with a “clear The dispute at the Monywa ing North Korea should “waste conscience”. mine centres on allegations of no time” in holding its planned The pre-dawn raid on protest mass evictions and environmental rocket launch so he can cam- camps at the mine last month was damage caused by the project -- paign in earnest for the upcom- the toughest clampdown on dem- a joint venture between Chinese ing election. onstrators since a reformist gov- firm Wanbao and military-owned Pyongyang announced last ernment came to power last year. Myanmar Economic Holdings. week that it would launch a Photographs of the protesters’ Activists are calling for work rocket -- ostensibly aimed at plac- injuries have stirred outcry across at the project to be suspended to ing a satellite in orbit -- between Myanmar, reminding the public of allow impact studies to be carried December 10 and 22, prompting brutal junta-era security tactics out, but China insists that the neighbouring countries to guard including the notorious crack- contentious points have already against a suspected long-range down on mass monk-led rallies been resolved. missile flight. in 2007 known as the “Saffron Several people are being held On a visit to his constituency Revolution”. without bail at Yangon’s infamous in Osaka on Friday, Chief Cabinet About 100 police apologised to a Insein prison over their involve- Secretary Osamu Fujimura said A man tries to put out a fire at a night market in Siem Reap province yesterday. The fire ripped through the group of monks in Monywa soon ment in other protests against the government duties were limiting market in the early hours yesterday, killing eight people and injuring two in the tourist town of Siem Reap, after the recent crackdown, but mine. AFP his time to campaign as a can- 314 km from the capital Phnom Penh. didate for the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), ahead of the general election on December 16. Asked by reporters when he would come home again to put his Police clash with thousands Indonesia struggles to revamp Bali prison campaign in full swing, he replied: “Basically, it depends on when the KEROBOKAN: The sound of deployed, firing water canon and It has been home to Australian North Korean missile goes up. It of rioters in south China city male inmates singing a hymn of rubber bullets to contain the drug trafficker Schapelle Corby will be great if they waste no time repentance as others play ten- grossly overcrowded facility after since 2004 and the Bali Nine -- and send it up on Monday.” BEIJING: Police in a south According to the Hong Kong- nis in a lush garden would have the prison guards fled unable to a group of Australians found at Opposition parties have taken China city bordering Vietnam based Information Centre for you believe Indonesia’s most control the mayhem. the island’s airport with heroin advantage of his apparent gaffe clashed with thousands of riot- Human Rights and Democracy, infamous prison has been radi- Order has been restored, but strapped to their bodies. to step up their attack on the ers who were protesting exces- up to 10,000 people joined in the cally transformed. last month two mysterious deaths While the women sleep on centre-left party, widely criticised sive brutality meted out to a rioting and over 20 police and But those who spend time in were reported in the prison and mattresses brought in by an for being incompetent during its suspected smuggler, the govern- customs vehicles were destroyed. Kerobokan prison on the holiday volunteers who work with the NGO in neat but cramped rooms three years in power. ment and a rights group said. Up to 100 people were “killed island of Bali say the jail is still inmates say drug use and bribery that resemble university dorms, They demanded Fujimura’s The incident occurred Friday in or injured” during clashes, it said. a cesspool of bribery, drugs and are still rampant. the men are packed tighter into resignation, saying his duty was Dongxing city in Guangxi Zhuang Increasing numbers of anti-riot clandestine sex, despite a man- “Inmates tell us of drug deals larger cells, many sleeping up to to help stop North Korea from Autonomous Region, with rioters police and security forces arrived agement overhaul aimed at clean- being done at church and on the 70 on a concrete floor with little launching a rocket. destroying numerous police and in Dongxing throughout Friday. ing up its image. tennis court, and guards are still room to stretch. “We cannot defend Japan with border patrol vehicles and clash- The rioting erupted after “You can still get anything you taking money to allow sex in toi- The new prison chief, I Gusti such a chief cabinet secretary. ing with security forces, local locals on a busy Dongxing street want if you have the money,” an let cubicles,” Indonesian Prisoners Ngurah Wiratna, is determined to We aim to regain power,” former police said in microblog postings. saw a motorcyclist being treated Australian prisoner said outside Association chair Ida Ayu Made strip Kerobokan of its reputation, prime minister Shinzo Abe, head “Five policemen were lightly brusquely by anti-smuggling the prison church. “Nothing’s Gayatri said. which hit rock bottom in 2009 of the main opposition Liberal injured and nine anti-smuggling police after crashing their vehicle really changed.” “We know that people are still with the publication of “Hotel Democratic Party, said yesterday vehicles were damaged... no one into him, authorities said. New management was installed throwing drugs over the prison Kerobokan” by Australian author in a campaign speech in Japan. (else) at the scene was injured or “Some people in the crowd in February after the prison war- walls and some are even coming Kathryn Bonella. Fujimura is in the capi- killed,” the Fangchenggang pre- thought the motorcyclist was den and Bali police commander through the front gate with staff.” She described the prison as tal to perform his role as pre- fecture public security bureau, dead and they refused to let the were sacked following days of jail Like many prisons in Indonesia, a “hell-hole” where cash-rich mier’s right-hand man and chief which oversees Dongxing, said. police vehicles leave... they began riots, triggered by a gang-war Kerobokan struggles with space inmates enjoy a life of relative spokesman while Prime Minister “During the incident the police overturning and torching police stabbing, further tarnishing the -- it is three times over capacity, luxury beside their poor peers Yoshihiko Noda is away. did not adopt overly violent cars,” officials said. prison’s already gritty reputation. with 1,015 inmates, including 68 living in squalor. AFP behaviour.” AFP Around 1,000 police were foreigners and nine children. AFP SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 13 Attack on spy chief Peanut factory planned in Pakistan Karzai did not openly blame Islamabad for attack

KABUL: Afghan President the government in Afghanistan, Khalid since the attack, signal- Hamid Karzai said yesterday a “cannot carry out such attacks”. ling his importance in the fight suicide attack that wounded the “It was an absolutely profes- against the Taliban as Nato forces country’s spy chief was planned sional and engineered attack -- prepare to withdraw in 2014. in neighbouring Pakistan, and bigger hands were involved,” he On Friday, the intelligence added he would raise the issue said. agency said investigators found with Islamabad. Kabul last year blamed that “the organisers of this sui- The president did not openly Pakistan for the assassination of cide attack... skillfully placed the blame Pakistan over the attack the head of Afghanistan’s High explosives in the underpants and on Asadullah Khalid in Kabul on Peace Council, Burhanuddin around the genitals of the suicide Thursday but said the Taliban Rabbani, also killed by a bomber attacker”. would not have been able to carry posing as a Taliban peace envoy, It is believed to be the first out the bombing and that “bigger claims which Pakistan rejected. time in Afghanistan that a suicide hands were involved”. Relations between the neigh- bomber has carried the explosives The Taliban had claimed bours are often tense and Kabul in his underpants. responsibility for the attack on the has accused Pakistan of sup- The fact that an assassin was head of the National Directorate porting the Taliban, accusations able to get so close to one of of Security (NDS), which was Islamabad has always rejected, Afghanistan’s most prominent carried out by an attacker pos- insisting it is committed to fight- officials had raised questions ing as a Taliban peace envoy with ing the insurgents. about whether the visitor was an a bomb hidden in his underwear. In a statement claiming respon- insider known to Khalid. “We know that this man who sibility for Thursday’s bombing, But the revelation that the came in the name of a guest to several hours after it took place explosives were hidden in his meet with Asadullah Khalid came at a spy agency guesthouse, the underwear could also suggest from Pakistan. We know that for Taliban named the attacker as that he might not have been a fact. That is clear,” Karzai told “hero mujahid Hafiz Mohammad”. thoroughly searched on that reporters. Khalid is now being treated part of his body -- an omission “This attack was plotted... from at a US-run military hospital at in many security searches in the (southwestern) city of Quetta Bagram airbase outside Kabul Afghanistan. in Pakistan. I will raise this issue where he is in a stable condition, Khalid, known for being a fierce with Pakistan.” security sources have said. On anti-Taliban figure and close to He added that the Taliban, Friday, the NDS said that he was Karzai, had only been in the job Islamic hardliners who have been “recovering” and in a “satisfac- for a couple of months before waging an insurgency against tory” condition. Thursday’s attack. US-led foreign forces supporting Karzai has paid a visit to AFP Afghan labourers work at a peanut factory in Jalalabad yesterday.

Karzai hints at conditional Army chief Kayani 28th on Forbes list of most powerful men ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s weapons and one of the world’s The new ISI chief, Lt-Gen running. The second most pow- immunity for US troops Chief of Army Staff General largest standing armies”, said Zaheer-ul-Islam is ranked 52nd erful person in the world also Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is “the America’s Forbes magazine. on the list. happens to be the most powerful KABUL: Afghanistan may most powerful man in an unsta- It ranks Kayani 28th on its list US President Barack Obama woman: Angela Merkel, the chan- consider giving conditional ble country; Pakistan’s de facto of the world’s 71 most powerful is ranked the world’s most pow- cellor of Germany. immunity from local prosecu- leader (who) controls nuclear people in 2012. erful person, for the second year INTERNEWS tion for US troops remain- ing in the country after Nato forces withdraw in 2014, President Hamid Karzai said yesterday. US air strike kills Negotiations on a US-Afghan security pact that involves talks Al Qaeda leader on the status of US bases in post-2014 Afghanistan were DUBAI: A US air strike in launched in November but Pakistan has killed an Al negotiators said the immunity Qaeda leader, Khaled bin Abdel issue was not discussed in the Rahman Al Hussainan, while he first round. He also said the control of was having dinner after a day of However Karzai said his Afghanistan’s air space, which fasting, the group announced government was ready to give is controlled by Nato, should be late on Friday. immunity to US troops if they handed over to Afghans. The militant, also known as respected the sovereignty, laws Securing immunity for US Abu Zaid Al Kuwaiti, was killed and lives of Afghan people, and troops from local prosecution when he was having a late din- helped equip the Afghan secu- in Afghanistan has been a key ner after fasting during the day, rity forces. issue for the United States and the group said in a brief state- “Once those conditions are its allies. Washington recalled ment posted on several jihad- fulfilled by the US with us, all its troops from Iraq after ist websites. “We announce the Afghanistan is willing to con- Baghdad refused to grant US martyrdom of Sheikh Khaled sider immunity for them.” soldiers immunity. Al Hussainan who died as he “I, as the president of President Barack Obama is was having his sohur meal and Afghanistan, am willing to go weighing plans to keep roughly we pray to God to accept him in to the Afghan people and put 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan heaven,” the statement said. that case forward and try to after the Nato-led force hands US television network NBC argue for it,” he told reporters over security to the Afghan gov- News quoted terrorism experts in Kabul. ernment, a senior US official saying that the militant, a “But before I do that, I said this week. 46-year-old Kuwaiti, was a second must make sure that the US The troop levels under con- generation leader of Al Qaeda. respects Afghan sovereignty... sideration remain tentative They said he was among those that it doesn’t keep prison- but the official, who spoke on who could have replaced Ayman ers in Afghanistan in violation condition of anonymity, said Al Zawahiri as head of the of agreement with us, that it options range from 6,000 to extremist network. doesn’t violate Afghans’ homes,” 15,000 American boots on the AFP he said. ground. AFP US search for ‘hostile’ children slammed WASHINGTON: The US this year in which the Afghan has alarmed human rights law- military is facing fresh ques- national police in Kandahar prov- yers and campaigners. tions over its targeting policy in ince found children helping insur- Amos Guiora, a law professor Afghanistan after a senior army gents by carrying soda bottles full at the University of Utah special- officer suggested that troops of potassium chlorate. ising in counterterrorism, said were on the lookout for “children The piece also quoted an Carrington’s remarks reflected with potentially hostile intent”. unnamed marine corps official the shifting definitions of legiti- In comments that legal experts who questioned the “innocence” mate military targets within the and campaigners described as of Afghan children, particularly Obama administration. Guiora, “deeply troubling”, Lieutenant three who were killed in a US who spent years in the Israel Colonel Marion Carrington told rocket strike in October. Last Defence Forces, including time the Marine Corp Times that month the New York Times as a legal adviser in the Gaza children, as well as “military-age quoted local officials who said Strip, said: “I have great respect males”, had been identified as a Borjan, 12, Sardar Wali, 10, and for people who put themselves in potential threat because some Khan Bibi, eight, from Helmand’s harm’s way. Carrington is prob- were being used by the Taliban to Nawa district, had been killed ably a great guy but (what) he is assist in attacks against Afghan gathering dung for fuel. articulating is a deeply troubling and coalition forces. However, the US official policy adopted by the Obama Carrington, whose unit, 1st claimed that, before they called administration. Battalion, 508th Parachute for the strike on suspected insur- “The decision about who you Infantry Regiment, was assisting gents planting improvised explo- consider a legitimate target is less the Afghan police, said: “In addi- sive devices, marines had seen the defined by your conduct than the tion to looking for military-age children digging a hole in a dirt conduct of the people or category males, it’s looking for children road and that “the Taliban may of people which you are assigned with potentially hostile intent.” have recruited the children to to belong to ... that is beyond In the article, headlined “Some carry out the mission”. troubling. It is also illegal and Afghan kids aren’t bystanders”, But the apparent widening of immoral.” Carrington referred to a case the US military’s targeting policy THE GUARDIAN NEWS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 14 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com INDIA

