Two Dailies Shut Again, Opposition Plans Rally
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SUBSCRIPTION TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 SHAABAN 12, 1435 AH www.kuwaittimes.net Liquor Famed Syrian Miss USA Miami turns ‘factory’ storyteller’s a martial-art up heat busted in life upended champ in to even Ahmadi5 by14 war high40 heels NBA20 finals Two dailies shut again, Max 49º Min 31º opposition plans rally High Tide 09:03 & 22:27 Judge sues tweeter for slander Low Tide 02:46 & 16:10 40 PAGES NO: 16192 150 FILS By Staff Reporter ‘Pedestrian’ outruns the competition KUWAIT: The Information Ministry yesterday asked Al- Watan and Alam Al-Youm newspapers to stop publica- tion for the second time in less than two months for breaking a blackout on the controversial videotapes issue. The five-day suspension starting today came fol- lowing an order by a special judge after the Information Ministry last week referred the two newspapers for investigation for defying the blackout order. Al-Watan, owned by Sheikh Ali Al-Khalifa Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, and Alam Al-Youm, a pro-opposition daily, were suspended for two weeks between April 21 and May 4 after publishing details of the videotapes despite the attorney general’s ban. The latest action was taken after the Information Ministry sued the two dailies last week. The closure of the two dailies comes on the day the opposition plans to hold a massive public rally, its first in about a year, to allow its leader and former MP Musallam Al-Barrak to expose major corruption scams. Opposition groups, spearheaded by the Popular Action Movement, have called on the public to turn out in large numbers as a show of rejection to rampant cor- ruption in the country. It was unclear however what Barrak will say, but he and other prominent opposition figures have promised to make some “highly shocking” revelations about cor- ruption scandals. The opposition sent mixed signals about whether Barrak will announce the names of peo- ple allegedly involved in corruption. The opposition wants the rally as the start of a prolonged offensive against the government and “corrupt forces” in a bid to make similar achievements to those of Nov 2011 when similar rallies forced the then prime minister to resign. But it is certain that for the opposition to mount a significant campaign, it must secure a large attendance similar to demonstrations it staged in late 2012 and ear- ly 2013 which attracted record numbers. The interior ministry has not made any announcement regarding KUWAIT: Pedestrians are seen at a busy zebra crossing on Fahd Al-Salem St in downtown Kuwait City. This photo by Ramil Sunga, titled ‘Pedestrian’, won the the rally which will be organized outside the Assembly first prize in the Kuwait Times photography competition. Full details on Pages 37-39. building in downtown Kuwait City. Continued on Page 15 Iran, US hold direct talks for nuke deal GENEVA: Senior Iranian and US officials began direct talks in about meeting the deadline. “If this does not happen, we’ll added. Geneva yesterday, urgently trying to find common ground have to resort to extending the Geneva agreement for anoth- Iran was expected to hold a similar meeting with Russian over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program as a July deadline er six months so the negotiations can continue,” Iran’s IRNA negotiators in Rome tomorrow and Thursday, before a P5+1 for a lasting deal looms. For the Islamic republic, the goal is to news agency quoted him as saying. session in Vienna from June 16-20. The Geneva meeting make a leap towards ending the international sanctions that Both sides had already raised the prospect of an extension. appeared to confirm the need for broader discussions to close have battered its economy. Washington and its allies are seek- The Geneva meeting marks the first time since the 1980s that the gaps between Tehran and Washington. “Most of the sanc- ing solid commitments that will ensure Iran’s stated desire for Tehran and Washington have held official, direct talks on the tions were imposed by the US, and other countries from the a peaceful atomic power program is not a covert attempt to nuclear issue outside of the P5+1 process, which includes the P5+1 group were not involved,” IRNA quoted Araqchi as say- build a nuclear bomb. five permanent members of the Security Council Britain, ing Sunday. The two-day Geneva meeting began yesterday afternoon, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany. The US side in Geneva was led by Deputy Secretary of Iranian media reported. US officials said there were no plans With the last round of talks in Vienna in May yielding little, State Bill Burns and Jake Sullivan, a top White House adviser - to brief reporters, who were left guessing about the venue. there has been concern that the process is stalling. “The nego- part of a small team who spent months in secret talks in Time is running out for the negotiations between Iran and the tiation has now entered the deep-water zone, involving more Oman that finally coaxed Iran to the negotiating table last so-called P5+1 group. A deadline of July 20 has been set to complicated and sensitive issues,” Chinese foreign ministry year. The overall P5+1 talks are chaired by the European turn a temporary deal struck in November into a permanent spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing yester- Union, whose foreign policy spokesman Michael Mann said DOHA: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin agreement. Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister and day. “All parties need to take a flexible and practical attitude in the US-Iran meeting was part of an “intensified negotiating Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani speaks during the open- nuclear pointman, said yesterday he remained optimistic order to seek common ground and shelve differences,” she process”. — AFP ing session of the US-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital yesterday. — AFP Rouhani in Turkey Qatar PM urges UN to impose to fix troubled ties ANKARA: In a landmark visit to Turkey by his re-election for a third seven-year term Iran’s president, the two countries pledged last week, in a poll ridiculed by Syrian Syria ceasefire to work together to stop extremism and opposition groups and their Western and DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister yesterday urged the UN bloodshed in the Middle East despite Arab backers. “What is important for us is Security Council to impose a ceasefire in Syria and intervene to deep differences over Syria’s civil war. “Iran to stop the bloodshed and conflict in Syria, end the deadly conflict that he said threatens regional stability. and Turkey, the two important countries in remove terrorists coming from various “It is incumbent on the international community, especially the region, are determined to fight against countries and to let the people of Syria the Security Council, to act urgently and decisively to adopt a extremism and terrorism,” Iran’s President decide on its future,” he said yesterday. resolution imposing a ceasefire to ensure the security and Hasan Rouhani told a news conference in Continued on Page 15 safety of the Syrian people as well as stability in the whole Ankara, adding that neither country bene- region,” said Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kahlifa Al-Thani. fited from instability in the neighbour- Speaking at the 11th annual US-Islamic World Forum in hood. Doha, Qatar’s premier also warned that the “Syrian crisis poses Turkish President Abdullah Gul com- a real threat to the unity of Syria,” according to a copy of his mended Rouhani on his efforts in opening DUBAI: Customers are seen in the Syrian restaurant Al-Hamidiyeh on May 9, speech published by the official QNA news agency. Qatar had up Iran to the world since taking office last 2014 in the luxurious Dubai Marina district — AFP voiced support for the Arab Spring-inspired uprising that August. But the diplomatic niceties erupted in Syria in March 2011 but which later deteriorated papered over a relationship that remains into all-out civil war following a brutal crackdown on dissent Well-off Syrians create complex and often dysfunctional, with the by President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime. The conflict has killed two sides locked in an increasingly bitter more than 162,000 people and displaced millions. competition for influence between Sunni “The situation requires joint efforts by the international a slice of home in UAE and Shiite Muslim powers in the Middle community to end bloodshed and... fulfil the legitimate aspi- East. The biggest division has come over rations of the Syrian people,” said Sheikh Abdullah. Russia and DUBAI: As Syria’s conflict drags on, district. “This place attracts us because it the Syrian civil war, in which they have China, staunch allies of Assad, have so far blocked any refugees who fled to the UAE have recre- makes us feel as if we are in Damascus,” found themselves supporting opposing attempts by the UN Security Council to pass a strong resolu- ated a slice of home in the Gulf state, from says Waleed Ayoub, a customer. Like mil- sides. tion on Syria. Former UN envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has popular Syrian restaurants to Damascus’s lions of his countrymen, Ayoub has left Iran, a Shiite theocracy, is the chief warned that the war-torn country is heading toward becom- iconic Hamidiyeh market. Amid the gentle Syria, where peaceful protests for political backer of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, ing “another Somalia” ruled by warlords. He also warned, in an bubbling of water pipes and the clack of change in March 2011 turned into a full- while Sunni-majority Turkey has moved ANKARA: Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep interview published in a German weekly at the weekend, that backgammon pieces, visitors to the on civil war after a brutal government from trying to encourage reform in Syria Tayyip Erdogan (left) and Iranian the entire region may “blow up” if a political solution for Syria Hamidiyeh restaurant reminisce about crackdown on the protesters.