Modi misleading BJP sacks Karnataka minister Gujarat’s urban poor on homes: MP suspended; party in bid to deter legislators from flocking to Yeddyurappa Ajay Maken NEW DELHI: The ruling state BJP chief K S Eshwarappa government. The party has Though Yeddyuappa has been The Congress has 71, the JD-S AHMEDABAD: Union BJP in Karnataka yesterday after a meeting with party chief refrained from taking any action saying that he has not invited 26 while there are six other Minister for Housing and Urban sacked Cooperation Minister B Nitin Gadkari late on Friday. against five assembly members, any minister or legislator to Independents. One is a nomi- Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken J Puttaswamy from the cabi- Basavaraj is a former four legislative council members attend the Haveri rally, his nated member while two seats yesterday mounted a scathing net and suspended Lok Sabha Congressman. He joined BJP and one more Lok Sabha mem- supporters have been making are vacant. attack on Gujarat Chief Minister member G S Basavaraj from before the last Lok Sabha election ber, B Y Raghavendra, who have efforts to get many of them to Eshwarappa and former chief Narendra Modi for consistently the party, in a bid to deter its in 2009 and represents Tumkur, actively helping Yeddyurappa in attend a breakfast meeting in minister D V Sadananda Gowda making false promises on homes ministers and legislators from about 70km from Bangalore. organizing the Haveri show. Haveri as a strategy to show have been saying that BJP is for the poor in the state. flocking to its former leader B S Puttaswamy, who is a member Raghavendra is son of the former chief minister’s hold ready to sacrifice its govern- “While in 2002, Modi had Yeddyurappa. of the legislative council, is a Yeddyurappa. in the party. ment to maintain discipline in promised to make 1.5m homes, a The action came a day ahead of former Janata Dal-Secular (JD- Reacting to the action, The BJP has warned that it will the party. promise totally unfulfilled, he has Yeddyurappa formally launching S) activist. Yeddyurappa told reporters in take action against even those The fate of the Shettar min- again promised to build 50 lakh his Karnataka Janata Party at a Both are staunch followers of Haveri that end of the BJP gov- attending breakfast or tea parties istry, which took office in July houses in the run-up to the cur- public meeting in Haveri, about Yeddyurappa and have often been ernment in Karnataka was near. hosted by Yeddyurappa support- this year, depends on whether rent elections,” Maken said here. 350km north of Bangalore. He attacking both state and central He dared his former party to ers in Haveri Sunday. Yeddyurappa’s supporters in “Leave apart constructing houses, quit the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP leadership. dissolve the assembly and face The BJP has a slender majority BJP will ignore the warnings the Gujarat government is not even (BJP) and assembly Nov 30. Apparently BJP hopes the people instead of taking action in the 225-member assembly. The and yesterday’s action against implementing the schemes for which The disciplinary action against action against the two will pre- against his supporters in the party has 118 members including not-so-prominent party mem- the central government is providing the two light-weight BJP mem- vent other Yedyurappa loyal- party. the speaker. It has the support bers and attend the Haveri show funds,” he added. bers was announced here by Chief ists from attending the Haveri The assembly’s term expires of an Independent who has been today. Maken elaborated: “After having Minister Jagadish Shettar and rally and thus save the Shettar May next. rewarded with a cabinet post. IANS sanctioned construction of 139,490 houses for the urban poor under JNNURM (at a cost of Rs2,492.81 crore), only 55,399 houses have Veterans Fair been allotted and occupied.” “Seventy-three per cent of the FDI in favour of farmers, total admissible grant by the cen- tral government had been given to the Gujarat government, despite this performance. This is an insult claims Manmohan to the hopes and aspirations of the poor people of Gujarat,” he said. LUDHIANA: Strongly backing “The future is rarely a lin- He blamed the Gujarat govern- the decision to allow FDI in retail, ear extrapolation of the past. ment under Modi’s leadership for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Circumstances change and new chal- the delay in implementing the yesterday said that it would benefit lenges arise. It is therefore impor- central government’s Rajiv Awas thousands of farmers in India by tant to identify the challenges of the Yojana for Slum Free (‘Jhopri facilitating the introduction of latest emerging future and start working Mukt’) India in eight cities in technology and sophisticated equip- right now to meet those challenges. the state (Ahmedabad, Surat, ment in the agriculture sector. It is evident that several stress points Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Speaking at the golden jubilee con- have emerged in Punjab’s agriculture Bharuch, Bhavnagar and vocation of the Punjab Agricultural which need to be addressed,” he said. Porbandar), where despite the University (PAU) campus here, the “The sustainability of water use in release of funds in March 2010, prime minister said that the deci- agriculture has emerged as a major plans have not been completed. sion was supported by the farmers of problem in Punjab. Exploitation of “On the basis of preparatory work Punjab, the state that is also known ground water far exceeds the rate in the Rajiv Awas Yojana, the central as food bowl of the country. of recharge and that is leading to government had set aside Rs.5,000 “Our decision to allow FDI in a steady decline in the water table. crore for construction of houses for retail, which was approved by par- This is clearly not sustainable. the urban poor. Whereas proactive liament only yesterday (Friday), “Similar problems exist in other governments like Madhya Pradesh was strongly supported by farmer’s parts of the country, but they are have been able to get hold of half organisations in Punjab. It will, I sug- most severe in Punjab, where 80 per- of the total sanctioned amount for gest, introduce new technology and cent of the development blocks are various projects, the Gujarat gov- investment in marketing agricultural now categorised as over-exploited,” ernment has not been able to move produce,” he said. he said. ahead,” Maken said. “India, I sincerely feel, must take The prime minister also praised People have a look at tanks displayed at an exhibition during Veterans Fair organised by the Indian IANS full advantage of modern technology the results of the government’s Army at 3 Electronic Mechanical Engineering (EME) army centre in Bhopal, yesterday. and the operational and management National Food Security Mission. experience of big supply chains in the “The National Food Security food retail business to make this hap- Mission that our government pen. I am confident that it will benefit launched in the year 2007 aimed at our farmers, and the consumers of increasing production of wheat, rice Doors open for talks with Maoists: Minister our country.” and pulses by providing better access In his address, Manmohan Singh to high quality seeds and other inputs urged the agricultural universities at subsidized prices as well as creat- LALGARH, West Bengal: The doors Sabha and Rajya Sabha,” the minister said. Nov 2, 2008, landmine blast triggered by and other institutions to start work- ing awareness about improved pro- are open for a dialogue with the Maoists, Admitting that injustice had been perpe- the left-wing extremists on then chief min- ing to meet the existing and future duction practices. said Rural Development Minister Jairam trated on tribals, especially those living in ister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy - challenges in the agriculture sector. IANS Ramesh, stressing the importance of forest areas, Ramesh said the forest rights act as also the entire three districts of West “sensitive development” and “political was passed to give title deeds to these tribals Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia have now process” to solve the problem posed by as the government was aware of the need to changed completely due to the help provided the left-wing extremists. launch special programmes for them. by the central government and the central “We are telling the Maoists that our gov- “We believe that through sensitive devel- paramilitary troopers. ernment is ready for a dialogue. Our doors opment and the political process we can “What was the situation in Lalgarh three are open for talks,” Ramesh said at a rally make them to beat a retreat,” he said. years back? How is the situation now? How convened by the Congress in this Maoist- The minister said violence cannot be was Junglemahal (comprising forested affected area of West Midnapore district. the answer to violence. “Bullets cannot stretches of West Midnapore, Bankura and Lalgarh is about 150km west of Kolkata. be answered with bullets. Bullets can be Purulia) three years back? What is the situ- Ramesh said the central government had answered through discussions”. ation now?” he asked. given the call for talks despite knowing fully “There is need for action by the central The Trinamool Congress government well that the Maoists had no faith in the forces, but at the same time there has to be of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has Indian democracy, and believed in the doc- development, justice and the political process”. claimed credit for an improvement in the trine of violence. Ramesh claimed that Lalgarh - a hot- situation in these areas. “They want to raze our assemblies, Lok bed of Maoist violence for years after the IANS

Record-setting kite Police custody of two Zee journalists extended NEW DELHI: A Delhi court yesterday sent two Zee journal- ists to two days’ police custody, after investigators said they needed to bring them face-to- face with Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra in a Rs1bn extortion bid case. Metropolitan Magistrate Ankit Singhla sent the two journalists to police custody till December 10. Chandra and Zee group’s Managing D irector Puneet Goenka are being questioned in connection with the case. Sudhir Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, were arrested here on November 27 on charges of attempt- ing to extort Rs1bn from Jindal Power and Steel Ltd in exchange for not fil- ing news reports linking the firm to the irregular coal blocks allocation. The Jindal Group filed an extortion complaint against them. Police booked both the journalists under Indian Penal Code Sections 384 (extortion), 120(b) (criminal conspiracy) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences Kite-flying enthusiasts run with a kite in the shape of a traditional Kathakali dancer mask at the interna- punishable with imprisonment for tional kite festival in New Delhi yesterday. The kite is the largest in India, according to the Limca book life or other imprisonment). of records, which keeps track of various records broken across India. IANS

Sunday 9 December 2012 25 Muharram 1434 Volume 17 Number 5543 Price: QR2

Barwa Bank, US fiscal cliff FFC bag fears knock awards confidence

Business | 19 Business FT | 22

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Vodafone Rayyan Bank Industries NakilatQatar Islamic Barwa Gulf HoldingComm. Bank Int. Islamic Qatar Bank of Qatar Bank

23,673 8.12 285,687 26.15 238,192 151.3037,608 15.10 6,236 75.00 56,579 27.80 94,959 21.60 131,120 72.50 13,422 51.90 Real estate top borrower in 2011: QCB Personal lending pushed to No.2 spot

DOHA: The lending patterns sentiments have played a key of banks here have been chang- role in the robust growth that has ing with real estate emerg- been witnessed in the real estate ing as a key borrower, pushing sector.” the banking industry’s all-time The growth in credit dis- favourite personal loans seg- pensed to the real estate sector ment to the number two spot. last year was an incredible 49.3 Consumer loans might still percent over 2010, whereas the be easier to access from banks, consumer loans segment wit- but official figures show that real nessed an increase of only 19.8 estate was the top borrower in percent. 2011, thanks to a mix of factors, Two key sectors — industry and prominent among them being the contracting — suffered as lend- rapid urbanisation process being ing to these segments declined witnessed in the country. in 2011 over the previous year. Consumer loans given away The decline was quite sharp at by banks totalled an impressive almost 12 percent in the case of QR67.97bn ($18.62bn) last year, the contracting sector. Credit to Officials with the Best Mena Oil and Gas Project Award at the Adipec ceremony. but that was not enough to beat this segment totalled QR16. 22bn the borrowing of the fast-paced ($4.44bn) in 2011, while it was real estate sector — a massive QR18.41bn ($5.04bn) the previ- QR76.22bn ($20.88bn). ous year. Pearl GTL named best oil & gas project Interestingly, personal loans Total domestic credit dis- were the top segment in terms of pensed by banks in the country DOHA: Pearl Gas to Liquids effort put by QP and Shell to and gas industry and also set new also measure the technical and borrowing volumes in the previ- stood at a whopping QR376.69bn (GTL) project received yet deliver a unique national asset standards of excellence.” commercial values generated by ous years, with their share in the ($103.2bn) in 2011, showing an another recognition at the for the State of Qatar. Pearl GTL Sheikh Thani Al Thani said: the projects and their respective total being QR56.73bn ($15.54bn) increase of QR82.77bn ($22.67bn). region’s flagship industry is indeed, a realization of the wise “This is an outstanding recognition competitive advantages. and QR53.23bn ($14.58bn) in 2010 The growth was only QR42bn event Abu Dhabi International vision of the Emir, H H Sheikh of our world class asset Pearl GTL, Pearl GTL is the largest energy and 2009, respectively, figures ($11.50bn) the previous year Petroleum Exhibition and Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, to the world’s largest gas to liquids project in Qatar and at $18 – 19bn released by the Qatar Central (2010). Conference (Adipec). Pearl GTL make Qatar the GTL capital of plant. We are enormously proud is Shell’s largest investment in a Bank (QCB) reflect. The relative share of credit won the ‘Best Mena Oil and Gas the world and generate added of the performance of the asset, single project. It captures the full Credit to the real estate sec- facilities in foreign currencies to Project Award’ in recognition of value from the country’s abun- which testifies to QP and Shell’s value chain from offshore develop- tor has witnessed a phenomenal the total credit facilities granted the originality of its concept and dant gas resources.” commitment to operational excel- ment through onshore gas process- growth over the past few years, within the country rose from 19.5 the long-term value it generates Wael Sawan, Chairman of Qatar lence. Pearl GTL has broken many ing to refining of finished products. from a mere QR6.2bn ($1.69bn) percent in 2010 to a high of 45 for Qatar and Shell, a statement Shell and Managing Director of industry records over the years and It consists of two unmanned off- in 2005 to a hefty QR76.2bn by percent by last year-end. said yesterday. Pearl GTL said: “We are truly we are truly privileged to have been shore platforms 60km off the Qatar 2011-end, the banking regulator The QCB said this was due to Sheikh Thani bin Thamer Al delighted to have been recognized entrusted with the responsibility coast, connected by pipeline to the said in its annual report for 2011. the fact that the demand for cred- Thani, Deputy General Manager at this leading industry event. to safely and reliably produce from world’s largest Gas to Liquids plant The increase has been more than its in foreign currencies within of Qatar Shell, received the award Pearl GTL is indeed a one-of-a this asset.” ever built. 12 times over six years. the country was quite high last on behalf of Qatar Shell and Qatar kind asset and we are very proud As the leading oil and gas The ambitious project has design Factors related to urbanization, year due to what it added was Petroleum (QP) at the ceremony that together with QP we have event in the Middle East region, capacity to convert 1.6bn standard development of existing projects, changes in the interest rate dif- held in Abu Dhabi. been able to deliver and operate the ADIPEC Awards recognize cubic feet per day of wellhead gas besides Qatar’s successful bid for ferentials. Or, in other words, Minister of Energy and one of the most innovative inte- projects which set new perform- into 260,000 bbl per day of prod- the coveted 2022 FIFA World credits in foreign currencies were Industry and Managing Director grated gas plants in the industry. ance standards by showing com- ucts, comprising 140,000bbl/d of Cup, the QCB said in what it less expensive than credits in the of QP H E Dr Mohammed bin It is testimony to the robustness of mitment to quality, safety and GTL products and 120,000bbl/d of added was its 35th annual report. local currency. Saleh Al Sada, said: “This is a our partnership which enabled us operational excellence from design condensate, LPG and ethane. “The subsequent positive THE PENINSULA great recognition of the joint to create a lasting legacy for the oil phase to operation. The criteria THE PENINSULA Canada okays CNOOC, Petronas deals US Air makes merger offer; OTTAWA/HONG KONG: Resources Corp by another state- Top executives at CNOOC wel- in Canadian oil sands over the AMR pilots approve deal Canada approved China’s biggest owned energy company, Petronas comed Canada’s greenlight for the long term. ever foreign takeover, the $15.1bn of Malaysia. deal. The bid by CNOOC, China’s third- NEW YORK: US Airways Group Inc has made a formal merger bid by CNOOC Ltd for energy The CNOOC bid had triggered “We believe the transac- largest oil company, had raised huge proposal to American Airlines parent AMR Corp and its creditors company Nexen Inc, after the unusually open dissent among tion provides opportunities for questions for Harper’s Conservative that could value the combined airline at around $8.5bn, two people Chinese giant agreed to various legislators in the ruling right- Nexen employees, partners and government, which sought both to familiar with the matter said. conditions, but drew a line in the of-centre Conservatives, many of for CNOOC,” CNOOC Chief appear open for investment and to Details of the proposal emerged as American Airlines pilots voted to sand against future purchases by whom were particularly nervous Executive Li Fanrong said in a diversify Canadian energy exports ratify a new union contract on Friday, ending a years-long labour dis- state-owned enterprises. about the idea of allowing China statement. toward Asia and away from the pute and stabilising the carrier as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy. In a fierce defence of a tough, to gain control of the oil sands. The approval came after United States. Under an all-stock merger that US Airways proposed in mid-Novem- new foreign investment frame- Canada agreed to this deal, but CNOOC made a new commit- The tougher new approach ber at a meeting with AMR’s unsecured creditors committee, AMR work, Prime Minister Stephen will not do so next time. ment, on transparency. That restricts state-owned enterprises creditors would own 70 percent of the merged company and US Airways Harper said Canada would not “To be blunt, Canadians have added to other concessions on to minority stakes in Canadian shareholders 30 percent, the people said. deliver control of the country’s oil not spent years reducing the own- employment and capital invest- enterprises except in what US Airways and AMR are negotiating toward a potential merger sands — the world’s third-largest ership of sectors of the economy ments, which it had outlined in Harper described as “exceptional agreement that the smaller rival hopes could come as soon as January, proven reserves of crude — to a by our own governments, only to July when it announced its bid for circumstances”. one of the people added, asking not to be named because the matter foreign government. see them bought and controlled Nexen. Ottawa has yet to clarify the is not public. The ruling, anxiously awaited by foreign governments instead,” CNOOC said yeserday it will meaning of “exceptional circum- The combined AMR and US Airways could have a value similar to by investors and politicians alike, Harper told reporters after provide an annual compliance stances”, but its stance was met Delta Air Lines Inc, which has a market capitalization of around $8.5 followed months of heated debate Ottawa gave the deal the green report to the Canadian gov- with some skepticism not least billion, the person said. about how much of Canada’s light. ernment. Other commitments because much of the C$650bn At the same time, AMR is still pursuing a plan to emerge from bank- energy sector could and should “Foreign state control of oil include making Calgary the head- ($657bn) in investment it says ruptcy proceedings as an independent airline, which will be compared be absorbed by companies run by sands development has reached quarters of its North and Central it needs in the natural resources against the merits of a merger with US Airways, the people said. other nations. the point at which further such American operations, retaining sector in the next decade alone The companies have yet to narrow differences on a number of sig- It also gave the go ahead for the foreign state control would not Nexen’s management team and will probably have to come from nificant issues before any deal could be agreed, including how much of less controversial $5.3bn takeover be of net benefit to Canada,” he employees, seeking a secondary abroad, including cash-rich China. the combined carrier each side should own, the people said. of gas company Progress Energy added. listing in Toronto and investing REUTERS REUTERS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 18 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME

An overview and interior (right) of Al Rayyan Village built by Prime Lands Real Estate Development in Qatar. Pictures: QASSIM RAHMATULLAH AL RAYYAN VILLAGE: The Five-Star and Most Sought-After Urban Residential Compound in Qatar

BY RAYNALD C RIVERA constructed providing generous parking space for each villa. It L RAYYAN features heavy duty ventilation Village, a high-end control and carbon monoxide urban village built monitoring systems “Each villa based on high- is allotted three parking spaces. est international architectural, con- Astruction and safety standards, remains the most sought-after residential compounds in the country with its unique features “Prime Lands Real making it every expatriate fam- Estate Development ily’s ideal home away from home. Just this year, Al Rayyan Village is a developer that scooped every award including understands the Highly Commended in Residential correlation between Project Award-Built category cost and value, at the Cityscape Real Estate Awards Middle East and North and it is ready to Africa 2012 and the prestigious incur the costs Joseph A Chami, General Manager Ziad Selfani, Marketing Director Best Development Multiple Units required to deliver Qatar prize with a 5-Star Rating at the International Property outstanding value. Environment and sustainabil- organised at the compound which they could have something close Awards Arabia 2012-2013. Qatar National ity are prime to the design of Al was well received by the residents. to what they’re used to, the deci- The awards are a testament to Bank, our banker, Rayyan Village. Materials used “We only provide high-end sion to take the job becomes eas- the commitment of Prime Lands shares our view of in the construction exhibit eco- products but high end does not ier so we are actually becoming We are more Real Estate Development to qual- friendly features such as durabil- mean luxury; it is quality: quality partners with top companies and ity and provision of the best abode high quality and ity, low emission, low embodied of service, maintenance and fol- the recruitment process.” than a housing their residents deserve. sustainability and energy, among others. low-up,” he said, adding until now Prime Lands’ most valuable solution now, we “These recognitions are very has supported us all “An example is the construc- clients are satisfied and appreci- asset is its professional and expe- have become important to us as they reaf- tion of double walls for the villas ate the products. rienced team that brings together firm the unsurpassed value of the way.” — Joseph with insulation and double glazing “Al Rayyan Village is managed modern managerial practices, an executive Al Rayyan Village. With the A Chami, General which make the villas 30 percent by SNC-LAVALIN Profac Gulf engineering knowledge and avant- recruitment tool”— International Property Awards, Manager more energy efficient compared Management (SLPGM), Canada’s garde techniques from all over we are now five-star officially,” to traditional design.” largest provider and a world the world, allowing the company Ziad Selfani, said said Ziad Selfani, Marketing Additionally, heat reduction leader in facility management to overreach and to deliver its Marketing Director Director, Prime Lands Real This underground parking is a films have been applied to all the services. SLPGM’s large team highly-distinguished standard. Estate Development. first here in Doha.” windows. of technicians, available on the “We are a young company Comprising 383 high-end villa Underground water tanks Large underground water premises on a 24/7 basis, can which has good, strong and dedi- in real estate companies in Doha.” compounds, the village is the flag- ensure year round water supply tanks regulating water tempera- respond efficiently and within cated people. We know what we Prime Lands continues its ship project of Prime Lands Real at comfortable temperatures. The ture and CO monitoring systems minutes to any service call”. are doing and what we want to do. momentum with more projects Estate Development and perfectly air conditioning systems have cold are some other practices reflect- Because of the ideal environ- We know our target tenants and in the pipeline including an embodies the company’s mission and hot air capability. ing Prime Lands’ commitment ment it provides, Al Rayyan what they require.” office building, all under one phi- and vision. Al Rayyan Village boasts of to international sustainability Village has turned into something Prime Lands has also built a losophy of high-end and quality “The company was established an 11,000sqm multi-storey Club standards. that lures top-notch executives to good reputation for its speed in properties. in 2006 with a mission to provide House with swimming pools and Traffic safety was also a huge share their professional expertise the delivery of its projects. “We “We believe that our projects, high-end products in the market tennis courts on the roof top, a consideration in the design of to prominent companies in Qatar. are the landowner, main contrac- particularly, Al Rayyan Village which respond to the demands of modern gym that can compete with roads constructed in such a “We are more than a housing tor, sub-contractor and developer have contributed in taking the tenants,” said Selfani, adding eve- with hotels, squash courts, sauna, way to promote safety especially solution now; we have become so we are doing everything our- high end residential market to rything is state-of-the-art, from panoramic elevators, trendy cof- of children. Recently, a Safety an executive recruitment tool. selves, that way we control the the next level”. the buildings’ design and quality fee shops and lounges, male and Driving Awareness Week was When these executives see that quality and speed which is lacking THE PENINSULA to security. female locker rooms, and a super- Prime Lands Real Estate market with daily fresh produce Development is a modern real available and dry cleaners. The estate development company serene waterfalls by the entrance whose mission consists of devel- are an added attraction to the oping residential and commercial entire appeal of the Club House, projects that meet the most strin- which looks more of a Country gent international standards, and Club than a Club House. which are particularly tailored to Other features are a ballet, the specifications and require- dance and aerobics studio, bil- ments of regional multinationals. liards and table tennis room and “The concept of Al Rayyan a conference room which can Village came up when we saw accommodate up to 70 persons. there was a gap in the market in One of the chief features of terms of high-end products. We the village is its superior resi- started to do research, studied dential security, surpassing the the market and saw what the most stringent American and demanding tenants required.” European standards and includ- The breathtakingly ing an extensive array of the most Mediterranean inspired com- advanced anti-terrorism and pounds teem with opulent green anti-intrusion systems. spaces, private gardens and safe “ The perimeter wall is 3.5 and fully equipped playgrounds for meter high, made of 30 cm thick children all maintained through reinforced concrete, the dou- advanced eco-friendly automatic ble glazed windows are all fitted irrigation systems. the stringent UL 972 compliant To maximise the green areas, burglary-resistant anti intrusion an underground parking had been film”. SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 BUSINESS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 19 Qatar’s LNG reaches 23 nations: QNB report Qatar exported 76m tonnes of LNG last year; 47pc went to Asia while Europe received 42pc

DOHA: With the phenomenal one-third of the tonnage. production from its North Sea 2011, up from 2.8m in 2007, some long-term SPA with Thailand is will increase to 64m tonnes, or 84 boom in Qatar’s LNG supply, In 2011, 47 percent of Qatar’s fields. The UK was the single of which was re-exported through reported to have been signed and percent of total production. These the hydrocarbon rich country is LNG exports went to the Asia largest importer of Qatari LNG recently-expanded storage facili- Qatar recently made the first new contracts are mainly to Asia diversifying its export destina- Pacific region and 42 percent to in 2011. It has long-term sales and ties at Zeebrugge port, designed delivery of LNG to Singapore. Pacific and South America, mean- tions. In 2007, it exported gas to Europe. Asia has been the primary production agreements (SPAs) to support the development of an Jordan has expressed strong ing that Europe’s share of Qatar eight different countries while export destination for some time, with Qatar for a total of 12m LNG spot market. interest in importing LNG, and LNG exports is likely to fall. in 2011 the number reached to and received an even larger share tonnes per year (t/y) and in 2011 According to QNB Group, Qatar is helping it to build a The remaining production is 23 different nations, according in 2007 of 79 percent. This region purchased a further 4m tonnes of Qatar is diversifying its LNG regasification terminal in Aqaba. exported on spot markets. In 2011, to a report from QNB Group. is characterised by a shortage of Qatari LNG on the spot market. export destinations. In 2007, Total LNG capacity is 77m there was a rapid increase in the Through the 1990s and 2000s hydrocarbon resources combined Other countries in Europe have Qatar exported to eight different tonnes. However, slightly less than amount of Qatari LNG exports Qatar invested heavily in LNG with rapidly rising demand for also increased imports from Qatar countries and in 2011 it exported this is usually exported owing to sold on the spot market to around production, with exports begin- gas-fired power generation. The to lower dependence on Russian to 23 different countries. downtime for maintenance and 28 percent of production, up from ning in late 1996. Ten years later, largest Asian destinations in 2011 supplies, and to reduce carbon In 2011, export destinations repairs. Most of Qatar’s produc- 9 percent in 2010. Demand from Qatar was the world’s largest were Japan (12m tonnes), India emissions by using more, rela- included the Middle East (UAE tion goes towards meeting the Japan was particularly strong as exporter and in 2011 it exported (10m) and South Korea (8m). tively clean, natural gas. Notably, and Kuwait) and South America long-term commitments of SPAs. the country shut down its nuclear 76m tonnes of LNG, accounting Europe’s share of Qatar’s this has led to increasing exports (Argentina, Brazil and Chile). In 2012, Qatar had SPA contracts power plants in the aftermath of for 31 percent of the global mar- LNG exports has increased sig- to Italy (6.1m tonnes in 2011), Exports to Argentina are set to for around 55m tonnes, or 73 per- a tsunami and needed more LNG ket. The next largest exporter nificantly, mainly as the UK Spain (4.8m) and France (3.2m). rise after the signing of an SPA cent of its production capacity. By as an alternative power source. was Malaysia with 24m, less than has had to replace declining gas Belgium imported 6.1m tonnes in for 5m t/y starting in 2014. A new 2014, SPA export commitments THE PENINSULA

Barwa Bank, First Finance bag honours at IBF Awards

DOHA: Barwa Bank, Qatar’s the growth and perception of Company (FFC), a member of fastest growing Shariah- Islamic Banking, not just region- Barwa Bank Group, won the compliant bank, has been named ally, but internationally as well.” “Best Finance House” award at winner of the Islamic Business Alphonse spoke about winning the same event. and Finance Awards for “Best “Best Branding”: “Our brand aims Eslah Assem, CEO of FFC Bank”, “Best Branding” and at communicating with customers and Abdullah Al Subaie, Head “Best Domestic Corporate Bank in a new and fresh way, which rep- of Credit Facilities attended the in the Region” at the awards resents the innovative approach event. ceremony held at Jumeirah that we are adopting towards our Assem said, “FFC takes great Emirates Tower hotel, Dubai. customers and to Shari’ah com- pride in this award, a recognition Barwa Bank CEO Steve pliant banking. I am delighted to of our continuous effort to provide Troop, Head of Marketing see that this was appreciated by well designed finance options to our Diane Alphonse, Head of Retail both customers and our industry customers. FFC’s motto is simplic- Hussain Al Abdullah, and Sheikh peers.” ity, flexibility and care, and we will Abdulrahman Al Thani from On the final award of the continue to ensure that we deliver on Corporate Banking attended the evening Troop commented: each of these important elements.” ceremony. “Despite being a relatively new FFC won this award for its Troop said on the occasion: bank, we were able to win “Best innovative and focused products “Receiving “Best Bank” - not Domestic Corporate Bank in the and services, including the recent simply nationally or regionally but Region” due to our strong pres- launch of its SME campaign. FFC on the international stage - is a ence in corporate finance and wants to support this sector’s very significant achievement and Islamic Capital Markets (DCM) growth and development, offering one that all of the team at Barwa and the capabilities and expertise a wide range of bespoke, Shariah- Bank are especially proud of: we of our teams.” compliant finance solutions. feel that we are contributing to Meanwhile, First Finance THE PENINSULA Barwa Bank officials with the award.

First Finance Company officials during the award ceremony. Investors offer €30bn Goldman Sachs fined $1.5m for in Greek debt buyback trading glitch

ATHENS: Greece is set to pur- This is nearly half the ¤63bn of WASHINGTON:Goldman chase back about half of its debt Greek debt held by private inves- Sachs Group Inc was fined owned by private investors, tors eligible for the plan. $1.5m to settle charges it failed broadly succeeding in a bond Since the bonds are to be to supervise its traders and buyback that is key to the coun- bought far below their nominal allowing one futures dealer to try’s international bailout, a value, the country’s net debt bur- hide billions in dollars from Greek government official said den would fall by about ¤20bn. sight and causing a $118m loss. yesterday. A successful buyback will Ex-Goldman trader Matthew Greek and foreign bondhold- ensure that the IMF, which con- Marshall Taylor in 2007 camou- ers offered the targeted ¤30bn tributes about a third of Greece’s flaged an $8.3bn position, manu- ($38.8bn) in the deal, which is bailout loans, will stay on board of ally entering fake trades, the central to efforts by Greece’s euro the rescue. It would also unlock Commodity Futures Trading zone and International Monetary the payment of ¤34.4bn of aid Commission (CFTC) said. Fund lenders to cut its debt to later this month. “Goldman failed to have poli- manageable levels. Athens badly needs that money cies or procedures reasonably “The buyback went well in to refloat its ailing economy by designed to detect and prevent broad terms. The amount offered replenishing the capital of its the manual entry of fabricated by investors was within the range cash-strapped banks and set- futures trades into its front office expected, about ¤30bn,” the official tle arrears with government systems,” the top US derivatives said on condition of anonymity. He suppliers. regulator said. did not provide more details. The EU and the IMF have been “As a result, on seven trading No formal announcement is withholding rescue payments to days in November and December expected before Monday, another Greece for six months because 2007, Taylor circumvented official said. it had fallen short of promises Goldman’s risk management, The buyback accounts for about to shore up its finances, priva- compliance, and supervision sys- half of a broader, ¤40bn EU/IMF tise and make its economy more tems,” the CFTC said. debt relief package for Athens competitive. In a lawsuit in New York in agreed in November. The pack- Athens has received ¤148.6bn November, the CFTC sought a age broadly doubles the average in EU/IMF funds since May 2010. $130,000 civil penalty against Taylor, maturity of its rescue loans to It stands to get almost ¤90bn who at the time was a vice presi- almost 30 years and cuts its inter- more by the end of 2014. dent at the bank’s Capital Structure est rates by one percentage point But the rescue comes at a Franchise Trading desk, and later to a level far below one percent. heavy price. Austerity measures went to work for Morgan Stanley. Under its terms, Athens will taken in exchange for aid have Goldman Sachs took a $118m spend up to ¤10bn of borrowed plunged the country into eco- loss in unwinding the position in money to buy back bonds with nomic depression. e-mini S&P 500 futures contracts. a nominal value of about ¤30bn. REUTERS REUTERS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 20 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com BUSINESS VIEWS

War veteran’s fund losses The predatory practices of explain Glass-Steagall BY JONATHAN WEIL major accountancy firms ne of the great debates to emerge from the financial crisis is whether Congress should resurrect some form BY PREM SIKKA thus reported lower profits. No cash left avoided, 15 percent of the second and 5 per- of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act and bring back the group but the companies now sought cent of the next three year’s VAT avoided. Othe separation of commercial and investment banking. eorge Osborne’s attack on tax relief on royalty payments to reduce KPMG felt that the UK tax authorities It should, but not for the reasons usually cited. organised tax avoidance is their corporation tax bill. The company’s would regard the scheme as “unacceptable Put aside the tired arguments about whether the law’s repeal a huge disappointment. Her board minutes stated that Ernst & Young, tax avoidance” and would challenge the in 1999 caused the crisis. It did help banks deemed too big to fail Majesty’s Revenue and Customs who audited the company’s financial state- arrangements, but still sold it. The case get larger, but the crisis had no single proximate cause. We would (HMRC) is investigating some ments as well, confirmed that the use of the subsequently went to the high court and the have systemically dangerous financial institutions even if the law G41,000 tax avoidance schemes, but there is scheme would also “significantly lessen the European court of justice and the scheme had stayed in place. still no investigation of the industry that transparency of reported results”. was quashed. There’s a better argument for separating securities firms from designs and markets aggressive tax avoid- PricewaterhouseCoopers devised a We are all suffering from the bankers’ fol- commercial banks: to protect consumers. The banking industry ance schemes. scheme to enable a rich entrepreneur to lies. But Deloitte devised a scheme to enable has a long history of preying on unsophisticated depositors by In contrast to the UK, reports by vari- avoid capital gains tax on profits of £10.7m. A bankers to avoid income tax and national selling them garbage investments without regard to suitability. ous US Senate committees have been criti- tax tribunal heard that the scheme involved insurance contributions on £91m of bonuses. This was a big reason Glass-Steagall was originally enacted. cal of the predatory practices of the major a series of circular and self-cancelling trans- More than 300 bankers participated in the Consider the $61bn in settlements between large banks and the accountancy firms (for examples, see here, actions resulting in the creation of assets scheme, which operated through a Cayman Securities and Exchange Commission over sales of auction-rate here and here). KPMG was fined $456m and disposals which somehow managed to Islands-registered investment vehicle. A securities, the market for which collapsed in early 2008. Citigroup, (£284m) for facilitating tax evasion and a generate a loss of £11m and thus cancelled tax tribunal threw out the scheme and the Bank of America and other banks told customers the securities number of its former personnel have been out the profit. The scheme was thrown out presiding judge said that “the scheme as a were safe, highly liquid investments comparable to money-market sent to prison, as have some of the former by a tribunal, and in August 2012 by the whole, and each aspect of it, was created funds. They weren’t. personnel of Ernst & Young. court of appeal. The presiding judge said and coordinated purely for tax avoidance At Wachovia, the SEC said bank employees helped recruit retail Now the public accounts commit- that “there was no asset and no disposal. purposes”. depositors for the investments. Wachovia, which was bought by tee (PAC) chair Margaret Hodge has There was no real loss”. This scheme was The above only provides a tiny glimpse of Wells Fargo & Co in 2008, later agreed to repurchase $7bn of the PricewaterhouseCoopers PwC, Ernst & sold to 200 entrepreneurs and if successful, the predatory practices of major account- securities. Regulators in Washington state made similar findings Young, KPMG and Deloitte in her sights. would have enabled them to avoid capital ancy firms. They create sham transactions, about Wells Fargo as part of a $1.3bn settlement in 2009, saying The PAC should investigate the role of these gains tax on profits of around £1bn. phoney losses and phantom assets to enable the bank and its investment divisions “engaged in cross-selling firms in organised tax avoidance. An earlier KPMG devised a scheme for an amuse- their clients to dodge taxes. Despite the evi- in connection with ARS sales.” internal HMRC study estimated that these ment arcade company to avoid paying VAT dence, no accountancy firm has ever been Cross-selling junk to mom and pop depositors wasn’t limited to four firms “were behind almost half of all on its operations. The scheme was not disciplined by any professional accountancy auction-rate securities. Last year the Memphis, Tennessee-based known avoidance schemes”. developed in response to any request from body. Despite spending millions of pounds to brokerage Morgan Keegan & Co agreed to a $200m settlement Some of the evidence about their preda- the company; KPMG cold called the com- quash predatory schemes, the UK Treasury with state and federal securities regulators over seven mutual tory practices is on the public record. In pany. Its presentations were subject to a has never sought to recover the legal costs funds that lost $1.5bn in 2007 and 2008. Morgan Keegan brokers November 2012, a tax tribunal threw out an confidentiality undertaking being given. A from the promoters of the schemes. Instead, sold the proprietary bond funds to more than 30,000 account Ernst & Young inspired scheme that ena- 16-page report cited by the tribunal said the big accountancy firms continue to holders. The SEC said the funds’ managers mismarked their bled Iliffe News and Media to create a new that by using Channel Islands entities, the receive taxpayer funded contracts. asset values. asset – newspaper mastheads. This asset company’s profits could improve by £4.2mn. No government will be able to effectively Morgan Keegan, then a subsidiary of Regions Financial Corp, was created for a nominal sum of £1. It was KPMG charged £75,000 plus VAT for an tackle tax avoidance without shackling the “targeted Regions Bank depository customers with maturing cer- leased back to its subsidiaries who paid the evaluation report and counsel’s opinion, and designers and enablers. tificates of deposits or other depository assets,” the Alabama parent company over £51m in royalties and a fee of 25 percent of the first year’s VAT THE GUARDIAN Securities Commission and other state regulators said in their complaint. “More money could be made on broker- dealer fees than on the interest spread on interest-bearing deposits.” One of those customers was Donald Smith, 66, who owns an auto-repair business in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Several years ago, he and his wife had a $96,000 Treasury bond. After it matured, he said a Regions financial adviser sent him to see a Morgan Keegan broker in the same branch. He put the money in the funds the broker recommended, which soon crashed. The funds’ holdings included complex instruments with names like synthetic collateralised debt obligations, first-loss pieces and pooled trust preferred securities. Smith, a Vietnam War veteran and former oilfield worker, said he isn’t a sophisti- cated investor. His last year of school was eighth grade. “I told her this was our nest egg, and we couldn’t afford to lose it,” he said, referring to the Morgan Keegan broker. Why did he trust Morgan Keegan? “It was right there inside the bank. One employee that I had trusted recommended me to another one.” After the Smiths filed claims against Morgan Keegan, a secu- rities-industry arbitration panel in August awarded them about $11,000, after hearings fees, which was a small fraction of their losses. Their experience is reminiscent of a story about another bank customer: Edgar Brown, of Pottsville, Pennsylvania. His testimony at the 1933 Senate Banking Committee hearings on the 1929 stock market crash was recounted in Michael Perino’s acclaimed book, “The Hellhound of Wall Street,” about the committee’s chief counsel, Ferdinand Pecora. In 1927, Brown responded to an advertisement by City Bank (now Citigroup) offering to help with financial advice. Brown, who had $100,000 in cash and government bonds from selling a theatre chain, received a reply from a salesman at National City Co, City Bank’s securities affiliate. The salesman said Brown should sell the bonds, borrow two or three times the money he had, and invest in securities the com- pany recommended. “Brown took the company’s advice, insisting only that he wanted bonds instead of stock,” Perino wrote. When Brown complained the next year, the salesman blamed Brown for insisting upon bonds. So Brown took his advice to buy stocks. “I bought,” Brown testified, “thousands of shares of stock on their suggestion which I did not know whether the companies they represented made cake, candy or automobiles.” WP-BLOOMBERG Cartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate Cheap shale gas gives impetus to bioplastics growth

BY LUDWIG BURGER bioplastics market could grow by petrochemicals such as propylene prices will encourage alterna- for heavier, oil-based feedstocks The chief executive of BASF, as much as 40 percent per year on or butadiene, which have more tive technologies,” Lanxess Chief such as propylene, butadiene or which this year entered an alli- akers of chemicals average through 2020 to become a carbon atoms per molecule than Executive Axel Heitmann said. benzene. Almost all of the com- ance to make superabsorbents for and plastics from $30bn industry, in the “bull-case” ethylene. He added that bio-based mate- mercial development projects cur- diapers from renewables, has said plant matter are scenario. But more than half of what rials were a “strategic project for rently under way - dozens overall the farmland acreage claimed is Memerging as unlikely While concern about oil scar- naphtha crackers churn out is us to have a second source” and - are targeting these substances. negligible relative to the needs of beneficiaries of the abundance of city and consumer demand for ethylene. When the product is also pointed to efforts to develop Analysts say that while con- biofuel production. US shale gas, which is shaking up renewable products have been made more cheaply elsewhere, dedicated butadiene production sumers tend to prefer renewable- Both industries eagerly await the global petrochemical industry. long-term drivers of bioplastics cracking naphtha becomes a less from natural gas. labelled goods, they will pay little advances in the enzymes industry The shale gas boom means research, production of shale gas profitable business. Last year, Lanxess secured a more than the price of petroleum- to turn cellulose and wood from energy companies in the United by hydraulic fracturing (fracking) “A continued shift to ethane stake in US biotech group Gevo, based equivalents. That makes agricultural waste into fermenta- States are boosting their capacity has added to the investment case. cracking will lead to an ongoing which is working to ferment sugar production costs relative to the ble carbohydrates to defuse the to turn cheap gas into ethylene, a shortage of higher carbon chemi- into a type of four-carbon alcohol petrochemicals industry the main debate. basic hydrocarbon used to make CRACKING UP cals such as propylene or buta- that can be further processed into yardstick. Steady progress in bioengi- solvents, plastics and detergents. To make the best of the 50 diene,” Morgan Stanley analysts butadiene. neering over the past decade has More complex hydrocarbons percent plunge in US natural gas wrote in a report earlier this year. In 2009 ethylene cost about FOOD VS FUEL fanned hopes that bioplastics can derived from crude oil, however, prices over the past four years, “This environment is likely 70 percent more per metric ton To drive down costs, bioplastics become cost-competitive with the are becoming more expensive the US petrochemical industry also to be supportive of renew- than butadiene, but it has become developers are riding the coattails petrochemicals sector, which had and their supply more volatile, is building new steam crackers - able chemistry economics,” they about 30 percent cheaper than of the booming biofuels indus- a 50-year head start. adding urgency to a drive by giant facilities that convert gas added. butadiene this year, according to try, relying on enzymes already Novozymes, for instance, has specialty chemical companies to into ethylene. The availability of heavier pet- Kepler Capital Markets. developed by companies such as had an annual productivity gains make everyday materials such as The American Fuel & rochemical precursors has become Over the next four years, the Novozymes and DuPont to break of 5 to 7 percent for over 12 years synthetic rubber, insulation foam Petrochemical Manufacturers a major concern among procure- main impetus for an increase in starch into sugars. of making enzymes from ever and diaper absorbents from plant association cited estimates that ment departments of European bioplastics production will have These sugars, rather than being better strains of bacteria. That matter. ethylene capacity could expand specialty chemicals makers. nothing to do with shale gas. fermented into ethanol fuel, can could be an indication of future Major chemical companies such by 30 percent by 2017 and keep German synthetic-rubber Instead it will be driven by Coca- be used to feed microorganisms advances in biochemicals, said as BASF, Mitsubishi Chemical, on growing. maker Lanxess, the world’s larg- Cola’s aim to switch to a renew- bred to churn out the chemical executive board member Thomas Lanxess and Solvay have teamed That puts steam crackers that est consumer of butadiene, is feel- able, plant-based bottle from building blocks used to produce Videbaek. up with biotech firms to work on feed on naphtha, a distillate of ing the pinch. the ethylene that goes into PET plastics. The flurry of research activ- new strains of bacteria and fungi more expensive crude oil, at a “We expect that butadiene plastics. For now, bioplastics makers are ity by specialty chemical makers that can turn plant material into disadvantage. prices will remain volatile at high But over the long-term, the hoping to dodge a food-versus-fuel shows a willingness to take that chemical building blocks. Naphtha crackers are by far levels. But one should take into predominant push will be to controversy that has troubled the long-term bet. Morgan Stanley said the global the main contributors of heavier account that higher butadiene develop bio-based substitutes biofuels industry. REUTERS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 GECM & TENDERS www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 21

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS MAP (GECM) Every Sunday China to stick with 7.5pc economic UK economy falls into growth target in 2013: Sources double-dip recession German Central Bank cuts BEIJING: China’s leaders are likely to LONDON: New Boss of the Bank of 2013 growth forecast stick with the 2012 economic growth England Cannot Create Miracles. BERLIN: Germany’s Central Bank target of 7.5 percent when they chart a Four years after the Great Crash, sharply cut its 2013 economic course for 2013, allowing higher levels Canada’s factory growth slides to two- of fixed-asset investment to offset weak year low UK economy falls into double-dip growth forecast to 0.4 percent recession. The appointment of Mark on Friday, while poor industrial export demand, sources involved in South Korea’s GDP growth TORONTO: Canadian manufacturing Carney – current Head of Bank of production figures underlined internal discussions about the plans say. slows to 0.1pc in Q3 growth slowed for a fifth straight month conference. Canada – as the first non-British expectations of a weak winter for SEOUL: South Korea’s economic in November and hit a more than two-year governor of the Bank of England in its Europe’s biggest economy. low, according to data released on Monday, growth slowed to 0.1 percent 300-year history has received near- in the third quarter of this year signaling the third quarter’s disappointing universal praise. economic performance may persist for the compared to that in the previous rest of the year. quarter, weighed down by the faltering global economy and the intensifying debt crisis in the euro zone, the revised data India to give Rs 11,294.6 crore released by the Bank of Korea to IMF (BoK) Thursday showed. NEW DELHI: Continuing its effort to mark its arrival on the global stage, Weak Brazil growth adds to India will provide Rs 11,294.6 crore global fears to the International Monetary Fund’s SAO PAULO: Brazil’s economy posted Moody’s downgrades South New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) extremely disappointing growth in African banks facility. Government on Friday sought Australia cuts rates as mining boom the third quarter, piling pressure on JOHANNESBURG: Moody’s credit Parliamentary approval towards this President Dilma Rousseff to make rating agency has lowered its end. fades deeper structural reforms and adding outlook for South African banks to SYDNEY: Australia’s central bank cut to fears that the global slowdown is “negative” from “stable”, citing their interest rates by a quarter of a percentage hurting big emerging markets. overexposure to government debt, point to 3.0%, matching a low hit in the the deteriorating economic outlook aftermath of the global financial crisis, and liquidity challenges. as a fading mining boom weighs on the resource-rich economy. With the move, the Reserve Bank of Australia is attempting to rekindle demand in the economy’s weaker sectors, like retail and manufacturing, as the country’s mining boom rapidly loses steam.

TENDERS

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(diesel 24/12/2012 Qatar Museum 15 ST12MT0342 forklift), diesel engine driven skid QR 10,000 QR 100 2 x 500 KVA synchronized Generator (12:00hrs) 38Authority QMA-2012-107 QR 15,000 QR 500 13/12/2012 steer loader for Al Zubara Port Cabin 26/11/2012 16 ST12MT0344 Catalyst-FCC equilibrium QR 8,500 QR 100 (12:00hrs) Doha and Rayyan sewerage scheme Sale & removal of liebert ups 120 7/01/2013 PWA/ 17 ST12MT358 QR 2,000 Free 39 on-call contract no. 24/2012IA/D- QR 35,000 QR 750 17/12/2012 KVA/various AC & HVAC spare parts (12:00hrs) STC/039/12-15 HC/12-13/C/061/5 Stocking, supply & installation of linux platform-simulation servers for 30/12/2012 18 GT12MT0072 QP district and Dukhan Data Centres QR 545,000 QR 1,000 (12:00hrs) on call-off basis for a period of three (3) years Three years comprehensive Price agreement for various types of 10/12/2012 PWA/ consultancy servcies for 19 ST12MT0340 QR 14,000 QR 100 40 QR 142,000 QR 750 16/12/2012 lab items and chemcials (12:00hrs) STC/041/12-13 construction of family consulting Stocking, supply andinstallation of center in Al Eqla BA/12-13/S/042/I proxy, reverse proxy platform-blue 30/12/2012 20 GT12MT0073 coat gateway solution for QP district QR 85,000 QR 1,000 (12:00hrs) and Dukhan Data Centers on call-off basis for a period of three (3) years SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 24 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com SPORT

NBA: Thunder Schwartzel goes five clear beat Lakers for seventh The South African edges closer to clinching first title in 20 months straight win

CHONBURI, Thailand: 12 under. The 20-year old needs better than a birdie,” the rangy Charl Schwartzel tightened to maintain his form while hop- South African said. OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma his grip on the Thailand Golf ing for a wobble from Schwartzel The third round brought him City guard Russell Westbrook Championship yesterday, taking and Chopra who sits a shot ahead three birdies and an eagle at the gorged himself with 27 points a five-shot lead into the final day of him. 11th which made amends for his in the first half as the Thunder as he edged closer to ending a “There’s a bit of pressure play- first bogey of the tournament on extended their recent dominant wretched 20-months without a ing with Charl Schwartzel, but the ninth. run with a 114-108 win over win. today I coped with it,” a smiling Behind the leading group the the short-handed Los Angeles Schwartzel, who has not tasted Thitiphun told reporters. “I was big names finally made a charge, Charl Lakers yesterday. victory since the US Masters in a little nervous at the first tee, with Ryder Cup star Sergio Schwartzel of The victory was the Thunder’s 2011, kept the chasing pack at but after I hit the ball the nerves Garcia scoring a 68 to leave him South Africa seventh in a row, and their 16th arms-length with a controlled were all gone.” ten under for the tournament and win of the season, while the acknowl- four under 68 for the day giving Australian Scott Hend, who is Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts finally Lakers are struggling at 9-11. edges the him 18 under overall at the Asian 12th on the Asian Tour’s Order finding some form to end the day After trailing by a point after Tour event. of Merit, is poised in fourth on seven under overall. crowd on the the first quarter, the Thunder While it was not as polished as nine-under for any wobbles by the But it appears to be too late for third green (16-4) exploded in the second with his flawless matching 65s in the leading trio. both of them with a yawning gap during the 41 to open up a 14-point lead at opening two rounds, the South Chopra, who has won twice to Schwartzel, something Garcia third round of the half, a gap the Lakers could African enters today confident of on the PGA tour in a chequered appeared resigned to after his Thailand Golf not reel in. a pillar-to-post victory and the career, vowed to push Schwartzel round saying “Charl seems to be Championship “That was a solid win, we had chance to avenge his second place all the way today. flying out there”. at Amata some very good stretches but last year to Lee Westwood. “My goal is to go out there Defending champion Lee Spring then in the second half we had “I feel comfortable, I won’t and make it uncomfortable for Westwood repeated his two under Country Club, some not so good stretches. We change (my approach) I will just Charl. Nobody wants to see him 70 of the first day, leaving him at Chonburi relaxed some on defense in the keep playing and see where it run away with it. I want to do seven under where he was joined province in second half,” Thunder coach Scott leads to... it’s a game of patience my absolute best to make it close by Masters champion Bubba Thailand, Brooks said. and if it’s my time, it’s my time,” down the stretch,” he said. Watson and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa, yesterday. Westbrook had a huge first half, said Schwartzel, who was runner- But it appears to be Schwartzel’s who both endured patchy rounds. scoring 27 of his 33 points to help up at the event last year. title to lose after three days of “It was not very good. I got hot the Thunder open up the big gap. Sweden’s Daniel Chopra is hitting the fairways and precision today and didn’t putt and hit good The battle of the scoring big in second at 13 under overall, putting which has countered his shots,” the affable American said. guns went to Thunder forward after a three under 69, while rare mistakes and kept the pres- “I bogeyed the last which really Kevin Durant with 36 points home favourite Thitiphun sure firmly on his rivals. hurt. If he (Schwartzel) is play- and nine rebounds, while Lakers Chuayprakong gamely notched “I’ve made good saves at the ing the way he is playing then it guard Kobe Bryant finished with five birdies to offset four bogeys right time. They keep the momen- might be impossible (to win).” 35 points. and goes into the final day finish tum going... which is sometimes AFP “It wasn’t us, Westbrook just went crazy on us and they’re a great shooting basketball team Australian Scores Senden leads that had a hot quarter,” Lakers 209 John Senden 66-73-70 Feng claims Ladies Masters title coach Mike D’Antoni told 211 Justin Rose (ENG) 68-73-70 Aussie Open reporters. 212 Matthew Jones 71-72-69, Peter Senior DUBAI: Feng Shanshan came “When he does that, when 75-68-69, Kieran Pratt 71-71-70 into the the 500,000 euros Dubai he has that vertical and when Ladies Masters as the highest he stops on a dime, you just 213 Stuart Appleby 70-73-70, Kyle Stanley Feng Shanshan ranked player in the field and by two shots have to tip your hat a little bit.” (USA) 72-71-70, Cameron Percy (left) of China she proved her credentials with REUTERS 72-69-72 poses with an emphatic five-shot victory her trophy SYDNEY: Australian John 214 Matthew Millar 74-71-69, Adam Scott in the season-ending champi- Senden holed an eagle and two 72-71-71, Josh Geary (NZL) 70-73-71, alongside onship of the Ladies European birdies on his back nine holes NBA Results Andre Stolz 72-71-71, Mathew Goggin Princess Haya Tour. yesterday to lead England’s Denver 92 Indiana 89 71-70-73, Steven Jones 73-68-73, Nick bint Al Hussein At the par-72 Majlis course of Justin Rose by two shots head- Philadelphia 95 Boston 94 Cullen 70-70-74, Brendan Jones 68-71- Emirates Golf Club, the world (right) and Al ing into the final round of 75, Marcus Fraser 69-69-76 Atlanta 104 Washington 95 No.6 produced her worst round of Jalila, wife and OneAsia’s Australian Open at Golden State 109 Brooklyn 102 215 Scott Gardiner 76-71-68, Cameron the tournament - a three-under daughter of The Lakes. Smith 72-74-69, Greg Chalmers 71-75- par 69 - but that was good enough Dubai Ruler Senden came home strongly for Chicago 108 Detroit 104 69, Geoff Ogilvy 74-71-70, Stephen to beat the second placed Dewi H H Sheikh a two-under par 70 for a seven- Minnesota 91 Cleveland 73 Leaney 75-69-71, Matthew Stieger Claire Schreefel of Netherlands. Mohammed under 209 and to hold the advan- 73-71-71, Matthew Griffin 75-69-71, Memphis 96 New Orleans 89 bin Rashid al tage over world number four Rose Kim Felton 68-75-72, Gareth Paddison Maktoum, after going into today’s final 18 holes. Milwaukee 108 Charlotte 93 (NZL) 68-73-74 Dubai Scores the final round Senden, the first-round leader, San Antonio 114 Houston 92 of the 2012 ignited his round with a brilliant Utah 131 Toronto 99 267 Feng Shanshan (CHN) Dubai Ladies eagle three on the par-5 11th. Oklahoma City 114 LA Lakers 108 Thailand Scores 66-65-67-69 “Winning the national Open Masters Golf Sacramento 91 Orlando 82 198 Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 272 Dewi Claire Schreefel is always a dream, but there is a 65-65-68 tournament (NED) 69-71-63-69 in Dubai, long way to go,” Senden said. 203 Daniel Chopra (SWE) 276 Becky Brewerton (WAL) yesterday. “I have to concentrate on what 67-67-69 70-73-68-65, Caroline I do. It would be my best year Baku to host 204 Thitiphun Chuayprakong Masson (GER) 68-68-69-71, but the last two years have been pretty good.” (THA) 66-67-71 277 Lorie Kane (CAN) 68-70- first European Rose could have been leading 206 Sergio Garcia (ESP) 68-71, Cindy Lacrosse Feng’s four-day tally of Masson also lost out on win- at the end of the third round if 69-69-68 (USA) 67-69-69-72, 21-under par 267 was the low- ning the Ladies European Tour it wasn’t for closing with back- Games in 2015 207 Scott Hend (AUS) 70-68-69 Gwladys Nocera (FRA) est in the history of the tour- Order of Merit crown. to-back bogeys in an otherwise 68-68-68-73 208 Masanori Kobayashi (JPN) nament, beating the previous She needed to finish second solid 70. PARIS: The Azerbaijan capi- 68-67-73 278 Line Vedel (DEN) 69-72- mark of 18-under par by Annika after Spain’s Carlota Ciganda The Englishman had been tal Baku will host the inaugu- 209 Hyun-bin Park (KOR) 68-69, Felicity Johnson Sorenstam in 2006 and In Kyung- closed the tournament with a playing immaculately with four ral European Games in 2015 it 68-74-67, Bubba Watson (ENG) 68-67-72-71 Kim in 2009. final-round 68, which gave her a birdies in his first 12 holes before was announced in Rome yester- (USA) 68-70-71, Nicolas 279 Carlota Ciganda (ESP) Schreefel, who shot a tourna- tied 10th place finish. coming to grief at the last two day after a motion to hold the Colsaerts (BEL) 72-67-70, 70-68-73-68, Veronica Zorzi ment record 63 yesterday, closed In the end, Ciganda emulated holes in blustery winds. continental Games was passed Ryo Ishikawa (JPN) 70-66- (ITA) 71-73-67-68, Lexi with a 69 for second place at Laura Davies’ 27-year-old feat “It got progressively tougher as by a general assembly of the 73, Lee Westwood (ENG) Thompson (USA) 69-68- 16-under par 272, while Becky of winning the Order of Merit in the day went on,” Rose said. 49-member European Olympic 70-69-70, Anirban Lahiri 72-70, Nontaya Srisawang Brewerton of Wales moved her rookie year with earnings of “Towards the end of the round Committees (EOC). (IND) 70-69-70, Thaworn (THA) 68-73-68-70, Holly to tied third place along with 251,290 euros. it was tough even to tap in. From The brainchild of EOC presi- Wiratchant (THA) 69-70- Aitchison (ENG) 70-72- Germany’s Caroline Masson (71) Masson was second at 241,831 three feet you would be buffeted dent Pat Hickey, who came up 70, Jbe Kruger (RSA) 66-71, Caroline Hedwall on 12-under-par 276 with the euros, while Feng moved to third around. It took a very good putt with the idea three years ago, 69-70-70 (SWE) 69-71-67-72 day’s lowest round of 65. place at 202,147 euros. AFP to get the ball in the hole.” AFP the EOC said on their official website that the new event was not intended to be a rival to the QMMF President at FIA Prize Giving Gala Olympic Games. The Games - whose exact dates are yet to be fixed - will have around 15 sports according to the EOC and will, according to the EOC, not cost their member nations any money to compete in. “The NOCs have received assurance that the event will not cost them a penny, but bring them financial gains,” the EOC website statement said. Spanish NOC president Alejandro Blanco welcomed the announcement. “As a member of the Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees I have been very closely involved in this project. Europe is the only conti- nent without their own Games. “More and more sports want to take part. We continually receive requests from federations who want to be included. The first Games will feature 15 disciplines. “This decision opens the way for smaller cities to put them- selves forward as hosts of the event in the future, and even, the Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah (left) poses for a picture with driver Khalifa Al Mutaiwei (second from right) and co-driver Andreas Olympic Games themselves. Why Schulz (right) after handing the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rally trophy during the 2012 FIA Prize Giving Gala in Istanbul. RIGHT: Al Attiyah (left), who is also the Vice President of not? the Federation International Motorcycling (FIM) poses for a picture with Marc Basseng, FIA GT1 champion 2012. The prize giving ceremony is held every year to honour those who make “We are sure that Baku will outstanding contribution to promote motor sports around the world. organise excellent Games,” he said. AFP SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 SPORT www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 25 Defending champion Matthew cruises through to second round Former winners Ashour, Shabana advance; English qualifier Lee struggles for win

BY ARMSTRONG VAS with his first round win yester- day. PSA World DOHA: Defending champion “I wish to maintain the momen- and world No.2 Nick Matthew of tum in the next rounds. It’s a Championship England coasted to an emphatic long tournament. The remaining straight games win over Nicolas matches of the championship are Yesterday’s results Mueller of Switzerland to move the most important matches of into the second round of the the entire year,” said Matthew Chris Simpson (ENG) bt [Q] Matthew PSA World Championship here after his resounding win. Karwalski (AUS) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8 (3-1) yesterday. There were no major upsets on At the Khalifa International day two of the seven-day $325,000 [9] Laurens Jan Anjema (NED)bt Jonathan Tennis and Squash Complex, the championship. Kemp (ENG) 11-7, 11-2, 11-4 (3-0) 32-year-old took just 36 minutes All the seeds had it easy with [10] Omar Mosaad (EGY) bt [Q] Robbie to blow away Mueller, registering former champions Ramy Ashour Temple (ENG) 12-14, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6 (3-1) a 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 win. and Amr Shabana forcing their The Englishman, bidding to way into the second round. Max Lee (HKG) bt Henrik Mustonen (FIN) complete a hat-trick of World Gregory Gaultier of France, 8-11, 11-8, 13-11, 11-7 (3-1) Championship titles, will take on who has graced in three finals the winner of the match between but is yet to win the world title, [3] Gregory Gaultier (FRA) bt Mohammed Zac Alexander of Australia and also made his way into the second Abbas (EGY) 11-5, 11-5, 11-1 (3-0) Peter Creed of Wales. round. The Yorkshireman, who lost On a day when most of the Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL) bt [Q] Abdullah the World No.1 ranking to compa- qualifiers had met their fate in Al Mezayen (KUW) 11-3, 11-8, 5-11, 11-6 triot James Willstrop, was happy the first round, England’s Joe Lee (3-1) stood out. PSA World The Englishman became the Adrian Grant (ENG) bt [Q] Rex Hedrick (AUS) lone qualifier to make it to the 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8 (3-1) second round. Championship [5] Ramy Ashour (EGY) bt Marwan El The World No.48 defeated Today’s Schedule Shorbagy (EGY) 11-7, 12-10, 11-8 (3-0) Pakistan’s Aamir Atlas Khan 11-6, Ivan Yeun (left) of Malaysia hits a shot during his first round match against Egypt’s Amr Shabana at the PSA World (1) James Willstrop (ENG) vs Shawn Delierre 24-22, 11-6 in a match which went Championship at Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. RIGHT: Defending champion Nick (CAN) 6.30pm Matthew (left) of England takes a shot during his match against Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland. PICS: SYED OMAR [7] Amr Shabana (EGY) bt [Q] Ivan Yuen on for 66 minutes, with the second (MAS) 11-6, 11-4, 11-9 (3-0) Saurav Ghosal (IND) vs Karim Abdel Gawad game lasting 33 minutes. (EGY) 1.00pm Lee, the world No. 48 will [Q] Joe Lee (ENG) bt Aamir Atlas Khan (PAK) [15] Borja Golan (ESP) vs Alan Clyne (SCO), take on four-time champion champion won 11-7, 12-10, 11-8 in World Tour, said playing a fellow situations it is not easy,” said the 11-6, 24-22, 11-6, (3-0) 2.00pm Shabana in the next round match 36 minutes. Egyptian has its advantages. former World No.1. Mathieu Castagnet (FRA) vs [6] Peter Barker tomorrow. Ashour said the match was not “It’s not easy playing an Ashour will take on another [Q] Shaun Le Roux (RSA) bt Shahier Razik (ENG), 3.00pm The 33-year-old from Cairo easy as the score suggests. Egyptian as we know each other’s unseeded player Adrian Grant of (CAN) 11-6, 11-1 (retired) [8] Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY) vs coasted to an easy 11-6, 11-4, “Marwan played well in the style of play. We come from the England tomorrow. Gregoire Marche (FRA), 5.30pm 11-9 victory over Ivan Yuen of second and third games. He has same school, so we have a similar Grant overcame the chal- [12] Alister Walker (BOT) bt Omar Abdel Aziz (EGY) 11-7, 11-3, 11-0 (3-0) Nafiizwan Adnan (MAS) vs [16] Cameron Malaysia, winning in just 31 min- a lot to offer to the game in the style and so we can have a game lenge of Australian qualifier Rex Pilley (AUS), 12.00pm utes against the qualifier. coming years. He will be one of plan before going to the court. But Hedrick 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8. Egyptian Ashour, aiming to the stars of the game. He will if you are playing a non-Egyptian, Frenchman Gautlier kept [2] Nick Matthew (ENG) bt Nicolas Mueller [11] Daryl Selby (ENG) vs [Q] Omar Abdel add a second world title to his sparkle, dazzle,” said Ashour, after it is still harder. We have to learn pace with the Egyptian brigade (SUI) 11-8, 11-6, 11-4 (3-0) Meguid (EGY), 8.30pm collection, got the better of com- the match. the way they play and study them of Ashour, Shabana and Omar Zac Alexander (AUS) bt [Q] Peter Creed Simon Rosner (GER) vs [4] Karim Darwish patriot Marwan El Shorbagy in The 25-year-old Ashour, one (style of play) well and react Mosaad who made it to the sec- (WAL)11-8, 8-11, 5-11, 13-11, 14-12 (EGY), 7.30pm three straight games. The former of the biggest names in the PSA accordingly on court. In both ond round. THE PENINSULA Impressive PSG crush Evian 4-0

PARIS: Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck his out an early header from Ibrahimovic at Ibrahimovic was only prevented from add- Ligue 1-leading 14th goal of the season as Parc des Princes, but there was nothing the ing to his account by the frame of the goal as Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain secured Evian goalkeeper could do as the home side his prodded effort looped over Laquait but a much-needed 4-0 victory over Evian yes- went in front on 28 minutes. Neat interplay rebounded off the left upright. terday easing some of the pressure on between Christophe Jallet and Javier Pastore A 25-yard strike from Olivier Sorlin repre- under-fire manager Carlo Ancelotti. on the right flank led to the latter crossing for sented a rare opportunity for Evian, while sub- Ibrahimovic put the title-challengers in Ibrahimovic, who poked the ball past Laquait stitute Saber Khelifa struck tamely at home front on 28 minutes before Ezequiel Lavezzi from close range to give PSG the lead. goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu when well-placed. -- who scored the winner in PSG’s midweek The towering Swede then displayed great Motta, who was making his return after a Champions League win over Porto -- was strength three minutes later to chest down month on the sidelines, further increased PSG’s again on target moments later. Jeremy Menez’s lofted pass into the path of advantage, notching his first goal of the cam- Thiago Motta and Kevin Gameiro added Lavezzi, who turned past a defender before paign as he swept home Pastore’s low cross on late strikes as the French capital club secured curling low into the far corner via the inside 84 minutes. just a second league victory in six attempts. of the post. Gameiro then added a fourth two minutes The result moved the Parisians up to second Lavezzi was denied a second goal of the later -- moments after coming on to replace Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after on 29 points, level with arch-rivals Marseille afternoon as Laquait clawed away the Motta -- capping off a fine move after Menez scoring a goal during the French L1 match against Evian at the Parc des and two adrift of table-toppers Lyon, who are Argentine’s header, but it was academic as had unselfishly squared for the France striker Princes Stadium in Paris, yesterday. both in action today. the hosts asserted their dominance in the sec- after he was put through by Swedish striker Bertrand Laquait had to be alert to keep ond period. Ibrahimovic. www AFP Al Sadd, Al Rayyan drop points in goalless draws DOHA: Qatar Stars League (QSL) leaders Al Sadd yesterday QSL Standings and dropped points when they were held to a goalless draw against Results Al Kharaitiyat. For Hussein Amute’a side, yes- DOHA: Football standings terday’s draw was the first time in yesterday after action in week 10 matches that Al Sadd did not 10 of the Qatar Stars League pick up a win against a QSL rival. (QSL) 2012-2013 season. Both teams had numerous P W D L G/f G/a Pts chances to score by the goalkeep- Al Sadd 10 9 1 0 25 8 28 ers stood firm and did not concede a goal at Al Khor Stadium. Lekhwiya 10 7 1 2 17 9 22 Al Sadd’s biggest rivals, Al Al Rayyan 10 6 2 2 22 13 20 Rayyan also dropped points when Eljaish 10 5 1 4 12 12 16 they were held to a goalless draw Qatar SC 10 4 2 4 15 16 14 by Al Arabi. Hosts Al Rayyan played their Umm Salal 10 4 2 4 16 20 14 first-choice squad including striker Al Wakra 10 3 3 4 13 12 12 Rodrigo Tabata and Fabio Cesar Al Garafa 10 3 3 4 10 12 12 but the home club could not break Al Khor SC 10 2 4 4 11 13 10 the visitor’s vigil on the pitch. The referee even allowed seven Al Kharaitiyat 10 1 4 5 6 9 7 minutes of injury time but still the Al Arabi 10 0 5 5 8 18 5 two sides failed to break the dead- Al Sailiya 10 1 2 7 11 24 5 lock. Al Rayyan enjoyed 59 percent Played Yesterday of the possession. In another clash yesterday, Al An Al Sadd player holds off his opposing player during his side’s Qatar Stars League (QSL) match against Al Kharaitiyat in Doha yesterday. RIGHT: An Al Khairaitiyat 0 Al Sadd 0 Al Kharaitiyat player takes a shot during the same match. The match finished 0-0. Khor stunned Al Wakra 1-0 after Al Wakra 0 Al Khor 1 Julio Cesar’s strike in the second Al Rayyan 0 Al Arabi 0 half. Cesar scored the only goal of the form. For Al Khor, it was a wel- matches. Lekhwiya are in second Friday, are in fourth spot with 16 Some of the QSL players will Played on Friday match in the 75th minute at Al come result after going without a place with 22 points while third- points. attend a Qatar national team Al Gharafa 3 Al Sailiyah 0 Wakra Stadium. win in eight QSL matches. placed Al Rayyan have a tally of The 11th round kicks off next training session in preparation Umm Salal 1 Lekhwiya 3 It was the second successive loss Al Sadd still head the points 20 from 10 matches. week before the teams disperse for next month’s Gulf Cup in for Al Wakra now struggling for table with a tally of 28 from 10 Eljaish, who beat Qatar SC on for winter break. Bahrain. THE PENINSULA Qatar SC 0 Eljaish 1 SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 26 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com SPORT

Field hockey: Dutch bid to Torres double lifts Chelsea halt record EPL: Arsenal return to winning ways after 3 matches without victory Australian title MELBOURNE: An in-form Netherlands stand in the way of LONDON: Fernando Torres of Mikel Arteta penalties to climb Australia winning a record fifth English Premier claimed a brace as Chelsea to sixth. straight Champions Trophy ended a run of seven Premier Both penalties carried an air of after convincing semi-final vic- League Results League games without victory controversy. tories in Melbourne yesterday. by prevailing 3-1 at Sunderland Prior to Arteta’s 26th-minute Netherlands and Australians LONDON: English Premier yesterday in their last game opener, Steven Reid was penalised Chelsea’s progressed to today’s final with League results yesterday: before the Club World Cup. for a foul on Santi Cazorla despite Spanish relative ease, with the Dutch Arsenal 2 (Arteta 26-pen, 64-pen) West The Spaniard had not scored failing to make any contact with forward downing Pakistan 5-2 and Brom 0 in the league since October 6 the Spanish midfielder, who col- Fernando Australia proving too good for but he found the net twice in lapsed theatrically. India 3-0. Aston Villa 0 Stoke 0 Torres the mid-week thrashing of FC Arteta’s second arrived in the celebrates If Australia’s Kookaburras can Southampton 1 (Puncheon 61) Reading 0 Nordsjaelland in the Champions 64th minute and although there win the final they will become the after scoring League and was in unforgiving was no doubt about Chris Brunt’s first team to win the Trophy title Sunderland 1 (Johnson 66) Chelsea 3 (Torres a penalty for 11, 45-pen, Mata 49) mood once again at the Stadium foul on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, for five straight years, however of Light. West Brom felt the England his second midfielder Kieran Govers said Swansea 3 (Michu 51, 90, De Guzman 59) He opened his account in winger had committed an offence goal during they would remain focused just Norwich 4 (Whittaker 16, Bassong 40, Holt the 11th minute, guiding Eden of his own in the build-up. the English on today’s match. 44, Snodgrass 77) Hazard’s cross into the top-left It was a third straight defeat Premier “It’s the fifth straight time we Wigan 2 (McCarthy 19, 74) QPR 2 (Nelsen corner with a fine volley to end for fifth-place West Brom, whose League have made the final but we aren’t 26, Cisse 71) a 770-minute goal drought in the lead over Arsenal has been cut to (EPL) match looking to claim five titles, we Today league. two points. against are looking to play a good game Torres had been overlooked for Bottom club Queens Park Sunderland tomorrow,” Govers said. Everton vs Tottenham, Man City vs Man Utd penalty-taking duties in the 6-1 Rangers remain without a win in Australia had plenty of early (1330GMT), at the win against Nordsjaelland, but he 16 games -- a new Premier League Stadium chances via several penalty cor- West Ham vs Liverpool (1600GMT) notched his second goal from the record -- after being held to a 2-2 of Light in ner attempts, with their first goal Tomorrow spot on the stroke of half-time draw at Wigan Athletic. Sunderland, coming off a rebound that was Fulham vs Newcastle (2000GMT) after Sebastian Larsson slid in QPR captain Ryan Nelsen north-east swooped on by five-time world on Ramires. cancelled out James McCarthy’s England, player of the year Jamie Dwyer. Juan Mata made it 3-0 early 19th-minute opener for the hosts yesterday. The Kookaburras continued Scottish Premier in the second half, side-footing before substitute Djibril Cisse to be relentless, with the ball Chelsea home after a Torres shot came gave the visitors the lead from constantly being forced back won 3-1. League Results back off the crossbar, before a fine Shaun Wright-Phillips’ pass in into India’s circle, putting their effort from Adam Johnson gave the 71st minute. defence to work. GLASGOW: Collated Scottish Sunderland a consolation. Harry Redknapp was less Despite India’s best efforts the Premier League results It was a first win in four than 20 minutes away from a pressure eventually broke them, yeserday: Premier League games for first win as QPR manager, only with Dwyer receiving a penalty Hearts 2 (Stevenson 31-pen, Paterson 54) Chelsea’s interim manager Rafael for McCarthy to strike again in stroke for a heavy tackle, making Aberdeen 0 Benitez, whose side closed to the 74th minute, controlling Jean no mistake with the conversion Inverness CT 3 (Draper 13, Foran 76, McKay within four points of second-place Beausejour’s left-wing cross and after drawing 0-0 at home to Holt put Norwich 3-0 up at the for his second goal. 87) Hibernian 0 Manchester City. then coolly prodding the ball Stoke City. break but Swansea came back The trend continued after City host leaders Manchester home. The clash at Liberty Stadium into the game through Michu half-time, with Jacob Whetton Kilmarnock 1 (Sheridan 90) Celtic 3 (Brown United today, when Alex Southampton clambered out of between Swansea City and and Jonathan De Guzman before involved in Australia’s third goal 27, Ledley 65, Samaras 74) Ferguson’s men will be bidding to the relegation zone and up to 15th Norwich City was a pulsat- Robert Snodgrass’ 77th-minute after working the ball into the Motherwell 3 (Higdon 25, Law 46, Lasley 82) move six points clear at the top place after a 61st-minute strike ing affair, the visitors winning free-kick made it 4-2. circle, with Govers finishing off Ross County 2 (Quinn 17, 70) of the table. from Jason Puncheon secured a 4-3 to end the Swans’ six-game Michu found the net again in to put the result beyond doubt. St Mirren 1 (Dummett 69) St Johnstone 1 Arsenal also returned to win- 1-0 win at home to second-bottom unbeaten run and prolong their injury time -- his 12th goal of the India’s Yuvraj Walmiki said (Davidson 15) ning ways after three games Reading. own run of games without defeat season -- but it was too late to Australia were too good on the Playing today without victory, beating West The Saints’ win saw Sunderland to nine matches. prevent Norwich moving up to day. Bromwich Albion 2-0 at the slip into the bottom three, while Goals from Steven Whittaker, 11th spot in the EPL standings. “We were well prepared but Dundee vs Dundee Utd (1245GMT) Emirates Stadium through a pair Aston Villa fell one place to 16th Sebastien Bassong and Grant REUTERS as everyone knows Australia is a very tough team. We played very good in patches but some silly Mourinho hints at move away mistakes caused some problems,” Walmiki said. from Real Madrid and Spain Al Ahly hope tragic “We hope to clinch the bronze tomorrow because the last time LISBON: Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho (pictured) has we won it was in 1982 so we want hinted at a move to another country, saying that sometimes a new to repeat the history of 30 years adventure at a new club is the only way for a so hopefully we play well.” coach to remain motivated. year will end on a high Netherlands gave them- “Football is not an easy world, specially for selves a chance to win their first coaches and it’s hard for one to stay for many TOYOTA, JAPAN: A ‘badly “Seventy-two of the club’s sup- supporters die in the dressing Champions Trophy since 2006 years in the same club,” he said in an interview scarred’ Al Ahly are aiming porters lost their lives and we’ve room,” he added in comments after outclassing Pakistan. with Cape Verde’s national radio. to do Egypt proud at the Club all been badly scarred by that.” provided by FIFA. Striker Billy Bakker said “I am wholly Portuguese and I have a bit of the World Cup, at the end of a year Al Masry fans stormed the “We met all the (victims’) fami- the Dutch were pleased with navigator, of the discoverer in me. I like different that saw more than 70 fans pitch after their team beat the lies. After the disaster a group of their progress throughout the countries, different clubs, different leagues and killed in one of football’s deadli- visitors from Cairo 3-1 -- throw- players visited them on behalf of tournament. different cultures. est stadium riots, their captain ing rocks, bottles and fireworks at the team, and on Mother’s Day “We have a good team and “I am still not sure if in my future there is says. Al Ahly supporters -- and forcing we organised a reception for the before we came to Melbourne another adventure waiting for me because I need The African champions will them to flee in panic, some to the mothers of the victims. we had a goal to play in the final, to be 100 percent motivated and sometimes new challenges can give make an emotional return to the changing rooms where they later “We tried to lift their spirits a minimum, and hopefully to take us this motivation”. international stage today when died. little, but we could sense the ter- the gold back to the Netherlands,” Media speculation surrounding Mourinho’s future at Real Madrid they play Sanfrecce Hiroshima The stadium deaths sparked rible pain they were feeling.” Bakker said. has been rife. In May he signed a two-year contract with the club which for a place in the semi-finals of days of violent protests in Cairo, Al Ahly have not played a India and Pakistan will play ties him until 2016 but, after winning the La Liga title last season, his the showpiece event in Japan, in which another 16 people were league match in 10 months after off for the bronze medal on side has struggled to keep momentum in the championship. 10 months after the Port Said killed. the Egyptian Football Association Sunday. Pakistan have not win a The Madrid-based sports daily Marca has said Mourinho was plan- Stadium tragedy. The violence was one of the suspended the season in the wake Champions Trophy medal since ning to leave the club at the end of the season. Hossam Ghaly and his team- deadliest incidents in football of the tragedy. 2004, while India have only ever Mourinho has been linked to big-spending Paris St Germain and mates will wear black armbands history, with witnesses alleging Several Al Ahly players, trau- won one medal, bronze, back in Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has mentioned him as a in memory of the supporters who that security forces did little to matised by what they witnessed, 1982. possible successor at Old Trafford. lost their lives after coming under prevent the rioting. considered retiring but the team In yesterday’s qualification The Portuguese said his future remained unclear but added that, attack during a pitch invasion by “To go to a football match and pulled together and after taking matches, Belgium dominated unlike his former rival at Barcelona Pep Guardiola, he would not be fans of Al Masry at the final whis- lose your life doesn’t bear think- two months to recover. England 4-0 for their first ever taking time off between jobs. tle of their match on February 1. ing about,” Ghaly said. “We’ll be going out to win every Champions Trophy win, while “I still don’t know about my future but I will surely continue to work “The Port Said disaster has “I went through a real night- game and I hope we can do Africa Germany held off a determined because I love doing so and I prefer to work than be on holiday,” he said. been very difficult for us to come mare. We experienced that event and Egypt proud,” Ghaly said. New Zealand to win 6-4. REUTERS to terms with,” Ghaly, 30, said. in the flesh and we saw several REUTERS REUTERS

A young rider takes part in the Endurance Committee race (third round) held at Sealine yesterday. RIGHT: Officials and participants strike a pose after yesterday’s endurance leg held for juniors and seniors. Hamad Mohammed Al-Khayareen, General Manager of the Qatar Endurance Committee (QEC), was also present. The races were held over three specified distances. PICS: JUHAIM SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2012 SPORT www.thepeninsulaqatar.com 27

Motorsport: Schumacher wrong to return, says Ecclestone

LONDON: Michael Schumacher should have stayed in retirement rather than risked his reputation in a disappointing Formula One comeback with Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak Al Thani, Retired American swimming legend Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Retired American track and field star Sebastian Coe, chief of the 2012 Mercedes, Bernie Ecclestone Executive Director, Doha Goals Mark Spitz Thani, QOC Secretary General Carl Lewis London Olympic Games said yesterday. “I would rather he had stopped as a seven-time world champion than stopping now,” the commer- cial supremo told the official for- mula1.com website. “People new to the sport - Spitz, Pistorious keynote people who have joined the F1 fan fraternity just recently - will remember Michael now, not as he was. They don’t see the hero that he was but the human that can fail,” added the 82-year-old. Schumacher retired for the speakers at Doha Goals second time after finishing sev- enth in last month’s season-end- ing Brazilian Grand Prix. Active and retired athletes to join policymakers at three-day meet In three years with Mercedes, he had only one podium finish and no wins to add to his record tally DOHA: Swimming legend Mark Thawadi, Secretary General, of 91. Spitz will join popular South Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, ‘Blade Runner’ The 43-year-old German had African athlete Oscar Pistorious are the top three Qatari speakers Oscar Pistorius first retired in 2006, when he was and a series of other high pro- at the convention. poses for with Ferrari and had won five file names as keynote speakers Retired track and field star photographers titles in a row with them to add at the three-day Doha Goals Carl Lewis of the US will make ahead of the to the two championships he won Forum starting tomorrow. his second visit to Doha in recent international with Benetton in the 1990s. The December 10 to 12 forum years. Paralympic Day, in Ecclestone, whose own future - being held under the patronage Fifty-one-year-old Lewis, central London, in at the helm of the sport has been of the Emir, HH Sheikh Hamad who won 10 Olympic medals increasingly questioned as legal this August 2012 bin Khalifa Al Thani - will include including 9 gold and 10 World problems mount up and he gets file photo. BELOW: plenary sessions, debates and dis- Championships medals including older, drew a parallel with his own cussions over the next three days. 8 gold, will bring his rich experi- Richard Attias situation although he made clear Spitz, who won seven gold med- ence in debating issues in profes- he had no plans to retire. als at the 1972 Olympic Games, sional sports. “I think the important thing and Pistorious - the man popu- Jean Todt, chief of FIA, the is...to know when you can’t do larly known as ‘Blade Runner’ for world body in car racing, is also what you used to do anymore and using artificial limbs - will deliver set for his second visit to Qatar in then hand it over to somebody key speeches at the forum, Sheikh less than three years. else. I hope that’s what I can do: Faisal bin Mubarak Al Thani, Officials confirmed that when I feel I can’t deliver, I will Executive Director of Doha Goals, Australian swimming legend Ian certainly say goodbye,” he said. said. Thorpe - who was a massive hit at “Probably the bad thing with “We are delighted to launch the London Olympic Games in a me is that I put in lots of effort the inaugural annual Doha Goals commentator’s role - is also listed to build Formula One the way it Forum,” Sheikh Faisal told the as one of the keynote speakers. is now, so this is my baby and I official website of the Forum. In a rare appearance, former want to look after it. Sooner or Officials also said Sebastian Indian Premier League (IPL) later we’re going to have to get a Coe, Chairman of the London commissioner Lalit Modi will babysitter. When that will be, who Olympic Games Organising dock in Doha for the conference, knows? I am in very good shape.” Committee, will tag along with officials said. is a crucial vehicle for social and placed firmly on driving action to improve societies around the Ecclestone said Formula One fellow IOC member Nawal El Rugby great Francois Pienaar, economic development. and making positive changes. We world.” would continue to explore new Moutawakel to debate and discuss South Africa’s World Cup win- During the launch ceremony in want to produce initiatives to The objectives of the Forum frontiers, with Russia’s Sochi sports issues with policymakers at ning captain in 1995, is also on the London, Lewis said: “Sport cre- tackle challenges to society and were dictated by a taskforce of the next new race to be added the three-day conference. list of speakers, it was confirmed. ates opportunities for communi- work on developing and improve more than 50 of the leading poli- to the calendar in 2014 now that Coe managed the ship at the Track and field star Lewis ties: athletes from small countries key areas within sport.” cymakers, innovators, sports sci- a Grand Prix in New Jersey had London Olympics in August leads those backing new initia- and impoverished areas can Attias, the former producer of entists, physicians, federations been postponed for 2013. this year, winning wide-spread tive aimed at driving social and compete on the global stage and the World Economic Forum in heads, academics, athletes, cor- “I suppose the next big thing applause for the two-week multi- economic change through sport. shine a spotlight on their com- Davos, will produce Doha Goals. porate executives and competitors will be Russia. Then we have to discipline events. Officials linked with ‘Doha munities. This in turn creates He said: “Sport has the power to who gathered for a Pre-Forum get this New York thing picking Pistorious - the 25-year-old Goals’ will address the media economic opportunities at home, bring about great social integra- event in January 2012. up again. There’s lots of unfin- double amputee - was part of the today. opens the outside world to seeing tion, as well as bring communities This group, which included top ished business - no time to waste South African athletes squad at ‘Doha Goals’ was launched and understanding new cultures, together in a spirit of trust and executives from FC Barcelona, one thought on retirement,” he the London Games. during the London Olympics. and empowers athletes to use the friendship. Doha Goals is a call IMG, Coca-Cola, as well as feder- said. The Briton hailed the debut Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrehman The initiative, from the Aspire public platform for good.” to action that will bring together ation heads, and past and present of a new race in Austin, Texas, Al Thani, Secretary General, Zone Foundation and Richard Sheikh Faisal, Executive a community of policy makers athletes, debated economic devel- this year as phenomenal and Qatar Olympic Committee Attias & Associates, is busy Director of Doha Goals, said at and government officials, heads opment, the commercialisation “perfectly prepared” and sent a (QOC), Nasser Al Khulaifi, attracting a community of hun- the time: “We want to make a of business, athletes, NGOs and of sports, the welfare of athletes, warning to European circuits that Managing Director, Al Jazeera dreds of key influencers from all tangible difference which why students to build a roadmap for and sport as a vehicle for tourism they needed to sharpen up their Sports Channel and Hassan Al spheres of life who believe sport the focus of this Forum has been how we can harness this power growth. THE PENINSULA act. REUTERS

Tennis: @#$%&! Glowing bails as Big Bash Murray swears off cursing unveils latest gimmicks

LONDON: US Open champion SYDNEY: Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash season Andy Murray is cleaning up has begun in glitzy style, with LED stumps and his act after promising to stop bails flashing on impact and helmet cameras on swearing while on court. batsmen. The Scot has been warned Shane Warne’s Melbourne Stars and cross-city about his language during matches rivals Melbourne Renegades opened the series at in the past, but he believes non- half-full Etihad Stadium late on Friday when the Anglophone players get away with technological innovations were unveiled for the first worse outbursts because umpires time. cannot understand what they are India’s Gautam Gambhir bats against England on the fourth day of the The Australian-designed Zing Wicket System has saying. third Test between the two sides at Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday. a sensor in the bails that can determine within one- “Obviously, me saying s**t or thousandth of a second when the wicket is broken. whatever is bad and wrong, and Once the wicket is broken the bails instantane- it’s something I want to try to ously flash bright red LED lights and then send a stop doing,” Murray told Scottish Sri Lanka’s Canberra tour radio signal to the stumps which also flash. newspaper the Daily Record. “But They are powered by low voltage batteries in each it isn’t as bad as some of the stuff of the bails and also in the stumps. the foreign players come out with. match ends in draw “These light-up stumps are all about enhancing An image of ‘glowing’ bails posted on cricinfo.com I wouldn’t want to name any the spectator experience during BBL matches and website. The ‘glowing’ bails are being used in Australia. names, but some of what they say SYDNEY: Sri Lanka’s only tour match before their three-Test ensuring that the BBL remains highly entertaining is ghastly. It’s just that all of the series against Australia ended in a draw in Canberra yesterday for the fans,” BBL senior manager Anthony Everard umpires speak English.” when they declared on 396 for six at lunch on day three. said. “Hopefully the viewer will see through our eyes Murray, who became Great The tourists still trailed the 439 for six made by the Chairman’s XI “This is exciting to have a world-first product what we are taking on.” Britain’s first male Grand Slam but both sides agreed to bring an end to a high-scoring match on a being used in the T20 BBL.” Warne suffered the humiliation of conceding an winner in 76 years when he won Manuka Oval wicket that offered little to the bowlers. This season’s matches will also feature a helmet Australian T20 record of 0-41 from his two overs as the US Open earlier this year, Tillakaratne Dilshan, who retired unbeaten after reaching his cen- camera on batsmen and wicket-keepers to give fans his Stars were upset by the Renegades. says his no-swearing campaign tury, high-scored for Sri Lanka with Prasanna Jayawardene (71), a close-up look at the action. Warne’s team batted first and made 167 for five, will begin at the Australian Open Dinesh Chandimal (57) and Kumar Sangakkara (55) also grabbing “I might be having a crack at that (helmet cam),” only for the Renegades to take to the 43-year-old next month. The 25-year-old was half centuries. New South Wales’ Scott Henry scored an unbeaten 207 Australian Test batsman Shane Watson said. legspin great in their innings for four sixes as they given an official warning for bad in the Chairman’s XI innings, while Usman Khawaja made 56 before “As long as it doesn’t impair your vision of being reached 168 for two with 10 deliveries to spare. language at the Rome Masters he was withdrawn from the match to play in the domestic Twenty20 able to see the ball, I think it will be great to see Warne retired from Test cricket in 2007. this year. REUTERS competition. REUTERS what we go through. REUTERS Sunday 9 December 2012 25 Muharram 1434 Volume 17 Number 5543 Sport Price: QR2

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www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 44557741 | Advertising: 44557837 / 44557780 England scent victory after Indian batting flops Ashwin closes play 83 not out; hosts lead by 32 runs

KOLKATA: England were tantalisignly close to vic- tory as India’s reputed batting line-up collapsed without a fight till dogged resistance by Ravichandaran Ravichandran Ashwin staved Ashwin and West Indies’ batsman Kieron Pollard (left) plays a shot as Bangladesh’s off the ignominy of innings Pragyan Ojha captain Mushfiqur Rahim looks on during the fifth One-Day-International defeat on day four of the third look at each at The Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka, yesterday. cricket Test here yesterday. other during The last session of the day India’s second would be best remembered for innings against the heroics of Ashwin (83 batting; England in the 151b 13x4) who batted resolutely Bangladesh hold second Test for 176 minutes to save his team match at Eden the embarrassment of losing the Gardens in match inside four days as India Kolkata yes- nerve to seal series reached 239/9 at stumps at the Eden Gardens. terday. India With the last wicket pair lead by 32 runs DHAKA: A spirited Bangladesh by 160 runs -- both in Khulna. Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha (3 bat- with one wicket led by all-rounder Mohammad The West Indies levelled the ting) in the middle, the hosts have remaining. Mamhmudullah edged out the series with a four wicket win taken a 32-run lead over the visi- West Indies in the fifth and in the third and 75 runs in the tors whose first innings ended at a final one-day by four wickets fourth. mammoth 523 earlier in the day. in Dhaka yesterday, taking the Both teams will now play a The Indian duo have so far series 3-2. Twenty20 international in Dhaka added 42 of 63 balls, and save a Mahmudullah took 2-38 to help tomorrow. miracle, England are poised to successful English bowler fol- quick wickets in just under five However, Gambhir (40; 104b, the home team bowl the tour- It was Mahmudullah and cap- coast to their second straight win lowed by James Anderson (2/38) overs, to restrict the tourists to a 4x4 1x6) could not stay for long ists for 217 in 48 overs and then tain Mushfiqur Rahim (44) who after Mumbai and take an unas- and Graeme Swann(2-70). Monty 207 run first innings lead. as he edged a Steve Finn deliv- scored a polished 48 to help the set the home team on the victory sailable 2-1 lead in the four match Panesar got one wicket. Indian openers Virender ery behind the wicket in the next home team chase down the target path through their 91-run stand series. India had triumphed in the India, though had started the Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir over. for the loss of eight wickets with for the fourth wicket after pace- opening Test in Ahmedabad. day on the right note by polishing started off the second innings in Sachin Tendulkar (5), failed six overs to spare. man Kemar Roach (5-56) had Steve Finn (3-37) was the most off the England tail taking four right earnest racing to 86 runs at this time with Swann making the Bangladesh won the first match derailed them in early overs. the lunch break. The match was master batsman edge one to Trott by seven wickets and the second AFP Scoreboard virtually decided in the post lunch waiting at the slip. session when six Indian wickets Yuvraj Singh (11), skipper Scoreboard India (I innings): ...... 316 Yuvraj Singh 3-1-9-0. fell for a paltry 59 runs. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (0) also England (I innings): India (II innings): The procession began in the got out soon, and India were pre- WEST INDIES BANGLADESH Alastair Cook (run out) ...... 190 G Gambhir c Prior b Finn ...... 40 very first ball after lunch when cariously placed at 122/6, still KOA Powell st Rahim b Gazi ...... 11 Tamim Iqbal b Roach ...... 8 Nick Compton lbw Ojha ...... 57 V Sehwag b Swann ...... 49 Swann got one to turn in sharply needing 85 runs to make England C Gayle c Nasir b Islam ...... 2 Anamul Haque c Pollard b Roach...... 0 Jonathan Trott c Dhoni b Ojha ...... 87 C Pujara (run out-Bell) ...... 8 that clipped the top of the stumps bat again. M Samuels (run out) ...... 1 Jahurul Islam c Thomas b Roach ...... 10 Kevin Pietersen lbw b Ashwin ...... 54 S Tendulkar c Trott b Swann ...... 5 sending Sehwag (49; 57b 7x4) for England began the last session D Bravo c Haque b Mahmudullah ...... 51 Mushfiqur Rahim b Narine ...... 44 Ian Bell c Dhoni b Sharma ...... 5 Virat Kohli c Prior b Finn ...... 20 the long walk back. with early wickets as Virat Kohli K Pollard b Haque ...... 85 Mohammad Mahmudullah b Narine ...... 48 Samit Patel c Sehwag b Ojha ...... 33 Yuvraj Singh b Anderson ...... 11 Gambhir went for a non-exist- (20, 60b 3x4) chased a Steve Finn D Sammy Jahurul b Haque ...... 2 Nasir Hossain (not out) ...... 39 Matt Prior c Dhoni b Khan ...... 41 M S Dhoni c Cook b Anderson...... 0 ent single and Ian Bell’s direct delivery wide of the stumps only D Thomas c Rahim b Islam ...... 25 Mominul Haque lbw Narine ...... 25 Graeme Swann c Sehwag b Ojha ...... 21 R Ashwin (batting) ...... 83 throw caught Cheteswar Pujara to get caught behind. Finn came A Russell lbw Mahmudullah ...... 0 Sohag Gazi c Thomas b Roach ...... 19 Steve Finn (not out) ...... 4 Z Khan lbw Finn ...... 0 (8) short of his ground despite a back with his next over to trap V Permaul (run out) ...... 10 Abdur Razzak lbw Roach ...... 0 James Anderson c Sehwag b Ashwin ...... 9 I Sharma b Panesar ...... 10 desperate dive. Zaheer Khan in front for a duck. S Narine (not out) ...... 7 Elias Sunny (not out) ...... 1 Monty Panesar lbw Ashwin ...... 0 Pragyan Ojha (batting) ...... 3 In the very first ball of the With Ishant Sharma at the K Roach lbw Islam ...... 0 Extras (B-3, LB-4, NB-2, W-18) ...... 27 Extras (B-13, LB-4, NB-5) ...... 22 Extras (B-8, LB-2) ...... 10 next over by Swann, there was a other end, Ashwin tried to keep Extras (LB-5, W-18) ...... 23 Total (for 8 wkts in 44 overs) ...... 221 Total (all out) ...... 523 Total (for 9 wkts) ...... 239 controversy after the ball turned at the bay the inevitable defeat Total (all out in 48 overs) ...... 217 Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-9, 3-30, 4-121, 5-133, Fall of wickets: 1-165, 2-338, 3-359, 4-395, Fall of wickets: 1-86, 2-98, 3-103, 4-107, and bounced before going into the as they stitched together a part- Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-17, 3-17, 4-149, 6-186, 7-214, 8-215. 5-420, 6-453, 7-510, 8-510, 9-523. 5-122, 6-122, 7-155, 8-159, 9-197. hands of Jonathan Trott in the nership of 38 runs and took the 5-151, 6-188, 7-188, 8-204, 9-217. Bowling: Roach 9-0-56-5 (1nb, 3w); Sammy Bowling: Zaheer Khan 31-6-94-1; Ishant Bowling: James Anderson 15-4-38-2; Steve slips who took what he thought total to 197. Bowling: Gazi 10-2-32-1 (6w); Islam 9-4-31-3; 5-1-23-0 (6w); Russell 10-0-51-0 (5w); Narine Sharma 29-8-78-1; Ravichandran Ashwin Finn 17-6-37-3; Monty Panesar 22-1-75-1; was a brilliant low catch. Sharma (10, 53b 2x4), however, Sunny 8-0-58-0; Razzak 9-1-39-0 (2w); Mah- 10-1-38-3 (1nb, 4w); Permaul 9-0-39-0; Samu- 52.3-9-183-3; Pragyan Ojha 52-10-142-4; Graeme Swann 28-9-70-2; Samit Patel 1-0-9-0. The matter was referred to the was castled by Panesar for his mudullah 10-1-38-2 (7w); Haque 2-0-14-2 (3w). els 1-0-7-0. third umpire who ruled not out. first wicket of the innings. IANS Qatar ready to host GCC basketball event for girls

DOHA: Qatar Women’s Sport before the competition begins on Committee (QWSC) President Tuesday. Championship Ahlam Salem Al Mana insists She said: “Qatar will play the hosts will ‘give their best’ friendly matches against schools Schedule when they begin their GCC and regional teams in Doha to Girls Basketball Championship get as much match practice and GCC Girls Basketball against Oman this week. experience before the competition Championship in Doha: The Qatar team is due to arrive starts.” Venue: Women’s Sports Hall in Doha today after undertak- Kuwait, Oman, UAE and December 11 ing a two-week training camp Bahrain will also be participat- in Turkey, in preparation for the ing in the competition that begins Bahrain vs Kuwait, 5:00pm five-day competition that is being on December 11 and concludes on Oman vs Qatar, 7:00pm held for the first time. December 15 “Our team has been training The QWSC which already December 12 hard for the last two weeks, and organises a basketball league for Kuwait vs UAE, 3:30pm have been training two times a women in Qatar, hopes the com- day. The camp in Turkey will help petition will be a stepping stone Bahrain vs Oman, 5:30pm the players be ready for this com- for bigger events in the future. December 13 petition (GCC Girls Basketball “This kind of competition will FROM LEFT: Dr Mostafa Diab, QBF Technical Expert, Qatar Women’s Sport Committee (QWSC) President Ahlam Oman vs Kuwait, 3:30pm Championship),” said Al Mana, allow the players to work hard Salem Al Mana, and QWSC Assistant Secretary General Maha Abduljabar, during the GCC Basketball Organising after she and Dr Mostafa Diab, and develop their skills in the Committee press conference at the QWSC headquarters yesterday. PICTURE BY: KAMMUTTY VP UAE vs Qatar, 5:30pm Qatar Basketball Federation’s tournament. The QWSC will December 14 Technical Expert addressed jour- also continue to work with the nalists at a press conference at the national team in order to reach “With the Olympics, every- and organise events for women Qatari women, Ayah Magdi UAE vs Oman, 3:30pm QWSC headquarters, yesterday. big tournaments,” the QWSC body hopes that Qatar (women’s in Qatar. (table tennis), Noor Al Malki Qatar vs Bahrain, 5:30pm Al Mana also added that the President said. basketball team) can reach the At the London 2012 Games, (sprinter) and Nada Mohammed girls team, of whom the mem- “We all at QWSC try to pre- Olympics one day. We are work- shooter Bahya Mansour Al (swimmer) also competed in the December 15 bers will be under 18-years-old, pare our national teams of any ing hard to achieve that in the Hamad became the first woman two-week long event that were Bahrain vs UAE, 3:30pm will gain match practice and sport for the big tournaments,” future,” she added with a smile. to represent Qatar in an Olympic held in July/August this year. experience with friendly matches she said. The QWSC helps to promote Games. THE PENINSULA Kuwait vs Qatar, 5:30pm